Well I've realized how to make the mod without too much fussing.
I came up with a few ideas. I may need help with them though.
1) I gave the protoss mechanicals regenerative ability (I made up some lore for it already). I also decided to give the Probe "Heal" for the organic units, as few as they are. Is giving the Probe "Heal" possible through firegraft and would it work without any other interference aside from giving it Spellcaster status?
2) I want to give the Dark Archon an attack. Also, perhaps cause High Templar (Heretic Templar I will call them) to merge into DAs? Is that possible? or Am I stuck with making them Void Archons? I still need a matching color scheme for the Archon Being to match it's Energy Field color given by the Dark Protoss grp pack I got from maplantis.
3) I need to replace the Reaver. It has no Dark counterpart in the grp pack, and Although I have an idea for a stationary mode for the dark Dragoon that uses Scarabs as artillery/defensive attack, I dont know how to apply Siege mode mechanics. Any way to do this without plugins?
4) I still have the Void Rift problem: The graphics that came with the grp pack include both the texture and the rift animations. But applied to the mod file, it crashes when a warp rift is opened. I will attempt to investigate it more, but if there is no clear understanding of the problem, I must come back to you gentlemen and possibly ladies. Unless you already got an answer for me, which would be delightful.
5) Is it possible to create a new "+50 Energy" Upgrade for, say, an infested Ghost?

PS: I'm also a bit rusty. Do I have to start a new Firegraft from scratch each time I need to shift and add buttons and stuff? Because doing it by memory and/or writing it down for later posterity is a bit tedius.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on May 11 2012, 10:54 pm by SCRuler.

Heal afaik is partially hardcoded; you can partially do it, but there are some issues, afaik. I could perhaps throw a plugin together to emulate it? (...Wait, wasn't I supposed to make you a Shield Battery plugin...)

Firegraft has EXE Edits for Archon Merge and the DA version. Not sure if they're exactly what you want, but I'd look at them a bit.

Oh boy, Siege Mode. It's a mean ability to work with for anything except its intended use. ...You want the Dragoon to Siege into a Reaver, right? That /should/ be possible, as I think they updated the EXE Edits for Sieging, but I'll have to get back to you on that one.

If you link me to this GRP pack, I'll take a look.

No. You cannot add new energy upgrades; you'd have to cannibalize some existing caster with an energy upgrade, which presumably isn't acceptable. However, what you could do is have some dummy upgrade (Unused Upgrade 55 or something), and cause it to increase the infested Ghost's energy regeneration rate via plugin.

To be honest, all I really need is to change the Archon Being's color to match the GRP of his energy supplied in the GRP package.
As for the Dragoon sieging, I am only looking for a means to replace the Reaver's capabilities due to it's lack of presence in the package.
and I guess I'll forget about the energy upgrade. Not terribly needed.

and here is the link to the Dark Protoss GRP package. Note the illustrious lack of certain things, and the totally changed forms of many others.
And PLEEAAAAASE, if you can discover the issue with the warp rift, I will be very grateful.
http://www.staredit.net/files/279/

Is it the same issue you had here?

Yeah, I've had it for a very long time, I've mentioned it in a few of the posts I've made since christmas, I only just started posting again a week or two ago.

Alright, fair enough.

If you're having problems, it obviously means that something's wrong. And since the Warp Gate doesn't natively exist as an actual usable unit in SC, it means that you've modded it in, but have done something wrong in doing so.

General list of "why does it crash" when adding new graphics:
* Incorrect number of frames. You can fix this either via iscript, or via modifying the *.grp itself. Your choice, but iscript tends to be easier.
* Invalid or crashing opcodes in the iscript. Make sure, for instance, that you don't have two "playfram" opcodes right next to each other.
* Missing iscript headers. For your specific problem, check the Warp Gate's WarpIn, Init, Built, and possibly IsWorking animations; make sure that they're present and have nothing wrong with them.
* units.dat or flingy.dat settings that conflict with the new graphics. Probably not the issue here, but worth checking anyway.
* Invalid images.dat settings. There's many settings in images.dat that could be causing a crash, and since I don't have your mod, you'll have to try and see if there's anything wrong here on your own. It will help to compare your images.dat settings against other, similar ones that do not crash.
* Invalid number of frames in one of the unit's overlays. Not likely to be the case, since warp animations aren't overlays. Worth checking if all other options fail though.

