Modding Resources?

[vampiremouse]

I've been looking through the various tutorials for my project and most of them have to do with adding new leaders or civs...I want to start by playing with resources. I'm not sure how much a begining modder can do but I want to do as much as I can before the advanced programing language comes in.

Priority one create new resources that have a resonable chance to show up on a map or are placeable.

I've been browsing around the terrain files and I guess resources are called "Bonuses" to the software. I have the basic idea of copy and replace files with edited ones and copy an existing entry and modify it down from looking at other tutorial stuff...what I need now is a layout of all the associations for creating a single new" "bonus", giving it a graphic file, making the software add it to maps, and getting it to work with the program. This can't be that different from making a new civ or leaderhead...right?


I'd also like to know how hard it will be to modify the tech tree to have some of these reasources accessible once you have different techs then in the main game.

Thanks.


Thanks

 

[The_J]

When i understand you right, you want to know, where to look.

The Bonus:
Terrain\Civ4BonusInfos.xml: Here is the bonus defined, on which terrain, the stats for it, which tech you need, etc.
ArtDefines\Civ4ArtDefines_Bonus.xml: Here are the graphics for the bonus linked. You have to name of the bonus-artdefines like the art-defines entry in the BonusInfos.xml.
And: GameFont.tga + GameFont_75.tga: These are the icons in the city-screen. It's a bit difficult to edit them, because a simple mistake can bring the came to crash. Here's a tutorial with photoshop, but it can also be edited with the free DXTBmp. A new resource will work without a modification of the gamefont.tgas, but it will not show up in the city-screen.


Don't Forget:
The Improvement: You need an improvement to get the bonus, you have to look at the Terrain\Civ4ImprovementInfos.xml. It's simpel, when you add a resource, which uses an already existing improvement, you can see e.g. for the mines which bonus you get from them.
If you need a new improvement, you have also to look at the ArtDefines\Civ4ArtDefines_Improvements.xml.


New resources should be placed on the map. In the BonusInfos is a tag, where you can set, that it should'nt be placed, like drama or hitsingles. For the number of bonuses, there's only a chance, which is defined through the rand-stats (i think).

 

[JorrelFraajic]

Adding to what The J said, it's also helpful to find a similar Bonus (like spices for coffee) and use it as a foundation, especially when it comes to finding the correct improvement.

Out of sheer curiosity, what resources are you looking to implement?

 

[vampiremouse]

Thank you both for the help.

I "think" I can do this now <crossing fingers>.

Jorel :I'm attempting to create the basic "flaver" of Pern (During an interval since "threadfall" is way beyond me at this point) a world that was settled from earth and then completely lost contact and memory of the home world. They are a low tech world with scattered relics of a high tech past lingering. I'm doing this primarilly for myself as I'm tired of just naming my cities appropriately...having earth leaders and civs on Pern is actually less jaring then having none of the right resources, though I do plan at least a massive rename job of Great People and leaders eventually.

I'd also love to tell the game that ideal city creation takes place in caves, mountains, etc...one step at a time right

 

[JorrelFraajic]

Sounds cool. In that case, copying and then modifying the existing resources is really helpful, as the stock ones can give you ample framework for changing the graphics and names (which it sounds like you're trying to do, mainly).

Also, the premise sounds pretty cool, actually. Reminds me of some story I read ages ago whose name I can't even begin to remember. If you need anything else, I've got at least a little knowledge of the XML parts.

Going back to your original post, you mentioned something about modifying the tech tree? That's a little tougher, just because you need to remember how you want to put it, but it's still easily doable. You'll see in the Civ4BonusInfos.xml a tag called <TechReveals> (or something like it); you just put the name of the tech (existing and created), in the form TECH_<Insert Tech> (unless you named it differently in the Civ4TechInfos.xml), and the game will automatically fix it accordingly.

 

[Shiggs713]

probably the hardest part is editing the res files aka gamefont.tga and gamefont75.tga

Actually I found that doing it is much easier with DXTBmp than with PS. All the grids show up bright pink in DXTBmp, and it is crucial to get the images lined up on the grids perfectly. In PS you just have to guess, or write down all the coordinates of every image you place.

You probably won't succeed your first time in doing this, but have patience and try again if you first dont succeed. It takes a little practice. Perhaps try doing one at a time at first. I tried doing like 8 at a time and failed miserably a few times before I got it.

 

[Willem]

Actually I found that doing it is much easier with DXTBmp than with PS. All the grids show up bright pink in DXTBmp, and it is crucial to get the images lined up on the grids perfectly. In PS you just have to guess, or write down all the coordinates of every image you place.

Also, older versions of Photoshop don't seem to like the current tga format. My Photoshop 7 always messes up the alpha channel, which will cause the game to crash on load. Gimp is another option for working on these files but there again postioning the image is largely guesswork, as the pink transparencies don't show there either. DXTBmp is the best one I've found for getting anything done with these files. Ironic that DXTBmp, and using MSPaint, are the best way to go about it. At least there's a use for Microsoft's crappy graphics editor after all.