The Shadow Agency - sponsor's template (entirely SQL based)

The Shadow Agency - sponsor's template (entirely SQL based)

This mod adds fully working Sponsor/Civilization to CBE. It does not contain any fancy tricks or black magic, but should cover all the basics.

What could make this mod useful for someone is its structure. I tried to get rid off of many unecesseray things that don't work in game (well working with original CBE files/DB can cause you a headache ten times over ;p).

This mod's properties:
(contains only 3 folders - ART, SQL, XML)

1.
In ART folder there are all necessary (well, almost) DDS files.
- all are saved as DXT5 files without MIP MAPS (mip maps are completely unecessary for such kind of mods like sponsors, and take some disk space)
- there are no glow and gradient files - the game doesn't use them
- files are properly named to avoid confusion

2.
In SQL folder there are 4 files that cover all basic and necessary data for a new sponsor (Civilization.sql, Leader.sql, Texts.sql, Visuals.sql)

All SQL files have useful comments that explain what to change to create a new sponsor, and some of the files even contain reference values from original game to make our choices easier.

3.
XML folder has the only files I've found that can't be replaced by SQL equivalents (if I'm wrong here, please correct me) - and these are the files for displaying a leader scene and environments.


If you have questions about this template or you've spotted some bug or error - please share the info here immediately ;]

Even though it appears that this sponsor was made as a proof-of-concept, the concept behind the actual sponsor itself, while obviously basic and barebones, is actually quite intriguing.

I'm not a modder, so I can't say anything for the coding and stuff, but +1 for a cool sponsor idea!

A selfish request would be to have an XML set of the SQL files, but that's not a priority. Great work, thanks!

@Inawordyes

Yes, even while this mod is sort of a concept, or template, it is actual a fully playable mod as well. The leader's trait used here is that new founded cities claim an additional territory - so we could say that in this aspect, this one is just a "space version" of the Shoshone from CivV ;]


@Gorb

The reason for lack of xml files here is that there are already many mods released with sponsors that use xml only - so those can be used as reference/templates.
Though the main point of this mod is that SQL is considered by many modders as "black magic" while in fact it's far more transparent, clear and easier to work with than xml data - of course you need to learn couple of basics at first, but it will pay off later.

Artisanix thanks for your work! I created a new mod and it seems to work just fine
Only one question - what does this line in Civilization.sql mean?

'PERSONALITY_ARC' --Personality [_AFRICAN_UNION, _ARC, _BRASILIA, _FRANCO_IBERIA, _KAVITHAN, _PAN_ASIA, _POLYSTRALIA, _RUSSIA]

What is the difference between those personalities?

Thank you very much for this! Actually gives me some perspective for the civ I wanted to do. Being a noob I had no idea how to start... Thanks for the great work! Also really like the idea of the "ShadowAgency"