Modding Tool [1.1.0 Released!]

[Sabranan]

Hi Mujik,

That is a very interesting point, and something I hadn’t really thought about.

The problem is due to a conflict between your regional settings (using a number format that uses a comma for the decimal mark) and the DW:U files which use a point.

Since it “has” to use decimal points because that’s what DW:U is expecting (especially since the files use commas as data delimiters), I’ve set the application to explicitly use UK formatting for numbers, which should solve the problem.

That's revision 5.

[Mujik]

Nice it is working flawlessly now!! [8D]
thanks for again for all your hard work and for the quick answer. [&o]
And also kudos for your girlfriend, i really like the background artwork. I just wish that it was used also in other screens beside the main one, i find black backgrounds less tiresome when doing lots of editing.

I'll continue my modding testings to see if i find anything else that could be improved before you go for 1.0.0

[Cepheiden]

Hello Sabranan,

using version 2.3.5 the tool I get an empty box when trying to display the race research orders.
I remember I had a similar problem with one of the older versions and at some point I got it to display the existing order - though I don't remember what I did back then. Now that I updated to 2.3.5 it doesn't work again. I don't get any error of any kind and the same thing happens with any module I load.

Am I doing something wrong or missing a step to display the research orders?

[Sabranan]

Thanks for reporting that Cepheiden, I'd forgotten to test actually loading in research orders as opposed to just creating them. Should be sorted now in revision 6.

The main menu has also taken another graphical leap forward!

[Cepheiden]

Good job! It works now. Also looks great.

[NephilimNexus]

How did I ever mod without this? [X(]

[Sabranan]

Thanks for the compliment NephilimNexus!

Small bugfix today with revision 7. Fixes an issue with the Colony Growth value in the resources form having incorrect data validation set.

You may also notice the window border is gone entirely from the main menu, something I'm experimenting with. All it was needed for really was the close button (there's one on the form itself now, which will gain an icon at some point) and the ability to move the form around (just click and drag anywhere on the background).

The controls should also highlight nicely now, and it disables the "Specify Mod Folder" and the recent mod folders list when you're loading a mod to prevent triggering loading another mod and getting very confused!

[Sabranan]

Up in revision 8, a fix for an issue I noticed that basically means it crashes if you load the "About my Mod" form and you don't have a picture saved for your mod already.

We've started making headway into the other forms, so Research, Components and Facilities now use the new theme.

I'm still somewhat conflicted on the windows border for the forms, we don't need any controls on it and you can move the borderless forms around without it, but I'm honestly not sure whether it looks better or not. I've removed it from the main menu and left it in for the 3 updated forms, any feedback on preferences would be good!

[Shogouki]

Looking forward to this so much!

[Sabranan]

Revision 9 is up and now we have the galaxy icon on all forms, so it shouldn't switch back to the basic Visual Studio icon in the taskbar anymore. It also includes a minor bugfix for log reporting, which could result in the custom message being corrupted.

[Sabranan]

Been rather busy over Christmas but out comes revision 10 with the Fighters form done.

Don't worry, we will be changing that icon!

[gazdadude]

Can you add races with this

[Sabranan]

Yes you can, there's a "create race" button on the races form that will make a new race along with blank policy, design template, character and dialogue files.

[Sabranan]

Something a bit sexy today, the Components form now has a new button (Batch Tasks) that will open up a new subform. This subform will allow you to pick a starting/ending component (inclusive) and apply multiplier operations to the resource costs, energy used and size.

So if you wanted to make every component cost twice as much in terms of resources, you could now do that in a few clicks. You can enter decimal multipliers too, and have them round by standard rules, always up or always down as you please.

[Capshades]

Since you will probably be finished and moved on by the time I start using your tool in earnest, how flexible is the tool and how far can you push the limits? I plan on replacing every race, most resources (other than gold and exotics obviously), changing in-game text and descriptions (I know I have to do this manually), and adding significant graphics upgrades, probably mostly GEM. A good equivalent example is Mensrea's WH40K mod, have you tried loading it and seeing if your tool can recognize/handle all the aspects in it? His last work is here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/261470/d ... 902076411/ although it's not very stable due to lack of a core update, and has GEM removed.

[Sabranan]

You can certainly replace races and resources and while it obviously can't create new graphics it does let you select image or sound files, once you've chosen the file it'll copy into the mod folder for you and rename it appropriately.

As an example of the tools capabilities I've just tried loading the mod you linked. When you first load someone else's mod into the tool, it generally finds a bunch of things wrong.

In this case, first, it throws the following warning:

"The current line contains invalid data in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Distant Worlds Universe\Customization\WH40K\races\quietude.txt file, the "Condition5Proportion 0" variable is not recognised. It will be dropped if the races are outputted."

I've double checked and this is true, the author is missing a “;” on that line. It probably won't make any odds since condition 5 isn't used for that race, but it's a simple fix anyway.

Next warning is:

"Policy file "Ghassulia.txt" skipped as it does not match a race name. This file will be dropped on output."

A quick look in the races folder shows that there is a file called "ghassulia.txt" but opening it reveals the race name is in fact Ghassulian. So when you play as them in the mod, it doesn't load the policy/character/design templates files! If they were an AI race, it wouldn't load the dialogue file either. Easy fix though, just change all the filenames to Ghassulian instead of Ghassulia.

The rest of the warnings are about missing files (these are optional anyway) or additional ones that aren't used in game (like the "DEFAULT" folder under design templates for example).

So you would need to fix at least the Ghassulian naming issue for it to load the policy/dialogue/character/design templates files that go with their race but other than that it loads fine.

[Capshades]

Awesome, he did it all manually so I'm not surprised. Looking forward to using the mod tool!

[Sabranan]

Revision 12 is up, I've done a number of things here.

Firstly a bugfix, the components form wasn't recognising two of the Hyperdrive values as being used so it was setting them to 0, fixed now. Also on the same form, data validation wasn't applying properly to the Colonization Module type because the modding guide said that value 1 was in millions when it wasn't. So I assumed a value of 1 would be 1,000,000, when in fact it's just 1.

Minor correction for the main menu's input log, if you loaded a mod without a races folder it would warn you, but the text would be white instead of orange. Fixed.

For the inputter, it'll now accept the obsolete values found in the default DW "ketarov.txt" dialogue file. It just reallocates them to the equivalent Universe values, which should help keep the flavour text when loading any mod based on it.

Finally, the parents section of the research form was using really crappy code to delete parents. I expect this resulted in the obligatory value getting switched sometimes, and quite possibly would account for some of the reports of corrupted parent lines being outputted. Should be much better now!

[LuciferBaphomet]

Been playing DW a couple of months now. Wanted to fiddle a bit with races, but the modding manual reduced me to a state of abject terror.

I think this tool might be the solution.

[LuciferBaphomet]

Hmm, I extract it, click setup.exe, and nothing happens.