Modding SW3?
 

anyone have good tip for how to import ships to this game? or any other wohoo's

http://freenet-homepage.de/allaway/s...x_english.html

Unfortunately, the person running this stopped updating, but much of the content here is still relevant

Well, I've been playing around with the data files a bit, I've succesfully edited a couple of items, but not been able to add any new ones using existing templates.

For example:

My Shield Prototype gives an additional 700 Shield + 6 SP/s

How?

Go to X:\Program Files\1C Company\Star Wolves 3 - Civil War\Data\Game (Or where you have your game installed)
Open up Modules.xml with notepad (or any text editor)
Now search for "ShAmp5"
Once found, search for the string called: <shield_energy>
You see it is set to 500 .. Simply changing this to 700 will give you 700 additional shield
Changing the string <shield_restore> will change whatever shield you want SP/s.

Now that you have edited the game info, you naturally want it to be displayed properly in the game aswell, otherwise it will still show up 500 SP and 4 SP/s in the description.

Alright, now lets go to: X:\Program Files\1C Company\Star Wolves 3 - Civil War\Data\LocData\English (Or any other language you have)

You will notice a file called: m_modules.loc
Open up that with notepad.
Now search for "ShAmp5"
You will see the description of the file, simply changing 500 to 700 and 4 to 6 is all that needs to be done.
Save and you're ready to go!

NOTICE: ALWAYS BACKUP FILES YOU EDIT .. (Even though this editing is quite harmless, it beats reinstalling when you break your game)

Now, as for my personal problem, adding new items.
With my previous method I showed how I edited the properties of the items .. So I figured, if I copy one part of the .xml file and edit it with new settings, it should add a new item while using an existing image, no? I wanted to make a Shield Prototype Mk 2, so I added this under "ShAmp5":

<ShieldModule name="ShAmp6">
<short_name>#M_Name_ShAmp6</short_name>
<hint>#M_Hint_ShAmp6</hint>
<short_desc>#M_SDesc_ShAmp6</short_desc>
<long_desc>#M_LDesc_ShAmp6</long_desc>
<mesh_name>systembox</mesh_name>
<flat_image>Phantom_Shield</flat_image>
<hit_points>10000</hit_points>
<mass>10</mass>
<disable_trade>false</disable_trade>
<cost>300000</cost>
<technology/>
<attach_type>ONLY_FIGHTER</attach_type>
<shield_energy>700</shield_energy>
<shield_restore>6</shield_restore>
</ShieldModule>

And added this to m_modules.loc:
#M_Name_ShAmp6 = Shield Prototype Mk 2
#M_Hint_ShAmp6 = Shield Prototype|Shield booster
#M_SDesc_ShAmp6 = A shield prototype.
#M_LDesc_ShAmp6 = A shield booster that increases shield energy by 700 SP and shield regeneration by 6 SP/s.|A shield booster prototype of the new generation. It's still early to speak about its commercialization.

Now I naturally figured that it won't just show up in tradestation and had to be "added" to the inventory, so I opened up InitTradeSystem.script and figured that this line: -- Sh,Eng,Man would stand for Shields, Engines, Maneuverability and the numbers displayed in their generation: Bastion, Citadel, Stronghold, Granite, Shield Prototype .. so I figured, if I had another number behind the number that stands for Shield Prototype, it would add my Shield Prototype Mk 2, right? Wrong.
It doesn't show up in the shops unfortunately. And as of yet I can't figure out why. So anyone more experienced with modding this game, can you tell me what I'm doing wrong? :P

As for your cheaters out there:

To enable console open Main.ini file located in the game folder.
Under section [GAME] is entry "DEBUGMODE = 0". Change value to "1" (without quotes). Save the file.

Now you can open console in-game by pressing [Shift]+[~] keys.

To enable cheats open the console and type in "g_cheats 1". Now you have enabled cheats.

Cheats:

I - God Mode (No damage to you your mothership or your fighters unless its part of a mission)
So now first close console then push Shift and i to get the BIG I :-)

You should not have had a problem with this, I have successfully added new ships with no problem at all.

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/9653/starwolves3.jpg

Either you did not add it into the file properly, or you simply were not lucky. Remember that a shop does not display all of its inventory, only that which passes the random generator.

Enlighten me how you did it then? I meant adding items in the tradestock of stations, maybe I did something wrong, but I don't know :) (You can easily retrace my steps in the previous post) Saying that you *can* doesnt actually help anyone much :)

And yes I know the stock gets randomized at stations, that's why redocking a couple of times usually gets you what you want.

