Modding GGWaW: 101

[JanSorensen]

This post will show the basic of modding GGWaW. Keep in mind I am not involved in programming this game so I am just making some educated guesses here. By all means do post corrections and addition.

Before you make any sort of modding at all you should MAKE A COPY OF YOUR ENTIRE GGWAW FOLDER AND ONLY MODIFY FILES IN THE COPY. I cannot stress this enough to avoid running into problems.

Anyway, lets take a look at some simple things to modify. Keep in mind this is just 101 – so dont expect the truly fancy stuff (not that I am sure I know any). As such I wont go into making a scenario of your own with this post either – maybe in a later post if there is interest. Nor will I go into editing the graphics – again, maybe another time. Also keep in mind that the examples used here are just examples and not meant as suggestions for actual changes.


1. Adding/Changings the starting OOB (order of battle).

Example: adding 2 more German armor in W. Germany

This is done in the file called regions40.txt which you find in the dat folder inside your GGWaW folder (if you want to change the OOB for later scenarios its regions41.txt etc), Inside that file you locate W. Germany:

REGION,66,Western Germany,PLAYER_GER,Germany,TER_COLD
MOVECOST,1
POP,5
FORT,1
CONNECT,64,65,67,70,71,96,97,343,357
SIDE,6,6,6,6,6,3,6,6,3
UNIT,TAC AIR,1
UNIT,HEAVY AIR,2
UNIT,FIGHTER AIR,3
UNIT,INFANTRY,11
UNIT,AIRBORNE,1
UNIT,MECHANIZED,7
UNIT,ARTILLERY,5
UNIT,FLAK,3
UNIT,SUPPLY,11
UNIT,HEAVY FLEET,1
UNIT,LIGHT FLEET,2
UNIT,TRANSPORT FLEET,3
UNIT,SUB FLEET,2
UNIT,RAIL,2
UNIT,FACTORY,5
UNIT,RESOURCE,4

As you can see both military units and infrastructure can be found here. We wanted to change the number of Panzers from 7 to 9 so its the line UNIT,MECHANIZED,7 that needs changing. Do that, save the file and start GGWAW. Remember to start the one in the copy of the normal folder – otherwise your change wont be there ofcourse.


2. Changing tech levels.

Example: We want super Stukas for the Germans so we will change the air to ground value of the German Tactical bomber from 5 to 7. We also want to build those fast so we change the production time from 3 to 2.

Again we look into the dat folder. This time we find the file unitdata40.txt and located the German Tac air.

UNIT,TAC AIR,PLAYER_GER
UNITDATA,TD_TYPE,1,TD_AA,3,TD_SA,3,TD_UA,1,TD_LA,5,TD_TORP,2
UNITDATA,TD_SPEED,2,TD_RANGE,1,TD_EVADE,6,TD_ARMOR,0,TD_DURAB,3
UNITDATA,TD_CAP,5,TD_AMPHIB,0,TD_COST,3,TD_CLASS,1,TD_SUP_USE,1
UNITDATA,TD_FUEL_USE,0

The two values we want to change are TD_LA,5 and TD_COST,3 so we make the changes and save the file.

Example: Maybe we also want to change the WS (world standard) for ground attacks for tac air to 8 – so its not too expensive to raise the value above the 7 we just set. Then we want the file baseline.txt. Open that and find tac air:

UNIT,TAC AIR
UNITBASE,TD_AA,4,TD_SA,3,TD_UA,1,TD_LA,7,TD_TORP,2
UNITBASE,TD_SPEED,2,TD_EVADE,6,TD_AMPHIB,0

Since its land attack we want to change its TD_LA,7 that needs changing. Do that, save the file and open GGWAW again to check that it worked.


3. Changing the production multipliers

Now we want to build alot of those Stukas – but the low German production multiplier gets in our way. No problem – just find the factory.txt file and take a look at Germany:

FACMULT,Germany,2,NONE
FACMULT,Germany,3,YEAR,1942
FACMULT,Germany,3,HOSTILE,PLAYER_SOV
FACMULT,Germany,4,YEAR,1944

Clearly thats not enough – lets change it to 3 initally, 4 in 42 or when at war with Russia and 5 in 44 (mind, this is just an example!) Make those changes – save the file – enter GGWAW and check that its working.

Example: Making China produce every second turn rather than every third only.
For some reason this is in the scendat40.txt file. Locate the following:
// factory production is slowed for this player
//SLOW_PROD,<player>,<delay between production turns>
SLOW_PROD,PLAYER_CHI,2
and change the 2 to a 1. Save file, load GGWAW again and voila.


