Color Changing Progress

[ImTheFrostbite 0]

Hello,

 

This thread is mostly for Lord Chris, but anyone can feel free to contribute.? I know on a previous thread here that there were discussions about efforts into diving into the coding of how color selection is made in Stronghold 2 and that I believe Chris was going to look into that.? Does anyone have any kind of information on if this is even possible or if there have been an efforts directed towards this?? I would love to push this however I can and am willing to help learn how to find a solution if someone would like to work with me.? There has to be a way!

Thanks for reading,

 

ImTheFrostbite

Edited May 13, 2019 by ImTheFrostbite

[Lord_Chris 270]

Welcome back again @ImTheFrostbite- we've missed you!

 

I'm honestly not sure is the truth as I just haven't been able to find anything. Hex codes, colour codes, C++ is totally not my "thing" at all. I'm much more of a PHP guy than a C++ one. However I do know that @Charles of Tours is studying C++. He may be able to find something about this and how easy it is.

[Charles of Tours 70]

Hi @ImTheFrostbite. I'm not familiar with how Stronghold 2 does color selection. In SH1 and SHC, colors for players were saved as part of the map file, and could be changed in a hexadecimal editor like HexEdit, which allows you to change the RGB color scheme. HexEdit will allow you to read the binary code in hexadecimal, which is a bit easier for a human to read.

 

RGB is fairly standard. It allows you to pick a value between 0 and 255 for each of Red, Green, and Blue. This color picker will show you the 0-255 decimal values as well as the hexadecimal value for each color. For example, red is ff0000.

 

I suggest you make a blank "demo" map with some troops on it and try to open the file in HexEdit, that way nothing will go wrong with the game itself.

[Lord_Chris 270]

I've gone ahead and briefly tried myself what @Charles of Tours suggested. Though this was on a campaign map which I had already written, because I didn't actually load the game up.

 

I can't find any hex codes in the map relating the player colours, which to me makes sense. Speaking from a programming point of view it wouldn't make sense to store these codes in the individual saved game files, there are just too many possibilities. What id you later wanted to update the whole game and change the colours? How would you make the old maps compatible? How would you ensure new maps played on older versions? .etc. etc.

 

I've gone ahead and looked at the shaders folder again and I'm convinced we're onto something here. The problem is that I feel what's happening is that the game .exe file is somehow "injecting" into the relevant shader files what share colours to do. Again, this kind of makes sense to me. Let's not forget that the players in multiplayer change colours dynamically. This would be a lot of code for these shader files and I've yet to find any evidence of this (or anything similar) in the shaders files and in my opinion it doesn't really make sense putting these colours in the shaders files either; shaders should simply be rendering things, not actively telling themelves what to do. It's just basic code separation.

 

My money is on the .exe file. My belief is that it's somehow injecting the colour codes into the shaders, telling the shaders what to render on each unit. This makes it almost impossible to change the player colours if this theory is correct unless you start hacking the exe file, something which we cannot condone. Unless Firefly were to release the source code, I doubt we will get very far on this one.

[ImTheFrostbite 0]

Hello?Lord_Chris?and?Charles of Tours, and thank you for all of your work and research on this!? Did Firefly Studios ever release the source code to the other SH games listed here?? Just was curious as to if that would ever be a possibility.?Charles of Tours?Have you been able to figure anything out with having some C++ knowledge?? Or has?Lord_Chris basically summed it up nicely here?? I personally have reached out via Twitter to Nick and discussed the possibility of this, so maybe I can ask about if they would ever release the source code?

 

Just trying to figure out ways I can help out if possible.? Let me know if this seems to be our only option at this point.

 

Thanks again,

 

ImTheFrostbite

Edited May 27, 2019 by ImTheFrostbite

[Charles of Tours 70]

Did Firefly Studios ever release the source code to the other SH games listed here?

Everything I have read says no. Releasing the source code of a game to the public is essentially the same as releasing a game for free. While there could be a license restricting the use of the code, it's almost impossible to enforce licenses on open source material, especially on an international level.

Charles of Tours?Have you been able to figure anything out with having some C++ knowledge?? Or has?Lord_Chris?basically summed it up nicely here?? I personally have reached out via Twitter to Nick and discussed the possibility of this, so maybe I can ask about if they would ever release the source code?

Chris seemed to sum it up quite well. In theory there are decompilers that could try to translate the compiled binary code into something human-readable, but I can't help here for legal reasons.

 

While searching for info about other conversations people had about the code, I stumbled across an open source reimplementation of Stronghold 1, but I would feel uncomfortable linking it here since it looks like it uses graphical assets from SH1. It isn't illegal to make a new game engine entirely from your own code, but things like graphics and audio are usually copyrighted. One open source workaround is to rely on an installation of the base game in order to actually run. See: openMW and KaM Remake. Granted, Bethesda gave their blessing to OpenMW after certain conditions were agreed to.

