DerekPaxton DerekPaxton

Fallen Enchantress Editor

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Fallen Enchantress Editor

from Elemental Forums

 

  I've shared the FE Editor below.  It is what I use to manage the assets of the game and it makes it very easy to view, compare and tweak the xml in the game.  Not all of the XML in Fallen Enchantress is included in the editor, just the things I most commonly update.  It also contains some modeling data that helps us balance or review changes without having to play a 100 games to see what the difference was.

  I'm releasing it here for modders so that they can use it to more easily add/remove and change assets in their mods.  Each sheet has a export button in the upper left that creates the xml file with all the spreadsheets data in whatever directory the editor is in.

Download:

 https://www.elementalgame.com/img/FE_Editor.xlsm

 

Screenshots:

http://screencast.com/t/lxlAaFyTwMxg

http://screencast.com/t/oeWUvOM0y

 

  The editor is released 'as is'.  It's an internal tool we are sharing, have fun.

 

Using & Sharing your mods:

When you export your creations, it'll place it in the root of the Fallen Enchantress directory (program files(x86)\stardock\fallen enchantress).  File examples would be coreweapons.xml, coreunits.xml, etc.

Depending on what you did, here is how you use them:

Scenario 1: If you are overwriting existing weapons or units:  Replace the existing file in the data\english directory with your new one.

Scenario 2: If you have created new items (like new quests or goodie huts or armor) then open the file in a text editor, find the new items and create a new XML file with just those new items in it and place it in your my games\fallen enchantress\mods directory and make sure you have "use mods" selected in the options menu. That file can be shared with other players.

106,134 views 75 replies
Reply #26 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting seanw3, reply 17

Quoting jshores, reply 16If that doesn't work, I would try using Open Office. It may be compatible.

It's not.

so what do you need exactly to use this? i didnt have time to try yet

Reply #27 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting ddd888, reply 26

Quoting seanw3, reply 17
Quoting jshores, reply 16If that doesn't work, I would try using Open Office. It may be compatible.

It's not.

so what do you need exactly to use this? i didnt have time to try yet

 

It opens in Open Office, but the buttons to export are not functional.

It works flawlessly in Office 2010.

I haven't tried it in 2003, but installing the compatibility pack I linked to earlier is worth a shot. It's a small download, and very useful to anyone with an older version of office anyway.

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Reply #28 from Elemental Forums Top

Scenario 1: If you are overwriting existing weapons or units: Replace the existing file in the data\english directory with your new one.

 

Should we backup the default game files first?

Reply #29 from Elemental Forums Top

It doesn't touch the game files. Just generates new ones in whatever folder you keep the editor in.

Reply #30 from Elemental Forums Top

When you export your creations, it'll place it in the root of the Fallen Enchantress directory (program files(x86)\stardock\fallen enchantress).

 

I don't have this directory, possibly because I bought via steam. I'm not actually using the excel tool, I'm just curious as to the mod structure. I would be using notepad++ to effect any changes.

 

So, where are modified files placed in order to be used?

Reply #31 from Elemental Forums Top

I have mine on the desktop and all my files are being generated there. Never seem one go to the game folder.

Reply #32 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Winterbraid, reply 31

When you export your creations, it'll place it in the root of the Fallen Enchantress directory (program files(x86)\stardock\fallen enchantress).

 

I don't have this directory, possibly because I bought via steam. I'm not actually using the excel tool, I'm just curious as to the mod structure. I would be using notepad++ to effect any changes.

 

So, where are modified files placed in order to be used?

 

I use Notepad++ as well, wonderful tool. For steam, the files are probably somewhere like /steam/common apps/Fallen Enchantress/Data/English.

I usually grab the data folder, copy and paste it somewhere else and name it "vanilla 1.0" etc. as a backup.

 

 

Reply #33 from Elemental Forums Top

Derek, will you be releasing updated versions of this in correlation with future changes to the game?

Reply #34 from Elemental Forums Top

Oh, I know where the default files are, I'm just tripping myself up, I think, by comparing FE modding to SOASE:R modding. That was the last game I did a lot of modding in, and the only other stardock title. This one seems to have a different mod structure.

 

Quoting seanw3, reply 32
I have mine on the desktop and all my files are being generated there. Never seem one go to the game folder.

 

If I understand you right, your xlsm is on your desktop, and writing custom files there. Do the modified files have to be moved in order to effect the game?

Reply #35 from Elemental Forums Top

You'll want to make all your files in one place and then add them to the game directory once you have everything backed up.

Reply #36 from Elemental Forums Top

so basically there is not really much advantage from the old fashioned beyond compare unless you are doing something fully modular

 

is 1.0 modular modding improved btw? worth trying?

Reply #37 from Elemental Forums Top

Can't do modular yet. We need some dev time fixing all the file mod issues. I am sure we'll get that soon.

