A Babylon 5 Mod for the Final Frontier Mod

[Premier Valle]

Hello,

I have completed the Dilgar Tratharti Class Cruiser, its a little bit high poly (still within the 1500 poly range using non FX), it cannot be fully seen in the pictures, but this vessel features a mass driver, so it should have a ranged attack or a bonus for system capture.

• Poly Count: 1492
• Animation: FF Destroyer
• Damage/Glow/Gloss: Yes/Yes/Yes
• FX extra polys: 110

Civilopedia:

Combat (sizes are not accurate):

Damaged:

With this one completed there are only three more Dilgar vessels to do. Any thoughts about the LoNAW?

 

[PsiCorps]

Hello,

I have completed the Dilgar Tratharti Class Cruiser, its a little bit high poly (still within the 1500 poly range using non FX), it cannot be fully seen in the pictures, but this vessel features a mass driver, so it should have a ranged attack or a bonus for system capture.

• Poly Count: 1492
• Animation: FF Destroyer
• Damage/Glow/Gloss: Yes/Yes/Yes
• FX extra polys: 110

Civilopedia:

Combat (sizes are not accurate):

Damaged:

With this one completed there are only three more Dilgar vessels to do. Any thoughts about the LoNAW?

Another excellent vessel emerges from the Premier shipyard.

I liked all of what I read on the pages you supplied, should have posted earlier but my new job is only really leaving me weekends to do anything at all.

One thing I do know though. We definitley need someone on board this mod that is good at merging. I've tried 3 or 4 times to merge it with the latest version of Final Frontier Plus and I get error messages every time. Even trying to do it a little bit at a time, eg replacing the techs with the B5 ones or replacing the Civs with the B5 ones results in failure even though I am only changing small bits.

Any volunteers to come aboard Babylon 5 and help with this?

 

[Premier Valle]

Hello,

I liked all of what I read on the pages you supplied, should have posted earlier but my new job is only really leaving me weekends to do anything at all.

Tell me about it!

One thing I do know though. We definitley need someone on board this mod that is good at merging. I've tried 3 or 4 times to merge it with the latest version of Final Frontier Plus and I get error messages every time. Even trying to do it a little bit at a time, eg replacing the techs with the B5 ones or replacing the Civs with the B5 ones results in failure even though I am only changing small bits.

mmmh... I haven´t looked too much (more like almost nothing) into FF+,... but from what I understand, we need nothing of FF+ xml, so merge should only happen in python files, and the SDK stuff (DLL) should just be replaced with the newer versions... am I right?

 

[PsiCorps]

from what I understand, we need nothing of FF+ xml, so merge should only happen in python files, and the SDK stuff (DLL) should just be replaced with the newer versions... am I right?

Yes and no. There are a few additions to FF+ that add tags into the xml. These I can figure out.

There is the Jump Point/Jump Gate Python that needs to be taken into account. I have no idea how the changes in Python (if any) within FF+ may affect this part of the B5 mod.

As for the SDK I don't believe we have any changes to the SDK within the B5 mod so again, this shouldn't be an issue.

 

[PsiCorps]

So, I'm thinking there is no one interested in helping out with a merge of B5 with FF+.

I can do all of the XML stuff but adding in the Jump gate stuff will be the problem. I am therefore going to try an XML only merge and see how it goes.

 

[God-Emperor]

You should be aware that the newly BUGified version of FF+ is a little more complex to adjust.

BUG adds a few dependencies in various locations, where things from the regular XML files are mentioned in other files, such as the configuration files (in Assets\Config) where things like unit-combat names (in FFP these are things like light, squadron, and capital ship) and era names appear in a couple of XML files (the unit combats are in "Unit Naming.xml" and the era names are in "Not Just Another Game Clock.xml"). The trait names appear in Python\BUG\TraitUtil.py. There may be a few more new files that have references to things like this, but that is all that is coming to mind at the moment.

 

[PsiCorps]

So a simple XML merge is out then, it will require someone with a lot more skill than I have?

 

[God-Emperor]

Not necessarily. The configuration files are XML.

