Some variant skin stuff...

[Gloria]

Couple of things:

1. Is there anywhere around here we're allowed to post pics of variant skins we've made, just to show off? I've got a couple of cute ones, and I'd like to see what others have done, too.

2. Is there something in any of the code somewhere that determines the frequency at which variants occur, or is that hard-coded into the game?  It doesn't seem to be random because they appear pretty consistently, but different animals seem to have different rates of frequency...

3. Um, btw, I'm running original ZT2, and I don't have the expansion packs yet... I understand that variants are default in ES, but they sure seem to work fine in my game. Hehe.


Thanks!

P.S., Just a thought, maybe it would be a good idea for the mods to make a sticky post with pertinent links for beginning designers pointing them to the APE II and VAT and whatnot, and maybe pertinent threads/tutorials... Just a thought! I've kind of had to dig for some of the info I was looking for. There's lots of good tips on these boards, but it's kind of daunting to navigate. Hehe.

[penguinman]

Hi there!
If you plan on putting the variants up for download you can post in the ZT2 Current Projects section.

No, there isn't really a way to change the frequency

It's really surprising that they do work! I thought others tried and it never did. Oh well!


Hmm... that is a good idea. Prehaps we should do that.

[RedNotDead]

We wouldnt pin APE 11 because there are just too many problems caused by people using it.   We have pinned some important topic mainly editing programs to use. and agin we wont pin too many topics as if too many inexperienced people try to make stuff it then leads to lots of work for (mainly Penguinman and myself) to have to sort out the problems especially as people then upload their uncompleted work to the downlaods section just to get it tested step by step - which really annoys me.  Those who really want to learn will take the time to actually read through the ALL the topics to see where others had made mistakes and then if that does not solve their problem they will ask.  Others will jsut ask no matter if we pin the topic or not.

[Gloria]

*nods* Good point.  I don't mind the digging, but you know how some people won't take the time to look through stuff before posting obvious questions.


How does one go about making skins availible for download, btw? Just zip the file? Do I need to make a .dl file if it's only for a skin?

[penguinman]

For variants it seems a .dl file is not required, but you can always make one if you want :original:

[Littlemog]

Why not sticky a checklist or something? So far the upload rules are that the animal has no errors, there's a 220x180 pic with it, etc. So if you miss something and don't realise it, you're wasting the tester's time.

Instead you could have

"Before you submit, check:
Does the animal appear in game?
Do the offspring appear correctly?
Does the zoopedia work and link correctly?
Are the locations, conservation status etc correct?
If the animal has sound, do the sounds work?
Do the dirty and sick skins work?
Do the varient (if any) dirty and sick skins work?
Do the gifts and donations work correctly?
What EPs is it compatable with?
Is it alphabetised" etc

etc etc.

Just because it's easy to miss small things (sounds, location, especially african animals as if there isn't a valid location it either defaults to whatever you chose before in the adoption menu, or Africa if it's the first animal you've selected.) Or you tweak one thing, don't realise that's messed up something else, and only test that thing not knowing that now you've messed up the lang file or something (say if you've just alphabetised it or something)

[Gloria]

Hmm, those are good things to check for, to be sure! If I manage to make any working animals I'll be sure to check everything...

BTW, I stand corrected on the frequency of skins thing, it DOES seem to be really random, or at least it resets every time to start the game... I was fiddling with some tiger and cheetah skins and sometimes I'll get, like, all white tigers and hardly any regulars, other times I'll get mostly regular tigers and very few white ones. Huh.

What I'm not getting is why skins I'm making for some animals work and others don't... I've successfully skinned tigers, cheetahs, and red pandas, but I can't get skins to work for musk ox or peafowl... hmmm. Guess I'll have to try some different things!

[germanwolf]

Wow, cool that you are doing this. I can't wait to see your skins. It just takes alot of practice. I think I want to start making stuff too.