CAPITAL SHIP CREATION FROM SCRATCH

step by step to create a brand new capital ship

from Sins Forums

MAKING A CAPITAL SHIP

1. Copy an existing Capital ship that resembles the features you want your new capital ship to have the

most

2. Rename the ship with something that makes sense; ie CapitalShip_<Racename><ShipType>.entity

3. It’s a good idea to load the new capital ship into a game first to make sure it is working before you

change any of the abilities or other details. Go into your Player<race>.entity file and add your new

capital ship to its capital ship list. Make sure you change the count at the beginning of the list to reflect

your new add. Make sure you save all of your new files after you make the changes. You may have to

shut the game down and restart it and reload your mod.

4. Open the newly named capital ship file and note the following changes that need to be made.

a. Change abilities to the abilities that you would like your capital ship to have. We will customize

these abilities and rename them later.

b. MAINVIEWICON_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME> we will change this later.

c. NameStringID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>_NAME" we will change this later

d. DescriptionStringID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>_DESCRIPTION" we will change this

later

e. picture "CAPITALSHIPPICTURE_<SHIPNAME>" we will change this later

f. hudIcon "HUDICON_CAPITALSHIP_TECHSUPPORT" we will change this later

g. smallHudIcon "HUDICONSMALL_CAPITALSHIP_TECHSUPPORT" we will change this later

h. infoCardIcon "INFOCARDICON_CAPITALSHIP_TECHSUPPORT" we will change this later

i. At the bottom of the file there are a group of sounds files listed. We will go over how to change

these later too.

5. The next thing we need to do is create the files and changes that support the changes that you need to

make to your new ship file. If we make the changes to the ship file first the game will not be able to

find them in the files that need to be reference and the game will crash.

6. The first change that we will make is to the 5 files that control the image that you see when you select

the capital ship factory and are selecting the new capital ship that you want to make

a. Open the following four files (located in the \Textures\ folder)in photoshop or equivalent you may

need to install a plugin to do this. Edit each of them adding your new ship icon to one of the blank

slots. Save the files as TGA’s do normal first.

i. Unit_Hud_CurserOver.TGA (make slightly brighter)

ii. Unit_Hud_Disabled.TGA (make black and white)

iii. Unit_Hud_Normal.TGA (just put it in the blank spot)

iv. Unit_Hud_Pressed.TGA (just put it in the same blank spot)

b. In the Window directory open the file called HUDIcon-Ships.brushes

i. We are going to be creating two new brushes.

ii. The first will be the ones that controls the five TGA file that contain the graphics for the

capital ship factory icon. Change the brush count at the top of the file to reflect adding 2

to whatever it currently is

iii. Go to the bottom of the file and add the following lines without the numbers

1. brush

2. name "HUDICON_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>"

3. content "States"

4. Disabled

5. fileName "Unit_Hud_Disabled"

6. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]

7. Pressed

8. fileName "Unit_Hud_Pressed"

9. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]

10. CursorOver

11. fileName "Unit_Hud_CursorOver"

12. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]

13. Focused

14. fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal"

15. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]

16. Normal

17. fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal"

18. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]

iv. The numbers inside the brackets reflect the location of the drawing of your graphic within

five TGA files

v. You will have to adjust these and save and adjust and save and adjust until you get them

lined up to the correct location of your icon. Make sure you are doing this while you

have the developer’s exe of the game opened. You should be able to see the changes

realtime. After you get them all lined up you your icon is finished

vi. Now the other brush we need to create. This one will control the tiny icon that is seen on

the info card as you mouse over all the tiny dots that indicate ships while in the game.

