Tech Talk: the Animations.txt file

[Anubitus]

Hi everyone

For a mod i am creating, i am messing around with the "Animations.txt" file a lot and i am trying to understand how exacly this file works..

Therefor i had a few questions i hope ppl can help me with..

If i understand correctly, the "Animations.txt" file interacts with the body, on wich it has to do a animation on, by using textures (.dds)..

I noticed all "Animations.txt" file entries have a comment at the end wich states their place in the file for example:

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...
TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks1_diff_PAC;25;0.50;0.75;
   TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks2_diff_PAC;25;0.50;0.75;
   TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks1_diff_PAC;25;0.75;0.75;
   TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks2_diff_PAC;25;0.75;0.75;800;// 113 sparks explosion PAC (IMPACT)

would be at the 114the spot, this is due to the fact that the file starts with the first entry being number 0 so spotnumbers should be the comment number +1, is this correct..?

Anyway, i also noticed that some .dds files are named -number.dds (for example -72.dds, -82.dds -92.dds...)..

Now when i import a body file into max, there are sometimes textures with the same names imported, are these the ones that correspondent with the "Animations.txt" file..?

This would mean that the -92.dds texture file would have this animation assigned to it:

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TAT_TAGONESHOT; NULL; 0; 0; 64; 
	...
	TATF_COORDS;fx_flamethrower_4;20;0.25;0.75;
	TATF_COORDS;fx_flamethrower_4;10;0.50;0.75;
	TATF_COORDS;fx_flamethrower_4;10;0.75;0.75;2370;// 92 (95) flamethrower bullet

Now lets say i wanted to merge two "Animations.txt" files, after adding all the entries from the first into the second, should i rename all entries to the correct follow up numbers like in this example:

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TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks1_diff_PAC;25;0.50;0.75;
...
   TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks2_diff_PAC;25;0.50;0.75;
   TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks1_diff_PAC;25;0.75;0.75;
   TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks2_diff_PAC;25;0.75;0.75;800;// 113 sparks explosion PAC (IMPACT)


TATF_COORDS;nexp1e;45;0.25;0.75;
...
   TATF_COORDS;nexp1e;45;0.50;0.75;
   TATF_COORDS;nexp1e;45;0.75;0.75; 3600;// 108 experimental explosion

change it to

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TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks1_diff_PAC;25;0.50;0.75;
...
   TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks2_diff_PAC;25;0.50;0.75;
   TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks1_diff_PAC;25;0.75;0.75;
   TATF_COORDS;effects\explosions\exp_sparks2_diff_PAC;25;0.75;0.75;800;// 113 sparks explosion PAC (IMPACT)

TATF_COORDS;nexp1e;45;0.25;0.75;
...
   TATF_COORDS;nexp1e;45;0.50;0.75;
   TATF_COORDS;nexp1e;45;0.75;0.75; 3600;// 114 experimental explosion

Change the 108 into 114, does this even matter..? Or is it just a comment and it dont change a thing..

If i am correct, it would mean that the 113 and the 114 dont actually do anything but the actual spot the entry is inside the "animations.txt" file is what is important, and the 113 and 114 numbers are just there to let ppl know at wich entry they are at the moment..

I was also wondering why not all "Animations.txt" file entries have a .dds file for it, so there must be something wrong with my assumptions above..

My trial and errors (mostly errors) are confusing me a lot..


Thanks for any help you might want to offer..

AnU

PS: the mod mentioned at the top can be found here:
https://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=394558