Adding Races

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srmclark
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Adding Races

Post by srmclark »

I was attempting to add a new race to Legends, but I'm not sure how to do it. The customization guide is not up to date. I really want to add a Roman Empire-like race, kind of like the "Tour of the Merrimack" series, Palatine Empire.

Thanks for the help.
srmclark
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RE: Adding Races

Post by srmclark »

Disregard, I see now they have released a customization guide for legends.
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Nedrear
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Nedrear »

It IS up to date.
 
1) Copy a race file out of the order
2) Give the .txt the name of your new race.
3) Edit the race textfile with the data you want
4) Put it into your race folder
5) Copy a policy text and switch the name like above and put your wanted setting inside, put it back like the other
6) Do the same for the character file
7) Edit the Bias file and add your race and their natural relations
8) Now you should see them ingame
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srmclark
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RE: Adding Races

Post by srmclark »

Okay, I did all of that. However, when I start the game now, it simply says "Distant Worlds has stopped working.." and shuts down. Does not even load the game.
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Nedrear
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Nedrear »

You do that in the customization file and NOT the main file. Then you change the Theme INGAME. You could at least have looked at the modding guide.
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the1sean
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RE: Adding Races

Post by the1sean »

ORIGINAL: Nedrear

You do that in the customization file and NOT the main file. Then you change the Theme INGAME. You could at least have looked at the modding guide.
You could at least be civil.
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Nedrear
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Nedrear »

I only mentioned - in a short precise term -, that the right path with a picture for the mod is shown in the guide he himself declared as found while my old post kicked in. After that he should have at least looked at it as to know where to mod.
Furthermore I guess we both have different terms of civil. I did not call him names in these events, only pointing out a seemingly flaw. Why I think the flaw might be correct? He did not prove the assumption wrong by adding "the game did not start before the modding either". Therefore he clearly modded at the wrong place. Based on that he missed to read the guide he found before, I set as a main guideline while following my steps.
Tell me where I missed beeing civil? If you mean the BIG LETTERS, they are my personal way of emphasizing parts of a sentence to increase their importance. Telling him that way he is in the wrong place and where to activate the mods is correct. In my eyes that is furthermore not uncivil.
So please contribute to the thread and stop criticizing my NEUTRAL ways of talking and analyzing. They are no attack on any code of conduct.
 
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Evrett
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Evrett »

Um ya..I'm having problems with this too..there is a lot unclear not only in the manual but in your instructions.

1) when you say race folder I'm assuming you mean the subfolder in my <customracename> folder. Is it called "race" or "races"? Should it include all the standard races as well or just my custom one?
2) Same with policy. I made a subfolder called "Policy" and copied a policy in there. Does it need the rest of the races too?
3) The character file is very confusing. The manual calls it "optionally a set of predetermined charecters" but includes it in the 3 files you must have. Its not really clear what this is used for..are these the randomly generated characters? I dont want to mod those so I put in a copy of another races.
4) There are a bunch of folders and files with differing capitaliztion. Does that matter ?
5) what does the race picture get named and what does it mean by "index"
6) The biases file isnt required by the manual..is it necessary ?

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Nedrear
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Nedrear »

I'll write you a detailed mod guide after I took some sleep. I will put out the Pangalactic Commonwealth now and stop.
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Shark7
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Shark7 »

ORIGINAL: Evrett

Um ya..I'm having problems with this too..there is a lot unclear not only in the manual but in your instructions.

1) when you say race folder I'm assuming you mean the subfolder in my <customracename> folder. Is it called "race" or "races"? Should it include all the standard races as well or just my custom one?
2) Same with policy. I made a subfolder called "Policy" and copied a policy in there. Does it need the rest of the races too?
3) The character file is very confusing. The manual calls it "optionally a set of predetermined charecters" but includes it in the 3 files you must have. Its not really clear what this is used for..are these the randomly generated characters? I dont want to mod those so I put in a copy of another races.
4) There are a bunch of folders and files with differing capitaliztion. Does that matter ?
5) what does the race picture get named and what does it mean by "index"
6) The biases file isnt required by the manual..is it necessary ?


I'm going to post a screen shot of the the theme folder I am currently working in. Sometimes it is easier to show than to explain. AFAIK I have the theme folder structure done correctly. Just ignore the path, as this is my working folder, not the game ready folder, however, everything is as it should be in the folder.

#1 See the picture I am embedding, but yes you will have subfolders in your theme folder.

#2 You need only include policy files for those races you add or those whose policies you wish to change. In my theme folder I have simply copied over all the policy files...it is redundant however, only necessary if you make changes or add a new race (as best I can tell).

As to #3, as far as I can tell, you will have to define a set of characters for an added race, as the game has nothing hardcoded to tell it to generate random characters for an added race.

#4 Always a good idea to follow the form the coder used, it probably won't matter, but if it does you can save yourself a lot of heart burn in the end if you mimic what the coder did.

