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Magister Modmod
- Thread starter MagisterCultuum
- Start date
you can get 
Ahwaric
Shrubbery-hugger
Magister, the city/building raze mod works fine in my modmod (and I am quite sure it will work in vanilla FfH too). The tricky part was to find that you need both open city screen and press ctrl+x, not ctrl+d like in the first version.
It took me a rather long while to find this info in the readme
Edit:
One more thing, I have noticed in CIV4PromotionInfos.xml of your modmod that Dimensional 2 promotion requires channeling 1. So, it is possible to get this promotion with an adept. Also, it requires dimensional mana, even if you have already dimensional 1. Probably leftover from copy and paste
It took me a rather long while to find this info in the readme
Edit:
One more thing, I have noticed in CIV4PromotionInfos.xml of your modmod that Dimensional 2 promotion requires channeling 1. So, it is possible to get this promotion with an adept. Also, it requires dimensional mana, even if you have already dimensional 1. Probably leftover from copy and paste
MagisterCultuum
Great Sage
ctrl+x? Oh. Maybe I should try again then.
Edit: Ok, I guess it does work.
On your edit: yeah, I found and fixed that just after I released it, but didn't think it was important enough to start all over. I'm starting over from scratch for my next one anyway (based on whatever the most recent patch is when I finally have time to work on it), so such errors will not carry over. It will also have Dimensional III too , with a sorcery spell that summons an airdropping transport unit, "Tesseract," and some sort of passive bonus for summons (probably a free promotion that grants dimensional affinity to all summons, but possibly a duration boost). I'm also adding full Ice and Metamagic spheres.
Edit: Ok, I guess it does work.
On your edit: yeah, I found and fixed that just after I released it, but didn't think it was important enough to start all over. I'm starting over from scratch for my next one anyway (based on whatever the most recent patch is when I finally have time to work on it), so such errors will not carry over. It will also have Dimensional III too , with a sorcery spell that summons an airdropping transport unit, "Tesseract," and some sort of passive bonus for summons (probably a free promotion that grants dimensional affinity to all summons, but possibly a duration boost). I'm also adding full Ice and Metamagic spheres.
xienwolf
Deity
Well, I bet this will be too long for a PM, so at the risk of threadjacking for a while I am going to let you know how I added units to my modules since you have mentioned having problems doing so in other posts.
First off, you really need to get inside that PAK. So go here and crack that baby open.
Main reason you need inside the PAK is to find the precise nesting structure that is being referenced, otherwise you are horked from the begining. You'll want to open up the PAK for FfH, and also the 4 PAKs for Vanilla (lots of things will refer all the way back to this). I personally keep the 4 from vanilla packaged together and the FfH ones seperate, but you can easily place them all in the same spot, that is how the game sees it anyway.
Now, unless you are willing to just use the graphics that someone else has made, completely as they are, you will want to toy with things. So go and get this program for skinning as well as this program for fiddling with the model itself.
DDS is what all the graphics are in. So congratulations you can make buttons now too. Nifty side bonus eh?
Nifskope takes some getting used to, but there is actually a LOT you can do with it. Look at my new graphics for the Midas Flies for instance. I actually have little things buzzing around, and if you get them in a battle with another set of Midas Flies it really does look like a swarm of flies. All of that was through Nifskope really. The re-color that I did in the DDS doesn't even show up since it is so tiny.
One last file you might want for the debugging when things utterly fail is this one here. Thus far I have used it twice and each time it revealed that there wasn't a problem on that end, but saved me a couple hours of worrying if it was.
Now, getting a model to actually work.
The important bits are the .NIF (this is the model) and the .KFM (This calls the actions, the actions themselves are just .KF). Ideally the NIF and KFM will have the same name and be in the same folder. But that would require that the animation be specifically for that model. Most of the models people make are done without unique animations because either they don't have the files to create them or because there was already an animation that did the job well enough.
