Occupation Editor for H&D2 done!

[Ikaros]

Hi!
Almost an year has been passed since me and a friend of mine (aka Mikiller) started working on new occupation maps for Hidden & Dangerous 2 multiplayer LAN sessions.

After all this time, we have 4 fully functional maps and a partial editor that we called "H&D2 RevEngEd".

Using Revenged, DC|ED and a hex editor, we can now realize a new map in a couple of hours. Below are some screenshots of the editor and one of the new maps (Africa 3).

We are now looking for people to help us improve our editor functionality (by understanding more and more things about H&D2 files) and for people who wants to enjoy our new maps.

Many thanks to the geniuses that broke the .DTA files. Our work is based upon theirs.

Africa 3: you can see new walls and flags and so on...


Editor screens:

[JonnySniper]

hey
it looks really nice! 

[Ikaros]

Some more screenshots:

Editing blue and black zones (the ones get coloured when flags are captured)
[img width=793 height=600]http://soleossidiana.altervista.org/_ex ... look_3.jpg[/img]

Some models (read from .4ds files)
[img width=750 height=600]http://soleossidiana.altervista.org/_ext/palm_model.jpg[/img]
[img width=750 height=600]http://soleossidiana.altervista.org/_ex ... _model.jpg[/img]

[Ikaros]

Thanks, Jonny.
I'm quite new at the community. Do you know if someone already did some occupation map? There is knowledge to share?

[Ikaros]

What can this editor do (provided a general stub):
- set a BMP as map background
- change scale and tralation of map
- set position for those white circles you click to choose where to respawn
- change shape and position of blue/black area on map (also of little flags)
- achieve a way to convert game coordinates to screen coordinates
- set respawns positions with simple clicks on screen (height has to be dealt apart)
- set flag position and capture zone with simple click and drag&drops (again, height has to be dealt apart)
- same as above, for ammo, medipack and grenade crates
- insert new actors (ladders, crates, walls, vehicles) with a click and drag them in position
- visualize some 3d models (useless)
- ...

Which are this editor limits:
- it modifies already existing maps from "Hidden & Dangerous 2" (no Sabre Squadron maps, nor totally new maps)
- height is not user friendly (it's a 2-dimensional editor) > heights must be setted by numerical values
- it works with exactly 5 flags (no more, no less)
- you can only change shape of blue/black areas on map, but can't add/remove vertixes
- it needs some stub files (actors.bin, map.4ds and scene2.bin) which are edited previously with DC|ED
- textures are fixed (if you want to change them, you have to use a hex editor)
- ...

[JonnySniper]

Better you Than me,Ted Striker and Dr. No are really good in modding,
but they make coop maps, but iam sure they know many thing about occ too.

i Respect really your work.
how long you need for that?
and in wich language you write it?

Edit:
ah i see a Java icon =)

[Ikaros]

Yes, java! Quick and powerful, but a bit poor in performance.
I can hardly count how many hours spent on this project, looking inside binary files, trying to understand them and then programming an editor. Let's say 100 hours? 250 hours? :)

We (I and Mikiller) know a lot of things about occupation, nowaday. And a lot of things are still obscure. Little by little, I'll put our knowledge into something written and I'll share it. By now, most of things are only inside our minds. Then, Il'll hope to find some help to improve

[2k]

Well done Ikaros, you guys doing amazing job!

[JonnySniper]

yep 2nd most used language now its C again =)
do you have make a coordinationsystem?
may i make a 2d game for myself and i want to make a coordinationsystem to build it...buts really hard :)

[Ikaros]

do you have make a coordinationsystem?
may i make a 2d game for myself and i want to make a coordinationsystem to build it...buts really hard :)

Objects in Hidden have certain coords, represented by X Y and Z (you can look at them inside DC|Editor). I've only a dinamic scale and tralation factor, to correctly display objects on screen. My editor has an interface ruled by pixel coordinates. It's no big deal. I only multiply X (for instance) by a certain factor, and then add a certain number of pixels..  I did not understand what you wish to do, instead.

[Ikaros]

First map for you: Africa 3 Occupation (aka Minaret v.E).

I've just registered a new website for the project. It will contains editor and maps downloads, among with tutorials and manuals (it will require time).

Bye now, you can download a map: http://malgolan.altervista.org/Minareto_v.E.rar
We use to play private LAN sessions, so our maps are studied for 3 vs 3 up to a maximum of 6 vs 6. They're quite narrow and this in particular is similar to Normandy 2B (aka The Bank).

If you have problems installing it, contact me by PM.

[JonnySniper]

ah ok,i thought this would be more accurate.
i write with Delphi and may i make a game like tanks or something like that =)

[Jason]

This is amazing great work man

Will this be an open source project?

[Ikaros]

Will this be an open source project?

Ar.. that's a difficoult question. I fear that an open source project will lead to many different incomplete and incompatible versions of the editor. Moreover, I programmed it as my knowledge of files improved, often by experimenting or writing code just for inspecting files. So the code is a real mess, with useless parts, twisted algorthms and many comments in my native language.

But the thing I desire the most is that the whole community could get the best results. So I can propose something and promise something else...

I'm open to everyone wants to help. I could sent the source code to those people, coordinating new functionality and explaining in detail the affected parts.

Use of the editor will be available to everyone, as soon as it will be user-proof 

Beside this, I'll share all sort of knowledge I got in this year: structure of files, purpose of objects, the needs for a working map. I'll gather them into a guide (when I'll have time).

Finally, if I'll quit this project (for any reason), then I'll make all I possess public.

[hdmaster]

The Editor looks really great. I'm also a little bit familiar with Java because I'm learing it at school.

I also agree with you Ikaros, publishing the source code is often not as good as sharing the knowlegde with a well documented guide. I recommend you to get the scene2.bin documentation by the Mafia Modding Crew because Mafia's .bin file format is very similar to the one H&D 2 uses.

Just ask me if you have any questions on .bin or .4ds files because i'm very familiar with them now.  Basically i've reverse engineered most of these files (not 100%):

• 4ds files
• scene2.bin
• actors.bin
• sounds.bin
• check2.bin
• mpscripts.dta
• serverlist.bin
• dialogs.bin
• effects.def
• effects.bin

We should put our knowledge together and help each other to get faster results and finally crack all these damn files :)