Is there a way to extract sprites/animations/shape files?

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DrYazman

New member
Are there any tools out there that can extract shapes from Crusader? I'm interested in the possibility of doing so, especially because CNR seems to have a bigger modding community than Pagan: Ultima 8, which has the same basic structure as Crusader, from what I've been able to determine. I'm hoping that maybe some of these Crusader tools might be able to work extracting for either Crusader itself, or Pagan.

I'd like to be able to extract stuff myself because then I can hopefully get the OG files and possibly metadata.

I've got an ancient Crusader Explorer, but it seems to experience an error trying to extract anything. Wondering if anybody has any working tools for extraction?

(edit: I'd also like to be able to insert files and possibly do map edits, in case anyone has tools for things of that nature)
 
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Have you tried the dodgy exe file on the resources page? https://www.echosector.com/files2/

I run it through wine on Linux. Maybe you should run it on a virtual machine. Just point it to SHAPES.FLX file for both games and it will spit out bmps correctly palatted with all the transparent pixels set to a bright green color (#00b40c). All the old tools for this were made by Russian coders I think. The most modern attempt to read those files is by dascandy here but you'll need to adopt and compile the code yourself. Or wait a year and I might have done it lol.
 
dileepvr said:
Have you tried the dodgy exe file on the resources page? https://www.echosector.com/files2/

I run it through wine on Linux. Maybe you should run it on a virtual machine. Just point it to SHAPES.FLX file for both games and it will spit out bmps correctly palatted with all the transparent pixels set to a bright green color (#00b40c). All the old tools for this were made by Russian coders I think. The most modern attempt to read those files is by dascandy here but you'll need to adopt and compile the code yourself. Or wait a year and I might have done it lol.
Click to expand...

I see that it looks like the Crusader: Explorer file does work on Crusader: No Remorse, although not on U8: Pagan (which throws up a specific error).

Are there any tools that can insert shapes into a Crusader shapes.flx?

Also, what is it exactly that you're working on?
 
U8: Pagan has slight format changes compared to the crusader games. You might have better luck with the Exult engine. Or look up what the Pentagram team did in the early 2000s'. Their source code is floating around on some sourceforge link somewhere.

I am not aware of any simple tool that can insert shapes into shapes.flx. I don't think that it is that simple, since all the files refer to each other, and flx stores a lot of offsets in its headers. You might simultaneously change multiple files.

I am working on adding an isometric mode to gzdoom, and seeing if I can port the maps over to it. See my work in the Creations subforum.
 
dileepvr said:
U8: Pagan has slight format changes compared to the crusader games. You might have better luck with the Exult engine. Or look up what the Pentagram team did in the early 2000s'. Their source code is floating around on some sourceforge link somewhere.

I am not aware of any simple tool that can insert shapes into shapes.flx. I don't think that it is that simple, since all the files refer to each other, and flx stores a lot of offsets in its headers. You might simultaneously change multiple files.

I am working on adding an isometric mode to gzdoom, and seeing if I can port the maps over to it. See my work in the Creations subforum.
Click to expand...
Has anybody ever figured out a way to mod the map for CNR?
 
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