So, hmm, I’m going to make this window. Finally need to produce some interface on my own 
Don’t know whether it will be useful or not: GIMP file I used for moving stuff around and indexed version (for player coloring).
dl.dropbox.com/u/22372764/share/ … eWindow.7z
Well, I figured out that using premade bitmaps is the way most screens were created.
The question is: how to convert pcx to 8-bit so it can be colorized and generally working ingame?
Well… even MS Paint can save as 8bpp bmp (with palette). Then you just need to rearrange colors… I don’t know if there is an automatic tool for that.
Don’t know any way to convert to H3 palette. The only easy way to get correct image I know is to find in H3 resources some image with more-or-less matching 8-bit palette and copy-paste your 24-bit image into it. This may result in some minor artifacts however your image definitely will work in-game.
Thanks, it worked 
So here’s how it looks in game so far:
I think it’s pretty cool, but there are still some issues.
As you notice, skill windows of this size are tiny even for small font and basic description. I could try to go for something like
But it may be difficult to set apriopriate text for every bonus type. For example “Death blow 20%” or “death stare 30%” may make sense, but what with spell immunity or summon skills? Makes me confused and still takes some work to provide all these texts, so better think it though now.
Download new graphics, they are needed for revision 2019. Extract it to data folder.
And here’s new sample:
Still, descriptions needed to be truncated to fit thw window (up to 30 characters). Tow proposed getting rid of skill icons completely.
CreatureWindowGraphics.rar (259 KB)
I hope it will be an option in VCMI kind of WoG Option, not hardcoded in VCMI basic version=OH3?
Ofc I’m not saying, I don’t like it, but I’m not sure if it is good solution.
A few suggestions regarding creature window:
img27.imageshack.us/img27/8906/creaturewindowsuggestio.th.png
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I vote for making it optional too, I’m not sure if everybody will like it.
Extract this package to your data folder - it contains stack skill icons required for new interface. Inactive skills are unused now though.
StackSkills.rar (986 KB)
I believe it’s time to start developing Commanders soon. However, there’s a question with their interface - originally they had two windows in WoG:
Detailed info on hero screen
In battle pop-up.
The second one can be definitelly replaced with new creature window:
http://forum.vcmi.eu/album_pic.php?pic_id=42
It contains info about abilities, level, spells and even artifact(s?).
However, maybe it could replace also first window, the big one?
The only issue are commander primary skills (attack, defense, speed, magic resistance, health and damage) - there is no good place for them. I believe it may be possible to place them the same way as abilities - in small windows with description. This, however requires skill icons to resize - either in program (with new resource management system maybe?) or by hand and add the resized icons to package.
The second option I consider is to make a variant of this window which includes horizontal place for secondary skills in between main creature info and special abilities. What do you think about it?
Do you have any other proposals?
Also, there’s another suggestion. As you may have noticed, there is one free space in to-right corner of creature window. I would like to place a casts counter in there - as every casting creature has a number of casts at their disposal, including the creatures with rebirth. In WoG, these can be modified. Commanders also use their casts and it’s easy to forget how many of them were already used.
I only wonder how to make it visually appealing - a single unnamed number in a window may be quite confusing.
@about cast count
i propose some universal spell icon (or even the current spell icon) with the number of casts on top of it. the number will be big and bold (if we assume that number of casts <= 99 we can make it square and make two digits almost totally fill the box)
@commander big window
we can make own. it will be good to be able to see all skills of commander (it can have more than fits into oryginal in WOG)
Thanks to courtesy of Fishkebab we now have improved creature window, new Commander windows and icons for missing creature abiities. They will now be needed to display upcoming content correctly.
This package also includes new quest dialog from Ivan.
Data.rar (957 KB)
May we use some pictures to replace commander icons in WoG?
I remind much info on commanders and stack experience is in text files in lods, including descriptions. There also some hardcoded text/int tables in exe file on every feature (for example building exact positins are in simple table in exe file on known position so it would ease town feature if said early enough).
Uhm, which, where, what do you want to do?
- Stack experience file is already parsed.
- Some commander texts are not used yet, others don’t fit teh window.
- Check config/buildings.json. The less hardcoded info, the better.
Yeah of course less hardcoded is better if applicable but I meant these settings could be ripped from simple integer table instead searching proper values for each one (you did a tool specifically for it while it could be just copy-pasted).
Once you don’t refer code but only data direct ripping is nothing bad (of course you are free to make it more readable format). I suggest talking with guys from ERA if you believe there’s some table and you prefer not to recover it step by step.
Also knowing adresses of such data you could make UN:C codes reffering to it be proxied to actual ingame data structure which be even more easy if you organise the data almost same way in memory (the format of new config files doesn’t matter once result of parsing is enough similair).
Once you proxy most of data tables you would be compatible with most of the scripts not considered to be portable which is fair achievment (but still it is sometimes easier to port the script - accent on sometimes).
No direct memory access in scripts. Never.
End of offtopic.
I just wanted for mention two things
- many info is in txt files and most of other can be acquired easily from tables already in h3wog.exe
- direct memory editing could be “simulated” which would not directly edit memory (it would access VCMI tables/vectors) but would be compatible with existing UN:C scripts which access those adresses from WoG/TE which are mapped to table-like data structures in VCMI, and implementation of this feature would be easier if structures are more similair (not mentioned we could make special mapper function/classes just to wrap from table-like interface to high level ones used in vcmi)
(2) was indeed offtopic, sorry, but more important to say was (1) and that Reverse Engineers from ERA could find the info for you so you won’t need to guesstimate the values searched, because you would instantly get exact ones - for example you wouldn’t need use (and probably write) tool “wpasowywacz”, because all data it collected was actually in table in h3wog.exe/Heroes3.exe which could be just read from there - so next time just ask people at ERA/WoG if they can find info for you which would be easier. All descriptions of stack experience features already are in text file but oddly sorted and I seen you recreated some of it for config file for bonus handler - which I answered mostly to and the connecting thing is stack experience mechanism.
I’ll try next time be more ontopic and do not do too much tangents.
I just learned that commander windows are in 32-bit format, which is still not correctly handled by recoloring function.
So here’s fixed archive with new commander button.
CreatureWindow.rar (740 KB)