EU: Armor Initialization Mod, DIY, etc

[JDDysart]

My appoligies for allowing "Real Life" to interfere with my modding ...

 

Having noticed that someone has adapted my 'work in progress' on the wiki : Armor Initialization to a DIY snippet, and as I am now at the point where I require the help of others in testing this mod, I have dumped the PatcherGUI text info on the (above) linked wiki page, where it can be copied (for paste-ing purposes).

 

Please Note:

• designed to be installed (and uninstalled?) by PatcherGUI.
• I did go ahead and include additional functionality, including (but not limited to) initializing the stated armors for the 'psi' property as well as the 'grapple' property.
  • please be careful with the 'psi' property - as initial testing indicates that armors with the 'psi' property can only be equipped by troops with the 'psi' gift.

 

NOW: if I can figure out how to do it, I intend to upload said file to the nexus mods section; any pointers on requirements, how to do this, etc would be appreciated.

• Just where does one find original images for use in publishing a mod on the nexus site?
• It appears only one image is required? yet both indicate they are optional?
• and for those of us that don't YouTube, how can we include a REQUIRED(?) YouTube video?

 

 

RE: DIY snippets

• I did not see anything in these about key-bindings, the exec (bindings) command, and console commands.
• Maybe an example of a key-binding to an exec command that executes console commands in a "BaseCommands.txt" file?

• Maybe an example of a key-binding to an exec command that executes console commands in a "MissionCommands.txt" file?

If needed I could give some info on how to implement givemoney, giveitem, givepsixp, givetech, givexp and a few other console commands in these text files.

 

What I find so interesting about these text files is that you can change what is in them while the game is running, unlike an embedded key-binding that requires restarting the game to get any changes to be recognized.

Edited February 10, 2018 by JDDysart

[dubiousintent]

Re uploading a mod to Nexus: Tutorial written for Skyrim should be pretty universal with obvious changes for specific game. It's on Nexus, but as the author suggests using the HTML version, that's what I linked.

An alternate, shorter version is the wiki "How to upload mods" article.

Re Original images: You can use screenshot from the game, as long as you are the one who took them, or you use those posted by others with their explicit permission. When in doubt, see the "Terms of Service".

Re REQUIRED: That setting is for other (linking) mods/plugins that are essential for your mod to work correctly. A video does not fall into that category, as it can only be describing how to install or use your mod. Your best bet if you feel it is essential people use it for your documentation is to provide that explanation and link it prominently in your description (as well as under the "Video" tab). However, bear in mind that:

1) not everyone likes or can even watch some videos: e.g. medical conditions; a different native language (is not easily translated from a video while it is from a text file);
2) A video is no substitute for written instructions which should be included in a "ReadMe" file. That link not only explains that position but links to a "ReadMe Generator" program to help you create a "proper" file.
3) Most players do not want to read/view anything to get a mod installed. People (well, most of them) never RTFM. They assume all they need to do is install, and at most then add it in their mod manager to their current game settings. They will then turn around and complain your mod is "broken" and demand you fix it NOW. This is a "fact of life" for mod creators. Plan for it, and reduce your installation complexity upfront as much as possible.

To that end, learn how to properly package your mod. The most common mistake is that people misunderstand the part that goes:

go back into the root of the folder so that the address bar once again shows C:\MyMod and then select all the files (.esp & .txt) and folders (meshes & textures) and right-click on them

You are NOT supposed to select the folder C:\MyMod. You are supposed to select all the files (and any sub-folders) under that folder. If you select the folder itself, then the package gets created with that folder name as the top level in the archive, and every "mod manager" will treat it as a new folder under the "Data" folder. The files will not get placed in the correct locations; they will be buried one level down and never seen by the game engine.

Re key-binding: Did you see the separate "Keybind Commands" wiki article? The "How to DIY common mod solutions" article (presumably what you mean by "DIY snippet") is intended only for "short, quick and easy to understand" tweaks. Most are just editing the proper values in the DGC.INI file. Those that require more explanation are in separate articles.

 

-Dubious-

[JDDysart]

Hello Dubious,

 

"MyMod" is (at least IMO) so simple a mod that I believe I got all that is really needed into a single .txt file that PatcherGUI can pick up and plop into place. And should it be desired to uninstall "MyMod" PatcherGUI provides that functionality, as well as the ".ini loading" and "disable hash checking" tools. IMO, being so simple, is what got it included in the "How to DIY common mod solutions" article; packaging it just reduces the chances of getting 'MemSize' issues (as mentioned in said DIY article).

 

I do plan to link to the Armor Initialization Modding XCOM:EU 2012 article on the wiki, In the online/publication documentation (just to give any manual readers something to read).

