FBAX personal achievement

[N3oGhost]

Well guys i know this is nothing new to you but one of my goals with fbax was to figure out how to get rid of the pesky 3d box floating about in the menu and loading screen.

 

Tonight I did it!

 

I am very proud of myself for doing this since i have no programming knowledge and before FBAX, i never compiled a thing in my life!

 

So just though id share my achievement with my friends here.

 

I also want people to know that my discovery has nothing to do with Yoshis compile of fbax. Although hes already done this, i learned nothing of this from him or even got any help with regards to this (even though i asked).

 

So this is even more SWEET.

 

This is purely a cosmetic improvement over my previous compile.

 

My next thing is to figure out the CRC check and Size check. Take me a little longer since im not familiar with C++ code. I am sure i will get it with the help of my friends!

 

 

Let the SKINS begin!!!

 

Its very easy to make your own skins........how about posting some of your personal skins,........and if you havent tried.........how about now?

 

Ill be workin on some skins now that ive opened up the playing field by Nixing that damn BOX!

 

peace

[Armageddon]

GOOD JOB!!!

 

 

Just 2 things.. is the file up for post and all you have to do to make a skin is change the image files righttt......

 

 

hosotly i'm not that big an idiot. i'm actually a pretty smart guy.. i can mod an xbox

[RazorbladeSmile]

Hmm..would love to know how to do that..

 

Is it simple.ini editing (as in evox) or is it complex progamming stuff???

 

I hate that bloody cube! Grrrrrrr.

[Magus]

yes, please tell us how you accomplished this feat.

[N3oGhost]

Sure, no problem. Unlike some dingle-Berries, im more than willing to share information.

 

First of all it is all done within the Sourcecode of fbax.

 

for the 3d box (Tmauls project from what i read on someones post asking this same question on their board), i began experimenting with the COLOR codes for each side. Mind you i dont know diddly squat about programming (im sure there are kids in elementary school that know more about it than i do. Me is Ultra-NOOB.

 

The color codes for the cube are located in the ui_menu.cpp

Before i messed with it:

#define D3D8T_CUSTOMVERTEX (D3DFVF_XYZ|D3DFVF_TEX1|D3DFVF_NORMAL|D3DFVF_DIFFUSE)
const DWORD cube_colour1=0x22FF0000;
const DWORD cube_colour2=0x2200FF00;
const DWORD cube_colour3=0x220000FF;
const DWORD cube_colour4=0x22FFFF00;
const DWORD cube_colour5=0x22FF00FF;
const DWORD cube_colour6=0x2200FFFF;

 

After i changed all the values to white/clear, whatever

#define D3D8T_CUSTOMVERTEX (D3DFVF_XYZ|D3DFVF_TEX1|D3DFVF_NORMAL|D3DFVF_DIFFUSE)
const DWORD cube_colour1=0x22FFFFFF;
const DWORD cube_colour2=0x22FFFFFF;
const DWORD cube_colour3=0x22FFFFFF;
const DWORD cube_colour4=0x22FFFFFF;
const DWORD cube_colour5=0x22FFFFFF;
const DWORD cube_colour6=0x22FFFFFF;

 

Actually for those of you that LIKE the cube in your menu, you can pretty much change the sides to whatever you want. A good chart to use for reference can be found HERE (thanks to Godmagnus9 for the link)

As some of you may or may not know, this was pretty much a failure (only because it didnt erase the cube, only made it clear aka "Ice Cube"

 

Apparently the thing has shading and the shadows were clearly visible.

 

So now to figure out what to do next...........

 

// continued on next post

Edited February 25, 2004 by N3oGhost

[N3oGhost]

So now i have this ice cube that needed to be melted off this menu so we can move forward with Ultra Cool skins. That cube kinda gets in the way of that.

 

so the next thing i tried was to comment out the ui_logo function entirely from the menu which is located in fba.cpp

 

logo.InitLogo();

 

to this

// logo.InitLogo();

 

those 2 slashes is called "commenting out" a line of code which basically deams it invisible to the program. So what the program dont see, the program dont run.

 

This was actually suggested by a new buddy of mine IQ_132. Hes known for a lot of his great work with fba (generator, cheat convertor and much much more).

 

He was very kind to me and offered me a lot of his valuable time for which i am eternally greatfull!

 

well needless to say that actually worked!!! HIP HIP HOORAY........right?

 

well there was a catch. Although the cube was no longer visible, i also lost the skin. The preview was still there along with a beautiful TEAL background. lol

 

back to square one because i wasnt going to sacrifice the cube at the cost of the skins....i mean this is the whole purpose of getting rid of the ice block.

