Angel Stadium Of Anaheim 2009: The Work Begins

[HaloFan]

It's amazing what can happen in three years. I see that stadium modding has advanced a great deal since I put down the tools and walked away from the game.

For those that weren't around, I'm the guy that put out that Angel Stadium mod that crashes most everybody's system...or at least anyone that has installed MVP06, MVP07 and most likely MVP08. Of course it was also one of the most accurate, detailed and graphic intensive stadium mods of its time, for those that could see it.

So here I am, trolling around the site, getting back into the game, and I see what The Big O is doing with Camden, and what Rolie mananged to pull off with Chavez Ravine, and I realized that my old mod just wasn't cutting edge anymore. That, and after installing many updates from here, my own stadium mod turned on me and crashed.

It's time for me to come out of retirement and update Angel Stadium Of ANAHEIM. As it turns out, modding a stadium is like riding a bike, it's just a lot harder getting baseball cards into the spokes. Rolie went to a game and took an ungodly amount of pictures of just about every ad in the stadium, putting them up on Flikr, and I've been using them as a guide.

The problem I'm having is image size. The reason the stadium crashed is due to the fact that the updated game just can't handle the 2048X2048 file I have in my cram32.fsh. It doesn't help that I also have a 2048X512 as well. I tried getting around the problem by removing transparency from the latter file, but it wasn't enough. When I finally reduced the size of those two images, the mod worked, but not without a hit in quality.

I would like to find a way to stop the crashing without losing image quality, we'll see. Anyway, this is a preview, and I do have screenshots.

As you can see, I've already done quite a bit of work. Rolie's pictures were good, but as usual for this place the ads of late March are not always going to be there come late April. Out here in left, almost everything has been changed from '05. The orange area on the scoreboard is a placeholder for an at&t ad, which is in that color. I'd also like to incorporate the corona "beach" but we'll see.

The club level ads have been updated, you can better see the University Of La Verne ad.

RF Corner ads are complete as well. I added the Budweiser Patio in its proper place, that ugly Angels text actually belongs on the Center field wall. Still need to add the CPK meter, but I'm very happy with the results of the Memorial Care ad. I'd really like to somehow add the Knothole Club (club level, next to Patio), but I'm running out of image options right now.

And here's the big board. Budweiser Patio sign duplicated, SoCalChevy and current at&t ad, even updated the lineup. Down below, I've added the Konica Minolta ad (another recent addition), and the new bud light ad. Still need to get the sizes right for the transparent ads, ad update the championship banner.

I still have a lot of work to do, and I haven't even touched the night version yet. I'm just a little peeved I have to sacrifice image quality for stability. If anyone has a way around that, let me know.

[Homer]

good to see you back. hope you figure this one out.

[The Big O]

Halo, great to see you back! As for your crashing issues, I'd try reducing the mipmaps of your larger images. The smaller you can make that cram32 file, the better. Also what I did was I reorganized the stcs .bmp to shrink it from a 2048x2048 to a 1024x1024 and took up all that negative black space. It was tedious remapping but I was able to reduce the size of the cram32 as a result.

Also you should take a look at ZMod. You can add stuff that you've always wanted to put in. And mapping the stuff is tons easier than in OEdit...

[Trues]

Wow, it's great to see you back here HaloFan.

[mvp23]

Welcome back!

[MarkB]

A huge welcome back, HaloFan. This thread was a very nice surprise to see. :D

[Pirate]

Despite our differences in opinion over teh Angels not being Anaheim's team anymore, your work on the stadium was some of the most amazing creation anyone has ever done. This version I am sure will be just as great.

This isn't a protest version is it?

[HaloFan]

I've had to spend much of this week working on behind the scenes issues, mainly moving graphics from one image file to another, trying to squeeze out every last bit of file space to add more of what I want here.

I've also done a few things in ZMod to finally get rid of some annoyances from the past, as well as try and reconstruct the area behind home plate. That all being said, I've also been watching games in HD to try and pick up whatever missing images I needed to make. On to the screenshots:

One of the more annoying practices at this stadium is that they never seem to finalize the ads for the season until May or June (if then). Prime example here is the Suzuki ad. In Spring training, it was where the University of La Verne Ad is. Then it was gone for the first homestand. Now it's taken the place of the Sparkletts ad. I finished the at&t ad, added the corona beach, and for now have changed the wall ad to the current ad (I may drop this, since the ad will be gone on May 15th, replaced by something else). I would also like to add the side ads in the bullpen, as I now have plenty of extra verts at the moment. They changed the Monster Energy ad (see the original version in my previous post), most likely because you couldn't read it on TV.

