I realise that all this may be trivial to the old pros but it's my first foray into skinning this hare so just ignore me. =)
The plan: change the attunement window to provide some real information instead of blurry dots and colourful halos.
The main problem (even after downloading the highly important
skin art packs) was actually finding out about the involved elements.
That these were spelled wrong half the time didn't exactly help. (atunement...?)
Now what worked was to find the
group of elements in SkinDictionary.txt and then
guess + search the accompanying AssetIDs in SkinDefinition.xml.
The element dimensions were plainly readable in SkinDictionary.txt anyway.
After all those AssedIDs were keyed into the dummy template it was all downhill.
Just graphics to edit. Business as usual.
As a starting point for The Master Plan I replaced the relevant elements with an outline to get better idea of the layout.
I'll probably start creating a multi-layered Photoshop image on top of that so I can see the thing in "real time" while editing. Cutting/cloning the bits afterwards isn't that tricky with the outline still in place.
Some notes I took along the way...
Code:
Display priorities:
1. Central rune icon + heal_symbol + damage_symbol
2. frame
3. slider pips
Dimensions Large Attunement Display:
<Element ID="PipDisplay_Atunement_Pips" X="13" Y="12" Width="202" Height="29"></Element>
<Element ID="PipDisplay_Atunement_Frame" X="0" Y="0" Width="222" Height="55"></Element>
<Element ID="PipDisplay_Atunement_Rune" X="99" Y="12" Width="29" Height="29"></Element>
<Element ID="damageSymbol" X="18" Y="18" Width="14" Height="18"></Element>
<Element ID="healSymbol" X="195" Y="17" Width="20" Height="15"></Element>
Dimensions Small Attunement Display:
<Element ID="PipDisplay_AtunementSmallTemplate" X="332" Y="564" Width="224" Height="62">
<Element ID="PipDisplay_Atunement_Pips" X="0" Y="0" Width="88" Height="60"></Element>
ArtAssetIDs:
Attunement frames: 222 x 55
----------------------------
displayed at:
attunementFrame_bal neutral
attunementFrame_dmg1 Att RED 1-2 (= rank 1 spells)
attunementFrame_dmg2 Att RED 3-5 (= rank 2 spells)
attunementFrame_dmg3 Att RED 6-8 (= rank 3 spells)
attunementFrame_dmg4 Att RED 9 (= rank 4 spells?)
attunementFrame_heal1 Att GRN 1-2 (= rank 1 spells)
attunementFrame_heal2 Att GRN 3-5 (= rank 2 spells)
attunementFrame_heal3 Att GRN 6-8 (= rank 3 spells)
attunementFrame_heal4 Att GRN 9 (= rank 4 spells?)
Attunement pips: 202 x 29
-------------------------
displayed at:
atunement_Pip_0 ?
atunement_Pip_01 RED 9
atunement_Pip_02 RED 8
atunement_Pip_03 RED 7
atunement_Pip_04 RED 6
atunement_Pip_05 RED 5
atunement_Pip_06 RED 4
atunement_Pip_07 RED 3
atunement_Pip_08 RED 2
atunement_Pip_09 RED 1
atunement_Pip_10 neutral
atunement_Pip_11 GRN 1
atunement_Pip_12 GRN 2
atunement_Pip_13 GRN 3
atunement_Pip_14 GRN 4
atunement_Pip_15 GRN 5
atunement_Pip_16 GRN 6
atunement_Pip_17 GRN 7
atunement_Pip_18 GRN 8
atunement_Pip_19 GRN 9
atunement_Pip_20 ?
Central rune icons: 29 x 29
----------------------------
rune_1
rune_2
rune_3
rune_4
rune_5
rune_6
rune_7
rune_8
rune_9
rune_10
rune_11
rune_12
rune_13
rune_14
rune_15
rune_16
rune_17
rune_18
rune_19
-----------------------------------
heal_symbol (Nestad rune) 20 x 15
damage_symbol (Dagor rune) 14 x 18
-----------------------------------
Not inquired: (small Attunement Display)
-----------------------------------------
attunement_sm_1
attunement_sm_2
attunement_sm_3
attunement_sm_4
attunement_sm_5
attunement_sm_6
attunement_sm_7
attunement_sm_8
attunement_sm_9
attunement_sm_10
attunement_sm_11
attunement_sm_12
attunement_sm_13
attunement_sm_14
attunement_sm_15
attunement_sm_16
attunement_sm_17
attunement_sm_18
attunement_sm_19
With all that out of the way I can finally let my artistical ki flow.
Okay, the plan is to make an attunement window that's anything
but artistic. Maximum contrast and information. Art be damned.
All the framework is already there. Runekeeper spells come in 3 ranks, needing 3/6/9 required attunements. So the currently available "rank" should be clearly visible in addition to the accurate number.
And it shouldn't be any problem whatsoever when there are dedicated frames for each of those spell ranks.
The engineer hates nothing more than counting colourful dots when the interface could simply spit out the number and be done with it.
Owell. Time to count pixels! =)
... the attument window is now finished and counting dots is now a thing of the past. =)
http://www.lotrointerface.com/downlo...63-MilHUD.html