RE: Modding Tool (Full Version)

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Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/2/2016 1:02:10 AM)

Revision 2 of 0.1.5 has just been published. It has the components form upgraded to include actual pictures of the components rather than just a Picture Ref textbox with a number.

Clicking on the picture will open a file dialogue box, allowing you to select a replacement image if you like. If you do, it'll copy your selection into the \images\ui\components\ folder of your mod folder when you output.

It seems to be working pretty nicely, and assuming I don't find any major problems with it I'll use it as a template for the various other forms that reference pics.



Drybreeze -> RE: Modding Tool (6/2/2016 9:07:59 AM)

Ow that's really nice with the icons! Extremely useful.

Except that my icons are larger than your window, so it only shows the top left corner... it will be even more so with the resources since they're twice as large again as the components. I made them as large as the game allows for.

Is it possible to scale them as the game does?



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/2/2016 6:28:22 PM)

That was actually supposed to be the case, the image under the "about" form already does that. It's already the right size (32x32), I just forgot to set the picture box to zoom mode.

Sorted now with revision 3.



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 12:07:39 AM)

With revision 4 the Special Image Index on the components form now shows the image. This one was a bit of a pain since there are several folders it can potentially be stored in depending on the component type. I think it's working though.

The only one I haven't included is the hyper-drives, since they're stored in sub-folders with 50 separate files (one for each frame) and have separate folders for entering/exiting hyper-drive. I think it’s likely to be a waste of effort since it’s probably going to be quicker for modders to just put the files in the appropriate folder in the first place as opposed to loading 50 separate image files into my tool!



kbobbato -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 1:43:07 AM)

I get an error while selecting a folder...it says argument length must be greater or equal to zero....perhaps am doing the selection process wrong?



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 1:59:14 AM)

Hi dawnstorme, if you hit continue it should leave you in a position where you can copy/paste the folder. Can you paste it here so I can try it out and see what might be causing it?



Drybreeze -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 2:10:22 AM)

When I edit ship designs, it now exports fine without causing that crash I mentioned previously... however it doesn't actually output any of the changes I've made.

In fact, if I make a change and then move to a new variable in the ship design, and then move back to the one I just changed, it's back to the value it was before I changed it.

The icon thing works so damn fine. Very nice addition. I really like it, you can scroll down through the icon images and as with the rest of your tool it makes editing so much easier and more enjoyable than TXT editing. I'm looking forward to seeing all of the new and original mods from the creative minds out there that make use of your mod editing tool.



kbobbato -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 2:17:57 AM)

You want me to show you the folder I am trying to access...its a mod that i had started a ways back...but kinda got discouraged at how long it was taking me....now with this tool...if i can get it to work...will save me tons of time...

[image]local://upfiles/47905/A714F497D5B34E3FB75474AC1EEBE7D3.jpg[/image]



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 2:43:03 AM)

Ok, I've just published revision 5 which should address both issues.

Drybreeze, you were dead right. I'd somehow managed to delete an "else" line which resulted in the only changes saved in Design Templates being the optional variables. Should be sorted now.

Dawnstorme, the issue here is your mod folder isn't stored under the DW Customization folder. Almost all files are optional in any given mod, and when they're not used the tool needs to be able to reference the original DW files. The error message it gives doesn't match up at all with the actual problem, so I've added a bit of error handling so it actually tells people this!



kbobbato -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 4:59:43 AM)

Thanks alot...will give it a try now.

A new issue now. Maybe its either since I have distant Worlds on steam or maybe cause i have it on an external hard drive? Here is a picture of it.



[image]local://upfiles/47905/101B64839469487DAA84F14E8D871902.jpg[/image]



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 10:48:00 AM)

That particular error is rather more ambiguous I’m afraid, but it shouldn’t matter that you have it on Steam (I do too) and the drive it’s on should be irrelevant too, however…

I’ve added a debug log in revision 6 for reading in files just like you get for outputting them. That means if you get an error message while inputting files, you’ll at least know what file caused it.

If that is the case, you can now tick the new “Extended Debug Info?” box situated above the about area on the main menu. That’ll make it list every single line it looks at while reading in, so you should know exactly where the problem is by searching the file for the last line you can see.

