Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Color of *phaser.hob files; support/discussion/questions

Moderator: thunderchero

User avatar
Tethys
Past Administrator
Past Administrator
Posts: 2392
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:00 am
Location: Your mom's bed ;)
Contact:

Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by Tethys »

From my experiences, the information on the BotF Co-Operation page was somewhat broken and confusing on this topic, which has led me to produce a short and to-the-point tutorial on obtaining a distinctive change in color when hex editing Phaser Hob files.

First you need a Hex editor. HxD is free and comes in many different languages. Google is your friend, I'm just here to tell you the hex locations you need.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Version one: Vanilla Hobs

Open the Vanilla *phaser.hob you wish to edit. Set your Hex editor to 40 bytes per row.
11uasrd.png
11uasrd.png (122.5 KiB) Viewed 6535 times
The following locations are shown in RED shading.

0x8FC Controls top/bottom beam impact intensity (of enemy vessel)

0x974 Controls top/bottom beam origin intensity (from firing vessel)

0xA3C Controls left/right beam impact intensity (of enemy vessel)

0xAB4 Controls left/right beam origin intensity (from firing vessel)

0xB7C Unknown

0xC94 Unknown

Locations above in YELLOW shading control the shade of your phaser beam's event horizon (or the glow/shadow effect). Values for this are yet unknown, it is best to play around with them. A good shade value seems to be AF, BC, or E1. This will also change the shade of the 'glow' of your beam, if set to FE or FF. Other notes include most if not all values ABOVE the yellow (uncolored, but within the same vertical row) might need to be changed to the same/different values. This has yet to be explored in full.

0x924 Unknown, but compliments above value.

0x94C Unknown, might control shading properties.

0x964 Unknown, but compliments above value.

0x98C Unknown, might control shading properties.

0xBA4 Unknown, might control shading properties.

0xC6C Unknown, might control shading properties.

Location in BLUE is the initial beam sparkle color, should typically be same color as values in RED.

The colors in BLACK and ORANGE are informational values which should not be changed! I believe they have something to do with angle and coverage area.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Version two: Scale-edited/Main Multi Hobs (UE > Graphics > Hob Files)

Open the modded *phaser.hob you wish to edit. Set your Hex editor to 40 bytes per row.
25iyx3p.png
25iyx3p.png (123.88 KiB) Viewed 6535 times
The following locations are shown in RED shading.

0x91C Controls top/bottom beam impact intensity (of enemy vessel)

0x994 Controls top/bottom beam origin intensity (from firing vessel)

0xA5C Controls left/right beam impact intensity (of enemy vessel)

0xAD4 Controls left/right beam origin intensity (from firing vessel)

0xB9C Unknown

0xCB4 Unknown

Locations above in YELLOW shading control the shade of your phaser beam's event horizon. Unknown properties and effects. They may or may not directly affect beam color, or shading properties.

0x944 Unknown, but compliments above value.

0x96C Unknown, but compliments above value.

0xA84 Unknown, but compliments above value.

0xAAC Unknown, but compliments above value.

0xBC4 Unknown, but compliments above value.

0x8C8 Unknown, but compliments above value.

Location in BLUE should typically be same color values as values in RED shading.

0x764 Initial beam sparkle color.

The remaining information on this version can be extrapolated from Version one found just above.

In the event that none of these locations matches the *phaser.hob file you are trying to edit, you will have to analyze the lists above and make an educated guess on which values are supposed to be which ones. Easiest way I suppose is to find the first one from the bottom of the Table and the 3 above that. Good luck, happy phasering :)

---

Thanks for reading, I hope then helps clear some things up as far as phaser color and shading. Stay tuned for a list of known color values. Anyone is welcome to post their color findings for others to use as well, makes life easier for all ;)

Tethys
Last edited by Tethys on Sat Jul 17, 2010 9:52 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Not for the weak of heart...
Galaxies MOD v0.4.0 <--- GALM/Galaxies Mod latest version
User avatar
Tethys
Past Administrator
Past Administrator
Posts: 2392
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:00 am
Location: Your mom's bed ;)
Contact:

Post by Tethys »

Known Color Values:

79 01 = Crash?
7A 01 = Purple
7B 01 = Black
7C 01 = Black/Grey?
7D 01 = ?
7E 01 = Yellow
7F 01 = White
80 01 = Teal/Silver?
81 01 = Teal/Silver?
82 01 = Light Blue?
83 01 = Red/Orange (depends on your shading)
84 01 = Green
85 01 = Brown?ish (depends on shading)
86 01 = ?
87 01 = ?
88 01 = ?
89 01 = Grey/Transparent
8A 01 = ?

4E 00 = Red
22 00 = Transparent shading
Last edited by Tethys on Sat Jul 17, 2010 4:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Not for the weak of heart...
Galaxies MOD v0.4.0 <--- GALM/Galaxies Mod latest version
User avatar
Tethys
Past Administrator
Past Administrator
Posts: 2392
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:00 am
Location: Your mom's bed ;)
Contact:

Post by Tethys »

Update soon to come:

Yellow values are actually 2 bytes long XX XX meaning that color values such as 7A 01 or 84 01 can be placed here to give a multicolored beam. :P
Not for the weak of heart...
Galaxies MOD v0.4.0 <--- GALM/Galaxies Mod latest version
User avatar
Tethys
Past Administrator
Past Administrator
Posts: 2392
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:00 am
Location: Your mom's bed ;)
Contact:

Post by Tethys »

Updated
Not for the weak of heart...
Galaxies MOD v0.4.0 <--- GALM/Galaxies Mod latest version
User avatar
Tethys
Past Administrator
Past Administrator
Posts: 2392
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:00 am
Location: Your mom's bed ;)
Contact:

Re: Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by Tethys »

Updated some color information and values in blue shading are now known.
Not for the weak of heart...
Galaxies MOD v0.4.0 <--- GALM/Galaxies Mod latest version
User avatar
thunderchero
Site Administrator aka Fleet Admiral
Site  Administrator aka Fleet Admiral
Posts: 7849
Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:00 am
Location: On a three month training mission, in command of the USS Valiant.

