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Modder's "Get-an-Answer" Thread

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Modder's "Get-an-Answer" Thread

Answers from Modders, for Modders who "Ask a Question"

from Sins Forums

This is the place to ask and recieve specific modding (mod making) questions and answers. If you have a mod making question, post it here.

If your question involves long snippets of entity files and the like, please don't paste the entire file contents here but put them at the incredibly easy to use http://pastebin.com and then provide the link to your paste in your question posted here.

Please do limit  "just comments" here to brief posts please.  If you don't know the answer or can't point to help--don't post.  Please note that a random, uninformed guess isn't an actual answer.  

You can refer people to another source--IF it actually helps answer their question.  This could be in the form of links, outside sites, specific modding-useful programs, direction towards another post or poster, etc., etc.

Remember--specific questions, specific answers.  Only respond to the ones you can help solve.  Also, feel free to amplify, clarify, suggest alternatives to or correct answers seen here if such actions are merited and help provide a real solution. No flaming, insults or put downs here in the answers or other posts please.

Thanks in advance for your help and cooperation.  The reason for the rigid rules here is those this thread becomes a usable resource in the future to new people looking for answers.

NOTE: If an answer resolves your issue, please share it here.  These answers will help others coming along later too.  Karma is a great way to respond to people providing help without clogging the thread or bombing their forum mailbox here. Thanks!

 

OTHER SINS HELPFUL MODDING LINKS*

*Links are updated when requested.





The Soase Idiot's Guide

Confused?  No idea where to even start?

Determined to work at it?

This is the place!

 


 

  
   

Sins Modding Wiki

ZombieRus's Eclipse Wizardry

 
     

Tutorials

MyFist0's full modding site.

Emphasis on modeling  and

texturing.                            

 

 

 
                    

REBELLION MODDING TOPICS

Rebellion Modding Q & A

Mesh Editing

Changing Diplomacy Files to Rebellion

IT REALLY HURTS MY BRAIN--HOW TO START

An Idiot's Guide To Getting Started

MyFist0's Modding Megasite!

MOD DOWNLOADS

ZombieRus5's Mod Yard

Directory of Planet Mods

STEAM

STEAM Sins Forums

DEVELOPERS

Sins Developer Journals Forum 2007 to Present

REFERENCE FILES

Research Modifier List

MyFist0's Exported Models & Files

Modifier List

Harpo's Converted Sins Reference Files 2011

THIRD PARTY TOOLS

3dS Texturing Toool & Tips

Ship Fleet Calculator

SoaSE Eclipse Plugin Project

Mesh Resizing Tool--courtesy of the Reqiuem team.

Harpo's Sins Utility Package -- Dropbox

The Sins Optimization Project (TSOP)

Artificial Unintelligence (Mod and AI info)

Sins Data Converter by BCXtreme

EXPLANATIONS & DISCUSSIONS

Rebellion Updates by Blair Frazier

How to Add a Fourth Race

User-updatable Ship Reference Chart

Sins Modding Dictionary

Adding phase Effects to other weapon types

Culture, Explanation/Discussion

Weapons, Explanation/Discusion

Shield Mitigation & Armor, Explanation/Discussion-1

Shield Mitigation & Armor, Explanation/Discussion -2

Graphic Chart of Sin's Counters

Annotated Guide to the Developer.exe

In-Game Map Creator

Weapons Banks & DPS

Combat Mechanics

Rebellion Shield Mitigation & Focus Fire testing

PARTICLE FORGE

Particle Forge Help Thread

GALAXY FORGE

Adding Artifacts

Working Template Examples

SemazRalan's Template Guide

Pirates Base Start Template

SOUND RESOURCES

[SFX] Black Sun SFX/Music Resource for Modders

MODELING & TEXTURING--SOFTIMAGE XSI, 3DS MAX

XSI Texturing, Tutorial

3dS Model Exporter

3DS Max Rigging, Texturing & Exporting, Guide

Modding/Modelling/Texturing/Converting, Tutorials

WIKI'S

Sins of a Solar Empire Official Wiki

 

modding
7,607,453 views 2,761 replies
Reply #2326 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting furyofthestars, reply 2325

Is it just trade port structures, or all orbital structures? (ie, defense platforms, research labs, etc)

Defense turret and the Vorastra's spawn phase node thing work fine. Not sure if any others are effected but its definitely not a planet module in general limitation.

Reply #2327 from Sins Forums Top

was browsing through the string files and saw this:

 

StringInfo
    ID "IDS_RESEARCHFLOATMODIFIER_TITANCONSTRUCTIONCAP"
    Value "Titan construction cap:"

 

I wonder if that float modifier is still in the code?

Object Desktop - Get all of our enhancement utilities in one suite
Reply #2328 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Wintercross, reply 2327

was browsing through the string files and saw this:

 

StringInfo
    ID "IDS_RESEARCHFLOATMODIFIER_TITANCONSTRUCTIONCAP"
    Value "Titan construction cap:"

 

I wonder if that float modifier is still in the code?

