Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Northernskies,

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Locked Topic
How to Make Signs Using Jimmy's sign models; by Dannelboyz
Topic Started: Aug 27 2012, 11:54 AM (1,814 Views)
Ghost
Member Avatar
Administrator

MAKING SIGNS USING JIMMY'S SIGN PACK
Beginner Tutorial

I have planned this tutorial so that everyone should be able to make their own signs. Little skill is involved and after a few tries, I hope everyone will be able to put their own signs ingame. :)

PROGRAMS I USE IN TUTORIAL:
(note: although some other programs can be used instead of these programs, I still advise you use these if you are a beginner in designing, only so that it is easier to follow this tutorial)
-WinRar Archiver http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm
-NifSkope http://niftools.sourceforge.net/wiki/NifSkope
-Paint.net http://www.getpaint.net/
-Notepad - should come with your computer

FILES YOU'LL NEED:
-Jimmy's public domain z2f file (edited by me to make some parts of this tutorial easier...)
http://www.2shared.com/file/wpD27vIE/Sign.html
-Jimmy's model pack (please replace the nif file from the z2f file above with one of these)
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jdbad4jo1n9mnl4

PART 1: Editing the Skins
1.Open up Jimmy's public domain z2f file from the download link above by using WinRar Archiver. To do this, right-click and select "Open With" and then select "WinRar Archiver"
2.Now go to entities/objects/scenery/CODENAME
3.Select the .dds file called CODENAME.dds and copy it to your desktop. Now, open it in Paint.net
4.It should now look like this:
Posted Image
5.In the top rectangle, insert the picture you want as the front of your sign, like this:
Posted Image
6.Now, click File/Save As and decide a suitable one-word name for your sign. For example, I am naming my sign hipposign.dds.
7.Click on the drop-down arrow below and select "DirectDraw Surface (DDS) (*.dds)" Then click "Save" and finally, "OK"
8.Move this new .dds file into your WinRar file and replace the original CODENAME.dds file with the one you just made.
9.Now, in WinRar, rename the CODENAME_icon.dds file to whatever you named your other dds file in Step 6. However, you must add "_icon.dds" to the end of the file name. So, for example, my icon would be hipposign_icon.dds.
10.Rename the CODENAME.nif file the same way but make sure you add .nif to the end. So my file would be hipposign.nif.
11.Open this nif file in NifSkope
12.Click on the plus symbols on the left-hand side of the screen until you find a line with a purple flower and CODENAME.dds written next to it.
13.Double-click on CODENAME.dds and change it to whatever you named your file in Step 6 (making sure you add ".dds" to the end). Now, save the nif file by clicking File/Save As/Save

Part 2: Editing the Coding
14.In the WinRar file, go back to where entities, lang and ui folders are located.
15.Enter ui/zoopedia/entries and copy the CODENAME.xml file onto your desktop.
16.Open this file in Notepad and then Press Ctrl+H
17.Enter <CODENAME> on the first line and on the second line enter the name you used in step 6. This time, do not add .dds to the end of it. This is what my example would look like:
Posted Image
18.Now, select Replace All and then File/Save As and enter the new name for your file (same as Step 6) but this time do not add .dds and instead add .xml at the end. So, for example, when I save my file I would call it hipposign.xml
19.Replace the original file WinRar with your new one in
20.Now back to where entities, lang and ui are and go to lang/1033
21.Using this second .xml file, repeat steps 16-19.
22.Now back to where entities, lang and ui are and go to entities/objects/scenery/ai
23.Using this third .xml file, repeat steps 16-19
24.The last step to do is to rename the folder beneath the ai folder to the name from Step 6 (no .dds at the end). Check through the file to make sure there is nothing left called CODENAME. If there is, rename it.

Part 3: Testing your sign
25.Move the .z2f file you have been working in to the Zoo Tycoon 2 folder (where you place all your downloads).
26.Start up Zoo Tycoon 2 and check for your sign in the scenery section
Posted Image
The chances are you may not find your sign but don't worry, keep trying this tutorial and you will succeed. Feel free to ask a few questions if you are unsure of part of this tutorial!

NOTES:
*Thanks to my buddy, Jimmy, for all your effort in making the sign models, wood texture and the original coding
*Remember, the signs are public domain so feel free to release any signs you make
*I have made this tutorial as simply as I can but if some part is unclear, I'd be happy to fix it - Just shoot me a PM. Also, because it is very simple, the only goal of this tutorial is to get your sign to work ingame. Please don't ask how to fix minor details like the icon, zoopedia etc.
*If you want to use a different sign model (either the one with no posts or the one with just one post) all you have to do is replace the nif file in Step 10 with one of the others and make sure to name it correctly.
*I have tested this tutorial myself and it DOES work. I don't want any members telling me that it does not work. If it doesn't, then YOU have done something wrong, not me.

Thank you for reading this tutorial! I can't wait to see the awesome signs you guys make!
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Enjoy forums? Start your own community for free.
Learn More · Sign-up Now
« Previous Topic · Coding Tutorials · Next Topic »
Locked Topic