If your new graphics are crashing, one of these is probably the cause. Which one it is depends on the specific problem, but if I had to bet, I'd bet money that your crash is an iscript problem. I can't go into specifics without having a copy of your mod, but this rough guideline should help.

Let me know if you encounter any further issues.

Well, I checked a while ago, the frames for each of the texture and pb1glow grps match perfectly in number and form.
I didn't touch the iframe data for the warping action at all, but I guess it's worth a look, and I wouldn't know what to look for in the images.dat that would cause a problem and how to sort it out.
I gave the link to the grp package in one of my replies above, at the request of biophysicist. He said he'd take a look at it for me when he had the chance. If you have the time and the desire, you can check out the package for yourself and see if you have issues.
Months ago, I also asked the creator of the package for some help, asking what he did to make the graphics and how they worked on his version of the game, but all he said was he was out of the modding game and wished me luck.
Also, I haven't added any buttons to warping in the Warp Gate, and I haven't tried doing anyting with it. My first warpin attempt was with a nexus.
tbh, I havent even placed the structures in staredit to test out how they work as already there.

A request to any present:
I will pay my minerals (yeah, not a big incentive but still one) to whoever can recolor or develop a Dark Protoss type pylon, a similarly colored modified Arbiter, ditto for a Reaver and a shield battery of similar vein.
Keep in mind though please sirs, took at the Dark Protoss grp pack I linked to above please.
I dont expect this to be done, but it would be nice if someone did it.

So I spent about 10 minutes screwing around with the pylon colors and came up with this. Would this be what you're after?

It looked a lot better in Photoshop, but SC's unit palette doesn't contain many shades of red, so I had to remove most of the detail from the crystal. The sides look okay, I guess.

The pink areas are where the player colors would go.

\e
Also, your Warp Rift problem: whatever it is, it's not a problem with the GRPs themselves. They have the exact same number of frames, the exact same dimensions, and the exact same palette. Meaning the only way it could crash is if you did something wrong somewhere else which is causing it. Does the warping work with if you remove the custom texture/glow?

Attachments:

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on May 22 2012, 12:20 am by xAngelSpiritx.

Yeah I know the frames and everything are set, I don't know what could have been the problem. I am planning on restarting in the first place. It might work then. The problem might be with the structures themselves, as opposed to the warp rift. You notice how crazy they look?
Anyway, I am extremely pleased with that pylon, good sir. And I know about the player color areas. I'm very very grateful for your help, xAngelSpiritx!
Update: I plan on fusing the Arbiter and Observer into one unit with a series of abilities plus detector.
I just need to find a way to replace the Reaver as the special artillery, and to replace the Shield battery.
Do I still need a plugin to shift Recharge Shields to a different unit/structure? Or can Firegraft take care of it?

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on May 23 2012, 8:07 pm by SCRuler.

Firegraft should be able to handle it, but there just might be something hardcoded. It could be that the Recharge Shields ability has to be on a building, is tied to its specific Unit ID, or any number of complications. I've never had the chance to experiment with it myself, so no dice. If you have problems though, let me know and I'll try to figure it out. Just be sure to double-check stuff like spellcasting animations in the iscript (though frankly, I doubt Recharge Shields uses the spellcasting animation)


/edit
Okay, wow, that was quite a sum of minerals you sent me. Way more than that pylon was worth.

I feel kind of obligated now to get off my arse and finish up the rest of those GRP's.

I'll post a few quick samples here tomorrow, if I have the time, and see if you like them.