I just finished double-checking everything. Found your problem, you were misinterpreting the inittradesystem script. You also need to edit the floodtradestations.script file located in the include folder. You will need to add your shield to here:

Than you will need to add your shield here, in tradeinit:

Should become something like...

That should send you off in the right direction.

@nanaki
an interesting thing i noticed while browsing that site u posted about modding is a mod that (among other things) increased the number of rockets\slot for fighters...anyone got any ideeas about how it was done or adapting it to sw3?

Edit modules.xml, look for the max_rocket_count attribute. Like the other guy said earlier, back up everything you plan to mod incase you either decide you do not like it, or end up making a mistake and breaking everything.

thx 4 the quick answer...i'll give it a try when i have time and come back with some feedback...

Is there a manual that i can read about adding new ships and stuff? Because no matter what i try its not working. Changing specs of existing ships or even replace the Astarte is one thing, but adding ships seems to be a lot diferent.

Are you trying to add a new ship as a mission reward, or a new ship as something to buy from a shop? What exactly is going wrong?

To buy from the shop or get them in the inventory, whichever works. For example the corvets, the motherships like the Stalingrad or Lion mk1, which are in the game just can't use them. If it's possible to add the mean fighters from SW2, pitty they are not in this one. A few new missions would also come in handy. It's a nice idea.

I dunno if new items/ships only be available if you start a new game, but also had slightly difficulties adding some stuff into a running game :eek: new game worked fine by me...

My slightly tweaked Butcher Mk. II corvette :rolleyes: / step by step

edit your Carcasses.xml (i took the "Butcher_pl0" , these are usualy used only by player!) Bold stuff is very important ! otherwise it won't work (you can buy it but you can't use it)
Other things are bit tweaked down...i think having a 5000 armor ship for the player 'd be too easy. slightly more speed and ~25 more maneuver / less shields & armor / sound from corvette added, should be in the file too (oh used different descriptions, so it won't work. it's only some example for whose who want to know^^)

Next step would be to define, that your fine ship also can use turrets *yay* !! (seems like they only made it possible to add a few, but nevermind thereafter you can use them all *eg*)

Modules.xml -> either manually or with a serious editor, as you don't WANT to replace all of the lines 'cause it will mess with all modules.
edit:

<TurretModule...>
<attach_type>ONLY_BIGSHIP</attach_type> <- change in <attach_type>ALL_SHIPS</attach_type>
</TurretModule>

Now that you have your corvette capable of using all turrets, you sure want to buy it :grin:

"...\Star Wolves 3 - Civil War\Data\Scripts\include\FloodTradeStations.script "

__All_ships ={......,"Trident_mk2_black_pl0","Butcher_pl0"};

the line is very important for the shop script where you can buy and so on! (in my case it would be at the end of line 5)

"...\Star Wolves 3 - Civil War\Data\Scripts\InitTradeSystem.script"

now add exactly at the position where your ship/module or whatever is another entry in _every_ local NShop*

in my case
local NShop_SI_sst = { ....

2,0,0,0,0,0,2}}; -- 5 level ships

I only made them available @MSF blackmarket shops. In every other shop it looks like:
0,0,0,0,0,0,0}}; -- 5 level ships

Hmm that's it. If you start a new (!) game you should be able to buy a Butcher Mk.II :-P. You can edit in a running game stats like armor/shields and so on but afaik adding new items just won't work as these are init-scripts for starting a new game.
Basically you could add stuff from SW2 doing this way...most of the meshes and so on are still there.

hmm 2 quick questions:

1)would it be theoretically possible to add more than 4 rocket placements on any ship? i seem to remember bident has 4 rockets, 2 small guns & 2 systems...could it be possible to replace the 2 guns with missiles?

2)if so...i assume the same applies to big gun slots...imagine a butcher wielding those 1600 dmg cannons and a mothership with 2 missile slots(supernovas ofc) instead of 2 normal gun slots

Corvettes you would have to convert to interceptors (like Valky did), Big ships you simply cannot impliment unless you replace your mothership with them. But most bigships that are not already a mothership are incapable of carrying fighters (like the Stalingrad and Stone Arrow), which creates a whole bunch of problems when trying to use it as a mothership. You can technically convert those ships to carriers, but it requires a LOT of editing and is a major pain in the rear to do.

You would have to edit the model. Models have two kinds of slots, Big gun/missile slots, and small gun slots. Big guns and missiles are interchangable, but small gun slots will only work with small guns, and systems do not use special slots at all (so you can add as many as the GUI can handle).

I do not think capital ships can carry or fire missiles. Corvettes, yeah, but not capital ships.

