Sorry, but it is a complicated process. No easy way.
Since most people would prefer to make Styles than mods (those who joined after TCB might not even know what mods are), I'll put stuff about mods in blue to say, "
if you want to make a style for holds, ignore this part."
1. Make the graphics:
Make 22x22 tiles for all the things you want to change, and put them together in one or more .PNGs (or .JPEGs). Make sure to separate style tiles from general tiles (they need to be in different .PNGs).
Style tiles include: Arrows, Obstacles, and everything on the first tab EXCEPT for Doors, Oremites, and Pressure Plates.
Some style things can be patterns bigger than 1 tile. These are floors, inner walls, and pits. Put these in separate .PNGs if you want large patterns. More info later.
General tiles are everything else: Enemies, Doors, Orbs/PPs, Ortho Squares, Tarstuff, Beethro, etc.
Some notes:
Click here to view the secret text
×-Transparency:
192,192,192 (the lighter gray color in Paint) is the transparent color. At least 1 corner of a DROD tile must be this color for it to be transparent. Please make sure to use transparency in obstacles, enemies, and arrows.
-Using copyrighted graphics:
DO NOT copy parts of the default in-game graphics into your tilesheets if you plan on sharing the mod without permission, as this is a copyright violation and will be removed. So what if you want to make Spiders easier to see without having to make all new graphics?
Simple. You need a program that can set transparent color for .PNGs. I recommend Irfanview).
Make a .PNG that has the pixels you want changed (i.e. speckles to put on the Spider) in Paint. Make the background any color but 192,192,192. If you open it in Irfanview and save it as a PNG, you can select a transparent color. The transparent parts will use the original graphics.
2. Tell the game what to replace:
Oh, by the way, you have to turn off "
Hide extensions"
first in Folder Options so it saves as .tim and not .txt.tim.
Now, here's the very annoying part: You have to make a .tim for each tilesheet you made. The .tim is a document where you list the numbers of all the tiles that you want to replace. You have to look up what these numbers are. Briareos' first link there to coppro's guide is the best reference, though it is for JtRH, so not all things are listed. Both the .tim and the .PNG go into [DROD TCB Folder]\Data\Bitmaps, and must have the same name.
You don't have to make .tims for the things in styles that you put in separate images (these can be floors, pits, and inner walls). You simply have to name these after your style. More info later.
Anyways, it's example time. Let's say you want to change Trapdoors. Make a 66x22 image (3x1 tiles). The first tile will be trapdoors, the second one will be their front edges, and the third one will be a trap door as it falls.
Call it NewPlatform.PNG. Now, according to coppro's reference, the tile numbers for these are 57, 552, and 105. So open Notepad, type in this:
57,552,105
Then save it as NewPlatform.tim, in the Bitmaps folder.
When you make a stylesheet, you will likely have a big sheet of something like 16x24 tiles or bigger. Whatever it is, it probably won't be all one line.
Each row in the bitmap gets its own line in the .tim. Unused tiles in the bitmap are indicated in the .tim with an exclaimation mark. You can also have ranges. For example:
Click here to view the secret text
×51-54
58,!2,90
87,86,84-85
12,!3
The first row is 51,52,53,54.
The left tile in row two is 58, the right is 90, the middle two are unused.
The third row is 87,86,84,85
The fourth row has tile 12 and three unused tiles
3. Put them in the game or share them:
What you now have to do with the images is add them to drod.ini. Depending on what changes you make to the .ini, you can do one of two things with your images:
You can have these new graphics replace the game's graphics.
This is called making a mod. To do this, you will tell the game to load your graphics on top of the default graphics.
Here's how:
Click here to view the secret text
×By the way, you must close DROD for any of it to work.
You add (NOT CHANGE) a line to drod.ini, telling it to load your graphics after it loads the default graphics.
Here's how the example would end up looking like:City = City
City = NewPlatform
Then, when you're using the City style, it will use the new Platforms.
Style mods are uncommon, though. It's much more common to see GeneralTiles mods. These are loaded onto General.General = GeneralTiles
General = TransparentTar
Mods are generally used to edit a few tiles to make life easier (or harder). Common mods would be stuff like Transparent Tar, Easier-to-see Ortho Squares, and Textured Doors, all of which are GeneralTiles stuff. Some people use Secret Wall mods, too, which would be Style mods.
Mods are not parts of holds. To share a mod you made, just post a .zip with the PNG and the .tim in it, and tell people what to do with it.
The other thing:
You can make a new style with these graphics.
