New Races in the Expansion and the races txt file

[Simulation01]

I realize that two new races were announced...one being the Shakturi and another, however there was also an announcement that the number of families available would increase to 22 I believe. My question really is...could this indicate that more than two additional races were added....or does this simply mean that we can now add even more portraits and family's without it causing problems for the game ( if so is the naming convention the same ). What I'm getting at is that right now there is a txt document ( races ) that lays out all the rules for each race and family....will all 22 available family's come pre-built ( ie new races or placeholders ) or will we simply have the ability now to add lines of 'races' into the races txt file.

Basically...are there more than two new races in the expansion and/or how does the races txt file now allow us to add more entry's.

Forgive me if this question seems....well....dense of me, but I would like clarity of thought on this.

[oxenshtrudel]

There should be no limit to the number of races you can put in the races.txt file. Must have at least 20, but no upper limit.

[Simulation01]

ORIGINAL: oxenshtrudel

There should be no limit to the number of races you can put in the races.txt file. Must have at least 20, but no upper limit.

It was my understanding that you could only modify what was already in the txt file...not add whole new entry's ( in the original DW ). Are you saying this is not so?

[Igard]

ORIGINAL: Simulation01

ORIGINAL: oxenshtrudel

There should be no limit to the number of races you can put in the races.txt file. Must have at least 20, but no upper limit.

It was my understanding that you could only modify what was already in the txt file...not add whole new entry's ( in the original DW ). Are you saying this is not so?

It certainly sounds like they've added another nice new feature. I guess we'll find out soon enough...

[Spacecadet]

Their is a limit of 22 ship families, as this is graphic intensive and can/will cause memory issues.

There is theoretically no limit to the number of races from what I understand.
I don't know about the graphical depictions of them though.

[oxenshtrudel]

ORIGINAL: Simulation01

ORIGINAL: oxenshtrudel

There should be no limit to the number of races you can put in the races.txt file. Must have at least 20, but no upper limit.

It was my understanding that you could only modify what was already in the txt file...not add whole new entry's ( in the original DW ). Are you saying this is not so?

I'm talking about the expansion races.txt. Don't know about the limitiations of original DW.

[Simulation01]

ORIGINAL: oxenshtrudel

ORIGINAL: Simulation01

ORIGINAL: oxenshtrudel

There should be no limit to the number of races you can put in the races.txt file. Must have at least 20, but no upper limit.

It was my understanding that you could only modify what was already in the txt file...not add whole new entry's ( in the original DW ). Are you saying this is not so?

I'm talking about the expansion races.txt. Don't know about the limitiations of original DW.

So, you've played and modified the expansion?

[oxenshtrudel]

I'm a beta-tester and a similar question was asked recently in the beta so I think this is still valid for the final release.

[Simulation01]

ORIGINAL: oxenshtrudel

Must have at least 20, but no upper limit.

So, the expansion comes with 20 race entries in the races txt file? So.....this means there are more races that have been added by the developers?

Never mind that...lol...there are twenty there already. But is there a new ship family for each race now that comes with the expansion? Has Codeforce created more ships?

[ehsumrell1]

Simulation01;

To clarify, there are a total of 22 races in the races file in the expansion. The 20 original
races plus the 2 new races. There are ten ship families in the expansion. The 8 from the
original plus the ship families for the 2 new, added races. In addition, a fighter and bomber
image file was added for each existing ship family.

Mod-wise, 12 more ship families (for a total of 22)can be added (ie. family13, family14, etc.).
You must create/supply the shipsets for each individual ship family. Otherwise, like in the
original, the additional races you add without a shipset will revert to using the shipset in
the ship family1 directory. With that said, you can add as many races to the races text file
as you please. There is no upper limit. But note that more that 22 ship families will crash the
game. In addition, if you place shipsets in the additional ship families you create from 13 up
to 22, your loading times WILL increase and the game speed will be dependent on the strength of
your system. I have tested this with 22 ship family games and it does work (it's a blast!)
Finally remember that this has to be done as a theme via the customization folder like any
previous mod. I'm sure that Elliot will post more in the modding forum and I'm certain that the
customization guide will be updated soon.