Ok here is the problems.
Made the cavalier to interceptor, manage to by it great. Put pilot in it, great.
Put two systems in it, great. But no big guns no missiles. So basicly my pilots fly with no weapons what soever. Now i get it, i can't change the small guns to rockets but i also change the rockets to big guns so why can't i use them?

Did you make sure to edit the appropriate file in the texture/interface/carcass/slots folder?

Yep. All done now i have corvet with 4 big guns, 2 rocket slots, and 2 system slots. But i keep wonder why the only place i can buy it is the station in Aurora? Because i placed it in every store.
Question: Is it possible to add more guns/missiles to existing ones? For example the wyvern_mk1 or dragon with 4 guns, 2 sys and 2 missiles.

Valky, could you please post those modified files for those of us who are lazy to edit them ourselves? :) I would really like to buy the Butcher :-) Thanks.

You can add small guns and systems to no ill effect, just as long as you use valid slot IDs. For small guns you will likely have to assign multiple small guns to a single small gun hardpoint, not a big deal, I think.

Adding missiles, big guns, and turrets requires editing the model, as you need to add additional hardpoints for the physical attachments. You can technically assign two weapons to a single hardpoint like small guns, but it would look really, really ugly (two weapons overlapping eachother). So it is a 'Do at your own risk' thing.

Only tuned up the shields again ^^ but you can edit by yourself (<Interceptor name="Butcher_pl0">) - other stuff don't need to be changed, everything included & buyable only @MSF blackmarkets.

edit: i think the stats are okay, 5k armor+2.5k shields 'd be way to overpowered.

Does anyone tried to import SW2 ships to SW3?

My Leopard Corvette was originally made for SW2. Just make sure to copy the appropriate models and textures, if missing.

Thank you Valky. What do you mean by a MSF blackmarket? I have only normal market and FTU market in game.

I did copy everything for the Matarice and Bastard. Change everything add them to the shop list. But the game crash every time i try to dock to station. There is diference between the texture files in main texture directory of those two and oder fighters including the corvet. Any ideas how to resolve the problem?

Yeah...ma bad :) FTU = blackmarket...was referring to the script's name

(you only can buy it @ MSF's FTU market... :cool:)

SW3 should still be able to load SW2 textures, especially since I transferred a texture myself... The crash makes me wonder, though, especially since bugged textures are not likely to crash the game, I think. Every game handles bugged textures differently.

Did you use a program to edit the XML files? Doubtful its an XML problem, though, since the game refuses to work if theres a broken XML usually. Did you double-check all your modified code to make sure there were no syntax errors? My sixth sense is telling me that you made an error in one of the script files (Possibly one that has to do with the station), which crashes the game every time it calls that script.

I copied the needed files from SW2 objects to SW3 objects and from SW2 textures to SW3 textures (including interface/carcasses/32,64,128,slots).
Then i copied the needed info from carcasses.xml in SW2 and pasted in carcasses.xml in SW3 (with the nececary editing). Did the same with ShipDescriptions.xml, and then add them in FloodTradeStations and InitTradeSystem. The thing is that the game crash every time they appear in the shop, because some times i can dock but they are not in the store. The strange thing is that in folder slots there is file named ships05 with those four fighter and Ramadanta inside so there should be no problem adding them. Maybe i'm missing something but don't know what.

Is it possible to mod the ramadanta back ingame? I'd like to get it to replace the Astarte if at all possible?

Getting back into modding capital ships some...

Added two turrets to a Lion MK2, also decided to see what would happen if I switched the texture from MSF to player (which is used by the Lion MK3). Other than the screwed up player logo, it actually comes up perfectly. Only problem is, I cannot figure out where the player logo is stored in the Lion's texture file to modify it. I suck with textures anyway.

You can certainly try it. Although, it will be crappier than the Astarte since it will not have any big guns.

Thats nice Lion with six turets. But the turets on my Mastif Doesn't have much to do with two Matarice fighters as escort. But I think trying to add two more major calibers on the other side (it's gonna be ugly when i get to the alien system).

You can never have too many turrets, especially since big guns are extremely weak at close range (since they have difficulty turning to hit a target) If you ever do decide to fight the aliens, a lot of it is going to be very close quarters.

I can very easily add four more turrets to the Lion. The only thing that would still have more turrets would be the Stalingrad class Battleship, and the Alien dreadnought, both at 16 turrets.

Hmm... a Lion Cruiser with four big guns, ten turrets, and six systems... Not sure anything could survive that kind of firepower. Although equipping it would cost two arms and a leg.