Type the following lines at the bottom of the HUDIcon-Ship.brushes file (no numbers at

the beginings

1. brush

2. name "HUDICONSMALL_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>"

3. content "Simple"

4. fileName "Unit_Main"

5. pixelBox [ 243 , 121 , 28 , 28 ]

vii. The same thing goes for the numbers in the brackets as in the last brush

7. We are now going to edit the file that pertains to the name and description of the new ship as it is seen

in the game.

a. Open the file \String\English.str

b. Add the following lines and change the NumStrings Count at the top of the file to reflect 2 new

strings (do not add numerals)

i. StringInfo

ii. ID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_GLENSUPPORT_NAME"

iii. Value "<SHIP NAME AS IT IS TO APPEAR INGAME>"

iv. StringInfo

v. ID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_GLENSUPPORT_DESCRIPTION"

vi. Value "<DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW SHIP>”

c. The first space you put in the name will determine the class of the ship. In other words if your

ship name is “My Ship” then when you mouseover it, it will read My Class Ship. Therefor if you

want your ship to appear with that space try naming it “My_Ship Battleship”. Then it will read

My_Ship Class Battleship.

8. Adding the detailed picture to the middle of the bottom display console

a. You will open the file UNIT_PICTURE.dds

i. Copy your picture and size it into one of the open slots

ii. Look for the Alpha Channel in your channel tab (by layers on photoshop)

iii. Create the appropriate alpha image for your picture (use other images as examples)

iv. Flatten the image and save the file as a .dds (use DXT5)

b. You will have to open the brush file from the /window/ folder called PICTURE-SHIP.brushes

i. After opening this change the count to reflect one more brush

ii. Create a new brush by using one of the others as a template

iii. Experiment with the bracket numbers until you get the correct and you picture shows in

the display window

iv. I got a debugger everytime I saved the brush file but there was no issues after I just

skipped each time

9. Editing the files for the animated icon while zoomed out

a. Open the UNIT_MAIN.tga

i. Add your picture to one of the blank spots. Make sure it is not any larger than the other

capital ships or it will be cut off

ii. Select the alpha channels like you did in the display picture and add the alpha backdrop

iii. Flatten and save

b. Open the MainviewIcon-Ship.brushes from the /windows/ folder

i. Change the brush count at the top to add 1

ii. Add a new brush using your ship’s name and the same conventions as the rest of the

brushes

iii. Experiment with the bracketed numbers to find your ship

iv. You may have to restart the game and mod for effects to be noticed the first time.

Afterward though you should be able to move the bracket numbers around without

restarting as long as you are in developer exe.

10. Editing the icon that is seen when you mouseover the small dots on the info card

a. Open the UNIT_INFOCARD.TGA

i. Add your picture to one of the blank spots. Make sure it is not any larger than the other

capital ships or it will be cut off

ii. Select the alpha channels like you did in the display picture and add the alpha backdrop

iii. Flatten and save

b. Open the INFOCARDICON-SHIP.BRUSHES from the /windows/ folder

i. Change the brush count at the top to add 1

ii. Add a new brush using your ship’s name and the same conventions as the rest of the

brushes

iii. Experiment with the bracketed numbers to find your ship

iv. You may have to restart the game and mod for effects to be noticed the first time.

Afterward though you should be able to move the bracket numbers around without

restarting as long as you are in developer exe.

11. Editing the icon that is seen on the left with all of your planet information

a. This uses the same picture as the one that we already modified for the Unit-main.tga, therefore you

will not need to edit any tga’s for this step as long as you already did for the animated icon

b. Open the HUDICON-SHIP.BRUSHES from the /windows/ folder

i. You should have already created the brush for this on step 6,b,iv. All you need to do is

find it (do search with the edit,find feature for the name of your capital ship and look for

the brush that looks like this

1. brush

2. name "HUDICONSMALL_CAPITALSHIP_<YOURSHIP>"

3. content "Simple"

4. fileName "Unit_Main"

5. pixelBox [ 275 , 121 , 28 , 28 ]

ii. Edit the bracket numbers to find your ship (they should be the exact same as the one you

made for the mainview animated icon

12. Editing Sound Files

a. To edit sound files you must first obtain them from whatever source you like. Use other software

like magix or other converter to convert them to a file that is about 215 db loud and in the .ogg

format.

