FISSION Art Mini-Guide

Add Custom FRM Graphics (Items, Critters, Scenery, etc.)

This guide assumes you have a working mod folder (e.g., mods/mod_mytown.dat/ from the Quick Start Guide). ¥ You’ll add new .frm art files that can be used by items, critters, scenery, or interface elements.

1. What You Need

Your existing mod folder: mods/mod_mytown.dat/. (a folder for development, compress into actual .dat for release)

You will create one new file per art category:

• art/<category>/<category>_<modname>.lst – lists your custom .frm files

Plus the actual .frm files (created with Frame Animator or converted from other formats).

Art categories (<category>):

2. Create the Art List File

File: mods/mod_mytown/art/items/items_mytown.lst

my_sword.frm
my_helmet.frm

• Each line is a filename (with .frm extension).
• Files can be in subfolders – include the relative path (e.g., weapons/my_sword.frm).
• The base name (without extension) is used to generate a stable index in the mod range (4096–8191).

Optional remapping:
You can replace an existing vanilla asset with your own using @ syntax:

@original_name = my_new.frm

Example: @hmjmps = my_jumpsuit.frm – replaces the male vault jumpsuit with your custom FRM.

3. Place Your .frm Files

Put the .frm files in the same folder as the .lst file (or in subfolders as specified):

mods/mod_mytown/
    └─ art/
        └─ items/
            ├─ items_mytown.lst
            ├─ my_sword.frm
            └─ my_helmet.frm

For critters, use art/critters/critters_mytown.lst and place .frm files there.

4. How It Works (Behind the Scenes)

• The mod name is extracted from the .lst filename (mytown from items_mytown.lst).
• For each asset, the engine computes a stable hash of the base filename.
• The hash is mapped to an index in the mod range (4096 … 8191).
• If two different mods produce the same index, a popup appears and the second asset overwrites the first (last loaded wins).
• The game generates a report: data/lists/art_list.txt showing every asset and its final index.

5. Find Your Art Index

1. Run the game once.
2. Open data/lists/art_list.txt.
3. Look under the relevant category (e.g., [items]) in the MOD ASSETS section:

MOD ASSETS:
4096: my_sword.frm
4097: my_helmet.frm

Use these numbers when building FIDs in scripts or prototypes.

6. Use Your Art in the Game

In a prototype .lst override (for items):

my_sword.pro fid=4096

In a script (to create an object with custom art):

variable obj;
create_object_sid(proto_pid, tile, elevation, -1);
obj = self_obj;
set_obj_fid(obj, build_fid(OBJ_TYPE_ITEM, 4096, 0, 0, 0));

For critters, the FID is built automatically from the index – just reference the critter proto.

7. Important Notes

Stable indices – The same mod name + filename always produce the same index. You can safely hardcode the index from art_list.txt.

Overwrites – If two mods claim the same index, the last loaded mod wins. A warning is shown and logged.

Remapping – Use @original = new.frm to replace vanilla assets without changing the original .lst.

No message files – Art assets have no names or descriptions; those come from prototypes or messages.

Widescreen variants – The system automatically looks for _800.frm variants (e.g., my_sword_800.frm) if you enable widescreen mode.

8. Quick Troubleshooting