No argue with that, but i'm not shure how it will look with four big guns. The Mastif on the other hand will look pretty nasty with four big guns. As for the agility, I thing i'l just reduce mass a bit (a lot actualy) and see what happens.
Got the feeling that mass play major role in manevurability of every ship.
By the way did you edit the imd file to add the turrets or just the shop file, since i'm not shure how to handle the cordinates in the later.

Can you drop me the texture names? The logo is probably in a channel. Texture edits are easy, I modded my mastiff to have a different colour scheme.

And frankly, I found astarte was so slow to fire those big guns I'd rather have ramadanta or mastiff.

Update: The player logo is on the center left on Lion_Cruiser_Player.dds

Wierd, I am using GIMP and I can barely see anything... and I definatly do not see any insignia whatsoever. The whole texture also looks faded out. I am messing with Channels at the moment, and it is showing me Red, Blue, Green, Alpha channels.

If I duplicate a channel, it displays the texture but in black & white...

The texture name of the player's Lion cruiser is that. I am assuming that the player insignia has to be edited to match the Navy lion cruiser in size and shape, which is lion_cruiser_navy.dds, in order for it to display properly

Are you trying to add or remove the insignia?

(I use photoshop with the Nvidia .dds plugin, shows up on _player version)

Neither, trying to fix it (on the Lion_Cruiser_player.dds texture) so that it displays properly on the Lion MK2. The reason why I referred to the Navy texture is that the Navy insignia (which is in the exact same spot) is displayed properly.

Seems like GIMP is unable to properly display SW3's DDS textures, unless there is some step I am forgetting to do.

Highlighted the logos for you.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/661...ruisernavy.jpg
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/3...iserplayer.jpg

The Insignia on the center-left is what needs to be fixed. The bottom-right insignia is for the Lion Cruiser MK3 (The Lion cruiser texture is shared by two different ships), and is not what I am looking to fix.

This is what I am seeing in GIMP when I open it up:

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2042/sw3gimp.jpg

Click off viewing the alpha channel, it affects mipmaps/reflections.

Just gives me a blank picture. Nothing on it at all. I already tried messing around with the channels as you suggested.

Seems like my problem is that GIMP is not properly loading the RGB channels, only the alpha channel.

Yes indeed. Actually, as the sheets are the same, why not just rename lion_cruiser_player.dds to lion_cruiser_player_original.dds then copy lion_cruiser_navy.dds and rename to lion_cruiser_player.dds?

Because I want the color/insignia of lion_cruiser_player. Lion_Cruiser_Navy is the original texture of the Lion MK2.

Do the same in reverse then?

Were you after a version without all the extra bits you get on the player version, but with the player colour scheme and logos? Like this:

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9...navyplayer.jpg

well... not quite sure if that is what you mean... but I am after a version of lion_cruiser_player that has a non-bugged insignia. It is no biggie, though, I can live with the bugged insignia.

Can you walk through the dialog system for a trader, or the maintenance station? I open up the dialogs and I can make sense of some of the scripting but it looks like it trargets voice files that I cant find, and I dont see how the text dialog is determined.

All dialogue content (both voice and text) can be found in the locdata folder.

Just got done adding four additional turrets and two big guns to my Lion MK2. It all looks pretty good, and I -somehow- managed to squeeze all that (ten turrets, four big guns, six systems) to the GUI.

Ok, Looking in DialogTrader1.xml you see the reference of #L_DT1n_msg00.

Looking in DialogTrader1n.loc you can find that value, but its just a string of random numbers:
BFD7DFD2DEDEA4A4A4D7DED4DFA1DFA4DFD3DFDEDFD2DED5DE D4A4D6D3DEA5D2D0A2D0A4A59A7DA7

Is this Hex? Is this the text I am looking for? What's a good way to convert it to English and back?

I do not know. Unfortunately, Starwolves modding does not have much support, and almost all of that support is both German and for much older versions of the game (Starwolves 2 and 1, unfortunately the german modding community died out before 3 released). So chances are if you are trying to figure out something nobody else has figured out, you are on your own.

Edit: It is not hex or octal... I have no idea what it is, actually.

Hi Nanaki, how about your Super Lion MK2? Can you upload your finish work, I really like it and want to play that super ms :).

Still working on it:
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/3411/starwolves6.jpg

It is possible to add GKTurrets to Motherships (I mainly did this modification to test that), the problem is that the GUI infestructure is not in place to handle them, this means that you cannot equip or unequip them, so you have to not only spawn the mothership with them already equipped, you cannot swap em around as you need it.