You have to set up the XML in the Assets/XML/Art/CIV4ArtDefines_Unit file to call the correct files. In general there will be both a *.NIF and a *_fx.NIF. The first is called as the <NIF> and the second is called as the <SHADERNIF>. If there is not a _fx.NIF, then you want to call the same file in both lines. Supposedly some models freak out big time if you don't do this redundant call, but I have seen numerous models work without a SHADERNIF line in the XML at all.
As long as the unit has been made, tweaked, and skinned to your liking by someone else, all you have to do is the XML part. So the only one of the files I had you download that is needed is possibly the unPAKer. If they didn't create their own KFM, or include the one they are working off of, then they should have told you what unit to use. You can either browse through the un-PAKed files for the unit pathway yourself, or go to the Vanilla XML and get the filestructure from their XML.
Also, another small thing that I am quite sure you are aware of, but many other people on the forum might read this and try it out so I want to mention, is that if you are grabbing files from another mod, you have to include it in a folder in the mod you are wanting them to appear in. Only Vanilla files and the Mod you load will be loaded up. So for instance if I want to use a unit from Age of Ice, I have to move the folder with the KFM and NIF into my mod that I am playing with, and it has to be somewhere inside the Assets folder (where precisely doesn't matter since you will tell the XML where to look). If you want to have the unit show up in the Civlopedia you will need to make sure that the .KFM has a .NIF by the same name in the folder with it (even if you don't use that NIF).
Now, if you want to modify the model it becomes more tricky. First rule is simple: RENAME NOTHING! The KFM file calls all of the .KF files, so if you rename those files, or move them out of the directory that the KFM is in, then you hork things up again. Now, with the KFM Konverter you can open this up and rename/redirect things, so THEN it is safe to rename bits and pieces, but I haven't actually tried this yet so cannot vouch for the safety of doing so. Main use for the Konverter should be if there are animations from multiple models which you want to make use of (I want the Warriors Attack 1, but I want the Swordsman's Attack 2 and the Chariot's Death...).
Now, the NIF contains a model and a skeleton, but they are completely colorless. The color (skin) is in the DDS files. That is what the DDS editor is for. I own photoshop and use that for my work, so I can't tell you much about the capabilities of that particular DDS editor sadly.
Been mostly just writing as I review the process in my head, but that should cover everything. I personally HIGHLY advise you use Modular Loading to test graphics. Then you have a single folder to run everything in and you will be able to easily isolate any glitches while you work out the filestructure and XML. All you will need is the UnitInfos to declare a new test unit (I call them SS in the description to make it easy to find in the Civlopedia), the UnitClassInfos since you are making a new unit, and the CIV4ArtDefines_Unit, which is where you will point it at the required NIF & KFM files (Plus the Schema file for each of them of course).
First off, you really need to get inside that PAK. So go here and crack that baby open.
Main reason you need inside the PAK is to find the precise nesting structure that is being referenced, otherwise you are horked from the begining. You'll want to open up the PAK for FfH, and also the 4 PAKs for Vanilla (lots of things will refer all the way back to this). I personally keep the 4 from vanilla packaged together and the FfH ones seperate, but you can easily place them all in the same spot, that is how the game sees it anyway.
Now, unless you are willing to just use the graphics that someone else has made, completely as they are, you will want to toy with things. So go and get this program for skinning as well as this program for fiddling with the model itself.
DDS is what all the graphics are in. So congratulations you can make buttons now too. Nifty side bonus eh?
Nifskope takes some getting used to, but there is actually a LOT you can do with it. Look at my new graphics for the Midas Flies for instance. I actually have little things buzzing around, and if you get them in a battle with another set of Midas Flies it really does look like a swarm of flies. All of that was through Nifskope really. The re-color that I did in the DDS doesn't even show up since it is so tiny.
One last file you might want for the debugging when things utterly fail is this one here. Thus far I have used it twice and each time it revealed that there wasn't a problem on that end, but saved me a couple hours of worrying if it was.
Now, getting a model to actually work.
The important bits are the .NIF (this is the model) and the .KFM (This calls the actions, the actions themselves are just .KF). Ideally the NIF and KFM will have the same name and be in the same folder. But that would require that the animation be specifically for that model. Most of the models people make are done without unique animations because either they don't have the files to create them or because there was already an animation that did the job well enough.
