Modding details? Ask away!

[Amineri]

 

Ok. And how did you make the MSK? I tried making one and only got the stock of the model able to change colors but it's a very faint change and the patterns are almost transparent.

ors.

 

 

Well, the very short answer is that I didn't make the MSK, we had our artist JC Lewis make the MSK. There are a lot of tools around for painting 3D objects, and I'm not actually sure what he used.

[Amineri]

I know you have not answered my first question, but another thought.

Is it possible to mod start continent?

 

And one more, is it possible if a retaliation mission is let say in Russia, that the game search for Russian names, Instead of John Scott, I know John might have fled to Russia, or where there on a vacation. But still like say 90% of the names come from that region.

 

It probably is possible, but in the base game your starting location is randomized. As are the links between regions. Are are the contintent bonuses. Really the only thing not randomized are the 16 regions -- their shape and location.

[Hammerstein2k11]

A couple of days ago I released my Hidden Potential mod on Steam, which re-creates a part of the Second Wave option. But all of a sudden is has stopped working after changing some lines and recompiling stuff and I have no idea why.

My Troubleshooting so far:

Fresh recompile

Remade it from scratch

Even used a fresh XCom install
Checked all SDK settings like the install path and such....

It's actually just a simple ini edit and I can't figure out what I did wrong here.

If I replace the XcomClassData.ini under Mygames>Xcom2>XcomGame>Config and make it read-only then it works in the game the way it should. But once I pack it into a mod, the game ignores the changes and loads the default values. No red screens during testing either (at least none regarding the mod).

http://i.imgur.com/NXMV8Qa.jpg

[Amineri]

What is the difference between the XCom*.ini files in My Documents\My Games\XCOM2\XComGame\Config\ and Default*.ini files in Steam\steamapps\commonXCOM 2\XComGame\Config ?

 

The "Default" versions are more like the "base" version that everything else is built from.

 

The "XCom" versions in the My Games folder are the versions that are built/updated when the game launches. These are built by merging the "Default" version with any "XCom" versions of mod files in DLC or mods (functionally, DLC and mods integrate into the game in the same way).

 

One very important thing to realize is that the versions in the My Games folder are rebuilt using file timestamp information. So, if a mod applies a delta file that removes/changes a line that was in the Default, if the mod is made inactive or even deleted, the versions in the My Games won't be updated (because timestamps haven't been changed). This will result in inactive/delete mods "leaking" into cases where they shouldn't.

 

Firaxis is aware of this issue. The current workaround is to delete the config files in the My Games folder to force the game to rebuild them. This will be necessary when removing or not using a mod that makes adjustements to the Default configurations. This is actually a common problem in Unreal Engine 3, and was something that often had to be done with Long War for EU and EW.

[Amineri]

A couple of days ago I released my Hidden Potential mod on Steam, which re-creates a part of the Second Wave option. But all of a sudden is has stopped working after changing some lines and recompiling stuff and I have no idea why.

 

My Troubleshooting so far:

 

Fresh recompile

Remade it from scratch

Even used a fresh XCom install

Checked all SDK settings like the install path and such....

 

It's actually just a simple ini edit and I can't figure out what I did wrong here.

 

If I replace the XcomClassData.ini under Mygames>Xcom2>XcomGame>Config and make it read-only then it works in the game the way it should. But once I pack it into a mod, the game ignores the changes and loads the default values. No red screens during testing either (at least none regarding the mod).

 

Looking at your mod ini file, it looks like you are treating it as if it were a replacement for the Default version, but that's not how Unreal Engine 3 handles config files -- and for good reason. If it were simple replacement, then only one mod/DLC could make changes to a particular config file.

 

Instead, it is a merging process. There are "command prefixes" that allow adding lines to and deleting lines from the Default version.

 

From the Epic documentation page :

 

• + - Adds a line if that property doesn't exist yet (from a previous configuration file or earlier in the same configuration file).
• - - Removes a line (but it has to be an exact match).
• . - Adds a new property.
• ! - Removes a property; but you don't have to have an exact match, just the name of the property.

 

The full page is here : https://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ConfigurationFiles.html

[cwingnam]

 

What is the difference between the XCom*.ini files in My Documents\My Games\XCOM2\XComGame\Config\ and Default*.ini files in Steam\steamapps\commonXCOM 2\XComGame\Config ?

 

The "Default" versions are more like the "base" version that everything else is built from.

 

The "XCom" versions in the My Games folder are the versions that are built/updated when the game launches. These are built by merging the "Default" version with any "XCom" versions of mod files in DLC or mods (functionally, DLC and mods integrate into the game in the same way).

 

One very important thing to realize is that the versions in the My Games folder are rebuilt using file timestamp information. So, if a mod applies a delta file that removes/changes a line that was in the Default, if the mod is made inactive or even deleted, the versions in the My Games won't be updated (because timestamps haven't been changed). This will result in inactive/delete mods "leaking" into cases where they shouldn't.