Lol all at your leisure, good sir! I am quite grateful for the pylon.
All I really need is to replace the Reaver and shield battery. And to make the Ion Cannon work the way it should.
I have a grp gotten from maplantis, it turns and everything. I just need it to actually fuckin' shoot.
And since the Psi Disruptor doesn't cast when I give it Maelstrom, I am turning the Science Vessel into a Portable Psi Disruptor.
I haven't tested it yet but I am rather sure that the Cerebrate will work properly for researching Infested Ghost stuff.

Right, to business;

Let me know specifically what units you need GRP's for, and more importantly, what you want them to look like. Simple recolors and (most) kitbashes I can do without problems, but something like this is well beyond my ability to make. I also have a fair amount of random spell/weapon effects lying around on my harddrive that I could throw to you, though those were designed for an RPG and are probably a bit flasher than what you need. I can also do icons, but not sure what you might need there.

As to making a functional Ion Cannon, I'd recommend using the Missile Turret as a reference iscript to base the Ion Cannon's off of. For the most part, the script should be extremely similar, but you probably want to edit out the idle animation (24/7 rotating ion cannon trolololol)

Buildings should be able to cast spells just fine. Have you set DAT requirements correctly, and the Action Var in Firegraft to the correct value?
The Cerebrate should work just fine. You'll probably need to give it IsWorking and WorkingToIdle animations in its iscript, and of course, set DAT requirements in Firegraft. Should be no problems otherwise.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on May 24 2012, 9:35 pm by xAngelSpiritx.

They can't normally, actually, iirc. There's some field to do with turning somewhere that you need to set. I found this out when I tried to make the Lurker Egg work as a normal unit (for some reason)... Stuff that can't turn can't handle most orders correctly.

Kitbash? Nice. Perhaps a Dark Protoss-colored Reaver with Dragoon legs? And is it possible to have a kind of hover tank with a Missile Turret ? I want to replace the Vulture with it.

Ok i'll try that out.

I dont think I have. How do I do this and what is the correct Action Var?
Ok good.
If all goes well, I'll need voice actors for the campaign. lol
But it's a little too early.
And I feel I have to ask this again since it's been such a long while: Is a firegraft save able to be loaded?

Uhm... Well, when you're editing a button in a button set, the action variable gives information to certain types of buttons that need additional information. For example, in a button to create a unit, the action variable dictates what unit is trained. You do know what it is, just apparently not by name. ...In the case of a spell button, the action variable says what spell to cast; I'm asking you to make sure you set it to the correct spell. But it's probably the turning thing.

...:? I don't know what you mean... Uhm! Do you mean to ask if you can open a mod you saved earlier in Firegraft again? If that's what you're asking, then yes... Uhm, with the Open button in the File menu.

Oh, now I realize. Ok. Im good with that. I think I do that properly.I've been trying to open the mod file I had before... Wouldn't let me. Or does it not like MPQs?
I also need answers on another thing: Can one change an upgrade so that it applies to a different unit? I'm replacing the Arbiter and Observer with the "Bishop", and They have sets of upgrades that would be very useful for both since the Bishop will be a detector and a spellcaster. I would like for it's sight range to be increased by upgrade, as well as it's speed, but I would also like to see if I could get the +50 upgrade.
-Another note: I still need an appropriately colored Archon Being sprite.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on May 25 2012, 10:17 pm by SCRuler.

I could swear I had a non-turning building cast Psionic Storm once, but I'll take your word for it.

Is Scanner Sweep an exception, then? I was under the impression Scanner Sweep was handled like most other unit-creating spells (i.e. Disruption Web), the exception being its unlimited range.

First, I did say "iirc". This is just going off what I remember; I'm in Vermont atm and don't have the tools to test stuff until I get back. (...Request: Please remind me to do stuff when I get back, which will be late on Sunday evening.) Also, uhm, I've tried giving Scanner Sweep to structures that are not ComSats and it didn't work. ...You could try making a test mod which gives the Supply Depot and the Missile Turret Scanner Sweep, and seeing if they can cast it.

Idk what u are talking about, but if u want to add a spell to a structure that targets a point, u have to set the arc to 360.

Edit: sorry forgot to explain myself. This this basically so that the spell can be casted without turning (cuz buildings can't turn).