User talk:Smurf/Archive 4

First!
First! -- § Lacky §   Talk 04:18, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Second?
You make the best maps I've seen for Guild Wars o.o Zoe 03:14, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

OMG u made dalada uplands great work dude Hubbard 11:14, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Tpf program
Very interesting program. Good for editing files you've lost the source to, but bad for those few that don't want their mods to be edited or cloned by other users.--Pyron Sy 21:50, 1 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I thought about that before I started creating it, but ultimately didn't care. Not wanting others to modify your mods is just a double standard. -Smurf 22:09, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

this
I may or may not start making maps like that for all the Guild Halls, and possible some other popular areas as well, depending on how much effort (or, to be more accurate, hair-pulling complication) it takes. Could you tell me the address in CheatEngine you used to get your camera in the air? I could probably figure it out myself but it's taking OMG amounts of time to scan, and I'm really not feeling the whole "wait an hour between each scan" deal. Oh, and anything else I need to know, like if it's one of those changing values you have to meddle with more than just the value. Nice job, by the way. --Jette  22:35, 18 August 2009 (UTC)
 * The adresses are quite random everytime. Though you might be able to find some seaching help by reading what we researched before. poke | talk 09:29, 19 August 2009 (UTC)


 * The scanning should only take seconds, try enabling Fast Scan and disable Hyper Scan. -Smurf 09:33, 19 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Oh, I see. I was running a global scan, rather than trying each individual type, I see you just used Float.  Thanks.  This is still probably going to take me forever because I have bad luck with this kind of thing, but fortunately I have the willpower to hit my head against a wall until either it breaks or I do, so maybe I can make another one of those maps, sans the borders.  Can't be arsed, tbh.  --Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 13:19, 19 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm running into a little trouble finding the camera angles. Do you have any advice regarding those?  The main problem I'm hitting (aside from having no #$%@&ing clue of what I'm doing, but that's pretty standard these days) is that every now and then I change a value which crashes Guild Wars instantly, which is obviously very irritating.  Did you encounter this?  --Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 19:20, 24 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Crashing does happen especially when modifying a value you wasn't looking for. The camera values will be green in the search results since the variables aren't allocated dynamically. This also means that location of them don't change everytime you start the game. However they will change when the executable is updated. The camera values come in at least 3 locations (one is the target value, 2nd is the current value slowly reaching the target, 3rd i'm not sure but I usually change it with the others). Angles are represented in radians. Here are some camera variables for the current build 28,303. Just load the file in cheat engine. Change multiple values at the same time by selecting them and right click->Change record->Value. -Smurf 20:41, 24 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I put this project on the side for a bit, but a quick question: does the d3d9.dll file need to be patched with every update?  It could be an update or it could be the fact that I've completely restored my computer -- I'm getting an error that says it's failed to launch because d3dx9_37.dll is missing, so I'm unable to use the orthographic view.  I hate to bug you about this stuff, but if it's possible, do you have the tool you use to record the coordinates for inkscape?  I have absolutely no experience with of that program outside of bitmap tracing (does not work usually, partly because I am bad but more because it is bad), but I should be able to figure it out.  On a similar note, if you still have the original .xcf/.psc/.wtf for the Dragon Arena map (in layers, obviously), I could modify it for the Imperial Isle it's on, rather than have to remake it myself.  If you don't, though, don't worry about it, I'll do it myself when I get to it.  &mdash;Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 04:56, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * The d3d9.dll works with any DirectX9 program - won't make sense for most of them, but it is not related to Guild Wars or its version at all. I had problems before using my d3d9.dll on my computer when compiling it with another computer, so you might have to recompile it to work. poke | talk 07:23, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Oh, I see. I'll have to go get that stupid microsoft visual studio again if that's the case.  Maybe I need to update more stuff, though.  Stupid microsoft, stupid computer.  &mdash;Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 07:34, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Visual Studio is supposed to come as one of the default programs. Vili &#x70B9; [[Image:User Vili sig.jpg|User talk:Vili]] 07:35, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Absolutely not Vili.. poke | talk 07:48, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * I reimaged from a factory disc after wiping everything, and it's there. Explain. Vili &#x70B9; [[Image:User Vili sig.jpg|User talk:Vili]] 07:52, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * That's because whoever packaged that OS was nice and give it to you for free or, more likely, packaged it as trial bloatware. &mdash;Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 09:00, 9 September 2009 (UTC)