b. Copy the file to the /sound/ folder

c. Now open your capital ship file and go to the bottom. You will notice that there are a number of

lines that read similar to this

i. NumSoundsFor:ONATTACKORDERISSUED 4 (these are various events)

ii. SoundID "<SOUND>_0"

iii. SoundID "<SOUND>_1"

iv. SoundID "<SOUND>_2"

v. SoundID "<SOUND>_3"

d. Change these lines to reflect the names of the sound files you wish to add

e. Now open the file named SoundDialogue.sounddata

f. Create a new effect to reflect your new sound file. Use the others for an example. Make sure to

adjust the count at the top of the file

g. Your new sound should work now. Make sure the count at the top of c,i matches the number of

sounds you have for that type of event

modding
71,730 views 25 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Not that this is a bad guide but there is a few things I would like to point out.

  1. Use the posting box, not some other program where you can write text it is easier for people to see your text, such as I am doing right here
  2. The ship here you are making can also apply to all frigates as well
  3. You have only covered the visual parts of the capital ships, you might want to go into detail on how to do the abilities also
  4. You might want to cover what programs you will need
  5. An roughtly how long it would take
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Nice guide!

As Ice pointed out, it indeed can be generalized to any shiptype, and seems more of "how to give a new ship all of the appropriate icons" than "ship creation from scratch".

But regardless, it's information that would be quite useful to add to the new Sins Modding Wiki!  I'd encourage you to contribute your knowledge here: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/369183

^_^

DeskScapes - Bring your desktop background to life.
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

Yah I agree about the posting clarity and I intend on reformatting it at some point to make things more clear.  To be honest I have never even posted to one of these types of forums.  So while I am getting quite good at modding Sins, I am a bit of a noob at forum posting, lol.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Moguta, reply 2
Nice guide!

As Ice pointed out, it indeed can be generalized to any shiptype, and seems more of "how to give a new ship all of the appropriate icons" than "ship creation from scratch".

But regardless, it's information that would be quite useful to add to the new Sins Modding Wiki!  I'd encourage you to contribute your knowledge here: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/369183

I am currently working on modding a fully customized research tree.  It that there are a number of things that tie into abilities and ability access through the research tree.  I will be getting into the abilities of the capital ships and other modules in that guide.  To be honest these guides that I am wirting are as much for myself as they are for everyone else.  I find that if I don't write this stuff down as I learn it i tend to forget what I just figured out.  Still I  am getting the hang of this and how the game uses different files as reference points.  I will fine tune this at some point and get everything together as a comprehensive guide.

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

I’m in the process putting together all the application needed, but I really don’t which ones I need.

Also; which ones I have to buy or free ones that will get me buy for now.  

Can open .dds -.entity - .brushes - .window and .mesh files, and a few others.

Is it method, file conversion and/or applications??? Or my XP Home Edition not up to speed?

 

 

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

Those are completely different file formats.

Photoshop can open DDS with the plugin, the middle three can be opened with Notepad++, and meshes can only be imported into Max.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

not to say "your wrong Carbon", but you are a little bit-

GIMP- an open source photo software, has both DDS import and DDS normal map plugins.

Notepad++ can open and be used for hardpoint editing of TXT meshes. In fact, for editing TXTed .mesh files, Notepad++ is the recommended way to go as- Notepad and Wordpad will load the multi-MB files to slowly and will also exhibit the changes very slowly. NP++ does not.

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

I really wish there were some way to import & export Sins meshes to & from Blender.  That's the only thing missing to make Sins a completely-free game to mod.

Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top

well- get 3D Object Converter (Google is your friend). Import the BINARY (BIN) mesh file into 3DOC. Export as .slp "Pro Engineer Render".

