The Framework

A small question on proper mod structure.

from Sins Forums

I've been working on a small mod with the intent to make the game even more sandbox in nature. However, after playtesting it, it's clear to me that it doesn't work; I activated it with no problem, but no changes showed up when I got a singleplayer game going.

I believe this may have been caused by an improper structure, as I only included the GameInfo folder and nothing else. I'm not sure as to what other folders are supposed to go along with it. So, getting to the point of this thread, what is that proper set of stuff I need to include?

modding
4,569 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Is it a mod for Entrenchment? Then you need to list all files the game should load for your mod in a .manifest file (e.g. 'entity.manifest' for all the files in the GameInfo folder).

Open one of the originals from the Entrenchment game folder to see what they look like and make a copy to your mod folder which you customize according to your mod. If it doesn't actually add or remove anything, just copy the original ones to your mod folder. The game then knows it has to load the usual files, but load your modded ones first.

:-)

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Ok, so, first problem I noticed was that I hadn't noticed the "Apply Changes" button in my previous test. Queue up one slap in the face for me.

Second problem, now that I had copied entity.manifest into the mod folder and found the Apply Changes button, applying said changes now makes Entrenchment lock up. I waited for a good while, then finally killed the process. Does it really take an ungodly amount of time to load up if some files aren't in binary or am I still doing something wrong?

If it might be my mod, here's what I'm doing: I've added no new entity files and all the work I've done is on the frigate, planet, and planet module rules already in the game. I've made it so that all frigates are CapitalShip entity types so they can be renamed, as well as making all gravity wells able to support ludicrous amounts of starbases and mines. All planet modules have their capacity costs removed and I'm thinking of making those rename-able, too, by giving them Starbase entity types. So, are there any issues with my mod or am I just implementing it wrong?

Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

If it locks up this tends to mean you have a wrong "count" number somewhere, such as six capital ships listed as entitydefs but 5 designated in the capitalshipcount line. If logErrors is on, this will result in the game creating a infinitely large debuglog too, up until you ctrl-alt-del out. I have no idea why this sort of thing isn't caught by the game itself.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

Alright, think this might be the final question...

Is it at all possible to list a ship in both the FrigateInfo section and the CapitalInfo sections? The main thing I'm concerned about is screwing up the build list, as that'd either make the mod unusable or just plain ugly with my simple intentions in mind. I probably already know the answer, but I'd still like to ask.

Thanks for the help so far.

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Nope, welcome to SOASE modding. :/