The reason why I picked the Lion in particular is that, the Left/right turret mountings always felt like they were meant for a much larger turret. It seems like the developers may have originally intended the Lion to carry GKTurrets, considering how perfectly they fit.

Now the Lion has 2 GKTurrets, 4 GKGuns, 8 Turrets, and 8 Systems.

1.No
2.Yes
3.Using some dev-tool i think

Is it possible to model for this game? Was thinking someone could mod the Stone Turtle to have a docking ay on it's belly as an astarte replacement (looks wise)

IMDEditor v3 by Tech + 3DMax

Ug. 3DS Max.

Could you describe how to do this?
I'm now trying imd editor but don't know how to find right positions for all these guns.

Guesswork. Pretty much you insert in coordinates that you think is the general vicinity of where whatever it is could be (use the X Y Z picture of the Arba that the IMD editor shows you, it really helps!), than you enter ingame and test it out.

Now I'm trying to activate more than 4 turrets but can't do this. If I try to put turret in the 5th slot I have to remove another. Is this the GUI limit you mentioned?
Is it possible to add GKGun to the ship that not has right place to mount it.
Major Caliber turrets - Did you use those from stationary platforms?

Could you upload IMD file for your fully equipped Lion Cruiser, please?

Can anyone tell me how to add more slots to GUI, because so far nothing i try works. Thanks.

you're right, does look like those mountings were meant for major caliber turrets.

\Data\TEXTURE\Interface\Carcass\Slots\*.ini

I've managed to add major caliber turrets at last. Now I know why devs abandoned this idea. They work exactly like normal turrets but with their range, damage and rotation speed gives massacring firepower. Even 5th generation fighters go down like flies.

This is my Lion MK1_A now (still working on other turrets).

Here you go folks, the IMD file and the configuration file. The recommended stats are:
2x GKTurret
4x GKGun
8x Turret
8x System

If you decide to do something differently, than you will need to modify the ini file (which goes in the textures/carcass/slots directory).

Im new to this, not done any modding, besides altering the xml files. What do i need to do to use your lovely Liger_Dreadnought, also how do i use the skin http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9...navyplayer.jpg on it, unless yours already looks like that.

You need to add (or modify) a ship in the Carcass.xml file, make sure it points to the proper files. You need to place the IMD file in the Objects directory (should be a ton of other IMDs in there), and you need to place the ini file in the textures/interface/carcass/slots folder. Make sure that your entry to the carcass properly points to both INI and IMD file. I would -highly- recommend you edit a Lion MK2 (The one Trump gives you) since the Liger is basically the same ship, just highly modified.

You will also need an entry in the shipdescriptions, with at least two high-caliber turrets of your choice (you can leave the rest blank). Afterwards, go to the quest script where you get a new mothership, and instead of it being that mothership, change it to your new mothership. Remember to use the Shipdescription name instead of the Carcass name.

Mine already looks like that, except the texture is bugged as it was never intended to be used by a Lion MK2. I would fix it myself, except GIMP (the only texture editor I have) cannot read Star Wolves textures properly.

Can anyone tell me how i got about changing the skin on my ship. Ive imported it ok, but have no idea how to go about importing a skin. Ive got a copy of Photoshop CS3, and ive downlaoded the nividia plugins someone mentioned needing

You need IMD Editor, go to Page one, the link should be there.

hmm, ive already got that, but not sure how to import skin, the skin is in jpeg format, do i need to convert that int oa 3d model or something, are there any tutorials about this anywhere ive missed? thanks for the help btw

Oh, you need to convert it to DDS.

when selecting dds, theres a load of options, not sure what format to save it as
http://i63.servimg.com/u/f63/14/73/67/21/dds10.jpg

I am not sure either, unfortunately.

no matter, i was lookign at the textures in photoshop, and it just alters the color density of the image, so i just save with whichever looks best. btw, looking in the carcasses file, which of the lion_cruisers is the one the player gets, none of them refer to _player or _pl0 as most player ships do, i dont want to accidently give it to the ai. of the mk2's there is:
Mothership_Lion_mk2
Mothership_Lion_mk2a
Mothership_Lion_mk2a_vks
Mothership_Lion_mk2_grey
Mothership_Lion_mk2a_grey

The one Viper gives you is Mothership_Lion, the one Trump gives you is Mothership_Lion_mk2a_vks. Neither are used by the AI in any way, shape, or form.