 

There was always this one section that gave me the willies because it would mean id have to actually spend some TIME to make the changes and then test........again i remind you of my NOOBishnesstifity cause everyone knows you dont get anywhere by not spending time and testing and time and testing.....on and on etc etc........

 

me a lazy bastard but had no choice but to dive into this..............

 

//continued next post. The final POST!

[N3oGhost]

Ok so theres this section of code back in the ui_logo.cpp that always haunted me but at the same time i always had a feeling about it.

 

Observe code

my_vertex g_vertices[] ={
{-1.0f,-1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f,-1.0f,   cube_colour1},
  {-1.0f, 1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f,-1.0f,   cube_colour1},
  { 1.0f, 1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f,-1.0f,   cube_colour1},
  { 1.0f, 1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f,-1.0f,   cube_colour1},
  { 1.0f,-1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f,-1.0f,   cube_colour1},
  {-1.0f,-1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f,-1.0f,   cube_colour1},

  { 1.0f,-1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f,   cube_colour2 },  //Back face
  { 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f,   cube_colour2},
  {-1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f,   cube_colour2 },
  {-1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f,   cube_colour2 },
  {-1.0f,-1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f,   cube_colour2 },
  { 1.0f,-1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f,   cube_colour2 },

  {-1.0f, 1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },  //Top face
  {-1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },
  { 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },
  { 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },
  { 1.0f, 1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },
  {-1.0f, 1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },

  { 1.0f,-1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f,-1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },  //Bottom face
  { 1.0f,-1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f,-1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },
  {-1.0f,-1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f,-1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },
  {-1.0f,-1.0f, 1.0f,   0.0f,-1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },
  {-1.0f,-1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f,-1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },
  { 1.0f,-1.0f,-1.0f,   0.0f,-1.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },

  {-1.0f,-1.0f, 1.0f,  -1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },  //Left face
  {-1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f,  -1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },
  {-1.0f, 1.0f,-1.0f,  -1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },
  {-1.0f, 1.0f,-1.0f,  -1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },
  {-1.0f,-1.0f,-1.0f,  -1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },
  {-1.0f,-1.0f, 1.0f,  -1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },

  { 1.0f,-1.0f,-1.0f,   1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },  //Right face
  { 1.0f, 1.0f,-1.0f,   1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },
  { 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f,   1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },
  { 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f,   1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },
  { 1.0f,-1.0f, 1.0f,   1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },
  { 1.0f,-1.0f,-1.0f,   1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },

};

 

The idea was that this was the shading or something to do with that freakin cube and the thought was to just make everything a ZERO.....so you see why i didnt want to mess with that now?........jeeesh.....(dont forget im a lazy bastard).

 

Believe me, i tried to comment out the section, delete it, blah blah.....lol anything but go in and do the data-input.

 

final code working no 3d box

my_vertex g_vertices[] ={
{ 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour1},
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour1},
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour1},
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour1},
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour1},
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour1},

  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour2 },  //Back face
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour2},
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour2 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour2 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour2 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour2 },

  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },  //Top face
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour3 },

  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },  //Bottom face
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour4 },

  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },  //Left face
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour5 },

  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },  //Right face
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },
  { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f,   cube_colour6 },

};

 

Now i remind you that i am totally new to all this stuff, the first thing i ever compiled was this fbax source. so nothing before this. So really im sure there was that SIMPLE solution, since this worked, i stopped looking for it.

 

that was it, no 3d box.......all by me own self.

 

Starting out though i must give credit to Mr. X for trying to help me compile my first fbax and leading me to DJBASE.....and djbase for leading me to that super cool generator........which led me to iq_132........and the rest is history.

 

None of this would even be possible if Lantus and Tmaul had never ported fba over to our xbox. Thank you both. No offense Tmaul, but the 3dbox had to go.....

 

I would like to note that it would be kinda neat to have a sphere or even that cube but where the preview image shows up inside it......that might be a cube worth keeping but thats just me thinkin out my ass....

Edited February 25, 2004 by N3oGhost

[Magus]

woah. glad to see that there are ppl who have the patience/skillz to figure stuff like this out.

 

btw. would there happen to be a re-released version of your compiled fbax (with the 3d box left out)?

 

not that i'm lazy or anything, heh. but it would be hella faster.

[Magus]

hmm....so about the cube idea. ur thinking about having the rotating cube in the preview area. but the preview picture being behind or actually on the sides of the cube itself?

 

i kinda think it would be neat for the preview pics to be the sides of the cube myself.

[N3oGhost]

This Thread for new version

 

theres a new release out "v2". check the main thread. the cube is gone and crc check disabled.

Edited February 25, 2004 by N3oGhost

[Armageddon]

So it was originally an open source project.. are you going to post the source?? just out of curiosity. all this C++ code i suddenly want to bust out the old MS Visual C++