DOBC Tutorial by ZexGX
Requirements:
A computer that can run Sapien
Sapien and Guerilla
Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro (DDS Plugin must be installed)
Halo SP Maps
Halo Map Tools (HMT) 3.0 or higher
Steps:
1. Using HMT, open a Halo SP map (see below for a list of the SP maps with DOBCs), Go to the Bitmaps section, and save the DOBC bitmap[s] to a place that you can remember
2. Open the DDS in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, and when it asks if you want to display mipmaps, select No
3. Save the image in its corresponding directory (i.e. effects\detail_objects\grass_field\grass_field) in your data folder as a tif, no compression at all, no layers.
4. Run tool.exe and convert the tif you just saved (i.e. tool bitmaps effects\detail_objects\grass_field\grass_field )
5. Open the .bitmap tag in Guerilla, change its type to "sprite", and its format to "compressed with explicit alpha", then save it, but don't reconvert it with tool
6. Change the collection type to screen-facing
7. Leave the global z offset at 0 (if later on when you place your detail objects and they seem to float above the ground, try setting this to -0.015)
8. Choose the sprite plate you just converted to a .bitmap
9. Add a new Type, and name it something related to the sprite
10. Leave the sequence number at 0
11. Leave the near fade distance at 0
12. Set the far fade distance to a number between 10 (close) to 45 (far)
13. For this example, we'll set the size to 0.0015 . This is a good size for small grass. 0.0065 is a good size for tall grass, or swamp pods
14. Set all three colors on the bottom to pure white (you can adjust this later to match your level better once you've placed them)
15. Choose File->Save and close Guerilla
16. Now open Sapien and load a scenario tag
17. Select the Hierarchy view and navigate to the Game data folder
18. When you open the Game data folder, click on the folder that says Detail Objects
19. Click on the Edit Types button, and add your DOBC tag you just created
20. Open the Tool window and set the brush radius to 10, and the density to 1 percent. This is because there is a limit of something like 4000 detail objects per cell. Also, make sure the "Use random subtype" box is checked
21. Then just click on the areas that you want to apply the detail object to
22. When you're done, click File->Save scenario_structure_bsp and sapien will render the detail objects where the black lines are
23. Enjoy!
Map listings:
a30 [Halo] effects\detail_objects\grass_field\grass_field & effects\detail_objects\grass_small\grass_small
b30 [Silent Cartographer] effects\detail_objects\grass_field\grass_field
b40 [AotCR] effects\detail_objects\snow_grass\bitmaps\snow_grass
a50 [Tru7h and Reconciliation] effects\detail_objects\d20_rocks_and_grass\d20_rocks and grass ( Doesn't want to work, it has to do with more complex settings in the detailed_object_collection tag and possibly even the bitmap )
c10 [343GS] effects\detail_objects\fungus buds\bitmaps\fungus buds & effects\detail_objects\swamp pods\bitmaps\swamp pods
Problems?
Q: I KANT OPEN DA DDS THING WITH THAT PHOTOPAINT PROGRAM THINGY!1 WUT DO I DO????
A: Install the DDS plugin for Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. You can download it here (right click-> save as): DDS Photoshop Plugin
Q: OGMZ LIEK, SAPIENT CLOSES WHEN I, LIKE, TRY TO OPEN MY MAP! WTF? LOL.
A: Probably a bad or missing DOBC tag. Most likely the latter... If it isn't that, then it could be that you screwed up somewhere when making the bitmap. Open up the .scenario in guerilla and delete the detailed object collection reference block data
Q: OMG DERE'Z LIEK A BIG THINGIE DAT HOVARZ ABOVE DA LEVEL N LIKE LAGZ AN KILZ MY COMP AND SHTUFF!
A: You set the size WAY too big in Guerilla. Try using the size values mentioned above.
