Wristbands to Rubberbands Help ALEX

[bullsfan009]

Okay, Alex, I downloaded EAGRAPH, and started it up. I read the FAQ titled "How can I create new players with EA Graph? - "How can I edit Jerseys/Armbands with EA Graph?". I did learn more about the game, like you predicted, when I opened up "plrdata0.viv, plrdata1.viv, and plrdata2.viv". Basically, the viv files are like folders, containing all of the fsh files, which are pictures of basically everything in the game.

But I still don't know where the wristbands are- are they the ones in the "common.viv" file? Or in the "potato.viv" file?

-In the FAQ, it says, "Arms, legs, and accessories can be found in armslegs.fsh in art\ingame\misc\common.viv. So, I did look there, and under armslegs.fsh there were a lot of other files. When I clicked on some, I saw the different Toques, and headbands, and I think I found the wristbands, but I'm not certain.

Once I isolate the correct wristbands, how do I edit them and save the changes? Also, how exactly should I edit them? Just "cut" their height down a lot?

Please help...

[alexboom]

Hey, you already did a great start, congrats Maybe you'll become THE next patcher for NBA Live 2000!

The wristbands are the files from wrd0 to wri3. For the moment I don't understand the difference between the wrd and the wri files. I noticed it's the same for every other accessory but both are related (in which way, I don't know)

Here's, in my opinion, how you should proceed: extract wrd0 and wri0 into bmp files. Open them with Photoshop (or any other editor), and erase a part of the picture, just in order to keep a thin strip. Copy the whole image (Ctrl+A) and paste it in a new one, to enable transparency. Save the image in gif format, with transparency. Don't change the size of the pic (192x21 for wrd ; 96x28 for wri).

Then import your new images with EAGraph: open the common.viv file and click on the image you wanna change (wrd0). Click on Tools> Import Wizard. In the new box select "import an existing external file into the current open image". Select your picture, then OK. Do the same for wri.

Now it's a matter of tries, to find the difference between wrd and wri (maybe one is for closer views, the other for farther views), and to find the right size for strip bands.

Good luck, and give me news of your progression

[bullsfan009]

Thanks, Alex. That was just what I needed.

I'm going to be out of town (and away from my computer) until next week, but I'll update you once I get going on this.

Thanks again for your commitment to NBA Live 2000-

[bullsfan009]

Hey Alex, I did get a little time last night. So, I went into EAGraph again, found the wrd0 to wri3 files (BTW, it's my guess that since there's four wrd's and four wri's, one set is for the right wrist, and one is for the left).

Anyway, when I clicked on wrd0, I tried to extract it like you said. So, I went to FILE--EXTRACT, and then decompressed the file and saved it. However, I couldn't save it as a .bmp, or any file type at all. When I went to the file, I couldn't open it with anything

I tried to rename the file with the file extension .bmp, but still I couldn't open it.

How do I extract these files as bitmaps, so I can edit them?

[alexboom]

First, I'm sure that the difference between wrd and wri is not the left and right. As left and right wristband are identical they don't need to make 2 different files. I'm more convinced it's for closer/farther view.

And in order to extract, my bad, you shouldn't use the "extract" function that indeed extracts the fsh file Just click on the image you want to extract, and select "save as". There you'll be able to choose whichever format you want

[bullsfan009]

First, I'm sure that the difference between wrd and wri is not the left and right. As left and right wristband are identical they don't need to make 2 different files. I'm more convinced it's for closer/farther view.

O.K., that makes sense...

And in order to extract, my bad, you shouldn't use the "extract" function that indeed extracts the fsh file Just click on the image you want to extract, and select "save as". There you'll be able to choose whichever format you want

NP, I remember seeing that button. I'll try this, thanks.

[bullsfan009]

OK, Alex, I got back and I tried it out yesterday night...

I saved wrd0 as a bmp, and opened it in Paint. I erased about 40% off the top and 40% off the bottom, leaving a narrow gray strip. From here, I copied the strip alone, and opened a new Paint document. Before I pasted, I went to the attributes options, and set the pixel size to 192 x 21, like you said. Then, I chose the option to make the background transparent, and then I pasted. I centered the strip in the middle, and then saved it as a .gif. (in My Documents folder- does that matter?)

Next, I went into EAGRAPH again, opened common.viv, found armslegs, clicked on wrd0, and went to Tools> Import Wizard. I selected "import an existing external file into the current open image," selected the .gif I just made, and clicked O.K.

I did the same for wri0, and then went to test it out. Unfortunately, though, my game wouldn't start. It would get to the screen where Kevin Garnett is playing on the playground, and I pressed any key to get into the game, but it threw me back to windows every time.

So that I could get into the game, I went on the Live 2000 cd (opened it) and copied the common.viv file from there, and overwrote the common.viv that I had somehow screwed up. The game works fine again.

What do you think went wrong? Did I have to do all the wristbands before I tried it, not just the gray one? Or is Paint no good for doing transparency, and I need to use photoshop? Help, please...

[alexboom]

Errr ... What you described me seems correct ... You don't have to patch all the graphics at the same time to make it work, doing just one is fine ... Maybe it could be Paint ... I've never tried to patch with it ... Try to do in PNG format too, as it allows transparency.

Else you can download a trial version of Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, or even get the Gimp (it's a powerful image editor which is free and open source)

[bullsfan009]

OK, next I'm gonna try photoshop.

[bullsfan009]

Alex, I'm still not able to get it...

