Finding the first step?

[zowrath]

I haven't got the game yet, have to wait two more days, but since it seems one has to edit the .exe anyway isn't it possible to find the switch in the .exe file that overrides the reading of a loose .ini file? If in the demo it could read a loose .ini file there must now be a check in the .exe to disallow this I would reckon.

 

Personally I don't like the idea of most mods being based on a .exe hack, and there is bound to be people exploiting this with malware as well. Wish Firaxis/2K comes to their senses and let us mod the game in the "normal way".

[Beknatok]

Personally I don't like the idea of most mods being based on a .exe hack, and there is bound to be people exploiting this with malware as well. Wish Firaxis/2K comes to their senses and let us mod the game in the "normal way".

 

Don't presume that "most mods" will be based on an .exe hack. It really depends on what "type" of mod and what you want to change.

 

Only the contents of 3 .ini files are buried. Other things, like graphical related mods (skins), should still be possible. I've found no evidence (yet) indicating that the .ini files associated to the various graphical elements have been cooked/hidden away.

[Beknatok]

I think I'm going to go back and reinstall the demo. We know in the demo, that the actual GameCore.ini file was being used. I need to see how it is referenced/inherited in the other ini files. This might allow us to adjust the current ini files, to use the local copy instead of the cooked one.

I had same idea today and I have already checked this and other ini files. There are 5 blocks, which are different between demo and release in this file as I remember, and that piece is the same, so you can save your time.

 

Gotcha - thanks for confirming that. Part of me is still curious to compare & contrast all of the .ini files... if nothing else, but just to learn a bit more about them.

[ape705]

HI there, just thought I'd share a bit of info from one of the pre-release videos.

 

The developers stated that they had a system to quickly re-balance the multiplayer as often as was needed, without the need for patching.

Maybe this is why the game is contacting the external IP looking for new XComGameCore.ini versions, as detailed in an earlier post.

 

If I can find the video in question again, I'll edit it in.

Edited October 10, 2012 by ape705

[Beknatok]

HI there, just thought I'd share a bit of info from one of the pre-release videos.

 

The developers stated that they had a system to quickly re-balance the multiplayer as often as was needed, without the need for patching.

Maybe this is why the game is contacting the external IP looking for new XComGameCore.ini versions, as detailed in an earlier post.

 

If I can find the video in question again, I'll edit it in.

 

Great insight - thanks for sharing that!

[ape705]

Didn't find the relevant video, but it is mentioned in this interview:

 

vg247 interview

if we see everyone winning with X/Y/Z unit types, then we’d bump the unit cost up a little. If we can prove why that’s tactical and fair, we can adjust that. We can even do it without a patch too, and change things dynamically when we want.

Edited October 10, 2012 by ape705

[KristmasKthulhu]

Well, I managed to get a change in the DefaultEngine.ini to affect the game. I was trying to get rid of the closeups on packs of enemies when you first make contact, and tried commenting out what I thought might be the lines which cause that, along with the startup screens for Firaxis, 2k games, etc. Commenting alone didn't do anything, so I tried replacing the + on the start of the line with a -, and just like that, the startup screens no longer show up. The enemy zoom-in still happens, so I'm working on that, but hey it's a start.

[MadMonkey119]

Well, I managed to get a change in the DefaultEngine.ini to affect the game. I was trying to get rid of the closeups on packs of enemies when you first make contact, and tried commenting out what I thought might be the lines which cause that, along with the startup screens for Firaxis, 2k games, etc. Commenting alone didn't do anything, so I tried replacing the + on the start of the line with a -, and just like that, the startup screens no longer show up. The enemy zoom-in still happens, so I'm working on that, but hey it's a start.

 

I was trying something similar.

 

Editing XComEngine.Ini and setting everything to do with glam cam (which I assume is that stupid video that plays when you encounter aliens)to ;- from +. No changes.

[cantwaitcantwaitcantwait]

Here is a way how to mod this game.

 

Full copy of file "DefaultGameCore.ini" is stored inside executable file ...Binaries\Win32\XComGame.exe and game uses it instead of one in folder ...\XComGame\Config\

You need to use resource editor over XComGame.exe in order to modify DefaultGameCore. You need to look inside RCData section for resource 1020, which uses language 1033.

 

As for test I modified this line:

 

BalanceMods_Normal=(eType=eChar_Soldier,			iDamage=0, iCritHit=0,iAim=0,iDefense=0,iHP=5, iMobility=0,iWill=0)

 

Now I have 11 HP for all my soldiers. So such modding approach works, though it is not easy.

 

I use freeware Resource Hacker for editing resources. First you need to save 1020 resource in plain txt file. Then modify it. Then replace using such parameters:

 

Type: RCData
Name: 1020
Language: 1033

And finally save file.

 

I hope it will satisfy your needs for a start.

 

If you get a chance, can you try something for me? Do the exact same edit, but for the BalanceMods_Classic case. I tried the above (in Classic by default) and it did nothing. Then I tried it in Normal and it worked. It's awfully strange that two different difficulty levels are handled in incompatible ways, but it'd be great to get confirmation of that, or an indication that I mucked something else up accidentally and that's now causing me problems. ;-)

 

Anyway, as a non-modder, thanks for all the info in here! You guys rock!

[atoric]

If you get a chance, can you try something for me? Do the exact same edit, but for the BalanceMods_Classic case. I tried the above (in Classic by default) and it did nothing. Then I tried it in Normal and it worked. It's awfully strange that two different difficulty levels are handled in incompatible ways, but it'd be great to get confirmation of that, or an indication that I mucked something else up accidentally and that's now causing me problems. ;-)

 

Anyway, as a non-modder, thanks for all the info in here! You guys rock!

It works for classic mode too, but it is not obvious, because classic difficulty in the game is handled by BalanceMods_Hard, and impossible is handled by BalanceMods_Classic. So, you need to change BalanceMods_Hard values, if you want to play classic game. Don't know what developers thought.