 

An open source reimplementation would be far easier to modify, but it would be like "reinventing the wheel" for something like changing colors. It's really unlikely that the source code for any of the Stronghold games will ever be released, since copies of the HD re-releases are selling on Steam.

[ImTheFrostbite 0]

Hello All,

Considering it has been some time, just was wondering if there was any new progress on this? Hope everyone has been well :)

[Mathew Steel 151]

What id you later wanted to update the whole game and change the colours?

 

I was just about to point out that in the campaign, units do change colour at several points. However, quickly realised that it's also a matter of just giving those units the ID of another colour, which would make far more sense. So yes, I'd have to agree with Chris here. The colours must be stored in the game files, not mission/map files.

 

@ImTheFrostbite, I don't think there's been any major progress. If there is any major breakthrough though, you can be certain that Chris will make it into an article on the site for everyone to find! :)

[Spy 1]

Hello, I'm currently working on the map format. I do C++ / reverse engenering ^^

 

The map files are compressed (after the header, the author: Firefly thing)?I have made a little tool to export maps into a decompressed format

 

 

https://www.filehosting.org/file/details/824510/SiegeExporter.zip I can't always post link.

(SHA-1 : 1A351DB2C2D2B428D3A2820FF6A1D759D8D60557)

 

In the menu => Go to "Dezip" and 4 files will be created: the header, and data that I don't know what it's. I named it A, B, and C.

If you do any modification, you can "recompress" if you didn't rename the files by clicking on "Zip" and choose A, B or C file (any of them).

Edited October 1, 2019 by Lord_Chris
Fixed link

[Lord_Chris 270]

Hi @Spy

 

I've fixed your link, thanks for sharing. I've also promoted you so you can post links in future- that's just protection against spammy new members. Welcome!

 

You are always more than welcome to submit a file to us here as well for us to host, as that way players will be able to download without needing to provide any personal information :)

 

I've tried downloading, but unfortunately I can't seem to get it working (Windows 8.1). Can you provide a step by step guide of how to use this file exactly?

[ImTheFrostbite 0]

Hi Spy,

It has been a few weeks since any update had been given, has there been any progress on this? I am very glad to see that you are working on breaking down these maps and the game itself! I would definitely be interested as well to talk off the forum in Discord or wherever as I kind of have some questions to ask and we wouldn?t have to rely on a potential slow response time. Let me know if you are interested and thanks again for working on this!

 

Lord Chris it is a pleasure to hear from you again as always! Hope all is well. I would be interested in connecting with you as well :)

 

Am I not allowed to tag usernames on mobile?

Edited October 14, 2019 by ImTheFrostbite

[EaglePrince 234]

Well, I truly hope that you keep your conversation here, instead of in some chat. :D That way others could benefit from it as well. :)

 

*Ehm*, this is where Tapatalk, or something similar, would be really helpful - by enabling people to visit the forum from their smartphones through an app. However, guys, if you didn't know, this forum also has a mobile friendly template. I use it, and this way it's easier read and post replies right from my bed. :D Cheers. :D

[ImTheFrostbite 0]

EaglePrince most certainly not! I was just wanting to potentially streamline communication for some ?nitty-gritty? stuff as opposed to flooding out this forum post to try and keep it clean for primarily updates. Also to hopefully get some type of reply without having to wait a week haha. ?I was going to logon via PC when I get home today and edit my post to tag them officially so that they get notified.

 

Hope all is well today :)

[ImTheFrostbite 0]

I am on my PC now and still cannot seem to figure out how to tag someone.? Also, for some reason it will not let me edit my previous replies either (from mobile)... Weird.? Looking forward to hearing some good news soon! :D

Edited October 15, 2019 by ImTheFrostbite

[EaglePrince 234]

I understand. I'm that case, I will sit, and comfortably wait for updates from you guys. :D

 

To tag someone... I'm not sure. There is a way to add somebody by bbcode, them I think the name is in the color of the member, and I think that it also serves as a link to the profile page then. But I don't think this would make this user get a notification. Maybe Chris could help us with that. :)

[Lord_Chris 270]

Hi @ImTheFrostbite,

 

Unfortunately tagging someone doesn't provide them with any notification like on Facebook. It's simply a way of highlighting names in a thread. To do this, you use the user tags:

 

[member=Lord_Chris[/user]

produces [user]Lord_Chris]

 

YOu can find a full list of all BBCode here.

[Mathew Steel 151]

Unfortunately tagging someone doesn't provide them with any notification like on Facebook. It's simply a way of highlighting names in a thread.

 

Although, that would be a welcomed addition :)

[ImTheFrostbite 0]

Hello all,

Just wanted to check in and see if there was any progress on this topic or what the status is.  Any new findings over the past year that could even possibly help with debunking this?  Surely a simple color change isn't going to beat the modding community that easily ;)

[Lord_Chris 270]

Unfortunately, there hasn't been any progress, at least on my end. This is a very complicated process, and I just don't have the C++ knowledge to do this, at least for now. That's not to say someone in the future won't, but it would require many hours of my time sitting going through file after file first of all reading and digesting it all, hours of testing minor changes to try and interpret what each line of code & colour does, then assuming I can get the understanding of it all, try to change something. And as we've already said, a lot of the code is compiled anyway, so after all that there's not even a guarantee it would work.