If you get an error message, you can usually just hit continue to allow you to copy/paste stuff from the debug box. The only time you should probably avoid doing this is if an error shows up while outputting files.

Be warned though, it’s not nearly as code efficient to read in files this way. If you have thousands of files it will take rather a long time to work its way through every line of every file, so if it’s still doing it after a minute or so it might be a plan to go make yourself a sandwich or something!

Dawnstorme, if you still can't determine why you're getting that error, can you copy/paste the last line in the "Input Info" box with "Extended Debug Info?" enabled and attach whatever file is causing the issue so I can debug it?

Edit: Just a thought dawnstorme, I do remember I once saw that error message because on line 61 of the research.txt file the PLAGUE CHANGE line wasn't commented out properly with an apostrophe.



kbobbato -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 12:28:29 PM)

It may be that not totally sure....I have to get to work so for now will just give you the copy and paste of the extended error file..

Input commencing...

Reading in research.
- Examining line: 'WH40k mod v.11 for Distant Worlds: Universe 1.9.5.7
- Examining line: 'Multiple labelled lines of information per research project as follows:
- Examining line: 'PROJECT: core project information - THIS LINE IS REQUIRED
- Examining line: 'COMPONENTS: components that are unlocked by the research project - THIS LINE IS OPTIONAL
- Examining line: 'COMPONENT IMPROVEMENTS: improvements to existing components - THIS LINE IS OPTIONAL
- Examining line: 'FIGHTERS: new fighter types - THIS LINE IS OPTIONAL
- Examining line: 'FACILITY: planetary facility or wonder - THIS LINE IS OPTIONAL
- Examining line: 'ABILITIES: new abilities, e.g. ship/base construction size increase, new ship types that can be built, troop improvements, etc - THIS LINE IS OPTIONAL
- Examining line: 'PLAGUE CHANGE: change of values for plague defined in plagues.txt, e.g. reduced lethality of plague. THIS LINE IS OPTIONAL
- Examining line: 'ALLOWED RACES: filter project to specific alien races, only the named races can research the project. If no races defined then all races can research - THIS LINE IS OPTIONAL
- Examining line: 'PARENTS: parent research projects that lead to this project, i.e. the path to this project - THIS LINE IS REQUIRED
- Examining line: 'the above lines are explained in more detail below:
- Examining line: 'PROJECT line - list of comma-separated values as follows:
- Examining line: ' - Project ID: unique numeric value identifying the project
- Examining line: ' - Name: text of project name
- Examining line: ' - Tech Level: how advanced the project is, which determines the default research cost of the project. This corresponds to the 'column' that this project is displayed at in the tech tree, tech level 0 is at far left, tech level 7 is at far right. Each single additional tech level doubles the default research cost of the project.
- Examining line: ' - Row: the vertical position of the project in the tech tree, starting at 1 (top)
- Examining line: ' - Industry: 0=Weapons, 1=Energy, 2=HighTech
- Examining line: ' - Category: 0=Armor, 1=AssaultPod, 2=Computer, 3=Construction, 4=EnergyCollector, 5=Engine, 6=Extractor, 7=Fighter, 8=Habitation, 9=HyperDisrupt, 10=HyperDrive, 11=Labs, 12=Manufacturer, 13=Reactor, 14=Sensor, 15=ShieldRecharge, 16=Shields, 17=Storage, 18=WeaponArea, 19=WeaponBeam, 20=WeaponGravity, 21=WeaponIon, 22=WeaponPointDefense, 23=WeaponSuperArea, 24=WeaponSuperBeam, 25=WeaponTorpedo
- Examining line: ' - Special Function Code: 0=NONE, 1=PreWarp tech that is already researched when starting game as PreWarp empire, 2=primitive hyperdrive tech (warp bubble) that must be unlocked before can be researched, 3=superweapon, 4=initial colonization tech, 5=starts game locked (must be unlocked by game event before can be researched)
- Examining line: ' - Base Cost Multiplier Override: multiplier factor for modifying the default research cost of the project. Project cost is related to Tech Level - each single additional tech level doubles the default research cost of the project. Base Cost Multiplier Override can be used to make projects more or less expensive than normal.
- Examining line: 'COMPONENTS line:
- Examining line: '- list of comma-separated ComponentId values. The ComponentIds must match a component from the components.txt file. You can include a maximum of 4 components in a single research project
- Examining line: 'COMPONENT IMPROVEMENTS line - multiple component improvements, each one comprised of comma-separated values as follows:
- Examining line: ' - ComponentId: componentId of the component that this improvement is for. This should match a component from the components.txt file