I used Photoshop to edit wrd0 and wri0, doing like you said: erase everything but a strip, copy the whole picture, open a new document w/transparent background, paste it in. However, the same result- the game wouldn't start.

So, I reset the original common.viv from the Live 2000 CD, and tried a few other things, too-

For both files, I copied just the strip that wasn't erased, and pasted it into a new document with transparent background that was the same pixel size as before (192x21 for wrd ; 96x28 for wri). However, this didn't work either- the game still wouldn't start.

Then, I started to wonder if this was like the cyberfaces- do the .gif files of wrd and wri that I'm using when I use the "import an existing external file into the current open image" function have to be in the NBA Live main folder? Because I had placed the files in My Documents, and was importing them from there.

So, I tried this for each of the examples I talked about above- I put the gif files in the main folder of NBA Live 2000. But, still, nothing!

Maybe these files need to be next to common.viv in the art/ingame/misc folder??? Do you have any ideas???

[alexboom]

I start being out of ideas there

Maybe you should try to do the smallest modification possible, ie, just change the color of the band or draw a small line in Paint or Photoshop, then re-import the image. If it works ingame, that would help us locating the problem

The original .gif files don't have to be neither on the NBA Live main folder, nor anywhere else. Just the common.viv file is important for the game.

anyway, congrats for your dedication, you're learning on the hard way

By the way, I moved the topic to Live 2000 General Issues, that's where it should belong

[bullsfan009]

Maybe you should try to do the smallest modification possible, ie, just change the color of the band or draw a small line in Paint or Photoshop, then re-import the image. If it works ingame, that would help us locating the problem

OK, I'll try this next...I'm starting to run out of ideas too

[bullsfan009]

Last night, I simply drew a black line in the middle of wrd0 and wri0 when I edited them in Paint. However, after I imported them both back into EAGraph, still, it didn't work (the game wouldn't start).

I have some other ideas, tell me what you think:

Maybe you have to edit all of the wrd and wri files
Maybe you need to use a different format than .gif when editing the files
Is there something that needs to be done after importing the files to make EAGRAPH "accept" the edited files, or "recognize" these files?
Is there another place besides common.viv where these bands are located, meaning we would have to edit them in that other place too to get it to work???

[alexboom]

Another suggestion: Try an older version of EA Graph. Version 0.84 of EA Graph is available at Alexsite in the jerseys section (at the bottom of the page)

[bullsfan009]

OK, I got it and I'll try it out this weekend. Thanks for the help.

[bullsfan009]

Alex, I tried the version of EAGRAPH that was on your website (0.84), but the same results as last time happened. No success.

Any other ideas? - I'm stumped.

[alexboom]

Here is my last shot:

Change the rubberband as said in previous posts, but this time, instead of importing it directly in the common.viv file, convert your BMP to a fsh file with EA Graph with the following settings:
Image format: 8Bpp
Palette: 32b: P42 (BGRA)
Compression: LZSS
Label: wri1 (the name of the image when you open it with EA Graph)
Name the file "armslegs.fsh"

Then put that new armslegs.fsh file in your Live 2000 main folder. Create a bat file with inside:
gfxpak -p art\ingame\misc\common.viv armslegs.fsh

of course you need gfxpak if you don't have it email me

Launch the bat file, and it's done. Tell me if you succeed

[bullsfan009]

OK i will try, thanks for the persistance.

[bullsfan009]

Alex, I converted the BMP to a FSH file with EA GRAPH like you said, with the settings you specified.

But then you said to creat a bat file- how do I do this??? Is this a DOS-thing???

Also, for the first step. Should I make a FSH file for both wrd0 and wri0, and then somehow group them together under the filename "armslegs.fsh"?

[alexboom]

You can create a bat file with Notepad, just copy that line:
gfxpak -p art\ingame\misc\common.viv armslegs.fsh

and save it as "wristband.bat" for instance. Make sure that in the "type" field you chose "All files", else it will be a wristband.bat.txt

To group the wrd0 and wri files, once you've converted them into FSH files (don't forget to put the correct label), open EAGraph, chose "Create a new SHPI image by combining external FSH files". Specify in the left area the allocation and name of the new armslegs.fsh (the file that will be added to commons.viv via the bat file), on the right area, add the wrd0 and wri files.

I hope we'll succeed as this is a kind of last chance

[bullsfan009]

Alex, I made another attempt over the weekend, but have one more question before I can say whether it worked this time or not...

You said to convert each bitmap into a FSH file, with the settings you mentioned, but then you said "name the file "armslegs.fsh." Well, I can't name both the wrd0 fsh file and the wri0 fsh file "armslegs.fsh" because you can't name 2 files the same file name. It wants to overwrite the first before saving the second.

I thought maybe I was supposed to name the FSH files "wrd0.fsh" and "wri0.fsh," but when I did this, and then went into EA GRAPH and ran the import wizard for "Create a new SHPI image by combining external FSH files," it said that wrd0.fsh and wri0.fsh were not real EA SHPI files.

Oh, and another question- in this box (the one about making a SHPI image from multiple FSH files), what exactly do I put in the left-hand side? You said to "specify the allocation," but I don't know what this means.

I was able to create the .bat file, no problem, and ran it in the Live 2000 main folder after I put just wrd0 as a fsh file called "armslegs.fsh" in the folder as well. The common.viv was overwritten, but the game would not start.

Could you clairfy these issues for me, so I can give this one last try a shot? Thank you.