[Question] How to mod Galactopedia entry?

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[Question] How to mod Galactopedia entry?

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Distant Worlds 1 Series >> Design and Modding >> [Question] How to mod Galactopedia entry?

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[Question] How to mod Galactopedia entry? - 4/4/2021 6:28:43 PM

Vidhwansak

Posts: 11
Joined: 1/2/2014
Status: offline

Greetings,

So after some years I decided to play some Distant World Universe again. And for the first time I decided to try my hand at modding it. For starters, I wanted to do something fairly simple - new race. And from initial testing, I succeded! That is, I managed to start a new game with my, completely new race.

The problem is however - I can't for the life of me figure out how to add a new Galactopedia entry for this race. I understand I need a ".mht" race file in the "Help" folder. And according to modding manual, all I have to do is just name it correctly, right?

Initially, I just copied one existing file, in my case Humans, and rewrote the description. Having problems with editing .mht files, I opted to opening the .mht in IE, saving it as .html, editing than opening .html in IE and saving it back to .mht. No luck. I was trying different combinations, in the end edditing .mht directly in Notepad++, but still - nothing.

On top of it, the race picture is not showing when I open either the .html or .mht file of the new race. I found and changed the "race image" code lines, but it's not exactly clear from where do "Help" files get their pictures in the first place.

So I am hopping any old DW modder veteran or just someone who knows what to do still hunts these forums...

_____________________________

On a battlefield, a small army troop was surrounded by the oppositions.
Soldier: Sir, we are surrounded!
Major: Excellent! We can attack in any direction now!

Post #: 1

RE: [Question] How to mod Galactopedia entry? - 4/4/2021 8:32:21 PM

ShotgunHobo

Posts: 2
Joined: 3/21/2021
Status: offline

As part of my project, I've been editing existing .mht files only, not creating new ones - I can say that Microsoft word is the simplest editor. You can open those suckers right up - and the formatting, font, etc. is all preserved for you. Might be easier than using notepad or IE. I can't help with the rest sadly, but perhaps that'd help you somewhat?

(in reply to Vidhwansak)

Post #: 2

RE: [Question] How to mod Galactopedia entry? - 4/5/2021 4:15:31 PM

Vidhwansak

Posts: 11
Joined: 1/2/2014
Status: offline

I wanted to use Notepad++ and .html because the formating is nicer, but in the ed I guess I'm stuck with .mht anyways.

Your advice on direct editing is sound and it works. Still it bugs me I can't add my own entry. If I copy a race help file from some other mod, like DWU Extended, I can actually see the new entry in Galactopedia. I had CTD when I tried reading it in game though, but still, it's a step closer than to what I have now...

I'm sure it must be something simple, like just some line of code somewhere...

_____________________________

On a battlefield, a small army troop was surrounded by the oppositions.
Soldier: Sir, we are surrounded!
Major: Excellent! We can attack in any direction now!

(in reply to Vidhwansak)

Post #: 3

RE: [Question] How to mod Galactopedia entry? - 4/8/2021 4:06:55 PM

Vidhwansak

Posts: 11
Joined: 1/2/2014
Status: offline

Well, I solved the issues. Gonna leave it here in case some other newbie stumbles upon same troubles as myself.

Back when I first deiced to mod, a small part of me was telling me that "unusual" characters in names could perhaps be problematic. Turns out, one humble apostrophe indeed threw wrench into my entire operation. And not even race name itself, just race filename. Corrected that and lo and behold, my custom race shows in Galactopedia.

Still, it showed incorrect race image. And that issue required a bit more wizardry. Fist, I correctly identified last two big blocks of code to be connected to picture due to -> "Content-Type: image/png" line.
Then, I opened my pic in Notepad++, saw a jumble of code. "Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64" was the next clue. So, I selected the pic code, used MIME plugin -> base64 encode, and voila.

*insert HACKERMAN.img*

I feel good about myself. Off to do some more modding.

_____________________________

On a battlefield, a small army troop was surrounded by the oppositions.
Soldier: Sir, we are surrounded!
Major: Excellent! We can attack in any direction now!

(in reply to Vidhwansak)

Post #: 4