You have to set up the XML in the Assets/XML/Art/CIV4ArtDefines_Unit file to call the correct files. In general there will be both a *.NIF and a *_fx.NIF. The first is called as the <NIF> and the second is called as the <SHADERNIF>. If there is not a _fx.NIF, then you want to call the same file in both lines. Supposedly some models freak out big time if you don't do this redundant call, but I have seen numerous models work without a SHADERNIF line in the XML at all.
As long as the unit has been made, tweaked, and skinned to your liking by someone else, all you have to do is the XML part. So the only one of the files I had you download that is needed is possibly the unPAKer. If they didn't create their own KFM, or include the one they are working off of, then they should have told you what unit to use. You can either browse through the un-PAKed files for the unit pathway yourself, or go to the Vanilla XML and get the filestructure from their XML.
Also, another small thing that I am quite sure you are aware of, but many other people on the forum might read this and try it out so I want to mention, is that if you are grabbing files from another mod, you have to include it in a folder in the mod you are wanting them to appear in. Only Vanilla files and the Mod you load will be loaded up. So for instance if I want to use a unit from Age of Ice, I have to move the folder with the KFM and NIF into my mod that I am playing with, and it has to be somewhere inside the Assets folder (where precisely doesn't matter since you will tell the XML where to look). If you want to have the unit show up in the Civlopedia you will need to make sure that the .KFM has a .NIF by the same name in the folder with it (even if you don't use that NIF).
Now, if you want to modify the model it becomes more tricky. First rule is simple: RENAME NOTHING! The KFM file calls all of the .KF files, so if you rename those files, or move them out of the directory that the KFM is in, then you hork things up again. Now, with the KFM Konverter you can open this up and rename/redirect things, so THEN it is safe to rename bits and pieces, but I haven't actually tried this yet so cannot vouch for the safety of doing so. Main use for the Konverter should be if there are animations from multiple models which you want to make use of (I want the Warriors Attack 1, but I want the Swordsman's Attack 2 and the Chariot's Death...).
Now, the NIF contains a model and a skeleton, but they are completely colorless. The color (skin) is in the DDS files. That is what the DDS editor is for. I own photoshop and use that for my work, so I can't tell you much about the capabilities of that particular DDS editor sadly.
Been mostly just writing as I review the process in my head, but that should cover everything. I personally HIGHLY advise you use Modular Loading to test graphics. Then you have a single folder to run everything in and you will be able to easily isolate any glitches while you work out the filestructure and XML. All you will need is the UnitInfos to declare a new test unit (I call them SS in the description to make it easy to find in the Civlopedia), the UnitClassInfos since you are making a new unit, and the CIV4ArtDefines_Unit, which is where you will point it at the required NIF & KFM files (Plus the Schema file for each of them of course).
MagisterCultuum
Great Sage
Well, I certainly don't intend to deal with the PAK for my next version. I'm really too busy to work on it as it is. Are you trying to delay my mod until Ice? 
Eventually it would be good to know though.
Edit: I did decide to go ahead and unpack the Pak just to glance at it. It looks like it already includes the Iceball effects that Drifa used. (I'm thinking that I'll probably have to change the breath fire spell that dragons use if I add the ice dragon.) I also found that Parrots and Ravens are still in the Pak. Also, the names of animal graphics files (like lioness and Hyena) do not often match their contents.
Eventually it would be good to know though.
Edit: I did decide to go ahead and unpack the Pak just to glance at it. It looks like it already includes the Iceball effects that Drifa used. (I'm thinking that I'll probably have to change the breath fire spell that dragons use if I add the ice dragon.) I also found that Parrots and Ravens are still in the Pak. Also, the names of animal graphics files (like lioness and Hyena) do not often match their contents.
Ahwaric
Shrubbery-hugger
ctrl+x? Oh. Maybe I should try again then.
It will also have Dimensional III too , with a sorcery spell that summons an airdropping transport unit, "Tesseract," and some sort of passive bonus for summons (probably a free promotion that grants dimensional affinity to all summons, but possibly a duration boost). I'm also adding full Ice and Metamagic spheres.