 * to fix the dll error try running the DirectX end user installer. If that doesn't work you can recompile the dll with Visual C++ Express Edition and the DirectX SDK (both are free). The dll doesn't need to be constantly patched.
 * Here's the coordinates program. Source included as always. The only problem is that you have to give it the address for the coordinates which changes each time guild wars is updated. It needs the address to the X coordinate, stored as a float, that's followed by the Y coordinate in the green text area (pre-allocated memory? not sure if that's the correct name...). For the current build (28,386) it's at 0x00D339F0 . You can pass it as an argument or type it in when it asks for it. To use the program press F9 for a single coordinate at your location. It will also copy it to the clipboard. Press F10 to make 2 lines and copy the coordinate for where the lines intersect to the clipboard; which is useful for protruding corners and getting the coordinates of NPCs.
 * I'm sorry to say that I deleted all my maps and it looks like rapidshare deleted the only map I already shared. Using inkscape to align the map and the game coordinates can be a little tricky and I think the best way to explain it is to give you an example. So tomorrow I'll go map a small town or something. -Smurf 12:23, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Cool, I appreciate it. Thanks.  I'll probably have less problems once I get the hang of using cheatengine, it seems to take a while for me to get each address.  I think it's just a problem that needs practice.  I'll see if I can map whatever guild hall I'm stuck in right now.  &mdash;Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 21:05, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
 * I've gotten the CheatEngine part of the process down, I think. Now I'm working on taking screenshots of the Burning Hall, but I've run into a stumbling block: for various reasons, sometimes stuff won't animate.  Considering how small the final version will be, it's not likely to matter, but various objects, from rocks to trees to bridges and other junk will just disappear as I move the camera around in orthographic mode.  The problem seems to lessen as I zoom the camera out, but doing so also causes clouds to form spontaneously, obstructing my view.  Is there a way to fix this, or do you just not worry about tiny details like that?  Or do you have the camera zoomed sufficiently close to the ground that you can see stuff just fine?  I imagine that would improve the image quality at the cost of needing a lot more shots to get the full effect.  Right now I'm using a height of -5000, 1.57 (half pi) camera angle to get a top-down view, Z-distance of 25 (which is zoomed all the way in on the character -- again, if I didn't do this, the clouds would be visible), and... I have no freaking clue of how many clicks from the default setting the orthographic view is.  I should have taken note of that... I've uploaded one of my shots here, though; what do you think?  Too high, too low?  What settings do you use?  &mdash;Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 04:23, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
 * lol, I forgot about those dreaded clouds in certain maps. I've decided to make a tutorial to show how I did it all, but it's taking longer than I thought. I'll try to get it finished by tomorrow. In the mean time, to get rid of the clouds I used Texmod and to be able to use it and still take BMP screenshots you'll need to (using Cheat Engine) search for the unicode text "gw%03u.jpg" (without quotes) and change jpg to bmp. To make sure objects don't disappear on you, you should not let the orthogonal view be able to see more than the game's perspective view (like you was trying to do). To get the number of clicks zooming-out that you're currently at, move your cursor over a distinct object, reset the zoom (CTRL+NUM5), and start count how many clicks until the object is under your cursor again. Your screenshot looks fine as long as none of the objects are missing. I remember when I did my Burning Hall map, I took screenshots without the post-processing and then shots of the lava with post-processing on, then photoshop them together so I could keep the glow of the lava. Regarding the size, I can't recall how large my map was. It just depends on what you want to use the map for and how detailed you want it to be. -Smurf 05:35, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
 * I took care of the clouds with texmod, but I was just pasting the screens into PhotoShop with the copy function and saving as .png, since they're smaller. I might do that though, could save time.  Turns out I'll need to start over again anyway, my connection crapped out on my right in the middle of it, which reset the addresses.  >/  Stupid linksys.  And thanks for the advice, I'll see if I can finish this thing.  :p  &mdash;Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 05:47, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
 * here's my map so far if you're curious. I took it with 21 clicks zooming out but it ended up being way too large and scaled it down by 24% so it's now only 8x the resolution of the game's map textures. -Smurf 05:52, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Kaineng City? "Small town" my ass!  :p  What I'm doing now (I found the address quickly enough; it's much faster when you actually know the value you're looking for) is taking two screenshots each rather than trying to move the character model out of the way; one is all the way zoomed in so my character is invisible and some objects animate well, the other is all the way out so other objects animate well.  I'll just cut and paste.  I figure it's gonna take forever, but these things are pretty cool, so it should be worth it.  &mdash;Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 06:05, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
 * There's actually a huge flat area in Kaineng (the bottom) where the height is always the same. Find it once, then you can always easily find the character height address whenever there's another update.  ~Shard  [[Image:User Shard Sig Icon.png]] 06:22, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Cool, thanks. Although that only helps for one area.  :<  &mdash;Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 06:27, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Can't you simply change the character's position via CE (without changing the camera of course) to somewhere far away? poke | talk 07:27, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, I could. &mdash;Jette  [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 07:38, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

I've started stitching it together in Photoshop. I've found mixing layer blending options useful for hiding the "border" effect you get along the edges of water, but the lava is turning out to be a huuuge beotch, simply because I have to manually cut-and-paste from multiple images in some cases. I may end up going back and just taking "central" screenshots, and using those. In the end I'll probably need to go back anyway and redo the edges properly -- right now I don't even have that nice big volcano :< (though I could probably just extract it with texmod; if I'm right, it should be a simple flat circle stretched over the cone mesh, which would look exactly the same in an orthographic projection as it would on the texture). Mostly I've just been lazy with CE, but it should be worth it in the end. &mdash;Jette  07:05, 12 September 2009 (UTC)

Good job!
I saw the dances you animated here, and it looks very good ! I'd give you a cookie but I ate it ;O Reaper of Scythes **  21:05, 10 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Indexed color is pig disgusting, apng/mng or gtfo pls. That is, er, uh, yeah, they look nice.  :P  –Jette [[Image:User_Jette_awesome.png|19px]] 02:22, 11 December 2009 (UTC)