HeroSelect V1.6 RELEASED (international language support)

[Norrin Radd]

HeroSelect by Norrin Radd RELEASE V1.6

This program has a graphical user interface and allows you to choose which characters/mods you want to play with.
For instructions please see the pdf file contained in the download. I have tried to make the instructions as clear as possible in the pdf, and will not repeat them all in this thread. If you have any questions please ask.

*Note* You may need to install Microsoft .NET Framework Version 1.1 or higher

See a screenshot of the program below


Version 1.6 *compiler included* New!
Download Here

Version 1.4 *international language support*
Download Here

Version 1.2 *new pdf* *default team = 27 characters* (includes Character Select V1.4)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/gh84e6
(for users of V1.0, just replace Characterselect.exe and the pdf file)
Notes for V1.2
Colossus and Moonknight playable (PS values inserted)
Default team is now 27 characters so you will need to add at least 2 characters before you can use it
There was a small problem for the default team wouldn't also go in their default menu locations, this is fixed.

Big thanks to:
BliZZ for the menu locations, and Bane1 for testing purposes

[Norrin Radd]

Removed from first post:
Character Select by Norrin Radd RELEASE V1.0

For user guide instructions see the help_file.txt in the zip. To run, just double-click. Make sure to set up your cfg files first! Once they are setup, there should not be any need to change anything, only add new mod information. Hope you enjoy!

Version 1.0
http://www.momoshare.com/file.php?file=878ef20b078f5bf0a25f03a89e043248

For enquiries, you can reply to this thread or start a new one named 'Character Select Help' or something similar.

Note: you will need nba2kstuff's (non-gui) xmlb-compiler v2.2 (http://www.nba2kstuff.org/mua/)
Note: you won't always be able to choose the location the characters show up in the menu, especially if there are more than 27 entries in herostat.cfg
Note: Put this line:
c:\\Program Files\\Activision\\Marvel - Ultimate Alliance\\data\\
or your directory for the herostat.engb file as THE FIRST LINE of the herostat.cfg file


======= Using Character Select =======
Adding new character:

What you need:
Unzipped Character Select files (make sure all the files are in the same
folder).
xmlb-compile.exe (from http://www.nba2kstuff.org/mua/) in your c:\windows
directory.
Make sure you backed up your herostat.engb file.

1. Open herostat.cfg with notepad or another text editor. Make sure the first
line of the file points to the directory of your herostat.engb file. If not,
change it using the same format it is in (with the \\).

2. Add the new character name (NO SPACES!) to the end of the list that is there
now (lines 2-28 in the version that came zipped) but BEFORE endoffile.

3. Go to the end of the file, it looks like:

talent {
      level = 1 ;
      name = fightstyle_default ;
      }

   }

endoffile
   stats {
   autospend = support ;
   isteam = true ;
   name = team_character ;
   skin = 0002 ;
   xpexempt = true ;
   }

EOF

4. Add the same character's name written at the start of the file here
(NEWCHARACTERNAME):

talent {
      level = 1 ;
      name = fightstyle_default ;
      }

   }

endoffile
   stats {
   autospend = support ;
   isteam = true ;
   name = team_character ;
   skin = 0002 ;
   xpexempt = true ;
   }

NEWCHARACTERNAME                    <-- the new character's name

EOF

5. Add the character's herostat entry (provided by the modder) directly after
the name:

isteam = true ;
   name = team_character ;
   skin = 0002 ;
   xpexempt = true ;
   }

NEWCHARACTERNAME
   stats {                         <-- NEWCHARACTERNAME's herostat entry
   ailevel = 1 ;
   autospend = bruiser ;
....
....
      talent {
      level = 1 ;
      name = fightstyle_default ;
      }

   }

EOF

6. Close and save the file and now run Characterselect.exe
7. Type 'c' to change the herostat.
8. Enter the amount of characters you want on your team.
9. Choose your team yourself, randomly, or use the default team.
10. Choosing yourself:
   Type the name of the characters you want, one character at a time using
   the same names that are in your herostat.cfg file.
Choosing random team:
   Enter a random number seed (ex: 1,50, or 1110) so that your team won't
   be the same every time, or so if you like your random team from last
   time, just use the same seed.
Choosing default team:
   This chooses characters on lines 3-27 (25 characters in all) in
   herostat.cfg. Note that it chooses 25 characters no matter what number
   you chose originally.
11. After compilation, you can read the lines that say Decompiling: ... and
Compilng: ... to check for errors. If there are no errors, your new
herostat.engb is built using the characters you wanted.
12. Type 'q' then enter to quit Characterselect.exe
13. Run game and have fun.


Original first post moved here:
I have created a program which can replace the files so you can choose which character you want in the game.

So far, the program can do this:
before you start MUA, or XML2, you start the program, basically type in which character skins you want to replace which characters in the game. So far I only programmed it for skins, but it can basically be made to do anything from replace huds and mannequins to edit entries in files.
Also, since you can swap skins during run-time, you can alt-tab out of the game, use the program to swap skins, then jump back in.

Why, you might ask, would you want a program like this. Well, i'm lazy, and i can't remember everyone's skin number. this way, if i want hulk's 3rd skin to replace wolverine's first skin, i just type in hulk3 and wolverine1 (i made it so you can name the skins yourself). this way all you have to do is remember the name of the character, and it will replace the files for you. there is a file that you just need to fill once that has the igb # and the name of the character (you can choose both of these)

i am welcome to any suggestions people may have. also i will need some guinney pigs to try it out on different machines, i'm not used to programming in windows, so i hope it works for everyone. i will release it very soon.