Styles can't have their own GeneralTiles. Also, they must be rather complete, or else they won't be worth using. Make sure your style at the very least changes walls and the first floor type. I know, there are over a hundred wall tiles you will have to edit, but walls are very important for styles!
Anyways, when your style has enough stuff, you will change drod.ini to tell DROD all about your new style and what files have to be loaded with it. Here's how.
Click here to view the secret text
×First, find where the game lists Styles in drod.ini (it's in alphabetical order, so it's in the S's). You can add your style to the line after a semicolon, or you can just do this:
Style=Aboveground;City;Deep Spaces;Fortress;Foundation;Iceworks
Style=Kwaksturs Inferno
Then, find where your style fits alphabetically into the .ini, and add lines that tell the game what bitmaps to use. Let's say I have a complete stylesheet called FireStyle.
Kwaksturs Inferno = FireStyle
If you want skies (water reflections) to be available in your style, add them in the same way the other styles have them in the .ini.
By default, any tiles you didn't make for your style will use City style. If you want unmade tiles to use another style instead, specify it
first.
Kwaksturs Inferno = DeepSpaces
Kwaksturs Inferno = FireStyle
Your tiles don't have to be all in one bitmap. Let's say that that NewPlatforms example was followed by many other new tiles that you eventually wanted to make into a style.
Engine=SteelArrows;NewPlatforms;AWESOME;Beams;minimosaic
...
Style=Engine
The main 6 floor types, pits, and the innner parts of walls can use patterns larger than 1 tile. These go in separate images named after the style. The name is two parts: The name of the style, and the name of the thing to replace (i.e. EnginePitside.PNG, EngineFloor.PNG, etc.). Drop it in the Bitmaps folder. You don't need a .tim. Here's the names for what to replace:
Click here to view the secret text
×Floor (regular floor)
Dirt (dirt floor)
Road (road floor)
Grass (grass floor)
Mosaic (mosaic floor)
Alt (alternate floor)
Pitside (north edge of a pit, like the pillars in TCB)
PitsideSmall (fills in ledges where Pitside doesn't fit; for instance, if Pitside
has arches, this will have an even bottom so that you don't ever end up
with half of an arch)
Pit (the image for most of the pit) That's right, all you have to do is get a picture of grass, call it AbovegroundGrass, and drop it in RPG's Bitmaps folder to replace RPG Demo's ugly grass.
Unless you have Demo Version, don't forget to select music for your style! Here's how:
Click here to view the secret text
×I have Demo version, so I only have the music for City. But I'm sure that in the Full Version there is a big variety of music to choose from, so don't forget to browse around and find good ones for your style. Anyways, I'm going to make up some choices for my example. You would put this code where it fits in alphabetically under the section entitled "
[music]"
.
Kwaksturs InfernoAmbient=aboveground ambient.ogg
Kwaksturs InfernoAttack=city aggr 2.ogg;aboveground aggr 2.ogg
Kwaksturs InfernoExit=fortress win level.ogg
Kwaksturs InfernoPuzzle=deep spaces cont 1.ogg;deep spaces cont 2.ogg;fortress cont 1.ogg
Note that you include file extensions for music, unlike for graphics.
Want to make your own music? Most music composition software is expensive, so chances are you don't have any good stuff. I can't make any good recommendations. But if you have some, then once you make music with it, find a program that can render it into Ogg Vorbis (.ogg) music files, and put these into your Data\Music folder. Add them to the ini the same way: putting "
Ambient"
, "
Attack"
, "
Puzzle"
, or "
Exit"
after your style's name:
EngineAmbient = OoooohSpookey.ogg
EngineAttack = MyAttackSong.ogg;MyOtherAttackSong.ogg
EnginePuzzle = EnigmaticEngine.ogg
EngineExit = ChariotsOfFireTheme.ogg
This is just my guess anyways. But if it works, then the music will play in DROD for that style, and will be included in the .dmf you export. If you don't assign music to your new style in the .ini, DROD will just use City's music.
The style will appear in TCB in the list of styles next time you load the game, and you can go to Manage and Export it to a DROD Media File. The .dmf includes everything loaded into DROD for the style that isn't already built-in for DROD: The stylesheets you made, the separate patterns you made, and the music you imported.
Some of this may be wrong, since I've never made a DROD Media File before, but I did some additional research, made huge edits to this post, and I'm now quite confident that this is mostly correct. In any case, good luck!
Hey, if your eyes hurt reading that, imagine my fingers typing it! Oh, the searing pain....
____________________________
Also known as ExpHP everywhere else.
[Last edited by Kwakstur at 12-19-2008 02:06 AM]
