Guide: Creating Mods

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adherbal
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Guide: Creating Mods

Post by adherbal »

The game allows you to create your mods in a seperate folder to avoid affecting any of the original game's content. To set up a mod folder, take the following steps:

1) Download the mod folder template
2) Navigate to the <documents>\My Games\Order of Battle - Pacific\ folder
3) Create a folder called Mods
4) Extract the content of the zip file you have just downloaded into this Mods folder
5) Launch the game

Instead of going straight into the main menu the game will now deploy a Mod Launcher menu. Here you can choose to launch the original game or the mod from the TestMod folder.

Image

As a rule, any files copied from the game root folder (look for the Resources and Content folders) into the mod folder will loaded when launching a mod, replacing the original content.

NOTE: The TestMod removes all units from the game and adds a new churchill tank unit. While the original campaigns and scenarios are still displayed when running this mod, they will no longe work correctly. To test the churchill unit, open the scenario editor and add it there.

Other Mod examples:
Image
MikeAP
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by MikeAP »

Where are the sound files located?

I would like to edit sounds.
adherbal
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by adherbal »

Most of content is packed into resource files. That's the way Unity works.

I'll see if I can upload the sounds files somewhere though. But if you just want to replace or add sounds effects you can do so by copying the effects.txt to the mod folder and adjusting the sfx and audio entries in there.

For example
sfx = 37mm_01 0.7
37mm_01 is the sound filename (37mm_01.wav)
0.7 is the volume
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Arvidus
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by Arvidus »

I wanna get my hands on the graphics files.
All files seems to be compressed in .asset-files. Getting them out, you need open source modding tools for other games using a similar file-structure. But all graphics files are either .tex or .dds (directX textures) and are a major pain to convert into a modifiable format and back.

So far, it's nowhere near as moddable as many other Slitherine-games, like Panzer Corps or the Commander-series.

I hope we'll be getting some tools in the future
BiteNibbleChomp
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by BiteNibbleChomp »

RumpNissen wrote: So far, it's nowhere near as moddable as many other Slitherine-games, like Panzer Corps or the Commander-series.
No WWI for this then :( . Or Rome for that matter :cry:

- BNC
Ryan O'Shea - Developer - Strategic Command American Civil War
Erik2
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by Erik2 »

Would you please consider also adding the ability to have a mod folder inside a specific custom scenario folder?
Then the game could pick the modded file whenever that specific scenario was launched.
This would be great for changing movement rates for scenarios with different map hex-sizes.
The movement rates for Tarawa would be quite different from say Okinawa.
MikeAP
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by MikeAP »

RumpNissen wrote: So far, it's nowhere near as moddable as many other Slitherine-games, like Panzer Corps or the Commander-series.
Agree'd.
adherbal
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by adherbal »

We're looking into creating an exporter script for 3DS Max. Similar to the one available for Battle Academy. This will allow you to create and import new unit(model)s and change textures.

Unity3D works by packing all resources into asset files, so this is not something we can control. We are working on ways to make it read external resources (textures, models etc) from the mod folders though, similar to the txt data files we have now.
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TomD27
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by TomD27 »

Don't remember how where to take and but files from the original map and scenario to edit them.
Is there any way to edit units or to create new "faction".
adherbal
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by adherbal »

Is there any way to edit units or to create new "faction".
Unit data yes, its all in the the units.txt file.

Factions technically yes, in the factions.txt file. But I realised it wouldn't allow importing flags and emblems for new factions yet. Will be available in next patch tho.

Next step in modding support is completing a 3D model importer so new units can be created. Then it will be possible to do interesting mods with new factions, units and sound effects.
Image
TomD27
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by TomD27 »

adherbal wrote:
Is there any way to edit units or to create new "faction".
Unit data yes, its all in the the units.txt file.

Factions technically yes, in the factions.txt file. But I realised it wouldn't allow importing flags and emblems for new factions yet. Will be available in next patch tho.

Next step in modding support is completing a 3D model importer so new units can be created. Then it will be possible to do interesting mods with new factions, units and sound effects.
Good news.
More question:
Can I use already existing unit (and model) to create a new faction?
naturesheva
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by naturesheva »

Generally the Mod folder works perfectly.

However, once I try to change text_english.txt under Resources\Campaign\0Tutorial , it doesn't work at all.

If I overwrite this file in the game folder, it works. But if I put it into My Games\Order of Battle - Pacific\Mods\Chinese Version\Campaign\0Tutorial, and selected this mod, the changes don't show up...

Can any of you give me some suggestions to solve this issue?

Thanks.
adherbal
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by adherbal »

I'll look into that, but rather than replace english.txt what you should do is:

1) Create a Languages folder in your mod folder
2) Copy the languages.txt file from the game folder to your mod folder
3) Add a line "3 = chinese" to this file
4) Create a path Graphics\UI\Languages in your mod folder
5) Copy the two images below into that folder

Now you should have a chinese language selection flag in the main menu, and you can create chinese.txt files instead of the english.txt files.
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adherbal
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by adherbal »

To make it easier, here is an example mod:

http://the-artistocrats.com/files/Moddi ... nguage.zip
Image
naturesheva
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by naturesheva »

Thanks, adherbal !

You guys rocks!

I believe this issue can be solved very shortly. :mrgreen:
Myrddraal
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by Myrddraal »

Re-posting some useful info that was posted in Tech Support:

Guidelines on setting up the AI in custom scenarios:
adherbal wrote:In short, the AI will calculate the moves for each AI team consecutively. Once it has determined its moves for every unit in that team, these will be played back to the player. During the playback the AI will continue calculations for the next team(s).

So ideally the teams are small enough to only have a limited visible pause at the start of the AI turn, and then the time it takes to play back the first moves are enough to "mask" the thinking delay for the remaining teams so the player is presented with a more or less uninterrupted sequence of actions.

The complexity (and thus time required) of the AI calculations depends on the AI task, the number of units in a team and (often) the number of nearby enemy units.

So in general, do not throw dozens of AI units into a single AI team on "seek & destroy". This may work, but it will be very slow. Instead split the AI forces into several sections along a frontline and/or several waves, each with a different team ID.

"Defend Hex" tasks are basically inactive until the player moves units into the range defined for this task. This means maps where the AI defends can be quite fast if you split the AI defenders into several spread out groups, where only the teams which make contact with the enemy actualy have to be calculated.
Except for one minor correction: 'Defend Hex' tasks are inactive until the AI can attack units from within the range defined for the task. So long ranged artillery units on a 'Defend Hex' task will still attack units outside of the 'defensive range' specified.
bcnkor5
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by bcnkor5 »

[quote="adherbal"]The game allows you to create your mods in a seperate folder to avoid affecting any of the original game's content. To set up a mod folder, take the following steps:


I need Help: Routes for Mods Order of Battle Pacific?
viewtopic.php?f=374&t=64802&p=550314#p550314
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Erik2
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by Erik2 »

I've done the instructions in the first post, but I only get the 'continue original game' when restarting the game.
The Churchill option is not displayed.
MikeAP
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Re: Guide: Creating Mods

Post by MikeAP »

adherbal wrote: I'll see if I can upload the sounds files somewhere
Any chance this will be done? There are a few sounds I'd like to modify, just not sure how they're put together
Erik2
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AI

Post by Erik2 »

Re the AI teams.
Any chance of increasing the number of teams from 16 to 32?
I think this would help setting up a challenging AI.
Even in my custom very mini-campaign I almost ran out of AI teams.
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