Actor Files - A few questions

[LordStark]

I am getting pretty good at editing the actor files but still have a few questions:

1. Is there a list of all the possible attach points somewhere?

Spoiler

helmet

head

shield_arm

weapon_R

sheath_L

root

back

2. Why is it that sometimes when I add something like a cape to a unit it does not sit correctly? For example, I have had problems with these two on a regular basis:

Spoiler

        <prop actor="props/units/helmets/norse_coif_huscarl_relax.xml" attachpoint="root"/> 

        <prop actor="props/units/capes/cape_long_player.xml" attachpoint="root"/>

Whenever I try and add a cape to my soldiers it seems to sit oddly to the side. If I try and add the norse_coif_huscarl_relax to my archers it appears above their heads.

3. What does this information tell me:

Spoiler

    <group>
        <variant frequency="1" name="Idle"/>
        <variant file="biped/rider/promotion_shield.xml" />
        <variant file="biped/rider/attack_slaughter_shield_hele.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/gather_meat.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/rider/death_shield.xml"/>
    </group>

My interpretation is that it is telling the rider to:

A. Use a certain animation called "attack_slaughter_shield_hele" when it kills a deer/chicken/wolf etc etc

B. Use a specific animation called "gather_meat" when gathering meat from the animal the rider killed.

But I don't understand what the "promotion_shield and death_shield mean. I am also unclear on the relevance of "<variant frequency="1" name="Idle"/>"

4. With this:

Spoiler

  <group>
        <variant file="biped/rider/cavalry/base_spearman_relax_shield_01.xml" name="Spearman-Relax-Shield-01" frequency="1"/>
        <variant file="biped/rider/carry_meat.xml"/>
    </group>

I believe this is telling the ride to hold his shield in a position called "base_spearman_relax_shield_01" which must be by his side I assume. But how do I know what other possible options there could be? For example, is there a "base_spearman_relax_shield_2" and if so, is there a way I can know what it looks like without starting a game every time I try?

[Grapjas]

35 minutes ago, LordStark said:

1. Is there a list of all the possible attach points somewhere? I am also unclear on the relevance of "<variant frequency="1" name="Idle"/>"

XML.Actor – Wildfire Games and Actors – Wildfire Games may be of help.

35 minutes ago, LordStark said:

2. Why is it that sometimes when I add something like a cape to a unit it does not sit correctly? 

You need to add animations to the capes aswell IIRC. 

35 minutes ago, LordStark said:

My interpretation is that it is telling the rider to:

A. Use a certain animation called "attack_slaughter_shield_hele" when it kills a deer/chicken/wolf etc etc

B. Use a specific animation called "gather_meat" when gathering meat from the animal the rider killed.

Yup.

35 minutes ago, LordStark said:

promotion_shield and death_shield

Those are the animations when a unit promotes and when a unit dies respectively, i think.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Grapjas

[LordStark]

29 minutes ago, Grapjas said:

1 hour ago, LordStark said:

2. Why is it that sometimes when I add something like a cape to a unit it does not sit correctly? 

You need to add animations to the capes aswell IIRC. 

Does anyone have any further advice on this? I am really eager to give <prop actor="props/units/helmets/norse_coif_huscarl_relax.xml" attachpoint="root"/>  to my archers but I am not sure how I would add the animations.

[Stan`]

From what I can see the actor looks like this millenniumad/norse_coif_huscarl_relax.xml at master · 0ADMods/millenniumad (github.com)
 

While it should look a bit more like this  0ad/cape_long_player_archer.xml at master · 0ad/0ad (github.com)

The interesting part being mainly that it's missing

    <variant file="biped/base_archer_relax.xml" name="Archer-Relax" frequency="1"/>
    <variant file="biped/base_archer_ready.xml" name="Archer-Ready" frequency="1"/>

Mind the name tag as it's really important.

[LordStark]

Thanks, I tried adding the animation and there was some improvement but they still look a bit odd.

