Jak zrobic wlasnego moda? (English)

Cytat:

TUTORIAL ON MAKING MOD FOR COSSACKS

Forewords: First rule of making mods is DO NOT BE AFRAID TO TRY out different things. Change a few things here and there. You will make some mistakes initially but this is how you learn. It's how I learn. Practice makes perfect. So just get your notepad / wordpad fired up and get into it. Just make sure that you back up the original Cossacks files before you do anything else. Please also note that for the purpose of this article, the term units implies both units and buildings of the game Cossacks.

Table of contents:
1. File types
2. The anatomy of NDS files
3. How to change unit graphic
4. How to add unit
5. How to put edited files back into the game

1. File types: (Back to top)

NRES.DAT : This one is interesting. It is editable via a text editor (eg. notepad). It controls many things. UNITS/FARM for example, is a value stating how many units can be had in a single dwelling. It also controls the position of where order icons are to be placed, and many other things.

GP files : These are graphic files for unit sprites and various other pictures in game. Currently the full format of this file is not known, therefore not editable without official GSC tools.

LST files : Of interests in these files are NATIONS.LST and ORDERS.LST files. If you want to add extra nations (and that's a BIG want, even Baddog has not attempted a project this size, ?yet) then Nations.lst is the file that you must look into editing first. Again, it is straight forwards. Orders.lst file is also very editable and should be of interest as well as it controls the formation size, shape and gains in armor, attacks, etc. Again, the content is self explanatory.

MD files : These are files with unit specifications. These are probably the files that you would spend most of your time tweaking. Get to know them well. Most of file contents are pretty self-explanatory. A special note must be made about the NAME entry in this file. This NAME entry is the actual name that will be called by nation NDS files to obtain statistics for the unit include its graphics, hit points, attacks, etc..

NDS files : These are nations specification files. See below for further dissection of NDS files.

TXT Files : Possibly the files of interests are COMMENT.TXT, TEXT/MDLIST.TXT, and NMLIST.TXT. COMMENT.TXT is like a translation file to give you description of different buttons (eg. tech upgrades). Of course, it will be different in different language version. TEXT/MDLIST.TXT is a similar file, but for units. Then you have NMLIST.TXT. This file is important. If you want to add new units (ie. new MD files) you need to add the new entry into this file. If you don't, the game will crash.

*** Important to remember that each of these files are inter-related with one another. Making a change in one could well affect how the others will work.***

2. The anatomy of NDS files: (Back to top)

These are nation files. This file type deserves a good look into. They are text format files and editable with any text editors. They have several entries. The following examples are taken from AUSTRIA.NDS

[MEMBERS] : this entry refers to the units and building available for that nation. The left hand column is the intrinsic name of those members that will be called later in the NDS files. It does not matter what name you specify for this, as long as the ending in the brackets is appropriate for that nation, eg. (AU) for Austria. The right hand column refers to the actual unit name as defined in the corresponding MD file, under NAME entry for that unit. Eg. in AUSTRIA.NDS : Kreposnoi_pruss(au) Kreposnoi_pruss refers to member called Kresposnoi_pruss(au) using stats from unit named Kreposnoi_prus, as defined in KRP.MD file.

[FIXED_PRODUCE] : this entry states what can build/produce what and where the icons are to be located. Looking at the first line under [FIXED_PRODUCE] of AUSTRIA.NDS, the first line says : Kreposnoi_pruss(au) 18. This means that the member called Kresposnoi_pruss(au) (ie. Austrian peasant) can build 18 things. The next 18 lines under this therefore describes what can be built. Looking at the first line immediately under this, it says : Center_Austria(au) 2 2 H. This means the townhall can be built by the peasant. The townhall icon will be placed in Colunm 2 (the first number 2) and Row 2 (the second number 2) of the peasant build menu. The letter H refers to the category of the townhall. (H for Hall, A for Academy, etc.).

[ENABLED] : this entry specifies which units are enabled by default at the start of the game without any further requirements. This would for example, includes 17c Barracks but not 18c Barracks.

[UPGRADES] : this is a huge entry specifying the various upgrades for that nation. Do not worry about where these upgrades are made, as this is specified in the next section. A typical line would be Pikiner_evro(au)ATTACK ATAKA1 #POSITION 0 1 #LEVEL 2 Pikiner_evro(au)ATTACK #COST 2 FOOD 200 GOLD 50 #TIME 500 DAMAGE WEAPONKIND PIKA Pikiner_evro(au) +1

Breaking this down, Pikiner_evro(au)ATTACK = upgrade member name, ATAKA1 = icon for this member, #POSITION 0 1 = position of the icon at column and row number, #LEVEL 2 = level of the upgrade, Pikiner_evro(au)ATTACK = translation of the member as defined in COMMENT.TXT file, #COST 2 FOOD 200 GOLD 50 = self explanatory, #TIME 500 = time taken to complete the upgrade, DAMAGE WEAPONKIND PIKA Pikiner_evro(au) = effect of the upgrade, +1 = quantity of the upgrade effect.

[UPGRADEPLACE] : this entry specifies the place where the upgrades are to take place. It again follows a similar format to Fixed_Produce entry, in that it first specify the unit/building with the number of upgrades following that. The following lines then would specify the upgrades for that building/unit. Eg. PorE(au) 5 specifies that at Austrian ship yard, there are 5 upgrades. The upgrades are then specified immediately following that.

[UPGRADEENABLE] : this entry is a simple one as it just specifies upgrade which are enabled at the start of the game without any further requirements.