Yeah, but its not what you think it is. That's the % of the titan you can build modifier. It doesn't let you use more than one titan.

Reply #2329 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 2328


Quoting Wintercross,
reply 2327

was browsing through the string files and saw this:

 

StringInfo
    ID "IDS_RESEARCHFLOATMODIFIER_TITANCONSTRUCTIONCAP"
    Value "Titan construction cap:"

 

I wonder if that float modifier is still in the code?



Yeah, but its not what you think it is. That's the % of the titan you can build modifier. It doesn't let you use more than one titan.

 

Ah ok. Fair enough

Reply #2331 from Sins Forums Top

So i was wondering if any of you fine people would be able to explain just what in the heck is going on with this ships weapons. im slowly getting back into modding again now that summer is here and figured id knock out one of the Aldar Titan ships, and when i put it in game this happens every time it fires. ive checked the model in XSI multiple times and there isnt a single null point on the mesh where those are coming from. So what is causing this?!

Please..please ignore the texture, i messed up when i was putting the thing on and added the wrong projector.

http://postimg.org/image/u9jd695rd/full/

Reply #2332 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Requiem-Myre, reply 2331

So i was wondering if any of you fine people would be able to explain just what in the heck is going on with this ships weapons. im slowly getting back into modding again now that summer is here and figured id knock out one of the Aldar Titan ships, and when i put it in game this happens every time it fires. ive checked the model in XSI multiple times and there isnt a single null point on the mesh where those are coming from. So what is causing this?!

Please..please ignore the texture, i messed up when i was putting the thing on and added the wrong projector.

http://postimg.org/image/u9jd695rd/full/

Check in notepad or other text editor. Its the .mesh file that the game is using, that is what you should check.

 

If the game is unable to find a valid mesh point for a weapon it uses the center as the default, but that clearly is not what is happening here. That should be the only case of the game using meshpoints you didn't add.

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Reply #2333 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting furyofthestars, reply 2325

Is it just trade port structures, or all orbital structures? (ie, defense platforms, research labs, etc)

Only way to know is test and post. :-"

Probably only things that effect planet income, like trade port or refinery. Maybe factories?

Reply #2334 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 2332

Check in notepad or other text editor. Its the .mesh file that the game is using, that is what you should check.

 

If the game is unable to find a valid mesh point for a weapon it uses the center as the default, but that clearly is not what is happening here. That should be the only case of the game using meshpoints you didn't add.

 

Alright i went ahead and did that and nothing seems out of place, i also went ahead and did a brand new conversion from xsi to mesh using a brand new export file and the same thing happens. im really scratching my head now! im gonna try something here in a bit that i should have done from the start in regards to the rootpoint null.

 

 

EDIT: For some reason when i exported the model the .xsi format it moved the right half Null points over to the left and back. putting them exactly where they were sitting in game. its now working properly.

Reply #2335 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Requiem-Myre, reply 2334

Alright i went ahead and did that and nothing seems out of place, i also went ahead and did a brand new conversion from xsi to mesh using a brand new export file and the same thing happens. im really scratching my head now! im gonna try something here in a bit that i should have done from the start in regards to the rootpoint null.

 

 

EDIT: For some reason when i exported the model the .xsi format it moved the right half Null points over to the left and back. putting them exactly where they were sitting in game. its now working properly.

 

Sounds like it was a model freezing issue. If you've scaled or moved your mesh in XSI and do the freeze commands incorrectly (or not freezing it at all) that could cause it. At least that's what I think caused it the few times I've had it happen, should probably let one of the better modelers say for certain.

Reply #2336 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 2335


Sounds like it was a model freezing issue. If you've scaled or moved your mesh in XSI and do the freeze commands incorrectly (or not freezing it at all) that could cause it. At least that's what I think caused it the few times I've had it happen, should probably let one of the better modelers say for certain.

 

You are more than likely correct, i had forgotten to freeze the model at all. thank you for the help :)

Edit: and now my particle forge isnt working...what the crap. it opened one this morning and crashed when i did something and now it wont open at all.

Reply #2337 from Sins Forums Top

Good evening.

Actually I use Frigates as fake buildings, but they can be boarded, cloned or captured by

advent abilities. And after playing around with abilities I couldn't find a solution.

 

So the question is, is there any way to spawn buildings by an ability?

Or anyone has another idea how to get buildings* placed there after colonization?

(* This are unique buildings which aren't buildable through construction)

 

 

Would be really nice if someone could help me with it.

 

 

Reply #2338 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Cerinier, reply 2337

Good evening.

Actually I use Frigates as fake buildings, but they can be boarded, cloned or captured by

advent abilities. And after playing around with abilities I couldn't find a solution.

 

So the question is, is there any way to spawn buildings by an ability?

Or anyone has another idea how to get buildings* placed there after colonization?

(* This are unique buildings which aren't buildable through construction...so you get the problem, I guess)

 

Would be really nice if someone could help me with it.