The one Python file I mentioned is not really much in the way of programming - it isn't changing any logic or anything like that, it is just changing a pretty obvious set of things to use your trait names instead of the ones it is currently using (all in one sequential chunk of the file). Here, this is the relevant part and what it currently looks like:

	addTrait("NEW_EARTH", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.MAP_CHAR), ",Art/Interface/Buttons/Units/Transport.dds,Art/Interface/Buttons/FinalFrontier2_Atlas.dds,5,2")
	addTrait("BROTHERHOOD", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.RELIGION_CHAR), ",Art/Interface/Buttons/Units/Transport.dds,Art/Interface/Buttons/FinalFrontier2_Atlas.dds,4,2")
	addTrait("AVOWERS", gc.getCommerceInfo(CommerceTypes.COMMERCE_RESEARCH).getChar(), ",Art/Interface/Buttons/Units/Transport.dds,Art/Interface/Buttons/FinalFrontier2_Atlas.dds,1,2")
	addTrait("THE_FORGE", gc.getYieldInfo(YieldTypes.YIELD_PRODUCTION).getChar(), ",Art/Interface/Buttons/Units/Transport.dds,Art/Interface/Buttons/FinalFrontier2_Atlas.dds,8,2")
	addTrait("PARADISE", gc.getCommerceInfo(CommerceTypes.COMMERCE_CULTURE).getChar(), ",Art/Interface/Buttons/Units/Transport.dds,Art/Interface/Buttons/FinalFrontier2_Atlas.dds,7,2")
	addTrait("HALIS", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.HAPPY_CHAR), ",Art/Interface/Buttons/Units/Transport.dds,Art/Interface/Buttons/FinalFrontier2_Atlas.dds,3,2")
	addTrait("SYNDICATE", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.TRADE_CHAR), ",Art/Interface/Buttons/Units/Transport.dds,Art/Interface/Buttons/FinalFrontier2_Atlas.dds,6,2")
	addTrait("ASTROTECH", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.STRENGTH_CHAR), ",Art/Interface/Buttons/Units/Transport.dds,Art/Interface/Buttons/FinalFrontier2_Atlas.dds,2,2")
	addTrait("AGGRESSIVE", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.STRENGTH_CHAR), "Art/Interface/Buttons/Promotions/Combat1.dds")
	addTrait("CHARISMATIC", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.HAPPY_CHAR), "Art/Interface/Buttons/TechTree/MassMedia.dds")
	addTrait("CREATIVE", gc.getCommerceInfo(CommerceTypes.COMMERCE_CULTURE).getChar(), "Art/Interface/Buttons/TechTree/Music.dds")
	addTrait("EXPANSIVE", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.HEALTHY_CHAR), "Art/Interface/Buttons/Actions/Heal.dds")
	addTrait("FINANCIAL", gc.getCommerceInfo(CommerceTypes.COMMERCE_GOLD).getChar(), "Art/Interface/Buttons/TechTree/Banking.dds")
	addTrait("IMPERIALIST", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.OCCUPATION_CHAR), "Art/Interface/Buttons/Actions/FoundCity.dds")
	addTrait("INDUSTRIOUS", gc.getYieldInfo(YieldTypes.YIELD_PRODUCTION).getChar(), "Art/Interface/Buttons/TechTree/Industrialism.dds")
	addTrait("ORGANIZED", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.TRADE_CHAR), "Art/Interface/Buttons/Buildings/Courthouse.dds")
	addTrait("PHILOSOPHICAL", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.GREAT_PEOPLE_CHAR), "Art/Interface/Buttons/TechTree/Philosophy.dds")
	addTrait("PROTECTIVE", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.DEFENSE_CHAR), "Art/Interface/Buttons/Promotions/CityGarrison1.dds")
	addTrait("SPIRITUAL", game.getSymbolID(FontSymbols.RELIGION_CHAR), "Art/Interface/Buttons/TechTree/Meditation.dds")

As you can see, it isn't very complicated to change. In fact, you don't actually have to change any of the easting stuff in there, just add any traits you have that are not on the list. Including traits that don't exist doesn't seem to be a problem (since FFP works and as shown above it includes all the regular BtS traits in this file even though they are not defined in the XML), so you don't have to get rid of what is already there if you don't want to, just add any new traits.

As long as I'm talking about that file... The two things after the trait name in the addTrait function call are a symbol from the gamefont file (with a few different ways of selecting them) which ends up being shown next to the trait name in the 'pedia trait list (and maybe someplace else, I don't remember any though) and an icon that is also shown in the 'pedia screen for the trait and maybe on the initial "this is your leader" Dawn of Man screen (and maybe another place or two, I'm not sure). You can either provide your own new stuff or just go with something that is in some way representative (I just picked things that seem somewhat appropriate for the icon from the gamefont, and FF already had buttons with the civilization flags and the trait names match the civ names so I just used the matching flag using the "get it from an Atlas" leading comma type syntax with a dummy file for the first item before the atlas specification).

It isn't a lot more stuff to mess with, but it is a little more.

 

[Premier Valle]

Hello everyone!,

I just finished a longly awaited ship,... the Dilgar Sekhmet, I believe no more introduction than that is required.