I know, and waiting for it
I have already stolen Dimensional 2 for my modmod...I wanted to do this spells too, but as I am not so good with python I decided to focus on other things (like activating Great General in Ffh
MagisterCultuum
Great Sage
Actually, both dimensional spells are purely xml
Something I noticed playing against Alexis. Some time through the game, Alexis was defeated. I went into worldbuilder, as I thought no-one had that amount of power yet, and I found nothing at all on their little island. I think they may have got their first vampire and just continuously consumed pop. points... Also, I loaded a game, came into an alliance with Capria, and she had a Lich... She had no Archmages, no Death Mana, and I don't think she killed Barbatos.
MagisterCultuum
Great Sage
Hmm..it seems I forgot to add the code requiring a minimum size for cities to be feasted upon in the first version, although I did make it so that cities are razed when they would have their population reach 0 so a city never has a negative population. I fixed this just after the release. In later (unreleased because of major graphics bugs) versions they can only feed if the city either has a population of at least 5 or is in revolt (useful when you wan't to raze a captured city, but not until eating all the citizens). I guess the released version might cause the Calabim to kill themselves off for no good reason. Where there city ruins left in the cities' place?
Vampires also have a chance of getting the famished promotion if not accompanied by Bloodpets out of borders and not fed. This can be removed by feeding, but otherwise give it a chance ot turn barbarian. It is possible that the Calabim let one of their vamps starve, then he went crazy, turned on them, and wiped them out. This does seem unlikely though, since their (defensive) strength and movement are reduced by the promotion as well.
Was Barbatos at least in the game at some point? You don't have to have been the one to kill him, but Lichdom does require either the staff of souls (Barbatos's equipment) or the broken sepulcher (the place he spawns). It can be cast by any arcane unit with channeling 2 (at least mages or conjurers, not necessarily Archmages) or by Vampire Lords (which I doubt the Bannor ever had). Not sure what is going on here.
Vampires also have a chance of getting the famished promotion if not accompanied by Bloodpets out of borders and not fed. This can be removed by feeding, but otherwise give it a chance ot turn barbarian. It is possible that the Calabim let one of their vamps starve, then he went crazy, turned on them, and wiped them out. This does seem unlikely though, since their (defensive) strength and movement are reduced by the promotion as well.
Was Barbatos at least in the game at some point? You don't have to have been the one to kill him, but Lichdom does require either the staff of souls (Barbatos's equipment) or the broken sepulcher (the place he spawns). It can be cast by any arcane unit with channeling 2 (at least mages or conjurers, not necessarily Archmages) or by Vampire Lords (which I doubt the Bannor ever had). Not sure what is going on here.
Yeah, and I don't think the Vampire went berserk, as there was litterally no-one on the island. And there were ruins in their place. The Bannor, at this time, didn't have any units with Channeling 2, to my knowledge, although I could be wrong... I'll be able to check tommorow and get back to you on that.
MagisterCultuum
Great Sage
Are you sure it doesn't have channeling1? Normally that wouldn't show up if covered by channeling2.
If it was a vicarius, it sounds like it isn't checking the python prereq for some reason.
If it was a vicarius, it sounds like it isn't checking the python prereq for some reason.
No, I checked in WB. And priests don't start with channeling1 anyway. I'm guessing its a vicarius though, as they are Empyrean, and it has Spirit Guide as a promotion, although I could be wrong. The Bannor used to have the Order as their religeon, but I 'persuaded' them to change it. So, it could be an order priest lichified.
MagisterCultuum
Great Sage
You should be able to tell by what spell spheres it has, shouldn't you?
