Race Specific Phaser Flares

(6 votes)

icewolf132, 2009-01-02

Every once in a while, a new mod crosses the queue and my response is to say, "of course!" Project Blue, for instance. Or Achilles' modscreen loading mod.

This is one of those mods. The very talented Icewolf has put together a way to make those phaser bursts (which, ever so annoyingly, all look precisely the same in-game playing stock) all varied and different based on the several races included in the game. A nice touch, certain to add to the PotDs and to the realism of the game.

I highly suggest taking what's referred to as the "down and dirty route". It's a lot more work in terms of what it requires, but we're modders, we're used to doing a bit more work to get good results. Do that here, as the results are epically worth it.

Download this one today.

Cool

Race Specific Phaser Flares, V1.0

One of the things I always disliked with stock Armada 2 is that they used the same flare sprite for ALL of the races in the game. So, here's something to fix that!

Do note, that all other graphics in the screenshots are a combination of Midnight Universe 2.0 and Armada Upgrade Project 1.4.0, this mod does nothing more than what it's name describes ;).

Contents

0. Credits
1. Installation
2. System Requirements
3. Online Multiplayer
4. Known Issues
5. Disclaimer
6. Contact
7. Distrubtion/Authorised download mirrors
8. Third party use

0 - Credits

Icewolf132- Flare textures.

And I'd also like to thank the Armada II Files staff for the readme template.

1 - Installation

Drop and play route;
Just extract the contents of the zip into your Armada 2 directory (Default; C:Program FilesActivisionStar Trek Armada II), and overwrite if asked. This will add race specific flares to the Federation, Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans, and the Borg. I didn't add a flare for 8472 in this route because ironicly enough I think the stock flare fits them just fine. If you do want to add these style flare for theme, please read the below.

Down and dirty route;
Be warned, you've got to edit a lot of files if you take this route! Copy the contents of the textures/rgb directory over to your own textures/rgb folder in your Armada directory. Then, open up your weapon.spr file, find the following lines;
# Phaser Flare
pflare xflare 0 0 64 64 @anim=tex2x2

Copy and paste this under those;

# Federation Phaser Flare
FedFlare FedFlare 0 0 64 64 @anim=tex2x2

# Klingon Phaser Flare
KlingFlare KlingFlare 0 0 64 64 @anim=tex2x2

# Romulan Phaser Flare
RomFlare RomFlare 0 0 64 64 @anim=tex2x2

# Borg Phaser Flare
BorgFlare BorgFlare 0 0 64 64 @anim=tex2x2

# Cardassian Phaser Flare
CardFlare CardFlare 0 0 64 64 @anim=tex2x2

# 8472 Phaser Flare
8472Flare 8472Flare 0 0 64 64 @anim=tex2x2

Now, to add these flares to the Armada Races, you'll have to open up ALL of their Phaser Ordance ODFS (phasero.odf, fbphaso.odf, bphaso.odf, ect) and add one of the following strings, depending on the race in question;

//Federation Flare
flareSprite = "FedFlare"

//Klingon Flare
flareSprite = "KlingFlare"

//Romulan Flare
flareSprite = "RomFlare"

//Borg Flare
flareSprite = "BorgFlare"

//Cardassian Flare
flareSprite = "CardFlare"

//8472 Flare
flareSprite = "8472Flare"

That's pretty much it, it's not very hard to do, it's just the amount of files you got to go through and add one of those strings to.

Also, I HIGHLY recommend using Rake's weapon textures with this concept, though obviously the flare textures provided will have to be recolored, but that's not to hard to do ;).

2 - System Requirements

-Clean install of Armada 2, with either the 1.1 patch or the 1.2.5 patch installed.

-This has been tested, and is compatable, with Midnight Universe 2.0 and Armada Upgrade project 1.4.0, though it is suggested that you switch over to the 8472 flares provided if you are using AUP 1.4.0.

3 - Online Multiplayer

Since this involves edited ODF and SPR files, this will break multiplayer.

4 - Known Issues

None known, if any are found please contact me.

5 - Disclaimer

THIS MATERIAL IS NOT MADE OR SUPPORTED BY ACTIVISION.

6 - Contact

I can be contacted by email at stevewolf87_at_gmail_dot_com. You can also contact me by PMing Icewolf132 on armada2files.com or Icewolf on altairtechandgaming.com.

7 - Distribution/hosting & Commercial use

If you are interested in hosting this file or distributing it in any manner then please contact me.

Hosting, or any other form of distribution is hereby forbidden without prior written permission. The use in Armada II Modifications is allowed as per section 8 below.

8 - Third party use
Lastly, you may use this in your mod if you wish it, under the condition that you give credit for the original work where it's due IF you decide to use the provided flare textures in any fashion (as is or if you change the color).

All other rights are reserved. This CAN be used outside of the Armada II community without prior permission, but as said above credit must be given for the original work where it is due.