[UPGRADELINKS] : this entry is also relatively easy. It controls which upgrades are enabled after a certain upgrade is made. The most complicated one would be MAINAU 13 Kirasir(au)ATTACK Kirasir(au)SHIELD Gusar_evro(au)ATTACK Gusar_evro(au)SHIELD Dragun_18(au)ATTACK Dragun_18(au)SHIELD KUZ04AU Melnica(au)GETRES2 shahta(au)INSIDE5 shahta(au)INSIDE6 shahta(au)INSIDE7 AKA25AU PRS(au)INSIDE. This means that there are 13 upgrades enabled after MAINAU (Progress to 18th century) is completed. Most of the others are just 1 following another.

[DISABLED_UPGRADES] : this entry is for upgrades that you have enabled but want its button greyed out until certain conditions are met. A good example is MAINAU (18th century upgrade), which is greyed out at the start of the game until the requirements of 18th century upgrade are met.

[ACCESSCONTROL] : this entry specifies requirements that must be met before the upgrades/units are available for use. For example, MAINAU 7 Kuznica(au) Konushnia_Swesair(au) akademia_E(au) Kazarma_evro(au) Cercov_Poland(au) Rinok(au) artileri_depo(au) means that before you can use the 18th century button MAINAU, you must have 7 buildings built. These buildings are specified after the number 7.

[UNITLOCK] : this entry controls units that are to be produced in limited quantity. For example, PERES_KOR(au) 10 PERES_KOR(au) means that after 10 ferries are produced, you can not build any more ferries.

[CANSETDEST] : units specified under this entry will have a rally point button. Should be used for buildings only.

[PRIVATE] : this entry means that the upgrades specified here will only affect a single unit/building that has the upgrade. This is used for upgrades of mines and towers.

[SPECIAL_UPGRADE] and [SPECIAL_UNIT] : these 2 entries are applicable only to AoW. This is to set flags for the various game modes such as 18 century games, no wall no tower games etc. Units or upgrades specified here let the game engine know whether to exclude them under certain game condition or not.

[COUNTRY] : this entry is mainly for the editor, I think. It contains the units for that country, grouped under various headings such as buildings, calvary, artillery etc.

[OFFICERS] : this entry specifies requirements for formations. It should be self explannatory if you have been reading through the guide this far.

3. How to change unit graphic: (Back to top)

Now that you have understood about the various file types in the Cossacks game, let's try out something simple. Let's change the graphic of the mercenary dragoon. For this, you will need the file DR2DIP.MD. This is the file that defines the stats for mercenary dragoon. Let's say we swap its graphic for the French dragoon graphic. You will now need the file DRF.MD. In each of these two files, you will need all the lines from ICON to GEOMETRY are those that define the graphic for these units. Just cut that section from DRF.MD and paste it into (replacing that in) DR2DIP.MD. Of course if you feel a bit adventurous, you can try your hand on editing a few of the unit stats at the same time also. Then put the edited DR2DIP.MD file back into the game and you will find the new graphic for YOUR mercenary dragoon. To read how to put edited files back into the game, please read on.

4. How to add units: (Back to top)

This is getting to the advance level of making mods. This would require forethoughts as to what you want to add, where (which nation) you want to add the unit to and how (availability of unit, upgrade levels, etc.). There is an additional step that you will need to do also. Because you will be introducing new files, you must remember that new MD files must be listed in NMLIST.TXT file and its description given in TEXT\MDLIST.TXT file. Now you go to the nation NDS file that you wish to add this new unit to and start editing. I find it useful to think of this process as having a new baby born into your family. You must decide what its name is going to be, where it will be born and what position will it be placed in the family plus its potential role when it matures. So you go through the process of adding this new member with a new name in the [MEMBERS] entry. Then you must decided where it is going to be produced at under the [FIXED_PRODUCE] entry. After this, you must decide on whether or not its going to be available by default under [ENABLED] entry, etc. You then must go through the whole NDS file entries to complete the addition of this new member. Again, after editing these files, put them back into your Cossacks game and (hopefully if you did everything correctly) you should find your new unit in your game.

5. How to put edited files back into the game: (Back to top)

The simplest way is to use the Cossacks Mod Manager that I have developed. All you need to do is to generate a GSC file with your edited files using GSC File Utility, but name this file YOURNAME.MODS file and replace your name with whatever you like. Then just put this MODS file into Cossacks game directory and away you go with the Cossacks Mod Manager. Or you can do this the traditional way, by making a new patch0*.gs1 file or a mods01.gs1 file (if you have MOD1 installed) and put it into your Cossacks directory. If you do this, remember to back up your original files. There are a few rules you should remember when you use patch0*.gs1 or mods01.gs1 files. Cossacks game engine will look for files containing unit stats, etc first in PATCH0*.GS1 files. These values will override those contained in ALL.GSC file. Of course if a unit stat is not found in PATCH0*.GS1 file, the game engine then will get its value from ALL.GSC file. Now, if the game engine is unable to find a corresponding stat for a unit that exist in one of the NDS file, the game will CRASH. This rule changes slightly if you have MOD1 installed. It will look at the value from within MODS01.GS1 and MODS.GS1 file first, then PATCH02.GS1 file and then finally ALL.GSC file. GS1 and GSC files by any other names will simply be ignored by the game engine. Of course if you have just EW, this game engine will also ignore MODS01.GS1 and MODS.GS1 files.

So much has been written and read, the thing to do now is for you to just roll up your sleeves and try modding Cossacks yourselves. Happy Cossacking my fellow friends.

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Ostatnio zmieniony przez Warren dnia Śro 11:42, 16 Sty 2008, w całości zmieniany 1 raz