 

Firaxis is aware of this issue. The current workaround is to delete the config files in the My Games folder to force the game to rebuild them. This will be necessary when removing or not using a mod that makes adjustements to the Default configurations. This is actually a common problem in Unreal Engine 3, and was something that often had to be done with Long War for EU and EW.

 

 

I can see that some of the value is changed accordingly to the XCom*.ini

 

However, I would like to ask if it is intentional that some of the changes to ini is in effect in the game but the corresponding value in the ini is not changed at all?

[Paulimposteur]

Hey Amineri, I'm grateful that you're such a huge help. My issue is less of coding and a curiosity on packing using the tool-kit.

 

I designed some textures to replace the games default ones, and repackaged the UPKs.

 

For example, HumanShared.upk contains some texture files in the base game. I decided to change these textures with photo editing software. I then saved the new UPK and exported it.

 

When I add this UPK to the mod into the content folder, it doesn't seem to over-ride the game.

 

TLDR; How do I make my mods UPK over-ride the games default files?

 

Thanks a bunch!

[2much4l1]

A couple of days ago I released my Hidden Potential mod on Steam, which re-creates a part of the Second Wave option. But all of a sudden is has stopped working after changing some lines and recompiling stuff and I have no idea why.

 

My Troubleshooting so far:

 

Fresh recompile

Remade it from scratch

Even used a fresh XCom install

Checked all SDK settings like the install path and such....

 

It's actually just a simple ini edit and I can't figure out what I did wrong here.

 

If I replace the XcomClassData.ini under Mygames>Xcom2>XcomGame>Config and make it read-only then it works in the game the way it should. But once I pack it into a mod, the game ignores the changes and loads the default values. No red screens during testing either (at least none regarding the mod).

 

http://i.imgur.com/NXMV8Qa.jpg

In the defaultclassdata.ini try adding a ";" in front of all the the lines you're changing. Might allow your xcomclassdata.ini edits to stick.

[SakuraKoi]

Well, I got kinda curious since I stumbled upon the lines and thought how nice it might be to always fight at e.g night. First I tried to set all time of the day to night, in vain, then I tried to do the very same with the weather and set it to rain only, however that's also in vain...

 

so my first attempt was to change these line in GameData.ini,

GenericTimeOfDayMaps=(MapName="EnvLighting_Sunrise_AVG", eTimeOfDay=eTimeOfDay_Dawn)
GenericTimeOfDayMaps=(MapName="EnvLighting_Day_AVG", eTimeOfDay=eTimeOfDay_Noon)
GenericTimeOfDayMaps=(MapName="EnvLighting_Sunset_AVG", eTimeOfDay=eTimeofDay_Sunset)
GenericTimeOfDayMaps=(MapName="EnvLighting_Sunset_AVG", eTimeOfDay=eTimeOfDay_Dusk)
GenericTimeOfDayMaps=(MapName="EnvLighting_NatureNight_AVG", eTimeOfDay=eTimeOfDay_Night) 

setting all MapName to the one containing NatureNight, then I tried to set all the TimeOfDay to the one containing Night. That was in vain so I searched some further and obviously my next stop was the Maps.ini which has loads of lines like these:

arrEnvironmentLightingDefs=(MapName="EnvLighting_Vortex", eEnvLighting[0]=eEnvLighting_Day,      eTimeOfDay=eTimeOfDay_Dusk, eMood=eMood_Normal, eWeatherCondition=eWeatherType_Clear,      arrPlotTypes[0]="CityCenter", arrPlotTypes[1]="Slums")

I did not change all MapName but tried to EnvLighting to the one with Night, then the TimeOfDay to Night and finally just tried to set all WeatherCondition to Rain.

 

The method I used for testing was to play the first non-tutorial mission where it indeed sometimes rains (hence why I thought at least that would work...) and in an existing old save I loaded the same mission which was already generate but not it's map besides of the type (maybe I'm wrong there? But the time varied still, from dawn/day or day/dusk...). Any pointers would be appreciated.

[ludna]

I have a beginner's question.

I'm reasonable experienced in OOP, mainly C++ and Python. I never worked with Unreal before.

I'm very confused by the term "template". E.g. in the add weapon example they call it a template, but it seems all hard coded. Also the line

local array<X2DataTemplate> ModWeapons;

 

I don't get. It looks like a C++ code generation class template, but actually the class name X2Item_ModExample_Weapon is always used.

I looked also in the X2Item_DefaultWeapons.uc and was even more confused. Now there is not a a single weapon but the entire class holds a list or array of weapons and all properties are set hard coded but the default ini values.

So, is template class just a term or is there something more behind it. Maybe this is a unreal thing, so it would very kind to offer a link, the official online unreal documentation is rather sparse.

 

Thanks