weapon icons

[Pyromace]

So recently I've started using the alternate HUD layout and have become a fan of it. The main thing that I like about it is that it lets you know what weapons you're holding at a quick glance, however, the icons are not very discernible from each other except for the little number. What I would like to do is create an icon set with an easily recognizable icon for each weapon that will let me know the weapons I'm holding with a quicker glance. Is there any way to do this?

[KadaverJack]

Is there any way to do this?

Shure...
Open data*.pk3 (it's just an ordanary zip file, either rename the file or start a zip archiver of your choice and use the open function) and extract gfx/inv_weapon[0-8].tga to Nexuiz/data (e.g. Nexuiz/data/gfx/inv_weapon0.tga). Now you can edit the files with any image editor...

[Pyromace]

cool. thanks. i figured it was something like that, i just wasn't sure which files i would need to alter.

[Pyromace]

i was thinking. is there a way to do this and have it be part of a separate pk3 file, kinda like the new sound pack that was released? that way i wouldn't have to change any of the original pk3 files.

[[-z-]]

You most definitely can and rightfully should!

pk3's are basically a transparent solution for running updated code on top of the 'data pack', called something like data20080511.pk3.

Consider the Nexuiz data directory (~/.nexuiz/data on OSX/Linux || /Nexuiz/data on Windows) the root of your package and creative a zip archive relative to this.

You want to update files in the gfx folder, so your package would have to have a gfx folder inside it with the files you're updating. Rename the zip to .pk3, drop it in your Nexuiz data directory and it should load when Nexuiz starts.

I go into a little more depth on this topic here if you need.

[Pyromace]

Thanks -z-. I figured out the pk3 thing no problem. Now I've run into a couple things I'm not sure I can fix without changing code, but I'll ask anyway.

First, is there any way to get rid of the little numbers that show up in the corner of the icons? If I have easily recognizable icons these numbers would be pointless.

Second, when I replace the icon with my test icon, it still has a semi-transparent white background even if the alpha channel on my new icon is completely transparent, can I get rid of that?

[[-z-]]

I haven't looked into it, so don't take this as anything more than an educated guess.

I believe both the background and the number are controlled by the engine.

In theory it's as easy as commenting out the two lines responsible for those actions and recompiling the engine to suit your needs (though some developers may ache at reading that solution).

Of course, this probably more than it's worth for you.

[Pyromace]

yeah, i'm totally not into going into the code for this. i was afraid of that though.

[Pyromace]

Alright, so I managed to figure out my problem with the alpha channels and i've started making the weapon icons. They're just so small now in the alternate HUD. Is there a console command to make the inv icons always show in the standard hud instead of just when you switch weapons or pick up a new weapon?

[Pyromace]

so i've finished at least a first draft of my new weapon icons and here they are...



if you're interested in downloading the pk3 of these icons they can be downloaded here:

http://www.whoiszach.com/nexuiz/pyroicons.pk3