Zone loading screens corrected for widescreen monitors inside.

I've seen this request posted from time to time: loading screens that aren't stretched in widescreen monitors. So I decided to go ahead and do just that. I didn't create any new screens, I simply took the existing ones, added black bars to each side, and put them all together in a nice installer. They are adapted for 16:10 screens (such as 1680x1050 or 1920x1200) and 5:4 screens (1280x1024).

Here's a before-and-after comparison for a couple of screens at 16:9:



When you run the installer, you'll be asked for the folder where COH is installed; make sure it points to the right place, or this won't work. It will create an uninstaller (named remove_loading_screens.exe) in that location, in case you want to revert to the regular screens.

You will notice that it offers to install the Heroes/Coop screens as an option, and the Villains/PVP/Faultline screens as a separate option. That is because the Villains/PVP/Faultline screens don't have the zone's name in them; the game adds it at runtime. Because I can't change that text without messing with the game itself, it appears in the wrong position, as seen here:



(Screens above for 16:9; below for 5:4)



Because of this, the installer gives you a choice whether to install the screens (and endure the text in the wrong place) or not install them (and keep the currently stretched ones) for the villain areas and Faultline.

Maybe in the future I'll do some "proper" widescreen loading screens (I have seen some efforts by another poster that are quite nice), but I decided that I was not going to bother with that until i17 goes live, in order to use Ultra mode graphics in any custom loading screens.

Download here for 16:9
Download here for 5:4

(Usual disclaimer on client-side modifications; see Vaden's icon pack, Vidiotmaps' map pack, etc.)

Nice, thanks for making these, I'll give them a try.

Thank you for taking the time to do these. Would you by any chance happen to have a 5x4 version of them?

*edit*
Fixed the obvious mistake.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

The original loading screens ARE 4:3... why would you need a 4:3 version of Leo's tweaks, which are for screens that are NOT 4:3?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

Nice work, Leandro.

Zomg. No more stretched loading screens? This must be a dream

I ma downloading right now.
Is there any possibility to create custom zone screens ?

I wrote an Excel macro to covert 1024x1024 JPEG images into the proper .texture files for loading screens. So if you want to convert your own loading screens, here are the steps:

1) Leave the top row of the spreadsheet for headings. The first column is not used by the macro (I put the zone names in there), the second has the loading screen ID (the .texture file) and the third has the JPEG file for that screen. Example of how the spreadsheet is built:

   A             B           C
1  Zone          Screen      File
2  Outbreak      City_00_01  outbreak_16x10.jpg
3  Atlas Park    City_01_01  atlas_16x10.jpg
4  Kings Row     City_01_02  kings_16x10.jpg
5  Galaxy City   City_01_03  galaxy_16x10.jpg
6  Steel Canyon  City_02_01  steel_16x10.jpg
7  Skyway City   City_02_02  skyway_16x10.jpg
8  Pocket D      City_02_04  pocketd_16x10.jpg

Sub LoadingScreens()
i% = 1
Do
  i% = i% + 1
  If Cells(i%, 1) = "" Then Exit Do
  texfile$ = Cells(i%, 2)
  jpgfile$ = Cells(i%, 3)
  If jpgfile$ <> "" Then WriteScreen jpgfile$, texfile$
Loop
End Sub
Sub WriteScreen(jpgfile$, texfile$)
  Dim asciz As String * 1
  Dim buffer As String * 1024
  asciz = Chr(0)
  jpgpath$ = "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrador\Escritorio\ultra_screens\Excel"
  texpath$ = "C:\Games\City of Heroes\data\texture_library\loading_screens\City_Zones"
  Open jpgpath$ & "\" & jpgfile$ For Binary Access Read As #1
  Open texpath$ & "\" & texfile$ & ".texture" For Binary Access Write As #2
  Put #2, , 80& + Len(texfile$)
  Put #2, , LOF(1)
  Put #2, , 1024&
  Put #2, , 1024&
  Put #2, , &H30002
  Put #2, , 0&
  Put #2, , 0&
  Put #2, , &H32585400
  Put #2, , "texture_library/loading_screens/City_Zones/" & texfile$ & ".jpg"
  Put #2, , asciz
  While Loc(1) < LOF(1)
    Get #1, , buffer
    Put #2, , buffer
  Wend
  Close #2
  Close #1
End Sub