• Poly Count: 1399
• Animation: B5_Custom_FF_Maximus
• Damage/Glow/Gloss: Yes/Yes/Yes
• FX extra polys: 8

Civilopedia:

Combat:

Damaged:

The model and skin were ready last week but RL prevented me to get it into the game. Also, this vessel features a gravitic drive engine, so only the small engines provide newtonian thrust. I figured out that since this is one of the first Dilgar vessels to use gravitic drives it should be something more like a Centauri ship than a Minbari one (talking about the engine thrusth animations).

I can do all of the XML stuff but adding in the Jump gate stuff will be the problem.

I can handle the jump gate code, after all, I wrote that one .

 

[PsiCorps]

Hello everyone!,

I just finished a longly awaited ship,... the Dilgar Sekhmet, I believe no more introduction than that is required.

• Poly Count: 1399
• Animation: B5_Custom_FF_Maximus
• Damage/Glow/Gloss: Yes/Yes/Yes
• FX extra polys: 8

Civilopedia:

Combat:

Damaged:

The model and skin were ready last week but RL prevented me to get it into the game. Also, this vessel features a gravitic drive engine, so only the small engines provide newtonian thrust. I figured out that since this is one of the first Dilgar vessels to use gravitic drives it should be something more like a Centauri ship than a Minbari one (talking about the engine thrusth animations).


I can handle the jump gate code, after all, I wrote that one .

I'm adding this wonderful unit to the mod now. After reading all of the previous notes/responses to the merging of the two mods I'm going to start work on this after I've ensured the Sekhmet is in and there are no problems with it. Once that is 'Successfully' done i'll pass it over to you Premier for addition of the jump gate code.

 

[Premier Valle]

Hello everyone,

A lot of work in RL + I´m a little bit ill, but at last here is the Dilgar Advanced Fighter... have we chosen a name for it?

• Poly Count: 924
• Animation: FF Fighter
• Damage/Glow/Gloss: No/No/Yes

Civilopedia:

In-Flight:

 

[PsiCorps]

Hello everyone,

A lot of work in RL + I´m a little bit ill, but at last here is the Dilgar Advanced Fighter... have we chosen a name for it?

• Poly Count: 924
• Animation: FF Fighter
• Damage/Glow/Gloss: No/No/Yes

Civilopedia:

In-Flight:

Yes we chose Thorushka as the designation for this ship.

 

[tesb]

i would love to see some of the best ships packed together and put in final frontier plus as an unique alien race. i can dream can't i ?

 

[Greeneyedzombie]

That dilgar battleship looks great!
Can't wait for the next version of this mod to play.

 

[PsiCorps]

i would love to see some of the best ships packed together and put in final frontier plus as an unique alien race. i can dream can't i ?

There's nothing to stop you designing a Civ of your own that uses the Models put together by Premier.

Can't wait for the next version of this mod to play.

I'm getting nowhere very slowly with merging this Mod with FF+ and I'm not trying to rush things. I'm not going to give up on it though, sooner or later I will figure out what is not working and fix it.
I played a game of over 600 turns the other day so the game seems stable enough, although that was with the Dilgar and every other race I've tried playing has a crash sometime between turn 40 and turn 50.

 

[PsiCorps]

First of all the good news. I think I've managed to merge FF+ and B5 fairly successfully.

Now the bad news. There are a few error messages which need to be resolved before I can upload a new version.

I am going to take screen shots of the error messages next time I boot the mod up and i'll be requesting help from TC01 and God Emperor in trying to resolve them.

 

[Ajidica]

"And there was much rejoicing!"
Perhaps this will inspire me to get back to work on my mod before the final version of Fourth Age:Total War comes out.

 

[PsiCorps]

I've dealt with a few of the problems, am hoping there is only one problem left to resolve before I am able to release a new version.

 

[Devine]

I just downloaded the Babylon 5 mod, unzipped it, and placed it in my Civ4/BTS/Mod folder under babylon 5. The mod loads, however at about turn 25-40, Civ 4 crashes. I am not an experienced modder so I am not that technically savvy with the terminology. I looked through this thread hoping to find a solution, but didn't see one that fits. I am running the latest BTS update 3.19, I have final frontier. My computer runs windows 7. Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated. I am a huge babylon 5 and civilization fan and would love the opportunity to play both at the same time!! Thanks!

 

[PsiCorps]

Have you tried reloading the autosaved game?

One of the things I have found that works is to reload the last autosaved game and then play again. If it crashes again try and make sure you know what the turn was it crashed on. Reload as above and then on the turn before the crash happens open up the world builder, scroll around the map, close the world builder and then end the turn again. This will generally get you passed the problem. It has worked for me a number of times on both the version you are playing and the version I am currently working on. Let me know how it goes.