How do I use precise weapon placement?

Since the Tirgoviste release, weapons have been able to be placed precisely in battle, by means of a "handle" point on the weapon, and a "hand" point on the hero. This article will show you how to set this up.

Note: Both heroes and weapons have two sets of handle points, for Frame A and Frame B of their animations.

The Weapon

Handle points can only be set on items marked as weapons. They have no meaning on other types of items, since they are not shown in battle in any way.

After you've marked an item as a weapon, it's strongly advised that you set the weapon picture, and possibly the palette, so you can see what you're doing.

This weapon has a cross hair on it (the yellow "plus" near the hilt). This is the handle point, as seen in Custom. As soon as an item is marked as a weapon, this cross hair appears at the default position, (0,0).

You can move the cross hair by changing the Handle X and Handle Y menu items. The allowed range for both coordinates is +/- 100 pixels.

You can also change the frame you're looking at, and thus the applicable handle point. Use "," (<) and "." (>) to do this.

The Hero

In the Appearance and Misc. menu in the Hero Editor, you'll find a similar option for the hand point. Unlike with weapons, all heros have hand points.

Again, it's best to set the hero pictures and palettes so you can see where the point should go.

This hero has a cross hair on him too, on his left hand. Much like in the Item Editor, you change the Hand X and Hand Y fields to move the cross hair. Again, the range is +/- 100 pixels.

And, of course, you can also change the frame you're looking at, and thus the applicable hand point. Use "," (<) and "." (>) to do this.

The Result

Here we can see the weapon overlaid on the hero. Game will line up the handle and hand points, much like I lined up the points making that image.

What To Do if Your Weapons Are Still Not Aligned

1. Verify that you set both the hand position and the handle position. Just one or the other is not good enough.
2. Make sure that you edited the right weapon. If your game has several different weapons that use the same picture, you need to set the handle position for each one, not just the first one.
3. Make sure that your copy of GAME is current. If you are using a new copy of CUSTOM and an old copy of GAME your hand/handle positions might be ignored.
4. If you still have problems, describe your problem in detail on the Talk Page