Fallout 2 utility Help! Custom FRM files appear invisible,

D

Dr.JohnDoe

First time out of the vault
I made a custom inventory icon for a pistol I'm trying to make, but whenever I try to import it using the DAT explorer, it does not appear in the ProtoManager. What do I do here?




(EDIT): Ok, another thing has appeared, so I must also ask how do you make a custom weapon for Fallout 2.
(EDIT 2): Nevermind, I know now how to make a custom weapon. Still having troube with the .FRM file, though.
 
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You don't need to add it to .dat, but you have to append its filename to inven.lst so tools can know its existence.
 
NovaRain said:
You don't need to add it to .dat, but you have to append its filename to inven.lst so tools can know its existence.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the help. The file finally began to appear in the items section.

However, another problem arose. When I boot up the game, the gun is invisible. Like, its inventory icon will not appear in-game. It's just a blank space, so I think I fucked up somewhere.

(EDIT): So, while trying to see the problem, I tried moving the files to the data folder inside the data folder, and now the inventory icon is a fire gecko pelt. Easily fixable, but still doesn't solve the invisible weapon problem. I've even started a new game, and the gun is still invisible.

(EDIT2): I should mention what exactly the pistol's icon is. It's pretty much a palette swap of the 10mm pistol, with its color scheme in grayscale. I don't know if this is an issue.
 
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So, I had imported a custom .FRM file for a unique 10mm pistol I made for Fallout 2 into the Proto Manager, and everything seems to work fine and properly there.

However, when I went in-game to test it, the gun is invisible for some reason. I don't know what is happening, and simple solutions like starting a new game don't seem to do the trick.

Does anyone know what I did wrong, and what to do to fix it?

(This is the gun. Literally a gray-scaled 10mm pistol.):
Ultimatum.png
 
NovaRain said:
How did you create the FRM file? With your pic I can see my converted FRM in game:
u6hINZ9.png
Click to expand...
I used photoshop to create the sprite, then I used Frame Animator to convert the file.
I also made a version without the background color just in case that was what was causing the problem, but no cigar.

(EDIT): Forgot to mention, when I decided to move the sprite into the data folder that's inside the data folder for modding purposes, the weapon's icon would appear as a fire gecko pelt. I don't know if that's revelant, just something I noticed.
 
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Dr.JohnDoe said:
(EDIT): Forgot to mention, when I decided to move the sprite into the data folder that's inside the data folder for modding purposes, the weapon's icon would appear as a fire gecko pelt. I don't know if that's revelant, just something I noticed.
Click to expand...
Looks like there's a conflict of inven.lst. What's the base game/mod you're trying to add the pistol and what proto editor you're using?
 
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NovaRain said:
Looks like there's a conflict of inven.lst. What's the base game/mod you're trying to add the pistol and what proto editor you're using?
Click to expand...

I'm using Fallout 2's Restoration Patch Updated v26, and I'm using the Proto-Manager to edit the protos.
 
ProtoManager from NMA download? Did you select rpu.dat in the settings when adding your weapon?
Better check if inven.lst in your data\art\inven\ has the same FRM records as the one in rpu.dat. If everything works, it should just have one extra line with your new sprite.
 
NovaRain said:
ProtoManager from NMA download? Did you select rpu.dat in the settings when adding your weapon?
Better check if inven.lst in your data\art\inven\ has the same FRM records as the one in rpu.dat. If everything works, it should just have one extra line with your new sprite.
Click to expand...

I think that I might have forgotten to select rpu.dat when I first set it up, which was causing the fire gecko pelt glitch. After making another copy without the modding tools installed in it, I made sure to include the RPU items when setting up.

However, the gun is still invisible even though its FRM is in inven.lst. It confounds me, because on all accounts this shouldn't be happening. It appears the way it's supposed to when I'm using the ProtoManager, but in-game this just happens.
 
(Marking this as utility just in case anyone else gets this problem and someone here posts a solution)

Here's the story so far: I've been trying to use a custom FRM file of the 10mm pistol for a custom 10mm pistol I'm making.

First I asked how to import the file into the game, to which NovaRain helped by informing me to look up the inven.lst and add the .frm filename into it:
https://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/how-do-i-import-a-custom-frm-file.222230/

It was after importing that I discovered that while the file appears in save editors and in the Proto Manager (the one from NMA), the icon doesn't appear in game on the hotbar or when you access the inventory. The only way you could even tell that there was a weapon was by looking at the sprite and seeing that the Chosen One was wielding a pistol. I brought this up to NovaRain, and we began to troubleshoot what exactly was going on. I mentioned that when I moved the file into the data folder inside the data folder (see below for reference), the inventory icon would appear as a fire gecko pelt, and Nova stated that there might be some conflicts going on in the inven.lst, and it turned out that I didn't set the the Proto Manager up correctly.

After I started off again with a clean Fallout 2 with the RPUv26, I reinstalled my resources, remade the pistol and reincluding the .frm, but it still didn't show up in-game. Trying to figure out what was going on, I made a custom sprite of the Ithaca M37 from Fallout: Tactics for Fallout 2 using Photoshop, converted it into a .frm file, and made a new proto for it, in which it also appeared invisible in-game.

I'm feeling frustrated because I don't know what's causing this. The custom FRMs are the only ones that don't appear in-game. I tested the custom protos with base game sprites, and they appear in the inventory and hotbar in-game.

Right now, I'm going post this along with screenshots of my resources and Fallout 2 folder because I don't know if anything here is causing this, and I need help.

Previous thread:
https://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/invisible-inventory-icon-in-game.222259/

Many thanks to NovaRain for the help they provided. They have been much appreciated in this venture into modding Fallout 2.

Anyways, here is what I'm working with:

Custom 10mm pistol (grayscaled in Adobe Photoshop, v24.7.1)
Ultimatum.png


Ithaca M37 sprite I used (made in Adobe Photoshop, v24.7.1)
IthacaShorty.png


My Fallout 2 Data folders
Data folder.PNG

upload_2024-5-1_22-45-11.png


My inventory folder at Fallout 2/data/art:
inven screenshot.PNG


My Proto Manager:
ProtoManager.PNG


Frame Animator (used to convert PNGs into FRMs):
usedforfrmconvert.PNG


My modding resources:
Modded Fallout and resources.PNG


Thread that describes a similar, if not the same exact situation:
https://www.nma-fallout.com/threads...storage-but-not-on-the-ground-or-hand.204147/
 
1. Please don't keep creating new threads for pretty much the same question.
2. Try using 8.3 filename for your FRM files.
 
NovaRain said:
1. Please don't keep creating new threads for pretty much the same question.
2. Try using 8.3 filename for your FRM files.
Click to expand...

1. Sorry about that, won't happen again.

2. What do you mean by that? For example, do I change "Ultimatum.FRM" into "Ultimatum8.3" or something like that? I'm a bit confused here.

(EDIT): Nevermind, NovaRain, it worked! I think you meant to type ".83 filename", but nevertheless, the weapon icon now appears in game! Thank you so much for helping me solve this problem, I greatly appreciate it!

"Until we meet again, my friend. May the water you find in the desert not shine at you in the dark."
 
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What's not obvious is that not everyone knows what 8.3 filenames are, or that they were ever necessary.

In today's world, you can mention having a tape collection, and odds are that the other person assumes it's rolls of adhesive tape; no idea what a tape collection is; some have no concept of a folder hierarchy, or know what a filing cabinet is to even get the reference.

*I am aware that the above might not be relevant if it's not about file naming extensions, but is instead a required naming convention for game resource files. :mrgreen:
But clicking the link, I think I read it correctly that it is meaning 8.3 file naming.
 
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