FRM file format - Critters

[Wild_qwerty]

Well since I have finally figured out the last piece in the puzzle here is a run down on how they work for anyone else out there interested (or crazy enough) to try and mkae some new ones.

First off I will explain how the files are centered in a FRM

1) As you can see the indivdual frames (BMPs) are centered in the middle of the bottom edge of the image.

2) You may also note that the critters feet are well above this center point; you will need to adjust the "Frames Offset" to fix this.

3) The individual frames within an orientation can be adjusted by editing the X and Y offsets for them. You should probably line up all indivual frames and make sure each orientation is centered correctly is reference to the other orientations. Use Frame Animator for this.

4) Each orientation can have its X and Y position 'shifted' by adjusting the Frames Orientation. This will move the whole orientation rather than just the indivual Frame. Use Frame Animator for this.

If you dont adjust the Y value of the Frames Orientation the critter will be 'above' the hex it is supposed to be in. This will make the whole thing look ugly as other critters will walk through it, and it looks like it is floating above the ground.

I have found that FRM Workshop is not quite up to the job for part 4 of making new FRMs, but Frame Animator does the job nicely

Why use FR0,FR1,FR2,FR3,FR4,FR5 instead of a single FRM?
Well I do have a theory on this, though I have not proved it yet. I have noticed that a lot of the "bigger" sequences such as the high violence death animations are split up into seperate FR# sequences. I think this is so rather than having to load the whole FRM file the engine only needs to load the indivual orientation it requires. This could effectively cut the load time down to 1/6 th of the time of loading a complete FRM file.
I supose a way to prove this would be to join the six orientations back together (using Frame animator) and see if the game lags at all when loading that sequence. The perfect model would be Leiutenant Lue the super mutant from FO 1 as he has a very big death sequence already. Though to get an accurate test you may need to run this on an older computer.

 

[red]

You should have asked beforehand... I've dealt with all this quite a while ago (albeit to display them not to make them)

 

[Wild_qwerty]

The problem I had was that if you make the adjust on Frame one using the "Frame offset" it wont shift it below the edge of the BMP. It turns out that I needed to adjust Frame 1 of each orientation using the Frames offset.

FRM Workshop doesnt have this option, but Frame Animator does.

 

[PsychoSniper]

What program do you use to access/edit them ?

 

[Wild_qwerty]

Frame Animator

Anyone who download the Heavy Power Armour will need to edit it sorry

 

[PsychoSniper]

Thanks, DLing now.

 

[Wild_qwerty]

I will write a tutorial later and release it with an upcomming MR monthly update along with a tool I have made to transfer the critters from a certian other fallout game...

 

[sztupy]

you could have asked me too about this

 

[Lich]

Strange things hapend on my modified critter and dont known how fix offsets
when i change items on hand- take bazoka (MC) critt going down or jump

 

[Wild_qwerty]

Yes, that is because of the 'master FRMs' for each weapon set has a different center or the transition FRMs for each set are incorrect.

Master FRMs
Check that or the FRMs with the suffix begining with 'A' are correctly centred. These are the FRMs of the critter standing still or scratching, such as 'AA' 'DA' 'JA' etc...
These are the only FRMs that should be centured on the HEX, all the other FRMs in the set will automaticaly follow their master FRM for that weapon set.


Transition FRMs
These are the FRMs where the critter changes weapons, the model will draw his gun or put it in his backpack. While these look nice and add a nice effect to the game, the real reason they are there is to stop the 'skipping' or 'jumping' when changing weapons. These FRMs do not need to be centured on the hex, but make sure the individual frames are all linned up with each other.

 

[Mandelbrot]

I have no idea if it would work or how you would convert the files to FRM or from FRM but have you ever played with gmax?
www.turbosquid.com/gmax

free modeling tool.. really cool.. I've managed to make weird shapes. (that's about it) But really good artists have a web page where i guess gaming companies can buy their creations.