- Examining line: ' - Tech Level: the relative tech level of the component improvement. This should match the Tech Level of the research project itself (Tech Level in PROJECT line)
- Examining line: ' - Value1: improved value for component Value1. For a list of meanings for Values1-7 for each component type, please see the section 'Meanings of Value1-7 for component types' in the header of the components.txt file
- Examining line: ' - Value2: improved value for component Value2. For a list of meanings for Values1-7 for each component type, please see the section 'Meanings of Value1-7 for component types' in the header of the components.txt file
- Examining line: ' - Value3: improved value for component Value3. For a list of meanings for Values1-7 for each component type, please see the section 'Meanings of Value1-7 for component types' in the header of the components.txt file
- Examining line: ' - Value4: improved value for component Value4. For a list of meanings for Values1-7 for each component type, please see the section 'Meanings of Value1-7 for component types' in the header of the components.txt file
- Examining line: ' - Value5: improved value for component Value5. For a list of meanings for Values1-7 for each component type, please see the section 'Meanings of Value1-7 for component types' in the header of the components.txt file
- Examining line: ' - Value6: improved value for component Value6. For a list of meanings for Values1-7 for each component type, please see the section 'Meanings of Value1-7 for component types' in the header of the components.txt file
- Examining line: ' - Value7: improved value for component Value7. For a list of meanings for Values1-7 for each component type, please see the section 'Meanings of Value1-7 for component types' in the header of the components.txt file
- Examining line: 'FIGHTERS line:
- Examining line: ' - list of comma-separated FighterId values. Each FighterId must match a fighter from the fighters.txt file. You can include a maximum of 2 fighters in a single research project
- Examining line: 'FACILITY line:
- Examining line: ' - a single PlanetaryFacilityId value. The PlanetaryFacilityId must match a planetary facility or wonder from the facilities.txt file. You can only have a single planetary facility or wonder in a single research project
- Examining line: 'ABILITIES line - single research ability comprised of comma-separated values as follows:
- Examining line: ' - Name: text of ability name
- Examining line: ' - Type: 0=Ship Boarding, 1=Colonize New Planet Type, 2=Increased Construction Size, 3=Enable New Ship Type, 4=Population Growth Rate at planet type, 5=Troops
- Examining line: ' - Level: relative level of ability when compared to other abilities of the same type, i.e. the highest ability will be used
- Examining line: ' - Value: ability value specific to ability type. Detailed meanings for each ability type explained below:
- Examining line: ' - when Type is 0 (Ship Boarding): value greater than zero defines percentage bonus to boarding attack strength (e.g. 25 means +25% bonus when boarding enemy ships), value less than zero defines percentage bonus to boarding defense strength (e.g. -25 means +25% bonus defending against enemy boarding)
- Examining line: ' - when Type is 1 (Colonize New Planet Type): 1=Continental, 2=Marshy Swamp, 3=Ocean, 4=Desert, 5=Ice, 6=Volcanic
- Examining line: ' - when Type is 2 (Increased Construction Size): maximum size ship that can be built (e.g. size 300). Maximum construction size for Bases not at colonies is always 3 times larger. Bases at colonies have no construction size limit
- Examining line: ' - when Type is 3 (Enable New Ship Type): Value is UNUSED
- Examining line: ' - when Type is 4 (Population Growth Rate at planet type): 1=Continental, 2=Marshy Swamp, 3=Ocean, 4=Desert, 5=Ice, 6=Volcanic
- Examining line: ' - when Type is 5 (Troops): for all troop types when value is zero then means Enable new Troop Type, for Infantry, Armored and Special Forces troop types value greater than zero means percentage bonus to attack strength (e.g. 25 means +25% attack strength), values less than zero means percentage bonus to defense strength (e.g. -25 means +25% defense strength). For Planetary Defense troop type value greater than zero defines additional percentage bonus to damage amount against invading troops, value greater than zero defines additional percentage bonus to intercept chance against invading troops
- Examining line: ' - Related Object Index: extra sub type for some ability types as explained further below:
- Examining line: ' - when Type is 3 (Enable New Ship Type): 0=Carrier, 1=Resupply Ship
- Examining line: ' - when Type is 5 (Troops): 0=ALL Troop Types, 1=Infantry troop type, 2=Armored troop type, 3=Planetary Defense troop type, 4=Special Forces troop type
- Examining line: PLAGUE CHANGE line - changes to values of single plague from plagues.txt file. Comprised of comma-separated values as follows:



kbobbato -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 8:49:20 PM)

That was it...it was that plague line did not have the '...thanks a lot now it works great...



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 11:35:23 PM)

Wonderful news dawnstorme!

I've just published an update (revision 7) which includes an important bug fix concerning some files being created with extra spaces. Mostly you'll just get certain files having an extra space at the front (just rename them back and overwrite the previous version if this happened to you), but there is a potential situation that, while unlikely, could end up creating files that appeared outside of your mod folder.

For that reason, revision 7 is an obligatory update.

Edit: Revision 7 also includes optional extended debugging info for outputting files.



kbobbato -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 11:50:21 PM)

One quick question I am starting research from scratch...so i created the file...but it does not let me do anything else...do i have to manually at least create one project to do something?



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/4/2016 11:57:14 PM)

For now yeah, later on I'll implement the ability to create and delete projects from within the tool but at the moment you can populate your research.txt file like this:

PROJECT ;0, , 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.0,
PROJECT ;1, , 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.0,
PROJECT ;2, , 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.0,

etc

Just increase the first value each time for as many projects as you want. Then it'll let you set the values from within the tool.

Edit: I say that, you can actually get away with just:

PROJECT ;0,
PROJECT ;1,
PROJECT ;2,



Drybreeze -> RE: Modding Tool (6/5/2016 5:34:47 AM)

Hi Emperor Sabranan

How do the multiple entry fields work under the Races section in your tool?
Can we simply add comma-delimited lists like we would as the TXT files...? The popdown selects one only by the looks...

What are the V, U, and D buttons beside the Research Order fields for...?



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/5/2016 12:17:50 PM)

You can add as many as you like by selecting them from the drop down box. "V" will make the list appear or disappear, "U" & "D" move the selected item in the list up or down. To remove items, just add them again.



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/8/2016 4:15:07 AM)

Revision 9 is up (revision 8 was a small bugfix).

This revision has images linked in to the facility and fighter forms. The facility form has a picture of the facility itself while the fighters form has pictures of the fighter weapon and its exhaust. All can be set to any other .png file you like.



Drybreeze -> RE: Modding Tool (6/8/2016 9:16:19 AM)

How does this image linking work? You have it set up to browse for a file...

Does it IMPORT the file from randomly selected places on the HDD and put it into the correct folder when outputting, or do I need to make sure it's in for example the components folder first when selecting a new component image... and then browse to that folder when assigning it to a component in your mod editing tool?

I know you've said that the races section you'll be addressing at some point in the future so I'm manually doing them at the moment... can't wait till it's a working system!

You mentioned to me awhile back that you were collecting mods that were using this tool... are there many? Will you post some sort of list at some point? It would be interesting to know how much your tool is being used.



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/8/2016 9:41:03 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Drybreeze
How does this image linking work? You have it set up to browse for a file...

Does it IMPORT the file from randomly selected places on the HDD and put it into the correct folder when outputting, or do I need to make sure it's in for example the components folder first when selecting a new component image... and then browse to that folder when assigning it to a component in your mod editing tool?


Nothing so complex, if you want to change the image that’s used you literally click it and select the replacement image. The replacement image can be anywhere on your file system. When you output, it’ll copy the new image into the appropriate place (with the appropriate name) in your mod folder. The txt file will still just have the number reference of course.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Drybreeze
I know you've said that the races section you'll be addressing at some point in the future so I'm manually doing them at the moment... can't wait till it's a working system!