So, if i take the one Trump gives me, i need to change in carcasses under
"Mothership_Lion_mk2a_vks">

<flat_image>Lion_Cruiser_MK2_A</flat_image> to
<flat_image>Liger_Dreadnought</flat_image>

<mapping_name>Lion_Cruiser_MK2_A</mapping_name> to
<mapping_name>Liger_Dreadnought</mapping_name>

and keeping <mesh_name>Lion_Cruiser_MK2_A</mesh_name> as it is, if i guessed right

flat_image stays the same, mesh_name is what changes. Otherwise, you got it right.

I've just adapted a Starhammer model to replace this ugly Astarte tube. Even with the same equipment he is slightly better. Thanks to his skeletal construction turrets have wider field of fire but it's really hard to find good place for main guns and turrets.
Screen shows "mk2" version with 2 main guns (firing forward), 2 main turrets, 4 small turrets and 4 systems (and a little logo on the side;)).

This is interesting stuff, didnt know there veven were mods for SW1-2. I do have aquestion is it possible to bring in other moddels from other games, say like Wing Commander 4 Lance a.k.a Dragon, Banshee & Privateers 2 ships Heretic, Icarus?

It's always possible but usually you need to know how to use 3dsmax, photoshop and sometimes other editor to put all things together. Unfortunately, I can't so I'm editing existing models and adding old from SW1,2.

grrr, that logo is seriously crappy, ive tried altering it in photoshop, by selecting the area that the logo would be on top of, and replacing the spot in the image where the logo is, cancelling it out, but now for some reason, everytime i try to save the damn thing, i get a cant save due to disk write error, which is odd since i can save it as any other file type :(

right, ive managed to save it as a jpeg, if anyone can convert it back into dds, and test it

http://i63.servimg.com/u/f63/14/73/67/21/lion_c10.jpg

Edit: I am going to try to convert it and see if it works.

if the logo is a bit off, either mess aroudn with it in jpeg yourself, or i'll try again, at the mo im jsut using the lion_cruiser_grey texture, that looks pretty good to be honest anyway

Is there anyway to change the name of the ship, i treid altering the descriptions of the lion in the m_carcasses.loc file, but even after starting a brand new game, it didnt take affect

BTW, where did you find some GKTurret, ive never seen any high caliber turrets, just wondered where you found some, and what they are called

Lately I have been diving headfirst into scripts. Everything that is running in the background is stored in the 'include' folder. You can actually add and remove files from the include folder, as long as you enter (and remove) the accompanying files from the system.lst file (which has a list of all files loaded into the game).

I learned a bit about random scripts, and now I know how to make and remove randoms. I have been thinking of tryng to port parts of RealMod into Starwolves 3, specifically, the Fleet spawns, but trying to decypher it and impliment it is too difficult for me to handle at the moment (especially since its all in Russian and German, and I do not understand either language). So far, I am thinking of trying to simply adding more random spawns, including capital ships, as well as adding more opposing faction spawns so that we can see more factional conflict.

But my first project involves trying to fix MSF/NESF spawns. In the Specials.scripts file, is the code for all the minion spawns of the game, MSF, NESF, Berserk, and Precursor (Summon NESF, Summon MSF, Summon Berserks, Summon Precursors). The Precursor and Berserk minion scripts work fine, however, the MSF and NESF share the same variables, which means that if you use MSF spawns, than try to use NESF spawns, the NESF will not spawn because the MSF script already took the variables.

I figured the simplest way was to simply give the NESF script variables on its own (changing init_team to init_team3 and local_num to local_num3). This is used in both the Berserk and Precursor scripts, but now the NESF spawn script is completely broken, and I am not quite sure what I did wrong.

You can only find them on Platforms in-game, specifically, the platforms located in Hephastus (though they might be found in other platforms found in the game...)

They were never meant to be mountable on mobile ships of any kind, and never meant to be purchased by the player thus you wont find them in shops, and even if you add them I imagine they wont have the proper pictures, descriptions, or anything like that. Hell, you cannot even add slots to the GUI to mount them on your mothership. This is why you have to mount them in shipdescription, because there is no other way to mount them.

You probably edited the wrong lion. There are like 5-6 lion entries, and only 2 are actually used by the player.

about the name changing, i thought i may have gotten the wrong name, but i check the ship in carcasses against the m_carcasses.loc file and they are both the same. The lion ingame mentions something about viper in its description, so i know to look for that in the file. maybe theres another file besides m_carcasses.loc that i need to change. At the mo, ive changed it as follows

#M_Name_Mothership_Lion = Archangel
#M_Hint_Mothership_Lion = Dreadnought|Archangel
#M_SDesc_Mothership_Lion = Dreadnought Archangel
#M_LDesc_Mothership_Lion = Desperate wars require desperate measures, and the development of the Archangel class dreadnought was no exception. It became clear that the Empire had no answer to the Berserker threat. Taking deep scans of Alien vessels, engineers tried to duplicate the designs that gave them their durability and strength. The experiments were less than sucessful. Finally, as losses were threatening to push our forces back into our home systems, engineers were able to produce a hybrid design that had the durability and power of an Alien Cruiser and was still manageable with Human crew and technology. The Archangel combines the firepower of 4 Heavy Cannons and 8 Turrets, with an advanced science bay supporting up to 8 Systems.

