Eagles Talon wrote...
Greetings all,
I’m going to sound like a total newbie here, but I’m not really. I’ve been a builder in a PW for several years. But my work with custom content has been non-existent other than using the end products from a few HAK’s etc. that have been there since the beginning for me so I don’t even consider them custom content anymore.
I do have some questions that are real basic. I just hope the answers are a short as the questions, however unlikely that is.
First, newbies truly don't exist, just folks with questions. {smilie}
1. After searching through the Vault, I find that I’m confused over some terminology. In particular I’ve seen the following: Skin, reskin, texture, retexture,
Those 4 are 99% of the time referring to the same thing. Changing the look of an object/tile/creature by simply changing the texture assigned to it.
model and perhaps a couple of others
This depends on the context the words are used in. Again, most of the time it is likely to be the same as reskinning something. However, if the modle (file extension being ./mdl ) is changed or newly created then you are actually talking about custom content.
My belief is that these are generally different words for the same thing. Are there differences? Does it matter which one is used?
Again, here it depends on the actual context. Best bet is to be as specific as possible when discussing things, as that generally helps to eliminate confusion.
2. Overrides? I understand the basic concept I think. If I load in an override, client side, what I see when playing the game is the override. It is not necessarily what other people see. My questions are – a) Do I see the override in the toolset?
Can the override be added as a required HAK for a PW so that everyone sees the same thing by necessity? (and if so can these be added into a custom HAK and how?)
a) yes, you see overide content in toolset.
depends on what that content is and would depend on whether the server admin feels like forcing his/her players to download that content. You will find some server admins that force you to download their own custom haks, that are nothing more than renamed/repackaged copies of things you likely already have in your hak folder while others tell folks where to get that specific content on their own.
Overrides on local side can affect just about anything, much more than folks think. However, overrides from a server side and the client side are handled differently. A server override folder typically contains scripts that affect general game play. They always override content from the client side, regardless of how the client loads them. Typically though, most PW servers, don't use override folder for anything but script protection. By having the script in their override, the clients can not cheat by placing a new version on the client side, as the server will always override the client.
Depending on the other content in the override, some things won't work from hak file, some will. Most will, but only on modules that have that specific hak inserted in the custom content of said module.
Client side, folks like to use override folder to add things to every module they play so that the do NOT have to edit the individual module to get that content working. However, if that same content by filename, is already in the module via a .hak, then having it also in override is a complete waste of disk space, as the hak has priority over the override folder.
basic order of load is:
oc resources (read .bif content)
module resources (modified basic content, things like a sheild you placed in a creatures inventory to be dropped)
erf content, (module resources loaded via .erf import)
override folder contents
hak file contents.
server override folder
That is the basic order of what has priority when you play.
I think that is pretty darned close, but there are some instances where things might be handled a bit differently and I am sure other folks will comment about that.
Any help to save my sanity would be helpful.
Thanks in advance
ET
Hope that helps you somewhat.