I'm happy to help you in your project where I can though, or perhaps you may know a few other people who could help as well, but it's too much to do all by myself on a single standalone project. I know you said you've discussed this with Nick on Twitter in the past, I'd be interested in reading any conversations the two of you have had- I have contact with Nick myself so I could also follow up with emails to clarify anything if necessary. Feel free to PM me the links if you don't want to post them publicly, but it may well be a starting point.

[ImTheFrostbite 0]

On 27/12/2020 at 05:41, Lord_Chris said:

Unfortunately, there hasn't been any progress, at least on my end. This is a very complicated process, and I just don't have the C++ knowledge to do this, at least for now. That's not to say someone in the future won't, but it would require many hours of my time sitting going through file after file first of all reading and digesting it all, hours of testing minor changes to try and interpret what each line of code & colour does, then assuming I can get the understanding of it all, try to change something. And as we've already said, a lot of the code is compiled anyway, so after all that there's not even a guarantee it would work.

I'm happy to help you in your project where I can though, or perhaps you may know a few other people who could help as well, but it's too much to do all by myself on a single standalone project. I know you said you've discussed this with Nick on Twitter in the past, I'd be interested in reading any conversations the two of you have had- I have contact with Nick myself so I could also follow up with emails to clarify anything if necessary. Feel free to PM me the links if you don't want to post them publicly, but it may well be a starting point.

Hey Chris,

Sorry for the late response, I just assumed at this point that this effort is basically dead.  A real shame, but I wonder if SPY has made any progress on this.  I am willing to help, if you want to try to work together on it.  I am not big on C++ by any means, but maybe I can help get a starting point going.  Also, as a side note, is it possible to fix the incorrect crests in skirmish that are displayed (for example, Olaf's flag is really the Hawk's)?

Anyway, it might be better for you to reach out to Nick if you think he can provide any sort of guidance.  I am basically dead in the water at this point, no updates at all.  Is there anyone else on the admin team that could possible help take a look? Surely there are some people here with C++ skills 😃

I tried to hit Matthew back on Discord to get a more real-time update on progressing further with this, but not sure if he received those.  Let me know!

Edited January 11, 2021 by ImTheFrostbite

[Lord_Chris 270]

13 hours ago, ImTheFrostbite said:

Also, as a side note, is it possible to fix the incorrect crests in skirmish that are displayed (for example, Olaf's flag is really the Hawk's)?

I assume you're talking here about the fact that colours are assigned in order of players and the crests represent those player colours? The answer I'm afraid to this is no, as it's an in-built game concept that the crests depend upon the colour of the player in Skirmish and multiplayer games, as opposed to changing them. The only thing you could really do is just rename the actual crest images, but to do this effectively you'd need to do it before the game is started, and know the order of the players you're going to have before you start. And if it's a multiplayer game, then even that would only work on your own machine.

If you think about this, it actually makes sense because in a Multiplayer game, Firefly would have no idea which player was who and in what position, so they needed a standard way of ensuring it would always be the same.

If you really want to do this with the player colours, you're probably best off starting to take a look at some of the shader files and see if you can make sense of them. This isn't something you can just walk into though, as programming in any language requires dedication, patience and most importantly time. My PMs are always open for any programming-specific questions that don't really fit into the main forum if you want, but you're best off using the forum if you have questions so everyone can benefit from the answer. I'm not trying to scare you with this, but it is important you understand that it is a commitment (however long that takes).

I can see you're really passionate about this, and that's great. My honest opinion is that if you're really interested in going for this, you need to understand the background around all the files first and some of the C++ syntax. That's one of the reasons I know so much about SH2 myself, simply because of years of trial and error and looking into what things are, etc. Sometimes we spend an awful lot of time waiting for the "right" person to do something for us or the "right" event to happen, when we don't actually recognise that we are that right person to make change ourselves. You know, I first created SHN as a kid back when I was starting College. I never would have guessed it would come this far with a bit of drive and ambition. Sometimes if you don't see the light you want in the world, you have to create it yourself

With a bit of guidance and support, you may well turn out as a really good programmer, who knows. The world works in mysterious ways....

[Lord_Chris 270]

This message is for @ Spy  - collectively as a team I believe we have found out what the 4 map files you have found refer to. I will send you a PM with some more information over the next day or two and it would be good to work with you on this if interested.

[Sir Windows 34]

On 11/01/2021 at 08:25, ImTheFrostbite said:

Also, as a side note, is it possible to fix the incorrect crests in skirmish that are displayed (for example, Olaf's flag is really the Hawk's)?

Do you mean changing the crests to be like the ones used in map editor?

For that one you need to change the files in the crests folder. For the Hawk you'd need to replace crest4.png with eagle_turquoise_on_black.png found in the turquoise folder.