BTW, how do you take screenshots in this game, ive tried prinscreen, but when pasting in paint, the screen is just white in a starwolves window

Modifying that should have worked...

Note that it wont change until you load a save before the ship is spawned: IE, before Viper shows up with it.

i altered the tug "HM_Queen_pl" to become the lion, and eveything else worked, but it still had the name and description of the lion mk2 and about being a prototype of vipers, even though there was no longer any mention of it in the loc file, plus i started a new game to get the ship, not sure what ive missed

Perhaps the best solution is to simply add a new line to m_carcasses.loc rather than modify an existing line, that is what I did for the Liger, at least.

PS: Got my script to work! My original script was 100% correct, I just had to zone to a different sector in order for it to work properly in-game (was loading a save to test).

I am going to mess with the Specials.script a bit more, hopefully learning a bit more about the createflights script.

You can add GKTurrets to shops, GUI, can give them proper names etc. I've made fully manageable mothership with 2 GKGuns, 2 GKTurrets, 5 Turrets and 5 Systems (look at my Star Hammer on the previous page). This is hardcoded limit for guns. I didn't try more systems but I think it's possible to add more. GKTurrets and GKGuns have the same icons. They've never meant to be manageable so they have no descriptions but you can add your own.
GUI can handle up to 24 slots.

YES! This is I was looking for. I've tried making spawning script but failed. Please, give us some more details.

BTW I've made a script that makes all motherships, rare fighters and equipment (generally everything) buyable. Now I'm tweaking it a bit. You can easily buy and fly even Emperor's Battleship :grin:

GUI can probably handle more than 24, but than it looks just plain ugly (and there might be other issues too). 20 is the maximum it can handle while still looking okay (if a bit cramped).

There is no hard-coded limit for guns, though, as long as the IMD file is configured properly. My Liger Cruiser has 2 GKTurrets, 4 GKGuns, 8 Turrets, 8 Systems.

You can make motherships buyable? I always thought that the game would break if you were able to buy and sell motherships. You should share some details on that.

The question is how do you want your fighters to spawn? Through a Perk? Through a random event? Right now I am working on the perk spawns. From what I gathered, there are four spawn seperate spawn scripts that all work seperately. It might be possible to add additional spawn script functions (that will be my next project), but I have not attempted to do so.

So far, what I have done is modify the script so that MSF and NESF spawns can be used at once (previously, using one disables use of the other), which was more of a bugfix than a modification of any kind. I just recently added a level to all of the spawns (level 4 MSF spawn, level 4 NESF spawn, level 5 Berserk spawn, oddly enough there was already an unused level 4 Precursor spawn too...), which was successful as well. My third project with Specials.script is to add a completely new spawn script, which I have only just started.

I will let you know how my attempt to add a completely new spawn script goes. Afterwards, I might try modifying location scripts and the create_flight script.

This is what I got... not sure why its not working for you...

<short_name>#M_Name_Mothership_Liger</short_name>
<hint>#M_Hint_Mothership_Liger</hint>
<short_desc>#M_SDesc_Mothership_Liger</short_desc>
<long_desc>#M_LDesc_Mothership_Liger</long_desc>

#M_Name_Mothership_Liger = Liger
#M_Hint_Mothership_Liger = Dreadnought|Liger
#M_SDesc_Mothership_Liger = Dreadnought Liger
#M_LDesc_Mothership_Liger = While the Lion MK3 was in development, the Old Empire decided to push the shrinking Lion as a Stone Arrow replacement while developing a heavier version of the current Lion MK2 to replace the aging Stalingrad Battleship. The end result was the Liger Dreadnought, while it has the outward visual appearance of a Lion Cruiser, it is slower, heavier and far more heavily armored and armed. The Liger possesses the latest in drive and reactor technologies, allowing it to achieve much higher maximum speeds than was possible with the Stalingrad. It was also given a massive firepower improvement with the addition of four turrets and four heavy guns, allowing it to surpass any capital ship in direct combat. Two of these heavy guns were designed to be on turreted platforms bolted to the side of the ship. Unfortunately, the large amount of high-quality material and experimental components required to construct even one vessel was staggering, and as a result the Old Empire decided not to incorporate the Liger into the fleet. Most of the resources and funds originally allocated towards the Liger project would eventually find their way to New Restoration. The prototype itself, still missing its turrets, main guns, and many of its systems, was placed into mothball.