Pirate, this should answer your question about what direction this mod is headed. I did a lot of work on the OOT Scoreboard, moving it from one image file to another, making it one piece with the wall and ads below it, but it just didn't match the rest of the walls in the stadium. So I went back to using transparent wall ads, which actually ended up looking better anyway. The experiments did allow me to get the sizes and locations pretty close to perfect though, so it wasn't a wasted effort. The Carl's Jr. ad is half transparent, as it is halfway on the wall, and halfway on the green area where the Albertsons ad used to be located. The CPK Meter is pretty much done. I need to clean up the verts a bit.

Here's the first replacement for the ribbon ad, something I picked up from watching a game in HD. I need to add the Big O logo to the RF Scoreboard for consistancy still. New Era Cap ad is new, as they got rid of the ad rollers down the lines.

Finally, here's my first use of ZMod, using it to split apart the dugout suite area so I could get rid of the ones that were mapped backwards. Now they are all mapped in the proper direction, which allows me to add in the at&t ring. I've also cut out parts of the red roof, so that I can add in the camera wells on the inner side of the dugouts, which weren't in the game before, and the area right behind home plate where the rolling ad and door is. That whole graphic will be replaced with new one that has two doors. The suite graphics need to be altered as well.

In fact I may attempt to make the whole area truly 3 dimensional if I can figure out ZMod. I'd like to copy the camera wells already in the game and and move them in place (could probably do that using mstadium and removable so I have two copies of everything).

Also, does anybody know how I can edit the location of the bullpens? The game has the pitchers where the catchers should be and vice versa. It's a little nitpick, but I don't know what file that info is located in.

[Totte]

Absolutely amazing dude :)

[Yankee4Life]

Welcome back Halofan, it is always nice to see one of the great stadium modders return to the website. So far this ballpark looks great. Best of luck to you.

[RaysFTW]

That's some wicked sick stuff, man.

[MarlinsMY]

This looks great so far!

In fact I may attempt to make the whole area truly 3 dimensional if I can figure out ZMod. I'd like to copy the camera wells already in the game and and move them in place (could probably do that using mstadium and removable so I have two copies of everything).

In ZModeler, you can actually duplicate parts, so you would only need to find the part with the camera wells, copy the part, move it to the new location and merge the part back onto the original. There's no limit to how many vertices you can have, as long as the computer can handle it in-game.

[HaloFan]

So here we go again with the next wave of images:

Here are the side bullpen ads, normally seen when there is action in the bullpen. The only problem of course is that the game has the bullpen backwards, and the cameras point in th opposite direction. However, I have edited the datafile so that now the pitchers and catchers have been put in their proper locations (I swapped them). Now I just need to figure out how to get the cameras to show what I want them to show.

Here are the Away and Home dugouts for 2008, dugout tops included. Not much to say here, just shown because it's done.

Finally, here's the newly mapped press box area. Previously, one image was used the upper 3 levels of the press area here. It had no character, no life, and barely resembled a wall with a pole stuck in the middle. Now I've split up the area into a better representation, with the suites added for the top, TV/Radio area in the middle, and the writers area below that. There are 4 separate images used here now, making it look much more realistic. For whatever reason, this is also the same image used in the Right Field tunnel, so I had to remap that (really stupid mapping if you ask me).

Below the press area is the Diamond Club, and this is one of my proudest achievements thus far. One very small image used to be mapped over and over all the way across. I'm still using one image, but now it's a full image of the area, properly mapped.

I still have to work on the dugout suites as you can see, but I've used ZMod to make a copy of the entire area so I have enough verts to work with. I've copied one of the camera wells I need, and moved it in place for the most part. Still need to make the second one. Most of the artwork is done, the dugouts were the last thing. I might still add some other stuff if I can find image space for it, but this additon made me jack up the size of three small image files, so that might be a pipe dream.

[cabassol]

That's awesome! :D

[dannyt]

Looks perfect!

[HaloFan]

OK, this post is going to show some of the real nuts and bolts work of stadium modding. These are ugly pictures, but the end results should be worth it.

OK, here's the first shot, it's the top of the home side dugout suites, complete with the welcome text on top. I've now sized out everything for the added camera wells, and the behind home plate area. You'll also notice I've added the prper on deck circle cover, a first for this mod. The red FSN West piece there will be moved into its more proper place. It just happened to be a spare part I had during construction.

And here's the visitor's side, complete with the rest of the text on the top.

There's the proper visitor's on deck circle, at least for AL teams. You can see the railing and concrete added for the new camera well. More extra pieces here that will be moved into place, and you may notice the work in the suites itself here.

And here's a closer view of a very early version of the new suites. I've used the crowd ord and orl files to move a row of fans from the club level (where there are too many) into the suite area. They're part of a three image layer to add an actual 3D appearance. The AT&T banner and the screen are the original images, now with transparancy added to open it up to the added crowd, and a background of green with darkened hallways behind the crowd. Adding the crowd will be the toughest part of it, since you have to do it away from the rest of the structure.

