New item IDs

I have an idea for keeping track of new items in POP4. I would like to change the IDs so that when we look at an item we know what faction it's for and what troop has the item. This new method will only work for faction items, I will come up with something for general items, or multifaction items (if we have any).

I want Id 's to look like this:

Kingdom_troop_name_type_type#

for example:

K1_convert_body_1
K1_convert_body_2
K1_cobra_errant_boots_1
K1_tainted_sword_1

more general items:

k1_leather_boots

and multifactional items:

p4_fancy_boots

and then of course we can change the display name to something else, like "Scale leather" or "Serrated Cobra Fang" I think this will help us keep track of where items are showing up in the game. Any other ideas?

Timaaagh wrote:

Any other ideas?

Change the item IDs on all of those damn pl_### items, drives me nuts having to look them up ever time to even know what kind of item it is, though I'm starting to memorize some of the numbers now

Agreed!!!! I can't stand those either! We can change the IDs on the old items we keep, to hell with the rest. We're deleting those anyway...at least I believe that was the plan...

Anyway is it clear what the k1 and p4 stand for and what the rest of the ID is?

Well, being as I can see lightning and hear thunder well enough, yes

Im going to explain what the art team has been doing so far, and it nearly lines up with what you are doing.

faction_armortype#_(maptype)

faction, is whatever the name is.
armor type, is boots, gloves, something simple, to know where on the body it goes.
# is the number it is, in order of grade from the ground up, peasent sneakers tend to be 1, and progresses from there.
maptype is s, or n, for specmap or normal map.

Can we get an agreement soon? This left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing thing, is a bit absurd.

From the sounds of it I would say that we are using the above method for item IDs in module_items.py. My only concern with the method you are using is how do you plan to differentiate meshes with the same purpose?

For example of what I mean:

Lets say that you have made two fur boots for the flayed, one brown and one white and is for the flayed's lowest ranked troop.

Brown boots mesh name: flayed_boots1_n
White boots mesh name: flayed_boots1_n

The problem being that they have the same mesh name.

The number just increases. While I would like to use adjectives, there is no standard for adjectives. Whats the difference between a boots_shiny and boots_fancy?

Currently melitine has 3 sets of boots
melitine_boots1
melitine_boots2
melitine_boots3

they are divided by tier. 1 being the most basic, and 3 being the most advanced. Im willing to use your type, and have asked for item id numbers in the past. I just want a standardization so not only do i know how to find the items I need, but also to be able to know how to label them without looking something up or asking someone.

Cheers

Also, nice to see you back Tim.

Hmm I am a little confused. Are you using the module_items.py file to look for item ids? I know artists will be using BRF Edit and use mesh names for identification, but if you're not using the module_items.py file then however we use ids in the code shouldn't effect you.

not sure if you know but an item looks like this in the code:

Code:

["pl_331", "Dark Metal Round Shield", [("round212",0)], itp_merchandise|itp_type_shield, itcf_carry_round_shield,  140 , weight(4)|hit_points(480)|body_armor(16)|spd_rtng(90)|weapon_length(50),imodbits_shield ],
 

"pl_331" is the item id (this is the old system they used for item ids, it sucks)
"Dark Metal Round Shield" is the item's in game display name
"round212" is the mesh name

...I'm not sure if what I'm trying to say is making much sense, but at least now you know what item code looks like

Well anyway I think my overall point is that the mesh names and item ids don't have to be the same, or use the same system. Eh, I'm getting the feeling that I'm not making much sense in this post...

The reason I need Ids is that when I give you coders the items, it was easy enough for me to say Melitineblah blah blah is item #11231 so you know where it goes and who gets it, since you guys have been independently tasked with adding "items" or at least assigning numbers to all the units. The whole system is unwieldly, so in summation, Im willing to name these any way that you need them to be named, so long as there is a concrete system in place. Right now looking through mesh names is a total pain in the ass because of the way they sort, and most of them have artist initials first, and they are spread over a billion brfs. So, the item meshes themselves and textures have been following the previous naming scheme I posted.

Those are the reasons why.

I would love to chat with you on msn to talk about things, so that we can have more harmony between the art and coding sides of this project.

Cheers
Joe