I was talking about fully manageable ship (all weapons and systems changeable through the trade station menu). Your Cruiser has all of these but only in "imd" file. I can't see GKTurrets in GUI and only 2 GKGuns and 5 Turrets slots work. This is the limit I metioned. If you want to add GKTurret to the GUI you should place slot like below in the "ini" file:

[slot14]
type=TurretGK
refpoint=Left_Side
image_coord=420 260
text_coord=500 240
text_aligment=RIGHT

This is one of the guns I've fitted into my Star Hammer.
Turrets that can be fitted into this slot have the first letter "T" so if "LGK3" stays for Musket, "TLGK3" stays for turret version of Musket.

The first I've got the idea was when after rescuing Ternie I saw my Astarte changed into another mothership (I don't remember exactly which cuz I've moded that quest so many times ;)). After a little research I've ended with these:

function New_Mothership_Rhino()
NewFlight("myGroup_1", "nm", "Mothership_corporate_pl1", "BasePilot", mothership:GetPosition() + Vector3(0, 0, -70), Vector3(0, 0, 1));
mothership_old = mothership;
mothership = SetPlayerMotherShip(ship_nm_1);
end;

This is core function that change your actual mothership into (in this case) Rhino and is placed in "DockStation.script". Why there? Because all shopping work through the Maintenance Station menu. You buy things like you buy AI pilots for mothership (kind of). Maintenance Stations are generally a little quests so functions that work with quests work with them too.
There are much more changes to get whole thing working. I'm planning to release beta version of my mod this weekend so you will see all modifications.

I'd like to add a spawn of enemy ships like in Rescue Ternie quest. When you flying to the gate Greys show up from nowhere and attacks you immediately. This what I'd like to get.

Unfortunately, my third experiment was not successful. The game uses its own internal hardcoded XML Schema files which cannot be edited, so adding new special abilities is out of the question.

Yes, it is doable, I have done it. I have a fully managable Lion with 10 Turrets, 6 systems, and 4 GKGuns (this is for my Liger version without the GKTurrets)

What exactly is going wrong?

Please, let me know how !!!

This is the problem - nothing. no CTD, no errors. Simply nothing. I've tried something like this:

I've added group declaration in region "activate.script" file too. I want this function to be executed by quest dialog. Could you post your working function and other necessary changes?

The trickiest part is matching the references... Each turret, GKGun, and GKTurret has a reference, each reference MUST be unique, and than match the references to the INI. For example, the 'down_left' reference in the IMD file must match to the 'down_left' reference in the INI file.

I will look through it and ponder, I tend to prefer to review code slowly and carefully. Best way to debug it.

I know that and I make each unique but it doesn't help. Could you upload your ship files, PLEASE!!! I can check them myself and find what I'm doing wrong.

I've copied this function from mission 13c file SavingFriend_c_XT24.script. Maybe you check there and find out how to implement similar function.
Other problem may be activation of this function during dialog. I would like that dialog will close immediately after player choose the answer and ships will pop up.

Below fully working mothership buying function with price check. Price is set to 666 credits;) and must be set separately for each ship here. Script doesn't check the price in carcasses.xml. I've changed Elio maintenance station so portal reactivation is set for 4 portals there.

Go a few pages back, I uploaded the Liger a few days ago actually ;3

Thanks... I will take a peek.

Although, if you are starting off, I recommend adding a script closer to the beginning of the game so it is much easier to test.

I've just done it. When I try to put 6th turret into slot I get this info "This device cannot be installed into this socket". First five - no problem. What's going on?

This is not a problem. All you need is just reenter the system so good save is enough.

Its doing that with the Liger?

Perhaps collission detection being a little fidgety... I do know that its hard to get things in the proper places when you squeeze the slots that close together. Try double-clicking on the turrets in your inventory, they should automatically go to the first available slot.

What are you trying to achieve exactly?

I was trying to add a fifth Summon ability. There are currently four, SummonNavy, SummonKfni, SummonBerserk, and SummonPrec.

The problem with this is that for every new special ability you add into the game, you have to add it to the appropriate XMLSchema files (allspecials.xsd and specials.xsd), however, I learned that the game uses its own internal version of the XMLSchema files which cannot be accessed.

Forget it. I feel like stupid. I've forgot about limits in carcasses.xml. Sorry to bother you