Also note that this program could be theoretically used for any type of file copying you want to do.
End of original first post.

How i see people using it (at the present state it is in):
you can make a backup folder which contains all the igbs in your actors folder.
you have another folder which contains all other hero/villain skins you have.
you just overwrite your hero/villain skins over the ones in the actors folder (since you made backups, its safe).
this is an easy way to test new skins, or just check one out if you havent seen it in a while.

like i said, i am open to suggestions on how to improve it so we can just have a complete character select before the game starts.
edit: if i'm the only one that wants this, then i will just tailor it to my wants/needs.

[iammingy]

Hmmm... interesting idea!
How about a program for character selection that modifies the herostat file?

Say you have a configuration text file (like the cfg file from NBA2KStuff) that stores a library of herostat entries of characters already installed in MUA. When we add/install a new character to the game, we can add new herostat entries to this text file. We still need to add all the files ourselves. Before we start the game, we can use the program to select the characters we want, then a new herostat file will be generated accordingly.

How does this sound?

EDIT: Are you writing this program in C++?

[thetommyboy2002]

How about a "revert to default" button/function that would copy the original skin back to its original name/location?

[Norrin Radd]

revert to default should be easy, i can try to put it in, thanks for the suggestion (as long as everything is backed up)

edit: yes c++
and i can try the herostat stuff, it will just need to be explained to me a bit better, since so far, i mostly just change the skins to play the game, but if it is just a text file, definately it is easy

one thing i was wondering, was if we can use the command line version of nba2kstuff's stuff, then i think we can decompile, edit, then recompile things, in the character select program

[iammingy]

one thing i was wondering, was if we can use the command line version of nba2kstuff's stuff, then i think we can decompile, edit, then recompile things, in the character select program

Yes, in this case, you don't need to worry about hexadecimal -> ascii!

EDIT: I am not familiar with C++, but I know a bit of Java though...

[thetommyboy2002]

Well, if the programme can copy files to and from "actors" to replace skins, then it should be able to copy different herostats to the data directory.
What might be nice would be if you have a herostat that for instance replaced a bunch of the default MUA characters with Avengers (like my Mod did), if the perogramme could copy the "avengers" herostat over the default one in data, and also copy over the necessary skins/meshes at the same time. Sort of like a "batch" operation.
Or maybe if you could have a list of skins you could select for if you wanted to replace more than one at a time.
Might that be do-able?

[Norrin Radd]

anything about moving files is doable,
anything with editing files (as long as we can edit them using text editor is doable)
editing binaries is doable, but i havent done it before,

all i need to know is the basics of what to edit, and what to put where, (the specifics)

and yes, we can make it copy several files "at once" so if you want to use gambit, then you can move his huds, his wallpaper, skin, etc. to the right folders at once

[Norrin Radd]

i was also thinking about making it possible to view all the skins from the program, so before you play, in case you forgot what the skin looks like, you can just take a look at the picture. that means that every skin would need an associated picture, which means someone would have to take a lot of screen shots. as of right now, i can only open pictures from the program with paint, but it opens mspaint automatically, but this is not the best viewer, ill have to figure something out.

Edit: IrfanView also works, looks much nicer.
I can make it so you can choose your own preferred picture viewer.

[Norrin Radd]

i added the capability for default overwriting, for both xml2 and mua. there are so many default skins i didn't put them in the files the program looks for them in. whoever wants this option will have to add all the skin names to the files. i added quite a few for mua, but then i got pretty bored. this also means i didnt test it.

[Norrin Radd]

can someone try this test program on their computer for me please, its just says press a key then Enter, i just want to see if it works on other machines, i havent programmed much in windows, so i'm not sure about the compatability

to run the program just double click on the executable, then press a key and enter (if everything goes well)
http://www.momoshare.com/file.php?file=6b7e008309cfb6ec9f2b1259d7d20265

thanks

[thetommyboy2002]

It runs, I type in something, press enter and it exits.
(It doesnt seem to like just the space key alone, ignores it).
Does that sound right?

[Norrin Radd]

perfect, thanks
do you want the version that the program is at now, or do you want to wait till i look at the herostat, which i'll look at next

(since the test program worked, the actually program hopefully works)

[thetommyboy2002]

I'll wait for now.
I'm too busy to give it the attention it deserves, at least for the next day or two, but look forward to trying it out, it could develop into a VERY handy utility.

[Norrin Radd]

ok, i am able to decompile edit and compile the herostat file by running xmlb-compile from my program. i havent set anything up to edit it correctly though because i have never changed it before, so i'm not sure what is suppose to go where. but basically i should be able to do whatever i want with it.

How about a program for character selection that modifies the herostat file?
Say you have a configuration text file (like the cfg file from NBA2KStuff) that stores a library of herostat entries of characters already installed in MUA. When we add/install a new character to the game, we can add new herostat entries to this text file. We still need to add all the files ourselves. Before we start the game, we can use the program to select the characters we want, then a new herostat file will be generated accordingly.
How does this sound?

this is doable, all i need to do is put the info in a cfg file, like you said and pull it out for the characters that are being used.
edit: i will read the idiot's guide for herostat info, should be helpfull