Re: Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by thunderchero »

Hi Tethys,

I saw your chat message on your plans to update this post. I to have been looking at possible color changes but not had any luck or time to add any thing new.

but when reviewing your first post you list "Version one: Vanilla Hobs" (9.26kb fed 9.58kb) these are not MP compatable.

the updated ones from the Atari Data patch are the only ones that should be used. (9.29kb feds 9.61kb)

I still wonder why the fed phaser (hphaser.HOB) is a little larger lol

thunderchero
User avatar
Tethys
Past Administrator
Past Administrator
Posts: 2392
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:00 am
Location: Your mom's bed ;)
Contact:

Re: Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by Tethys »

Yeah me too. Check out what color 22 00 is in hex:

Transparent ;)
o7u04h.png
o7u04h.png (74.63 KiB) Viewed 6534 times
I think we should leave the outdated info just in case someone is still using a CD install, which they shouldn't ;)

EDIT: I also doubt the file size makes a difference. When you rename cphaser.hob to hphaser.hob you get a purple beam regardless. I think we should pick one size fits all on this project, and just adjust the colors. If my hypothesis is correct, I think all 22 00 hex value locations have something to do with the shading of the beam overall, and they can be changed... yeah, that alot of changes. lol
Not for the weak of heart...
Galaxies MOD v0.4.0 <--- GALM/Galaxies Mod latest version
User avatar
thunderchero
Site Administrator aka Fleet Admiral
Site  Administrator aka Fleet Admiral
Posts: 7849
Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:00 am
Location: On a three month training mission, in command of the USS Valiant.

Re: Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by thunderchero »

well I started at 00 00 and not gotten to far 71 00 (this will take a long time)

so far not one crash but in my tests I set all values to 22 00 and I am only editing 0x00994 to get a true color for code?

I only found 5 vaild colors so far and 1 Tethys already posted.

The color values below are from the brightest pixel from screenshot.

0B = ced3ce (GRAY)
0F = c6cbc6 (GRAY)
4D = fafafa (WHITE)
4E = f50000 (RED)
4F = 980000 (MARRON)

thunderchero
User avatar
Flocke
BORG Trouble Maker
BORG Trouble Maker
Posts: 3197
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:00 am
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Contact:

Re: Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by Flocke »

don't loose your head analysing ugly old phaser hob :x
User avatar
Tethys
Past Administrator
Past Administrator
Posts: 2392
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:00 am
Location: Your mom's bed ;)
Contact:

Re: Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by Tethys »

Lol Flocke

Tc I set all the 22 00 values to purple color (7A 01) and did come out with a purple beam, so it looks to me like the horizontal/vertical plane of the phaser beam is split up into even more sections then previously thought. It would seem that all values can be changed to the same value if you want a totally solid beam color (kind of like a matte finish).

I really wonder where their heads were at when they were making these phaser beams.... looking at the phaser beam head on this is what you would see (Tc already knows this): +
Not for the weak of heart...
Galaxies MOD v0.4.0 <--- GALM/Galaxies Mod latest version
User avatar
EnPhreg
Lieutenant-Commander
Lieutenant-Commander
Posts: 130
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:00 am

Re: Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by EnPhreg »

want to make a phaser.hob with a custom color.
i want to now if i should take a vanilla *.hob or a main-multi *.hob file as base.
what's the difference of this two versions?

and can i theoretically use both hob versions in the same game/tactical combat or will this cause errors?
User avatar
thunderchero
Site Administrator aka Fleet Admiral
Site  Administrator aka Fleet Admiral
Posts: 7849
Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:00 am
Location: On a three month training mission, in command of the USS Valiant.

Re: Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by thunderchero »

EnPhreg wrote:want to make a phaser.hob with a custom color.
i want to now if i should take a vanilla *.hob or a main-multi *.hob file as base.
the vanilla (1.0.1) was replaced by microprose in original 1.0.2 patch these are used by multi installer

I would not suggest using 1.0.1 versions
User avatar
EnPhreg
Lieutenant-Commander
Lieutenant-Commander
Posts: 130
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:00 am

Re: Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by EnPhreg »

how can i differentiate between both versions??
User avatar
thunderchero
Site Administrator aka Fleet Admiral
Site  Administrator aka Fleet Admiral
Posts: 7849
Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:00 am
Location: On a three month training mission, in command of the USS Valiant.

Re: Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by thunderchero »

EnPhreg wrote:how can i differentiate between both versions??
size of file in bytes (edited files size should not change)

1.0.1
c,f,k,m,r 9488 bytes
h 9812 bytes

1.0.2 and Tactical Combat
c,f,k,m,r 9520 bytes
h 9844 bytes
User avatar
EnPhreg
Lieutenant-Commander
Lieutenant-Commander
Posts: 130
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:00 am

Re: Changing color of *phaser.hob files

Post by EnPhreg »

I would not suggest using 1.0.1 versions
i'm wondering cause UDM uses 1.0.1 versions. (example: cphaser.hob)
Post Reply

Return to “Color of *phaser.hob files”