 

 

If you have Rebellion yes, look at the spawn phase gate ability the Vorastra titan has.

One word of caution though, if you attempt to spawn a trade port (and perhaps certain other type of buildings) at an uncolonizeable planet it will minidump the game.

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Reply #2339 from Sins Forums Top

Thanks, you saved my day (or morning is 4am here actually)  

I absolutly forgot this ability. Good to know that there are always helpful people here :)

 

Seems like there is work to be done *g*

Reply #2340 from Sins Forums Top

Would anybody have any clue why the game would crash on completion of a titan? ive split the Aldar up into loyalist and rebel, and have both of their titans done and in game with all abilities loaded out as well. the rebel one works perfectly, the Loyalist one crashes the game as soon as its fully completed??

Reply #2341 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Requiem-Myre, reply 2340

Would anybody have any clue why the game would crash on completion of a titan? ive split the Aldar up into loyalist and rebel, and have both of their titans done and in game with all abilities loaded out as well. the rebel one works perfectly, the Loyalist one crashes the game as soon as its fully completed??

If you create/spawn a titan that has a RequiredFactionNameID line that isn't set to "" and isn't the correct faction, the game will crash. Note that the FactionNameID is not the same as the Race name unless you set it to be that in the player entity files. Usually you're better off using research to ensure only the correct factions builds it IMO.

Reply #2342 from Sins Forums Top

Any missing assets could do that.  Are you not running tests in dev mode?  You'd typically get an error that gave clues as to what was mucked up.

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Reply #2343 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 2341


If you create/spawn a titan that has a RequiredFactionNameID line that isn't set to "" and isn't the correct faction, the game will crash. Note that the FactionNameID is not the same as the Race name unless you set it to be that in the player entity files. Usually you're better off using research to ensure only the correct factions builds it IMO

just checked that and its already set so that "RequiredFactionNameID" is blank. also thats what im doing, its set up so that only the Loyalists can get it.

Could an ability be causing it? it was working fine 2 days ago before i set up all the abilities on it, but i would think that it would throw an error.

Quoting psychoak, reply 2342

Any missing assets could do that.  Are you not running tests in dev mode?  You'd typically get an error that gave clues as to what was mucked up.

i am. its not throwing any errors its just crashing.

Im also not getting any errors on start up, during game play or construction. just a crash as soon as it finishes

 

Reply #2344 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Requiem-Myre, reply 2343

Could an ability be causing it? it was working fine 2 days ago before i set up all the abilities on it, but i would think that it would throw an error.

Yes, that's part of what Psychoak was referring. An ability that's set up wrong or has a referenced buff missing could easily cause a crash.

Best way to find out is to remove all its abilities, and if it doesn't crash, add them back in one by one until you figure out which one it is.

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Reply #2345 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting GoaFan77, reply 2344

Yes, that's part of what Psychoak was referring. An ability that's set up wrong or has a referenced buff missing could easily cause a crash.

Best way to find out is to remove all its abilities, and if it doesn't crash, add them back in one by one until you figure out which one it is.

Right-o!  least my theory had some back up i suppose. Sorry Psy, misunderstood a little bit. ill do that now see what happens

 

On one hand i feel like an idiot. on the other im interested as to why it wasnt throwing any errors. i had forgotten to add the "UpgradeTypes" to the entity list.

Reply #2346 from Sins Forums Top

Someone "forgot" to add various things to the thrown errors.  Starbase/Titan upgrades being one of those things.

Reply #2347 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting psychoak, reply 2346

Someone "forgot" to add various things to the thrown errors.  Starbase/Titan upgrades being one of those things.

ick, thats annoying. thanks ill keep that in mind!

Reply #2348 from Sins Forums Top

Working on the buff builder and ran into a problem trying to exec ConvertData_Rebellion.exe automatically.  The program detects when it needs to invoke it, but it isn't running.  I've never called an exe from java before, so that's probably a good chunk of it, but eh...  Anyways...

Code: java
  3. <span style="color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff;">// f is the file that the system is trying to load</span>
  4. <span style="color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff;">// s is the scanner that scans f </span>
  6. <span style="color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff;">String path = f.getPath();</span>
  7. <span style="color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff;"> path = path.substring(0,path.lastIndexOf("\\")+1);</span>
  8. <span style="color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff;"> path = path + "ConvertData_Rebellion.exe";</span>
  9. <span style="color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff;"> s.close();</span>
  10. <span style="color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff;"> Process process = new ProcessBuilder(path,f.getName(),f.getName(),"txt").start();</span>
  11. <span style="color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff;"> s=new Scanner(f);</span>
  12. <span style="color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff;"> s.nextLine();</span>

I'm sure it's something simple due to my unfamiliarity with exec'ing, but, still...

EDIT: oh dear...  formatting seems to have gone totally wacky...  Just highlight it to read it I guess.  It's not that much code.

Reply #2350 from Sins Forums Top

I've already tried that.  It didn't work.