4. Making a border cost 2 movements rather than just 1 movement.

Again you will want to look into the regions40.txt file. For each region there is a MOVECOST line. Now you have to know something more to make this work. A border will cost 2 only if both the adjacent territories are have the value of MOVECOST set to 2. So, for the border you want to cost 2 find both bordering regions and change the value to 2 if it isnt already. Ofcourse you might also want to change the graphics to match but I leave that to you to tinker with for now.

Thats it folks. As you can see basic modding is really very easy due to the way the files are setup.

If you are interested in modding I encourage you to look into the many other files in the dat folder and use trial and error to figure out what each file/value does if it isnt clear. If there is interest I may make a 102 later – or maybe someone else will.

Enjoy.

[pryorkt]

I understand how to do all the modding in 101. Now lets move on to 201.

What would a line look like in the ai.txt file if I wanted Japan to research their carrier air units torpedo value?

Can you better explain some of the example lines they give? ie. <strategy 0=all stats> What does this mean?

[JanSorensen]

ORIGINAL: pryorkt

I understand how to do all the modding in 101. Now lets move on to 201.

What would a line look like in the ai.txt file if I wanted Japan to research their carrier air units torpedo value?

Can you better explain some of the example lines they give? ie. <strategy 0=all stats> What does this mean?

AI_RESEARCH,PLAYER_JAP,ULTRA_PRI,0,5,CARRIER AIR,TD_TORP will make the Japanese raise CAG torpedos to 5. Maybe not asap but pretty soon.

The <strategy 0=all stats> field I have no real knowledge about - its for Gary Griegsby to know exactly what that refers to.

[pryorkt]

Ok, that helps alot. Thanks.

Now, when there is an AI_RESEARCH line and it has the"difference to aim for" in it, what does the 1 or 0 or -1 mean at the end of the line?
Example:

AI_RESEARCH,PLAYER_GER,MED_PRI,0,7,ARTILLERY,TD_EVADE,PLAYER_UN,TAC AIR,TD_LA,0
this zero here at the end, what does it mean?

[JanSorensen]

ORIGINAL: pryorkt

Ok, that helps alot. Thanks.

Now, when there is an AI_RESEARCH line and it has the"difference to aim for" in it, what does the 1 or 0 or -1 mean at the end of the line?
Example:

AI_RESEARCH,PLAYER_GER,MED_PRI,0,7,ARTILLERY,TD_EVADE,PLAYER_UN,TAC AIR,TD_LA,0
this zero here at the end, what does it mean?

You are welcome.

I have not experimented with that one personally, so I cannot say. My guess is that it means the AI will try to be either at the same level (0), atleast one above (+1) or no more than 1 below (-1) but its only a guess.

Please do let us know if you test it and figure out what the meaning is.

[pryorkt]

Well that kind of makes sense and is what I was kind of thinking, but I thought that maybe the experts could tell me for sure.

[pryorkt]

Another area in Modding 201 should be Victory conditions.
In the scendat40.txt file, under VICTORY CONDITIONS, the line
VICTORY,ALLIES_ALLIANCE,VIC_DECISIVE,VIC_TYPE_NUC,5000,HEAVY AIR,TD_LA,10,1946,1
what does the "5000" mean?

I am pretty sure the the rest of it means that the war is over if the WA has their Heavy Bombers Land Attack value at 10 by the year 1946. I hope it does not mean that you need 5000 heavy bombers.

[JanSorensen]

That means that you need 5000% production compared to the other side - ie, 50 to 1 atleast.

[pryorkt]

Is 5000% production even possible?

[JanSorensen]

50+ vs 1 or 100+ vs 2 - its very possible and quite common.

Most of the time it means conquering Germany (or bombing their factories completely) while isolating Japan so the Axis only has 1 remaining resource in Japan. Basically, its how you win without making a landing in Japan so its quite historical.

[pryorkt]

Ok I got it.
We should really have another thread addressing this more technical issues, ie. GGWaW Modding 201!

[pryorkt]

I added a factory in Hungary, but all I can build is supplies and research. What else do I got to change to get Hungary to be able to produce other units?

[pryorkt]

I believe I have overcome my problem. It seems that Hungary had zero Population points and as soon as I added one in the regions.txt file, the Hungary flag appeared at the top of the Germany production screen and they were able to build everything that I allowed them to.