From there- import into Blender. From Blender, one can also turn the .slp into a .obj or .xsi for use in Softimage XSI Mod Tool. Mod Tool is freeware, while Blender is open source, and 3DOC is sharware (but will work FOREVER even if you don't register it; just most file formats are un-exportable/importable).

Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I was trying to follow these directions, but I've gotten pretty lost when I got to the .brushes section.

I'm not expecting the OP to be around to answer this, but was hoping someone who knows alot about modding might be able to help.

I'm trying to create a few super-capitals, based off existing capitals, and just making them physically larger, more powerful, etc.

 

The parts of this that confuse me is part 6 (below).

"Edit each of them adding your new ship icon to one of the blank

slots. Save the files as TGA’s do normal first." - There are hardly any "blank slots" available on this .TGA. I intend to make more additional ships than there are blank slots.

The four numbers [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ], relate to the location of the icon on the screen or within the hud I am guessing. However what does each number mean?


However I was further confused as when I fired up Sins, and the new ship icon magically appeared in the 7th(final) slot on the capital ship page, using the build icon for its original ship. I didn't expect this! So at present, my ship works, I can build it.

However all of this hud stuff has confused the beejesus out of me!

 

6. The first change that we will make is to the 5 files that control the image that you see when you select

the capital ship factory and are selecting the new capital ship that you want to make

a. Open the following four files (located in the \Textures\ folder)in photoshop or equivalent you may

need to install a plugin to do this. Edit each of them adding your new ship icon to one of the blank

slots. Save the files as TGA’s do normal first.

i. Unit_Hud_CurserOver.TGA (make slightly brighter)

ii. Unit_Hud_Disabled.TGA (make black and white)

iii. Unit_Hud_Normal.TGA (just put it in the blank spot)

iv. Unit_Hud_Pressed.TGA (just put it in the same blank spot)

b. In the Window directory open the file called HUDIcon-Ships.brushes

i. We are going to be creating two new brushes.

ii. The first will be the ones that controls the five TGA file that contain the graphics for the

capital ship factory icon. Change the brush count at the top of the file to reflect adding 2

to whatever it currently is

iii. Go to the bottom of the file and add the following lines without the numbers

1. brush

2. name "HUDICON_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>"

3. content "States"

4. Disabled

5. fileName "Unit_Hud_Disabled"

6. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]

7. Pressed

8. fileName "Unit_Hud_Pressed"

9. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]

10. CursorOver

11. fileName "Unit_Hud_CursorOver"

12. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]

13. Focused

14. fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal"

15. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]

16. Normal

17. fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal"

18. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]

iv. The numbers inside the brackets reflect the location of the drawing of your graphic within

five TGA files

v. You will have to adjust these and save and adjust and save and adjust until you get them

lined up to the correct location of your icon. Make sure you are doing this while you

have the developer’s exe of the game opened. You should be able to see the changes

realtime. After you get them all lined up you your icon is finished

vi. Now the other brush we need to create. This one will control the tiny icon that is seen on

the info card as you mouse over all the tiny dots that indicate ships while in the game.

Type the following lines at the bottom of the HUDIcon-Ship.brushes file (no numbers at

the beginings

1. brush

2. name "HUDICONSMALL_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>"

3. content "Simple"

4. fileName "Unit_Main"

5. pixelBox [ 243 , 121 , 28 , 28 ]

vii. The same thing goes for the numbers in the brackets as in the last brush

Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top

Additionally, I am interested to know if it is possible to create a new factory to build a whole new set of ships?

or do we have to use the existing factories and make use of the available hud slots we have?

Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting XViper123, reply 12
Additionally, I am interested to know if it is possible to create a new factory to build a whole new set of ships?

or do we have to use the existing factories and make use of the available hud slots we have?

Can't be done.

Yes, you have to do this.

+1 Loading…
Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top

Thanks Lavo. :)

Also, sorry to everyone for resurrecting old threads, however I am trying to make use of the search function as much as possible, and trying not to reask questions people have already answered. :)

Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting XViper123, reply 14
Thanks Lavo.

