NPC portraits for PC use...

Recruitable NPC portraits for PC use...

For all you modders and portrait gurus out there this question is for you. Is there any way I can take Rufus' portrait out of whatever directory it is stored in and make it available for my pc's to use. I hope there is a way to do this, however, if there is I require some expert help in doing so. Thanks in advance for your help.

Yojimbo

EDIT: I changed the thread subject to more accurately reflect what I was trying to figure out. Is there any way I can take the portrait of a recruitable NPC and use it for one of my pc's?

 

The NPC portraits don't have a big version, unfortunately.

 

Oh, I see, that is too bad. I don't suppose there is any way you can create some sort of placeholder for the big portrait and then be able to use it for your pc? Just some thoughts as I have no real ability in regards to this. Thanks.

Yojimbo

 

Could anyone tell me what file extension the NPC portraits are stored under? I would like to try and make some of them available for my pc's. Thanks in advance.

 

IIRC they are Targa images (TGA) which should be editable in Photoshop. They also have an Alpha layer.

'course, I'm really not a gfx guy, so if you want details there's others about that know more.

 

Great, thanks for the reply. I don't suppose you know what directory I can find them (the NPC portraits) in? I can't seem to locate the directory. Thanks again.

Yojimbo

 

For your purposes, I would recommend the following steps.
1) Get my PortraitWizard or Chris Glenn's custom portrait importation zip.
2) put all the files into the \art\interface\PORTRAITS directory.
3) Create a new PC portraits.mes entry by hand or with PW.
Point the big filename towards Chris Glenn's big-sized custom portrait (CustomPortrait_BIG.tga). The other four filenames should point towards the original filenames for the NPC portraits. You can find out what these are by searching for the NPC's name in portraits.mes.
Rufus, for example, uses the filenames:
NPC_6031_m_Rufus.tga
NPC_6032_s_Rufus.tga
NPC_6033_s_Rufus_grey.tga
NPC_6034_m_Rufus_grey.tga

Using this method, you won't need to extract any of the portraits from the ToEE1.dat. Of course, when you go to the inventory for the character you'll see a giant smiley face instead of a big Rufus. But if you care enough you can follow Chris's instructions to make the big portrait yourself.

 

Excellent. Thank you very much for your help. It works, aside from, as you mentioned, the big portrait being a smiley face. I suppose I will need photoshop in order to make a big version for the inventory screen? Is there anywhere I can download a working trial version of photoshop or would I have to buy it new? (which, being a poor student, I couldn't afford.)

Thanks again for all your help.

Yojimbo

 

You could always try the Win32 port of GIMP. I'm not sure how solid it is these days, but it should work for what you need:

Win32 port of GIMP

 

Thanks for the tip. I picked up GIMP and it looks like it might be able to do the trick. However, I need to get some of the NPC .tga files so I can change the size. Does anyone have the NPC .tga files available for download? If not, how would I go about extracting them. Keep in mind I am not too computer saavy when in comes to this kind of thing so make any explanations as simple as possible for me. Again, thanks everyone for your help thus far.

Yojimbo

 

To extract the files, you'll need ToEExtract by Zane. It's in the stickied tools/mods thread above. Make a copy of your ToEE1.dat file into a new directory, unzip ToEExtract into the same directory, then drag the dat file onto the program. After everything is finished extracting, go to the \art\interfact\PORTRAITS subdirectory that was created.

 

This question is for anyone who may be familiar with the GIMP graphic program or another similiar program. I am attempting to edit the NPC_Rufus_s.tga (not sure if thats the exact file name) and increase its size to 130w x 150h for use as a big portrait. Unfortunately I haven't been able to, surprise, surprise. When I try to scale the image to the correct size that doesn't work, it always ends up being larger which causes the game to crash when I attempt to select that portrait. Any technical assistance would be much appreciated. Maybe I am fighting a losing battle, but, thanks to anyone who can help me out.

EDIT: Even when I get the size correct selecting the portrait still crashes my game. Does this have anything to do with the fact that the small tga image has a one pixel border of black? If so, how would I remove said border? Thanks.

 

Lemme download GIMP and give it a shot in a second...

Love that sig JHunz by the way. Where'd you get it?

 

I nabbed it off someone in another forum - I have no idea who originally said it.

 

Another question for those of you who have explored the .dat files. Any ideas of where the PC portraits for the characters in the tutorial are stored?

Also thanks to everyone for their continued help, it is much appreciated.