Did you see the new content I added in the "file changes" section of said wiki article?

 

On to Key-Bindings:

Yes!! I did see the Keybind Commands (and the Console Commands) articles on Nexus's XCOM:EU wiki.

 

Personal testing has shown that with two simple Key-Bindings one can interactively choose which Console Commands to use while playing XCOM:EU 2012. (I expect it wouldn't be much different for EW, but then I haven't played that much EW.)

 

Simple Examples:

For XCOM:EU 2012 a couple of additions to the "<Steam>\SteamApps\Common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown\XComGame\Config\DefaultInput.ini" file -

[Engine.PlayerInput]

.Bindings=(Name="B", Command="exec NeedBaseResources.txt", Control=True)

 

[XComGame.XComTacticalInput]

.Bindings=(Name="T", Command="exec HelpASoldier.txt", Control=True)

 

Referencing the files:

• "<Steam>\SteamApps\Common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown\Binaries\NeedBaseResources.txt"
• "<Steam>\SteamApps\Common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown\Binaries\HelpASoldier.txt"

These files can contain Console Commands, said files may be edited while the XCOM:EU game is running, and Ctrl-B (on a base screen) or Ctrl-T (on a mission screen) will cause said Console Commands to be executed.

 

I kind of like the Console Commands:

• GivePsiGift
• ResetUnitMovement
• GiveCash 100
• GiveResource Money 500
• GiveResource Engineers 10
• GiveItem SectoidCommanderCaptive 1
• GiveTech Armor_Skeleton

  please notice that you may have to change focus (move between base rooms or cycle through your squad) to actually see the results of these Console Commands

Please see the wiki for more Console Commands.

 

To me, this seems to be simple enough to put into the referenced DIY article,

 

~JDDysart

Edited February 11, 2018 by JDDysart

[dubiousintent]

Now I'm confused. At first I thought you were asking for help in uploading your "Armor Initialization" mod. But now it seems you are asking to add it to the "DIY" article?

 

Why don't you write up what you think would make a good "DIY" entry. I can't stop you from adding it, but I'm willing to critique it and offer suggestions on how it might be made more suitable to the intent of that article; and then help with the Wiki markup. (Though I tend to feel proprietary about the wiki because I wrote/posted so much of it, it's not under my personal control. Anyone can add to or edit the articles. There is a "version control" system, so revisions can be reversed if deemed necessary.)

 

Just mark out the DIY entry from the rest of your post so we are clear on what text you are proposing.

 

-Dubious-

Edited February 13, 2018 by dubiousintent

[JDDysart]

Sorry to have confused you, Dubious.

 

I was asking for assistance with getting the mod that I'm writing up in the Armor Initialization Modding XCOM:EU 2012 wiki article; having noticed that someone had placed a part of that in the aforementioned DIY wiki article.

 

BTW the FuncArmorInitEU mod should now be available amongst Nexis' XCOM:EU mods. YES! I finally got this mod to the point where it is ready for others to see if they can use it!

 

----

 

Then, having read through the current revision of the DIY article, I got to thinking (which usually gets me into trouble, thinking that is) about how useful I am finding the two mentioned key-bindings to text files for an on-the-fly way of interactively executing Console Commands? And I was wondering why that had not already made it into the easy enough for most to do section of the DIY article?

 

----

 

Is it just my imagination? or might I be falling into a pattern of coming up with "support mods"?

• Functional Armor Initialization EU still requires one to mod an .ini file to get a benefit from ti?
• And binding files with Console Commands to Keys still requires one to select and place Console Commands into said files?

 

~ JDDysart

[dubiousintent]

Aha. Now I understand.

 

Re: the DIY article suggestion. Just those two key bindings are reasonable for that article, but what is still needed are examples (with comments) of the ".txt" files you are binding to illustrate their value to the player. (I have not been directly involved in the game for over 4 years now, so I would not trust myself to do it properly.) But I can put it into the article for you if you will provide the content.

 

Re: Functional Armor Initialization EU still requires one to mod an .ini file to get a benefit from it?

Answer is "yes". With XCOM:EU/EW everything is still either an edit to an INI file, or a code hack to the executable. (There are a couple of exceptions, but they require you to learn the Unreal game engine development kit.) The "UPK Utils/Nexus link" (aka "PatcherGUI") tool kit is the mechanism the community came up with to make those edits as simple to implement as possible.

 

The game engine simply did not provide direct support for mods. There is a "hook", but they never implemented it.

 

Re: Binding files with Console Commands to Keys still requires one to select and place Console Commands into said files?

Answer: Also "yes" as far as I know.

 

-Dubious-