Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[LordPinkerton]

I'm still pretty new to DF, especially when it comes to understanding the structure of raw data regarding graphic tilesets. I want to try and dabble in it and see what I can accomplish, but am looking for tools to help out. I'm more than set on art software, but would like more information on utilities others might use for actually compiling and setting the tiles to their in-game counterparts. I was looking online and came across one called Raw Tile Selector http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Utility:Raw_tile_selector, but it appears rather old and I could not get it working. It seems, at least from a cursory look, to make modding much easier. Is there something similar out there?

On another note, I would also like to pose a question regarding making graphics for specific entries. Specifically, how detailed one can get in creating them. According to the wiki on tilesets, quite a bit seems to be capable of being manually set through changing the raw data, but what about things like corpses which are usually limited to using the tileset.

Lastly, aside from the page http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Tilesets#What_tiles_are_used_for_what, is there any comprehensive list of modifiable tiles with their corresponding in-game symbols? As I said, any resources would be extremely helpful.

[Fleeting Frames]

Comprehensive list of modifiable tiles...What popped in my head was Text will be text github. There's 8 pages of overriddable things at the bottom.

mifki's realcolors.lua is also a demonstration of the possibility of going beyond initial 16 colors for details, though I don't know if anybody is using it. There's one that is close, though

I haven't really looked into this, though, so others will have to answer your undead question.

[CLA]

The list on the wiki is exhaustive as far as I'm aware -- there just aren't that many tiles you can change. The only tiles you can change are the ones marked with *, # and $. Combined with the fact that you can only use one tileset with 256 tiles (the tileset), a big problem is certainly that many tiles are used for multiple things and changing these tiles will have to be some sort of compromise. E.g., you can make the 'X' look like really good up/down stairs, but then the cursor, wooden bins, and the letter 'X' in text will look like stairs too.

There are also creature graphics of course. See here for more information:

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Graphic_set
Quiet-sun wrote a set of utilities to automatically generate text files for creature graphics:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=156151.0
I also find BradUffners "Raw Explorer" especially useful for checking a creature graphic set for completeness and finding problems/errors in your text files.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=103360


As it's been mentioned there's a third party utility called "Text Will Be Text", which - with DFHack - allows you to assign more tiles than possible in vanilla. Especially the problem that tiles get used for several things I mentioned above is solved with that. It's probably your best bet if you want to avoid the current (as in "the next 20 years") limitations of Dwarf Fortress' graphics.

PS: It doesn't hurt to check this list:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=28829.0

There might be some utilities which are useful to you as well.

[LordPinkerton]

That's quite a bit of useful information. Definitely helps explain a lot, especially the Quiet-Sun threads. Only sucks that of the list of utilities on your last link, Raw tile selector & Raw tile merger, Tile Genie, and Raw Explorer are by far seeming would be exactly what I'm looking for, but are either severely outdated or no longer available. Still, it's a great place to keep looking for some sort of manager instead of relying on making the changes to the raws by hand.

[CLA]

Only sucks that of the list of utilities on your last link, Raw tile selector & Raw tile merger, Tile Genie, and Raw Explorer are by far seeming would be exactly what I'm looking for, but are either severely outdated or no longer available

The DFFD links should still work. If they don't, look at the URL: DFFD moved from dffd.wimbli.com to dffd.bay12games.com a while ago, so old links are likely broken.

I tried manually replacing wimbli with bay12games in the DFFD link from the Raw Explorer thread linked above and that got me a working download. I assume the same is true for other links.
Some of the utilities might also be version agnostic in regards to DF - that is, they might still work even if they were made for another version.