But the FE editor is better for design. I still haven't figured out how to upload data into the thing, but I can just mod the files it has to my mod's numbers. Once I get the whole thing transfered, it's going to be much easier to make broad changes and do analysis for balance. Plus the quest editor is pretty powerful. Murteas' quest wizard is good too, but this one allows me to do some things his can't yet. I haven't gotten into making new monsters or lairs yet, but all of that looks pretty good as well.

Reply #38 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Winterbraid, reply 28
Scenario 1: If you are overwriting existing weapons or units: Replace the existing file in the data\english directory with your new one.

 

Should we backup the default game files first?

Yes, you should, absolutely. The first thing you should do is back up all the game's original XML fles before you replace or overwrite any of them with ones you've modded. If you don't and you want to go back to the vanilla game, you'll not be able to. The only exception is if you are just adding new XML and are placing it in the mods folder under MyGames. That method doesn't mess with the original XML files, it just adds new XML code to them.

It also looks like the method they are using means that you will not be able to implement more than one mod at a time. If Joe has a mod you like and Bob also has another mod you like, I think you would have to manually merge the XML files together and address any conflcts while doing so in order to use both at once. If you don't do that I think you can only choose to use one or the other and you'd have to swap XML files around if you wanted to change back and forth. Hopefully, I'm wrong on that. If so, someone please set me straight.

I think it would be nice if oneday they could add support to have different mods in different folders under the mods directory and add a menu option to allow you to choose the mod you want to run from the in-game menu.

 

Reply #39 from Elemental Forums Top

We already have support for using different mods in different folders. Just don't put your stuff in the installation directory. The problem is when people want to edit what is in the installation directory instead of just adding stuff. There's no good way to handle that.

Reply #40 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Heavenfall, reply 40
We already have support for using different mods in different folders. Just don't put your stuff in the installation directory. The problem is when people want to edit what is in the installation directory instead of just adding stuff. There's no good way to handle that.

In my opinion, you should never, ever change the base XML files unless there is just no other way of doing it.

So, are you saying that I can make a new folder under mods and copy all the XML files I want to change into that? How will the game know where that directory is and know to use it instead of the base XML?

Reply #41 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting C0LDsteel, reply 41

Quoting Heavenfall, reply 40We already have support for using different mods in different folders. Just don't put your stuff in the installation directory. The problem is when people want to edit what is in the installation directory instead of just adding stuff. There's no good way to handle that.

In my opinion, you should never, ever change the base XML files unless there is just no other way of doing it.

So, are you saying that I can make a new folder under mods and copy all the XML files I want to change into that? How will the game know where that directory is and know to use it instead of the base XML?

 

Yes and no. You can use the mod directory to add new content, and modify some content, but files must go in the game directory to modify other things.

Reply #42 from Elemental Forums Top

We are waiting on some mod support to be able to put everything in the mod folder. Any core mod should be able to go right into the mod folder once we get that done.

Reply #43 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting seanw3, reply 43
We are waiting on some mod support to be able to put everything in the mod folder. Any core mod should be able to go right into the mod folder once we get that done.

Okay, thanks, that makes sense. I think I'll wait for a bit then to see if they add that support. This is kind of a big deal for modders. Having to mod the core files is a bit of a mess and risky to boot.

Reply #44 from Elemental Forums Top

Not really. Just back them up first. Any mods I play will just be added to my mod. I don't see a risk.

Reply #45 from Elemental Forums Top

Seems to me like patches would overwrite them.

Reply #46 from Elemental Forums Top

its not risk but its not good either

for ME playing MY mod its np

 

but when sharing its complicated

also makes ppl less interested into trying because installation is more complicated, and cant switch mods on fly like you should be able to do

 

 

modding in FE is quite powerful, i agree, BUT limits are even bigger

for everything you can do there is something screwed it one way or another (ai being the biggest problem atm)

 

anyway it works so whoever loves it can just start practicing and see what happens

Reply #47 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting C0LDsteel, reply 46
Seems to me like patches would overwrite them.

 

But maybe not all of them, and that could cause issues if the changes you are making depends on several XML files.

Reply #48 from Elemental Forums Top

I guess I am comparing it mostly to Endless Space, which had much less support for any type of modding. I started a few projects for that, but there is just too little you can actually do. Still, add tripD8 says, it should be fixed soon. I hear Frogboy is going to be chatting with us modders next week or so about moving forward.

Reply #49 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting seanw3, reply 49
I hear Frogboy is going to be chatting with us modders next week or so about moving forward.

Now THAT is really good news.

Reply #50 from Elemental Forums Top

Anyone know of a free office-like program to open this editor in, my current version of Microsoft office 10 (the free version) can't open it, and I am terribly poor, so I don't invest money in a program just to open 1 file.

TY in advance.

If not, I think Derek should work to have a similar feature implemented in the FE workshop :)

Sincerely
~ Kongdej