Also, sorry to everyone for resurrecting old threads, however I am trying to make use of the search function as much as possible, and trying not to reask questions people have already answered.

Just use this thread. It helps keep things consolidated...

https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/407617/page/63

 

Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting XViper123, reply 12
Additionally, I am interested to know if it is possible to create a new factory to build a whole new set of ships?

or do we have to use the existing factories and make use of the available hud slots we have?

 

is it possible to create a new sub menu in the factories (like the frigate factory has frigate and cruiser sub-menus)

Reply #16 from Sins Forums Top

@ZombiesRus5: Thanks, I will do that in future.

@maxwell: Oh really? How could I do that? That sounds perfect!

Reply #17 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting maxwell, reply 16
is it possible to create a new sub menu in the factories (like the frigate factory has frigate and cruiser sub-menus)

Quoting Lavo_2, reply 13
Can't be done.

I'm guessing he missed the answer to your question Viper. It's totally impossible.

+1 Loading…
Reply #18 from Sins Forums Top

Oh damn!
Ok, thanks. :)

I am assuming this is what dictates where they appear? (not showing up nicely), but is within the Player<Race><Faction>.entity file.

Edit: hmm... I just lost half my post.

capitalShipInfo   Page:0    count 7    entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLESHIP"    entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSIPLANETPSIONIC"    entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSICOLONY"    entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSICARRIER"    entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLEPSIONIC"    entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLESHIP2"    entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLESHIP3"  frigateInfo   Page:0    count 7    entityDefName "FrigatePsiScout"    entityDefName "FrigatePsiLight"    entityDefName "FrigatePsiLongRange"    entityDefName "FrigatePsiSiege"    entityDefName "FrigatePsiAntiFighter"    entityDefName "FrigatePsiColony"    entityDefName "CorvettePsiRebel"   Page:1    count 7    entityDefName "FrigatePsiCarrier"    entityDefName "FrigatePsiUtility1"    entityDefName "FrigatePsiUtility0"    entityDefName "FrigatePsiHeavy"    entityDefName "FrigatePsiStarBaseConstructor"    entityDefName "FrigatePsiAntiModule"    entityDefName "FrigatePsiEnvoy"

 

I noticed on here that there is Page:0 and Page:1 for Frigates. Page:1 appears to be for the Cruisers.
Is this hard-coded?
I am guessing adding a Page:1 for the CapitalShipInfo wouldn't work?

Additionally, do you have any advice\answer for my original question based on .brushes and .tga's for hud icons?

Thanks alot for everyones replies. Much appreciated. :)

Reply #19 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting XViper123, reply 19
I am assuming this is what dictates where they appear?

Yes.

Quoting XViper123, reply 19
I noticed on here that there is Page:0 and Page:1 for Frigates. Page:1 appears to be for the Cruisers.
Is this hard-coded?
I am guessing adding a Page:1 for the CapitalShipInfo wouldn't work?

That is correct. In addition, they are hard coded by entity type. You can't have frigates built out of a capitalship factory or capitalships out of the titan factory etc.

Quoting XViper123, reply 11
The four numbers [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ], relate to the location of the icon on the screen or within the hud I am guessing. However what does each number mean?

The brushes files are used to tell the game which file and at which pixels to find a given HUD element. It follows in the graphics standard of constructing a box (bounding box) around the area of the texture you want to use. Those 4 numbers are [ X coordinate of the upper left corner of the box, Y coordinate "", number of pixels long on the x axis (length), number of pixels long on the y axis (height)].

So in that instance, it means the button in question starts at the point (398, 259), and the box is 47 pixels x 33 pixels.

+1 Loading…
Reply #20 from Sins Forums Top

Perfect explanation. Thanks alot Goa. :)


What about the bit about adding the icon to one of the blank slots?
You don't appear to have alot of options in the .tga's suggested.


