Graphics set defaults to Gaian's with custom faction

In the past, I always made a custom faction for this game using the Firaxian faction. I simply edit the txt for the "brian" faction with my faction, add the faction using facedit, and then it plays great in the game. I started doing this after messing around with trying to make my own faction from scratch and finding that it is a pain and doesn't work well.

I just installed the game for the first time in a while, edited the "brian" txt file, and added it using the facedit, and now I am finding that when I start a game the graphics set used for my faction is the Gaian's graphics set. I look like Lady Deirdre and my city looks like a Gaian city. I can't figure out why the Firaxian graphics set isn't working. I even added the "sid" faction, which I didn't edit, and that faction has the same problem. If I click on "graphic set" in the facedit, it doesn't list the "Firaxians" or "sid" or "brian."

I'm guessing it only affects the graphics, but it is a huge pain to look exactly like another faction. Does anyone know what is going wrong here?

I am using a version of the game from Gog.com, if that matters.

Whenever you see Lady Dierdre instead of a mod'd Faction it means you probably did something wrong. Can you post your edited files here, along with the alphax.txt you are using? I can see about looking into this for you.

D

Lessee - you're almost certainly getting the default.pcx's displaying, which are identical to Gaian, because facedit messed up the faction filename line. facedit is of the devil.

The top of the Believers faction .txt, believe.txt, looks like this:

;
; Sid Meier's ALPHA CENTAURI
;
; FACTION FILE: The Lord's onclave
;
; Copyright (c) 1997, 1998 by Firaxis Games, Inc.
;
; ALPHA CENTAURI reads the rules of the game from this file at
; startup. Feel free, at your own risk, to experiment with editing
; this file. We recommend you make a backup copy of the original.
;

#BELIEVE
The Lord's Conclave, The Abbess, Conclave, M, 1, O'Connor, F, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1,

Click to expand...

"#BELIEVE" is the key - the .txt is named believe.txt, the art files believe.pcx, believe2.pcx and believe3.pcx - obviously, it's not case sensitive, but the line in the faction .txt tells the game what to look for. they all have match -up to the digit- exactly, and with the line in alpha(x).txt and believe.txt. Since the Chose Faction screen in the game isn't locking up on you, the filename for the .txt obviously is consistent with the alphax.txt line, but not with the # line in the .txt, so it's probably used "firaxians" instead of "brian" or something was misspelled - if so, the game uses default art that looks exactly like Gaian; default.pcx, etc.

Here's the section to look for in alphax.txt (almost at the bottom):

; First item is file name, second item is search key.
; These should always be the same except for debugging purposes.
;
#FACTIONS
GAIANS, GAIANS
HIVE, HIVE
UNIV, UNIV
MORGAN, MORGAN
SPARTANS, SPARTANS
BELIEVE, BELIEVE
PEACE, PEACE

;
; First item is file name, second item is search key.
; These should always be the same except for debugging purposes.
;
#NEWFACTIONS
CYBORG, CYBORG
PIRATES, PIRATES
DRONE, DRONE
ANGELS, ANGELS
FUNGBOY, FUNGBOY
CARETAKE, CARETAKE
USURPER, USURPER

;
; These are factions you want included in the startup list.
; These may also be chosen when a random faction is selected.
; First item is file name, second item is search key.
; These should always be the same except for debugging purposes.
;
#CUSTOMFACTIONS

Click to expand...

I believe the firaxians go under #CUSTOMFACTIONS (unless you want to just replace one of the 14), and the next line should read "BRIAN, BRIAN"



Let us know if this works - do ask more questions and post those .txt files if it doesn't.

Thanks for the help, guys, it helped me work through it.

I'm not sure exactly what went wrong, but I understand how it all works a lot better because of your explanation. I ultimately was able to get it to work by uninstalling, reinstalling, and doing it all over again without using Facedit. I think that back in the day I might not have used Facedit; this time round I was convinced for some reason that I needed to use Facedit to add the faction to the game. Now that I see I don't need it, I wonder if there is a situation when there is a point to using Facedit.

My theory now is the Facedit screwed it up somehow.

Your theory is almost certainly entirely correct. Darsnan told me not to touch the nasty, buggy, thing a very long time ago and all the faction modders of very much experience say the same thing. I've seen for myself that installing a faction with direct editing of the relevant .txts is not one of life's great mysteries, or I couldn't have explained it. Notepad is your friend; facedit is not.

Yeah, typing "brian, brian" on the appropriate line was hardly tasking. I find it pretty easy to just edit the faction .txt to my liking as well. For some reason I was thinking that facedit was necessary to add the faction.

I guess manually modding the bonuses the faction gets would be enigmatic if it weren't for the great wiki page that always pops up first thing when you google "alpha centuari edit faction." But with that thing guiding you, it is incredibly easy.

I feel bad for the people who made it when I say this, but facedit was a huge mistake!

slaughterfish said:

Yeah, typing "brian, brian" on the appropriate line was hardly tasking. I find it pretty easy to just edit the faction .txt to my liking as well.

Click to expand...

So what are you doing with the Brian Faction? Also, how did you end up editing it in regards to its factional bonuses? As I recall they were overpowered (been years since I looked at the two "Easter Egg" Factions included in the game).


D