(cameo) Palette(s) loadable from sidec mixes

Hmm, it could also be done in art.ini like...

Cameo.[Side]=
AltCameo.[Side]=
CameoPalette.[Side]=

for example...

Cameo.GDI=e1icon
Cameo.NOD=e2icon
Cameo.ThirdSide=e3icon
Cameo.MyNewSide=e4icon
CameoPalette.GDI=e1iconpal
CameoPalette.NOD=e2iconpal
etc

The core mixes are loaded just once, at game startup, and side/theater mixes get reloaded each match. As documented at http://modenc.renegadeprojects.com/MIX#Loading_Hierarchy , if a file is found in a earlier-loaded mix, the later mixes don't get checked.

As I see it, I could either
- tell you to use unique filenames for things so the game can't find them in existing mixes,
- rewrite the loaders to reload the full game mixes on each session, which kind of slows down loading times to a crawl,
- reload just a few more mixes in each match, in this case that would be cameo(md).mix but I can see more things being wanted in the future.

I think I'll go with the last option when I find time for it. Thoughts?

If it loads cameomd.mix then it won't be possible to have faction specific palettes (which is what I'm getting at). Using unique names would be fine if the tags were there to support different cameos/palettes for different sides.

The way I saw it working was like in TS where GDI versions of cameos were in sidec01 and Nod in 02, except now it also loads its own palettes. For example the Allied cameos would all have Allied logo backgrounds and the palette would have lots of blue colours. The Soviet cameos would have the Soviet logo on the cameos and lots of red colours etc. You already added the option for individual cameo palettes, but that still doesn't help 'per side' situations (unless loaded from their respective side mixes).

I'd rather see a differently named mix file for side specific cameos so we don't have to drag around copies of all the stuff already in the sidec## mix files (or wait until launch base handles mix files correctly. Cameos##.mix maybe?

And what happens if you steal an enemy's conyard? Fucked up cameos in the sidebar?

I think a much better way to solve this would be PCX support for cameos, which has been asked already IIRC, and should be relatively easy to implement from what I know.

pd I think your missing the point. If you capture an enemy Con Yard then you get your sides versions of the enemy cameos.

Umm...how exactly did you figure that was a good reply, anon?

Your reply implies I'll have to create a complete set of cameos for every side in existence - so, in the stock game alone, I'd have to re-do every single cameo twice, solely to be able to activate this feature without the game fucking up.

I've tripled the amount of cameos in the game at that point, and haven't added a single unit yet.

Sorry, but that doesn't sound like a desirable thing.

I dont see how this is hard to understand.

In TS (as I expect you know) cameos can get read from the sidec mixes, allowing unique cameos for each side. All I'd like is the ability for the game to load unique cameo palettes from the sidecs as well as cameos, so each sides set of cameos can look completely unique.

You obviously dont HAVE to duplicate anything, because they'll still get read normally from any other mix...

And what happens when the cameos you don't have side specific versions of get drawn for a given side in their pallet? I think that is the point Renegade is making though I expect you mean have the custom pallet only apply to the cameos in the side specific mix and have neutral cameos drawn in the normal neutral pallet.

This could be used to put a red lines around Soviet cameos and a blue line around Allied cameos. It would default to the default cameo palette. Or, if you did your cameos right, you could make a remapable cameo.

I may be missing something, but since PCX cameos have been implemented now, is this feature even needed anymore?

Since this feature request failed to gather community- and developer support, I am hereby formally rejecting it.