Can you just increase the size of the canvas?

Could I also just create a whole new Unit_HudX_Icon.tga file and reference that for icons?

I am guessing yes.

Do I need to place these references anywhere else other than the .brushes file?

I would just change the fileName's and it will automatically look for them in the textures folder, I'm hoping?

brush  name "HUDICON_CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLESHIP3"  content "States"  Disabled   fileName "Unit_Hud_Disabled"   pixelBox [ 397 , 258 , 47 , 33 ]  Pressed   fileName "Unit_Hud_Pressed"   pixelBox [ 397 , 258 , 47 , 33 ]  CursorOver   fileName "Unit_Hud_CursorOver"   pixelBox [ 397 , 258 , 47 , 33 ]  Focused   fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal"   pixelBox [ 397 , 258 , 47 , 33 ]  Normal   fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal"   pixelBox [ 397 , 258 , 47 , 33 ]

Reply #21 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting XViper123, reply 21

Can you just increase the size of the canvas?

Yes but...

Quoting XViper123, reply 21
Could I also just create a whole new Unit_HudX_Icon.tga file and reference that for icons?

This is better. Just make sure to change which file reference under that box definition.

Also, if you care about being professional with this, Sins also reads .dds files, and these use less memory than .tga. However, .dds is lossy, while .tga is loseless. Thus its best to have your master icon files in .tga, then when going to put it in your textures file to save it as .dds while keeping your .tga original in case you need to make changes later.

Quoting XViper123, reply 21
Do I need to place these references anywhere else other than the .brushes file?

No, when ever you put anything that is expecting an icon or UI element, it checks if that name is in any of the brushes files. Note you can make your own brushes files, and this is better because it makes it easier to update your mod and helps compatibility issues with other mods. Just copy a existing brushes file, rename it to "MyBrush.brushes" or whatever, and add that reference to the brushes.manifest file, and update the count on the top of that file.

 

+1 Loading…
Reply #22 from Sins Forums Top

What do you mean about lossy and loseless?

As for Sins reading .dds, so if I put in fileName "Unit_Hud_Test" and had a file called Unit_Hud_Test.dds in the textures folder, it would read it appropriately?

I like the idea of making my own files and not editing existing content.
Thanks for these tips. :)

Reply #23 from Sins Forums Top

When converting to .dds and editing .dds files you lose image quality since .dds files are compressed.  .tga files aren't compressed and therefore lose no image quality when edited.

Reply #24 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting XViper123, reply 23
What do you mean about lossy and loseless?

This is a term used in any kind of digital art media, pictures, music etc., so it maybe worth while to do some reading on it. Basically when you save a file on a lossy format like .jpg or .dds (or .mp3 or .ogg for music), it compresses the media to save space (good for games). However, lets say you then want to edit that file again. When you save it, it will once again try to compress the file. Thus each time you save a lossy file, you lose some quality, and if done enough times this can be noticeable.

That's why you should always have master files in loseless formats (.tga, photoshop files, .wav for sounds) as these files can be saved any number of times and don't lose quality because they don't compress themselves when saved. When you have it ready to put it in a game, you then export the media to your lossy format of choice so that it's only compressed once. When you need to edit that file, you go back and change the master, not the lossy file, and re-export.

Quoting XViper123, reply 23

As for Sins reading .dds, so if I put in fileName "Unit_Hud_Test" and had a file called Unit_Hud_Test.dds in the textures folder, it would read it appropriately?

I know if you don't specify the file extension, it will try to look for both a .tga and .dds. I don't know which it prefers if it finds both, but yes I think that does work. However, I prefer to explicitly declare the file type, since there are some files I do leave in .tga, like for loadsceen pictures, where you want the high quality image.

Reply #25 from Sins Forums Top

Interestingly enough when I converted my first .tga into a .dds, it got bigger!