The archer actor file with the highlighted change in green:

Spoiler

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<actor version="1">
  <castshadow/>
  <group>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Base">
      <mesh>skeletal/new/m_tunic_long.dae</mesh>
      <props>
        <prop actor="props/units/heads/new/head_hele_b.xml" attachpoint="head"/>
        <prop actor="props/units/weapons/arrow_back.xml" attachpoint="weapon_R"/>
        <prop actor="props/units/weapons/bow_long_indian.xml" attachpoint="weapon_bow"/>
        <prop actor="props/temp/quiver.xml" attachpoint="back"/>
        <prop actor="props/units/weapons/norse_sword_sheath.xml" attachpoint="sheath_L"/>
        <prop actor="props/units/helmets/byza_archer_helmet_basic_iron.xml" attachpoint="helmet"/>
        <prop actor="props/units/helmets/norse_coif_huscarl_relax.xml" attachpoint="root"/>
      </props>
    </variant>
  </group>
  <group>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail1a">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail1a.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail1b">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail1b.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail1c">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail1c.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail2a">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail2a.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail2b">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail2b.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail2c">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail2c.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail3a">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail3a.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail3b">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail3b.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail3c">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail3c.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail4a">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail4a.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail4b">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail4b.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail4c">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail4c.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail9a">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail9a.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail9b">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail9b.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Chainmail9c">
      <textures>
        <texture file="skeletal/norse/elite/chainmail9c.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
  </group>
  <group>
        <variant file="biped/base_archer_relax.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/carry_food.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/carry_meat.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/carry_wood.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/carry_stone.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/carry_metal.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/approach_tree.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/approach_grain.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/approach_fruit.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/approach_meat.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/approach_rock.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/approach_ore.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/approach_ruins.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/approach_praise.xml"/>
    </group>
    <group>
        <variant frequency="1" name="Idle"/>
        <variant file="biped/attack_ranged_archer.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/attack_capture.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/attack_slaughter.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/gather_tree.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/gather_grain.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/gather_fruit.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/gather_meat.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/gather_rock.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/gather_ore.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/gather_ruins.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/gather_praise.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/build.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/build_farm.xml"/>
        <variant file="biped/death_infantry.xml"/>
    </group>
    <material>player_trans.xml</material>
</actor>
 

And the art\actors\props\units\helmets\norse_coif_huscarl_relax file with the highlighted changes in green:

Spoiler

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<actor version="1">
  <castshadow/>
  <group>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Coif closed">
      <mesh>props/helmet/byza_coif_full.dae</mesh>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Coif open face">
      <mesh>props/helmet/byza_coif_open_face.dae</mesh>
    </variant>
  </group>
  <group>
    <variant frequency="3" name="coif-padded">
      <textures>
        <texture file="props/helmet/padded2.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
    <variant frequency="1" name="coif-chainmail">
      <textures>
        <texture file="props/helmet/chainmail.png" name="baseTex"/>
      </textures>
    </variant>
  </group>
  <group>
    <variant file="biped/base_swordsman_2hand_relax.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/base_archer_relax.xml" name="Archer-Relax" frequency="1"/>
    <variant file="biped/base_archer_ready.xml" name="Archer-Ready" frequency="1"/>
    <variant file="biped/carry_food.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/carry_meat.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/carry_wood.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/carry_stone.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/carry_metal.xml"/>
  </group>
  <group>
    <variant frequency="1" name="Idle"/>
    <variant file="biped/base_2h_axe_attack.xml" name="combat"/>
    <variant file="biped/attack_capture.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/attack_slaughter.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/gather_tree.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/gather_grain.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/gather_fruit.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/gather_meat.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/gather_rock.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/gather_ore.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/gather_ruins.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/gather_praise.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/build.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/build_farm.xml"/>
    <variant file="biped/death_infantry.xml"/>
  </group>
  <material>player_trans.xml</material>
</actor>

 

[Stan`]

You need one of the three

You're missijng the name in your actor.

[LordStark]

Can you clarify what you mean about me missing the name? You mentioned it was simportant earlier as well - where should I put the name in the actor file?