VGAP4 Racepack HOWTO

or 'Part 2 of every vgap4 race webpage ever'

Prologue

This HOWTO will not help you design a new race. Try good places like ML or KK to get an idea of what you should do when designing a new race.
Looks like a lot of work? Right.

You want a new race, you put the work in. It is, after all, your project. Make an estimate of the time you will be prepared to put in. Then double it and add weeks more for feedback corrections. Then weeks more to get the graphics right. Don't count on famous graphics mavens to bail you out.

Introduction

There is exactly ONE way to get a new racepack playable for VGAP4. That is to have it approved (colloquially "racepacked") by Tim, the author and copyright holder of VGAP4.

Some people on the news group have discussed user editors for races (like the 'Stars' game apparently has). I think this idea will not go anywhere.

My theory of how this would work is that you (the project manager) would have to make it worth Tim's while doing so. And make conversion easy to do.

It might also help to gain broad approval on the NewsGroup or MailingList, at least people may offer help.

As a co-creator of a candidate race (IMT) this is the theory worked to as project wrangler (or "nagger"). Try to make the race acceptable, interesting and minimal work to implement.

Preamble

What this document will do for you is provide some information for people who have already got a race concept, design, stats, graphics, etc to be ready for a minimum effort transformation into a racepack.

Checklist

You will need some information in the form of input files for one or two output files: the RCE racepack and the SPK shippack. I recommend drafting your race design as a webpage in the standard format as on the VGAP4 site.

SPK shippack files contain up to 30 ship descriptions. Each has a set of stats, these should be on your candidate webpage. You will also need at set of ship graphics, by default these must in in Windows BMP 256 colour (8bpp indexed) format.

'angle view'
'side view'
'top view'
'energy view' (based on top view)
'sprite view'
'iconview'

The first four views are as often seen on race webpages. They are 160x120 tiles in BMP 256 colour (8bpp indexed) format.

The sprite view is a 2x8 set of rotated views of a ship. It looks as if VCR would use this to display combat results. This is 512x128 in BMP 256 colour (8bpp indexed) format.

The final image you need is the 'icon view'. This is a 32x32 Windows ICO file in 16 colours. It has a transparent background. It looks as if it is used as a mouse cursor.

I have used a PNG for web purposes, PNG is a good transport format to hold this image while your graphics mavens do their work. This image is based on the top view.

To have an approved shippack you will need 'hull numbers'. These are allocated by Tim, so in the meantime just keep your stats and graphics ready.

The RCE racepack file is a little more difficult to prepare for as the contents are more varied. This contains:

up to 3 Mech ground vehicles, stats & BMP picture 160x120 pixels
up to 3 Fighters, stats & BMP picture 160x120 pixels
up to 4 ground base structures (buildings), stats & BMP picture 160x120 pixels
race notes (snappy text description of the race, see existing races using Raceview for examples)
a leader picture (preferably heroic), (about) 200x250 pixels
race anthem (in MIDI format)
race logo, BMP 160x120 pixels
race stats (growth rates, PR rating, etc)

The mechs and fighters will need one graphic each, in the familiar BMP 160x120 pixels, 256 colour (8bpp indexed format).

Postamble

That is it. Keep your webpage up to date. With every change and comment you accept update your stats and (optionally) your changelog. The latter is a courtesy for people reviewing how you have changed your race as comment has come in. Good Luck !