So there you go, that's some of the more gritty work that goes into a stadium mod. Oh well, that's enough for now.

[mvp23]

looks hot

[HaloFan]

OK, I've made some major progress this weekend, so here we go with the latest round of pics:

This is a combo shot. My OCD and anal tendencies are showing here. as I've actually gone and added the side images for a few buildings here. The Ruby's building is most noticeable, while you can barely see the Ta, Store For Kids sign on the building with the Suzuki Ad. The Coors Light Building also has it's proper side ad there. I may add more later. You can also see the new wall ad for the Lackey Bobblehead, added in real life on Friday.

Here's the camera wells on the 1st base side. FSN logos completely in place in the original well, and my ZModded wells are complete. I've removed all the seams, and moved everything into place.

Which brings us to the now completed dugout suites...well other than the lack of a crowd. I actually laid out concrete floors here, boxing the suites in completely to eliminate seams.

And finally, here's a comparison between EA's original version and my current one. I'm amazed this is the same game. Next time around I'll show off the outfield. But you've all seen that before. I had neglected this area in previous years, so this is a more drastic change.

Until next time...

[MarkB]

"Wow" doesn't quite cover it, put it that way. Absolutely excellent.

[HaloFan]

I've finished most of the major work in the day version. The only big thing left is the crowd for the dugout suites. So with most of the real hard stuff out of the way, I've been focusing on adding things I couldn't do in the past, small things for the most part, but nice little details.

For example, I stole the tarp from Yankee Stadium. Even though it doesn't get much use, the thing is on the field, and has an ad on it, so here it is now.

I noticed that the grounds crew has been making an Angel logo in the mound dirt, so I decided I'd do one as well. You can also see the first suite complete with fans.

This is where most of the new stuff is. I wanted to all the flags in the stadium, but to do that I needed more poles. For the first time in this mod I've added the golden flagpole which hoists the 2002 World Championship flag. On the original poles, I've added the AL Championship flag, and the 6 A.L. West championship pennants. The A above the scoreboard has been updated to look more like the real life one. Below that I removed the Hooters ad, which was out of date. A trader Joes ad has taken its place. I also tweaked the pepsi ad, making it look closer to the real one.

Also out there are the 5 speaker poles, which I'm adding for the first time since they appeared in High Heat. I also added a friend of mine in the stands, in uniform as an usher. Rolie happened to catch him in one of his pics, so I decided I'd put him in the mod.

And here's Right Field, with new flagpoles imported from Left, and new flags. I've added an updated Budweiser Patio sign, and on the side of the scoreboard is a Welcome sign, which can't be seen in this shot. Also new is the red BBQ sign on the building below the Budweiser Patio sign on the right.

And finally there are the new steelwork on the sides of the scoreboard. This was something I tried to add very early on in this mod, back in 2004. I could never get it to look right, so it didn't make the cut. Now with Zmod and a never ending supply of verts, I was finally able to add it in.

Oh well, that's all I got for now.

[Maestro23]

Simply amazing HF. Makes me want to start an Angels Franchise. :smile:

[weezer2028]

This is, in my mind, looking like the best stadium to ever be included in our game.

The texture work is amazing, hands down the best I've seen before in a stadium. Wonderful recreation and attention to detail -- thank you so much for this!

[RaysFTW]

This is sexier than anything I've ever seen. Keep up the good work. :wtg:

[wrigleyville33]

Idk man you are getting up there with rolie's dodger stadium. Keep up the amazing work.

[HaloFan]

OK, I got the urge to start on the night version of the stadium. I wanted to get one working, and see what I could do. As it turns out, it's gone pretty smooh.

Here's a shot from the first new build. The purpose of this builde was to throw in all the new images from the day version, to make sure I could make a night version that wouldn't crash. i had to move things around in the image files, so you get the LF scoreboard in right, and lots of other stuff that doesn't belong. Fortunately, it's fairly easy to correct.

That's more like it. Once you get the images in, it's fairly easy to move the verts to where they belong. You can see my lit up Budweiser sign from 2005, while I still need to apply lighting effects to most of the other images. I also need to go in and change the vertex colors for a lot of the stuff, as it kinda looks crappy at the moment.

Here's Left Field, Panda Express, the A, and the Ruby chick look lit up, I have lighting effects on the ads on the facade. Still more work to do there.

And here's my blue light specials behind home plate. You also might notice that the dugout suites are in place. One thing that made the night version much easier was that I was able to take the parts for the suites and new camera wells directly from the day version using OIFTool. In fact, I have not yet touched ZMod for the night version. I still need it for a few things, but I've saved a lot of time thanks to OIFTool.

So there ya go. More to come.