[peabody]

Originally Posted by bigepilot

Hey gents, I've recently posted about promotions and how to unlock higher ranks. I've manged to get that figured out (as well as promotions for myself). The big question I now have is the basics of a dds file, more importantly how the game actually calls for certain files.
The dds file that generates the crew management screen (sh4/data/menu/gui/layout/crewsystemsmanagement.dds) contains everything that can be displayed on that screen. How does the game actually come to display a certain set of pixels from that dds file for say a LT, both his picture in the compartment (seaman, PO, CPO, or officer) and the picture of his rank symbol next to his name? Are there commands or a controlling file somewhere else buried in the folders that tells the game the exact location of the desired art on the picture?
The crux of the issue is when I promote a LT his picture changes to that of a seaman, and the symbol of his rank is blank altogether. Anything over the rank of LT. produces the same result. Thanks in advance. I'll try to post a picture of the file converted to bitmap.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=155007 This thread shows the upper left of the image contained in th dds file.

I don't know all the answers but I do know some of it (and maybe all of it) comes from the Menu1024_768.ini file. Open that file with notepad and do a search for "crewsystemsmanagement" and you will see there is a LOT of stuff associated with it.
The .dds file has an alpha channel (selection layer) and parts are "cut out" using coordinates on that .dds. For example the small medals, if the .dds file didn't have an alpha channel they would be squares not shaped like the medal.

It also uses the Crewleft.dds and Crew page background.dds. for that same screen.

Peabody