Yeah the races works if you’re in 1920x1080 resolution, it’s somewhat unwieldly though. I think I’ll end up pretty much swapping the concept for the races and design templates, so races will choose the variable you want to edit and design templates will just show them all at once. It just makes more sense given the sheer amount of variables in the races (and policies) form.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Drybreeze
You mentioned to me awhile back that you were collecting mods that were using this tool... are there many? Will you post some sort of list at some point? It would be interesting to know how much your tool is being used.


I wasn’t collecting mods that were built using the tool (because it’s new enough that there aren’t any that have released yet), I just wanted a decent selection of existing mods to help me debug the tool.



Drybreeze -> RE: Modding Tool (6/10/2016 1:27:44 AM)

Hey Emporer did you change something with the research bit? Now it seems to be outputting commas after the following entries:

1) component lines
2) parent ID lines
3) fighter ID lines
4) ability entries

all of which bork the game.

Commas can exist after facility lines and component improvement lines, but others need to end in no commas.

Removing 550 commas from TXT file takes long big time. o.O



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/10/2016 11:20:25 AM)

Oh whoops!

Tidied up the input a little and of course that confused the outputter script which was expecting the input in a certain form. Should be working now! It should also remove those extra commas for you if you feed it a file that has them.



Drybreeze -> RE: Modding Tool (6/11/2016 3:30:39 AM)

Legend. Works perfectly again now.

Also now that you explained how the research lists function that's a nice feature also... however the special components field is a bit odd; it works fine until you scroll through the races and come across one that has a special component, and then this field won't respond/change when it scrolls through other races that have NO special component... ie: it keeps the previous special component in that field - presumably outputs it as well but I haven't tested that.

Also it has trouble reading research lists in - something about converting it to an integer failing...?

I believe you mentioned that races was something you weren't working on yet but I thought I'd give feedback while it became apparent.

EDIT > Same thing happens with "Appearance order" under Characters.



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/11/2016 3:12:02 PM)

This was a weird one. The code is correct from what I can tell, it does set the value to null but the previous value still shows in the box. That being the case it shouldn't output that value at least.

Apparently clearing the items in a box and then setting it to null leaves the previous value showing. I don't know why but I've solved the special component issue by just filling the items at form load rather than every time you select a different race (which should have been the case in the first place really). I've published that as revision 11.

I could do with more detail on the research lists, a copy/paste of the error message would be great + ideally a copy of a file it's failing on.

I'll look at the characters issue later on, have to go to work now but I expect I'll be looking at it sometime after 10pm.



Drybreeze -> RE: Modding Tool (6/11/2016 11:25:53 PM)

Ok the thing I said about "integers" with research lists under the racial information section - I made a mistake. My error. The tool works perfectly. I had put multiple comma-delimited items under the special components field, not the development paths field, and the mod tool (rightly so) said nuh-uh.

In future I will provide you with a screen shot of the error message and the txt file it error'd on as an attachment, to make things easier for you.



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/11/2016 11:46:51 PM)

I did notice a minor issue with it including an extra space at the end of Trait Type 3 if it happens to be a "?", that could potentially cause a string to integer issue (since if it's not a "?" it expects a number, and "? " confuses it) so I've solved that with revision 12. You'll need to output the characters form and reload your mod into the tool for it to actually remove any spaces its added.

But I'm not seeing the same behaviour with the Appearance Order that I was with the Special Components, the Appearance Order value can't be blank and from what I can tell it does change when it's supposed to.

Good to hear you figured out the research list issue, I was gonna say I just can't seem to reproduce that!




Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/16/2016 4:45:34 PM)

Finally got a few days off work so it's time for another update. Revision 13 includes the plagues form having a picture of the plague and being able to set the image like the other forms.

It also includes some colour coding for the debug info box, so warnings will appear in dark orange and more serious issues will appear in red.



Sabranan -> RE: Modding Tool (6/16/2016 10:32:02 PM)

Revision 14 has the resources form updated with a picture of the resource and the ability to set the image to something else.



Drybreeze -> RE: Modding Tool (6/17/2016 11:39:10 PM)

Emporer Sabranan, if you want to include buttons or graphics or maybe the favicon I would be very happy to contribute. It would increase the size of your download of course, so probably one of the last things that you do, but just keep it in mind.



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