Patrizierforum

This is not a tip or trick per se, but the International forum doesn't have a "General" area or otherwise appropriate area for this. I've been exploring the files on my own, since I can't find anyone else who has made graphic mods for this game, but I'm limited by a certain file format. First, see what I've done so far:


An example of the wife portrait replacement, which I think is more pleasing to the eye.


A replacement of the money lender.

I'm also working on a new version of the sea map.

The problem is that the original graphics are packaged inconsistently. Some of the animated graphics are simply a series of BMPs, and I can edit those fine (the priest, the ship captain, etc). But others are an unknown format called .aim, and I can't find any way to open or extract these files, which I'm sure is just a container for a simple series of images like what's used elsewhere.

So, has anyone else done anything about this, or knows how to handle this kind of file?

Well, I hope someone, somewhere knows what to do with these .ani files. I tried Dragon UnPACKer 5, but it couldn't recognise them.

Well, that is unfortunate, but it's good to hear from others who have tried to deal with it.

How about this -- If I can't edit the .aim files, can you suggest a way to disable them? I would be happier with an unmoving picture with more character than the moving Poser 2-looking 3D models of the original, in the cases such as the moneylender, where the animation is in .aim files instead of .bmp series.

I've already tried replacing those files with empty files of the same names, but apparently the game engine recognises them as invalid files and defaults to the ones in the .pak.

In the meantime I'll just experiment blindly and try to find an animation file that's small enough not to be noticed on the image, since the animation is only for whatever small areas in the overall pictures are moving (I assume done to save either space or processing power).

While I'm at it, where is a good place to post the mods I complete? For other games I mod, there are active databases where I can upload them. I can put together my mods in separate packages, like a "wife portrait mod", a "sea map mod", and a "misc non-animated interiors" mod.