MagisterCultuum
Great Sage
Normally Confessors would have those promotions and Vicars would not, but not so in my modmod. Sun and Law spheres would be a better determinate. I believe I removed Spirit from Confessors, so it probably was a vicar(ius)
Rex rgis of Ter
Me I'm a Creator
Well, luckily for you Frostlings will be added in the next patch, so less work for you
MagisterCultuum
Great Sage
Yeah, I noticed. Kael said that he will probably add all of the units I was wanting to borrow from AoI himself, but not soon enough for me to use most of them in the next verion. I may try to borrow straight from AoI again, being very careful this time. I'll probably test it before the next patch, so I'd be starting over anyway if I break anything. I'm still to busy to work on it now though (I probably shouldn't be taking the time to read/respond to this)
xienwolf
Deity
Mammoths: Uses the same main art folder as the Mammoth Riders, I just included all that because it was quicker for me than weeding out what wasn't needed and mentioning how you need to call it.
Mammoth Rider: To change between Illians, Doviello & Amurites, just change the name of the Civ which it is calling in the NIF line.
Disciples of the Hand: Nifty looking fellow. If you want him re-painted to get rid of the Civ specific marks I suppose I could do that sometime as well.
Drifa the White Dragon: I included my entire UnitArt testing module in with Drifa. It should be pretty obvious looking at this and the others how I test artwork out, maybe it'll work for you to do units for yourself in the future. Initial setup/troubleshooting is the perfect field for Modular XML in my opinion. All you have to do is load the files needed for the new artwork into the Unit folder, then redefine the NIF and KFM targets to what is needed, then you can load the game and see if it works for you. (and if there was already XML declarations for the units you can just have them tell you what to put in for Shadow, Scale and KFM/NIF selection)
If you need the others later just let me know.
Mammoth Rider: To change between Illians, Doviello & Amurites, just change the name of the Civ which it is calling in the NIF line.
Disciples of the Hand: Nifty looking fellow. If you want him re-painted to get rid of the Civ specific marks I suppose I could do that sometime as well.
Drifa the White Dragon: I included my entire UnitArt testing module in with Drifa. It should be pretty obvious looking at this and the others how I test artwork out, maybe it'll work for you to do units for yourself in the future. Initial setup/troubleshooting is the perfect field for Modular XML in my opinion. All you have to do is load the files needed for the new artwork into the Unit folder, then redefine the NIF and KFM targets to what is needed, then you can load the game and see if it works for you. (and if there was already XML declarations for the units you can just have them tell you what to put in for Shadow, Scale and KFM/NIF selection)
If you need the others later just let me know.
MagisterCultuum
Great Sage
Cool, but I think the biggest problem was probably making sure the paths and names are all correct, which I'm not sure that these folders have. It seems you are doing it modularly, which I have never tried. Also, is there a reason you used "pray" for all the buttons? Does the dragon have all the files it needs to have its normal icebreath when it attacks?
Assuming that the civ specific markings on the Disciple of the Hand are Illian, I see no reason to remove them. I intend to use the Disciple of the Hand graphics for the remaining disciple of Mulcarn, who would be Illian UUs . Of course, if you feel like making some modifications to distinguish between different level, that could be nice. I at least intend to add one priest (with Ice I, Divine, Sorcery, Summoning, channeling 1 and 2, and the ability to be sacrificed to contruct Temples of the Hand, an Illian Pagan Temple UB) and one Inquisitor UU (like a normal Inquisitor but with Ice Affinity, would have the ability to cast all ice spells) as its upgrade. A high priest seem a little less necessary when your God is in human form and gives you orders directly, and since I'm not implementing the Hand as a religion you can spread first level disciples have little purpose.
Assuming that the civ specific markings on the Disciple of the Hand are Illian, I see no reason to remove them. I intend to use the Disciple of the Hand graphics for the remaining disciple of Mulcarn, who would be Illian UUs . Of course, if you feel like making some modifications to distinguish between different level, that could be nice. I at least intend to add one priest (with Ice I, Divine, Sorcery, Summoning, channeling 1 and 2, and the ability to be sacrificed to contruct Temples of the Hand, an Illian Pagan Temple UB) and one Inquisitor UU (like a normal Inquisitor but with Ice Affinity, would have the ability to cast all ice spells) as its upgrade. A high priest seem a little less necessary when your God is in human form and gives you orders directly, and since I'm not implementing the Hand as a religion you can spread first level disciples have little purpose.
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