[Simulation01]

ORIGINAL: ehsumrell1

Simulation01;

To clarify, there are a total of 22 races in the races file in the expansion. The 20 original
races plus the 2 new races. There are ten ship families in the expansion. The 8 from the
original plus the ship families for the 2 new, added races. In addition, a fighter and bomber
image file was added for each existing ship family.

Mod-wise, 12 more ship families (for a total of 22)can be added (ie. family13, family14, etc.).
You must create/supply the shipsets for each individual ship family. Otherwise, like in the
original, the additional races you add without a shipset will revert to using the shipset in
the ship family1 directory. With that said, you can add as many races to the races text file
as you please. There is no upper limit. But note that more that 22 ship families will crash the
game. In addition, if you place shipsets in the additional ship families you create from 13 up
to 22, your loading times WILL increase and the game speed will be dependent on the strength of
your system. I have tested this with 22 ship family games and it does work (it's a blast!)
Finally remember that this has to be done as a theme via the customization folder like any
previous mod. I'm sure that Elliot will post more in the modding forum and I'm certain that the
customization guide will be updated soon.

Awesome! Thanks for the explanation!

So, you've tested the expansion with 22 unique ship family's? What was the effect on the game's performance other than loading time and what....excuse me....are the specs on your machine?

[ehsumrell1]

ORIGINAL: Simulation01

So, you've tested the expansion with 22 unique ship family's? What was the effect on the game's performance other than loading time and what....excuse me....are the specs on your machine?

Game start loading time increased by around 30% to about 5 minutes. My system specs are Pentium IV
single core processor, 4 Gigs ram (3Gb usable), running Windows XP SP3 with .NET Framework 4, DirectX 9.0c Nvidia 64mb Video card and Windows Media player 11. {Can't wait 'til Xmas...upgrading motherboard to a dual-core processor [:D] )

One other thing, you must remember to match the races you add with a designs picture number in the
races file so they match up with the correct shipsets. Hope this helps!

[Simulation01]

ORIGINAL: ehsumrell1

ORIGINAL: Simulation01

So, you've tested the expansion with 22 unique ship family's? What was the effect on the game's performance other than loading time and what....excuse me....are the specs on your machine?

Game start loading time increased by around 30% to about 5 minutes. My system specs are Pentium IV
single core processor, 4 Gigs ram (3Gb usable), running Windows XP SP3 with .NET Framework 4, DirectX 9.0c Nvidia 64mb Video card and Windows Media player 11. {Can't wait 'til Xmas...upgrading motherboard to a dual-core processor [:D] )

One other thing, you must remember to match the races you add with a designs picture number in the
races file so they match up with the correct shipsets. Hope this helps!

I think I'll be ok. Thanks! Now, all you have to do is get me a copy of the expansion and we'll be best friends for life! [:D][;)]

[ehsumrell1]

Send Matrix Games $19.95 and you'll never regret it! [:)]

[Simulation01]

I am getting an "outside the bounds of the array" error message.  I have 16 ship family's and I've added through race_26 race images.  Why could I be getting this error?  


Edit:

I got this error after I had loaded the theme....when I clicked to select my race.

[Igard]

It happens when you add more new race images after race_22, I think. I haven't tried this myself yet but there was  tech support thread about it and Elliot is aware of the error and will look into fixing it for the next update.

Here it is :-

tm.asp?m=2654140

[Simulation01]

ORIGINAL: Igard

It happens when you add more new race images after race_22, I think. I haven't tried this myself yet but there was  tech support thread about it and Elliot is aware of the error and will look into fixing it for the next update.

Here it is :-

tm.asp?m=2654140

sigh This went to the heart of what this whole thread was about...the ability to add more races/family's. Oh well...at least they are on it. Thanks Igard.

[ASHBERY76]

I tried 21 different ships images for the vanilla races and the game was very laggy with my decent system.I think I will revert back to 10.

[Simulation01]

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

I tried 21 different ships images for the vanilla races and the game was very laggy with my decent system.I think I will revert back to 10.

What are the specs on your system?