#5 Race pictures shoudl be named Race_XX and Race_XXa where XX is the appropriate number for the race you are adding. With the new system you specify this. Races already in game are numbered 0-21, so if you add races you pictures should start at Race_22, and in the race file you create your will point it to 22 here: 'Picture index: index of picture used for this race from race pictures contained in Images\units\races\ folder or Customization\YourTheme\raceImages\ folder
PictureIndex ;22


#6 Biases file is fairly easy, and I would include it to better define how you want the various races to react.

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Evrett
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Evrett »

hmm the charecter part looks like 10x as much work as the rest..do you happen to know how many characters needs to be added? Will it create no random charecters at all for this race ?

I'm getting an error in my biases file after I added my race saying there are more biases than races..I'm not seeing an error and the location given isnt anywhere near my added parts..can biases be left out ?
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Nedrear
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Nedrear »

It will create all characters, though as a starting game character there only will be a leader and the spies. The others are spawning later. Therefore if an ambassador at start is wanted, put him in yourself.
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RE: Adding Races

Post by tjhkkr »

I'm going to post a screen shot of the the theme folder I am currently working in. Sometimes it is easier to show than to explain. AFAIK I have the theme folder structure done correctly. Just ignore the path, as this is my working folder, not the game ready folder, however, everything is as it should be in the folder.
#1 See the picture I am embedding, but yes you will have subfolders in your theme folder.
#2 You need only include policy files for those races you add or those whose policies you wish to change. In my theme folder I have simply copied over all the policy files...it is redundant however, only necessary if you make changes or add a new race (as best I can tell).
As to #3, as far as I can tell, you will have to define a set of characters for an added race, as the game has nothing hardcoded to tell it to generate random characters for an added race.
#4 Always a good idea to follow the form the coder used, it probably won't matter, but if it does you can save yourself a lot of heart burn in the end if you mimic what the coder did.
Listen to what he says about this
#5 Race pictures shoudl be named Race_XX and Race_XXa where XX is the appropriate number for the race you are adding. With the new system you specify this. Races already in game are numbered 0-21, so if you add races you pictures should start at Race_22, and in the race file you create your will point it to 22 here: 'Picture index: index of picture used for this race from race pictures contained in Images\units\races\ folder or Customization\YourTheme\raceImages\ folder
PictureIndex ;22
#6 Biases file is fairly easy, and I would include it to better define how you want the various races to react.


Nice piece of work here.
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Evrett
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Evrett »

What does "more bias values than races in line 12" mean? I get this error when I try and load my custom race. I have an unmodified biases file in the DW root and none in the theme pack. Loading the normal game without the theme works fine. Adding a modified bias file with my race as 22 has the same crash.
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Nedrear
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Nedrear »

You really don't need two threads for this:
&nbsp;
In your race text file it asks at the top for a race name. If you edit an existing race, than change your name there and in the bias at there place.
If you add a race, do the same, but don't edit the race in the bias, but instead add it below. After that add one number to all biases for your new race (1,2,3...21 now + 22) and to your race as well.
And yes modded races NEED a bias file in the theme folder.
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Evrett
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Evrett »

ORIGINAL: Evrett

Adding a modified bias file with my race as 22 has the same crash.
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Nedrear
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Nedrear »

Well clearly you did not follow my instructions. Your race file IF OPENED, got a line with a race name. The exact same needs to be in the bias. Furthermore, if you add a race, you get a 22x22&nbsp;matrix instead of a 21x21 matrix. Therefore you have to add a 22 at the end of the line above the bias and afterwards the bias towards your race of the others vertical below. Your main race needs these 22 numbers afterwards in its own column too. Maybe you got the spaces or colons wrong... or missed the whole "add a new bias line for race 22 vertical" part.
Furthermore the policy textfile name, the race textfile name and all the others need to be the same. Only difference: The whole name of the policy file is written in big letters at the start of a word.
&nbsp;
E.g. Republic Of Sparta / republic of sparta - I simply follow the instructions of the Programmer here to be safe
&nbsp;
The bias and race ingame name does NOT need to be the same as the textfiles. They are NOT connected. The three textfiles are connected between each other, and the bias is connected with the small answer in the second part of the race textfile.
&nbsp;
I added dozens of races... therefore this way is absolutely correct.
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Evrett
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Evrett »

I followed your instructions and still get the error. The bias file has the changes to the matrix, but with or without the bias file I still get the same error. &nbsp;
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Nedrear
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Nedrear »

Did you add all the race to the race folder? The bias file asks all that are noted and when it say "I got Ackdarians" but he got no race file he is pissed.
On the other hand if you say "I give the game Polish" and don't add same in the bias the game gets pissed "where the hell is my bias!"
If you add a race and put in the bias file another name than in the second column of the race file the bias gets pissed, as it can not dicern the target.

You know Screenshots of YOUR files - the three files names, the second column of the race file as the race name and an overall picture of the bias - would help.
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Evrett
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RE: Adding Races

Post by Evrett »

Fixed it.. there is an format error in my original bias file that has the first two and the last two columns out of whack..I was keeping to that format but when I got rid of it in my custom bias everything worked. Should I correct it in the bias that came with the game?&nbsp;
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