Need some help, new at modding Xcom

[leyasu]

Hi

 

I am interested in editing my XCOM game after completing it twice already. I would like to change the starting credits and change it so that all armors allow me to carry 2 items instead of 1 item but i have absolutely no clue where to start. I tried finding a guide to how to do this but to no avail.

 

Could a kind samaritan pls tell me how to do this? What mod do i need to edit? Which file should i edit etc.

 

Your assistance is greatly appreciated

 

regards

[Drakous79]

You need to edit DefaultGameCore.ini and then patch it to XComGame.exe

 

Start by copying DefaultGameCore.ini from XCom-Enemy-UnknownXComGame\Config\ to XCom-Enemy-Unknown\Binaries\Win32\DefaultGameCore.mod. This way you make sure to have the latest ini edited. Your game installation directory is probably at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown.

 

Edit changes in DefaultGameCore.mod, save it. Overview of what can be changed is in Compiled list of DefaultGameCore.ini settings and their funtions thread.

 

// Armors are listed at the top of the file. Change every armor iSmallItems=1 to iSmallItems=2
Armors=(ABILITIES[0]=eAbility_NONE,...,iType=eItem_ArmorKevlar,...,iSmallItems=1,...)

// Starting money
HQ_STARTING_MONEY = 100

// Base money you get each month. Easy / Normal / Classic / Impossible
BASE_FUNDING = 175
BASE_FUNDING = 175
BASE_FUNDING = 75
BASE_FUNDING = 50

Edit: Corrected code for money. Thanks FMod :)

 

Note the game has a behavior to automatically repair some modified files. To prevent it from happening, start Steam in offline mode or follow instructions for preventing phone home. I personally prefer editing hosts.

 

Next get the latest version of Modpatcher (0.12 currently). Extract patcher.bat and modpatcher.exe to XCom-Enemy-Unknown\Binaries\Win32\, run patcher.bat and check changes in the game.

 

Reequip the armor, if it still has one slot. Also when taking Deep Pockets perk with support, I think all items in the second slot will be lost so unequip them first.

 

 

It is kind of complicated - just editing the ini could be enough. But we have to cope with how the game works and it acts mod unfriendly so far.

 

Great example how mod friendly looks like is editing DefaultEngine.ini within XCom-Enemy-Unknown\XComGame\Config\.

// Add these lines so you can click over starting logos. I like it his way, because without the movies the start seemed empty.
+SkippableMovies=Logo_2KFiraxis
+SkippableMovies=UE3TechLogo
+SkippableMovies=LogoLegal_PCConsole

Edited December 8, 2012 by Drakous79

[FMod]

I am interested in editing my XCOM game after completing it twice already. I would like to change the starting credits and change it so that all armors allow me to carry 2 items instead of 1 item but i have absolutely no clue where to start.

A mod to have two items on all armor is already included here: http://xcom.nexusmods.com/mods/80/

1. Unpack it into XCOM folder (steamapps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown)

2. Run Custom Mod Builder.lnk

3. In Mod Load Order, remove (select "none") mods that you don't want

4. Go to Apply Changes, use both options in order.

 

To edit starting credits, you can go to Create Mods and follow the steps.

Or just put another number instead of "100" in this line:

HQ_STARTING_MONEY = 100

Then save it as mod builder\mods\Money Mod.txt, repeat the steps above, but adding "Money Mod" anywhere in the load order.

 

edit: I think "Base_funding" is the amount of money you get per month, while starting_money is what you start with. You can add the four Base_funding lines to the line I quoted, change them to what you need.

 

( You still need to set Steam as offline or block its servers for this to work. )

Edited December 8, 2012 by FMod

[leyasu]

I tried both methods, but i can't seem to increase my starting credits. It always starts with 190 credits.

 

Is there any simple way to do it? Could it be possible to list out the steps step by step pls. Sigh this is quite confusing atm for me

 

Thanks and regards

[FMod]

These aren't exactly different methods, just different ways to do the same changes.

Does your armor now have two item slots?

 

I just went through four steps as described, then through adding starting money (100->500). It resulted in a file with all the changes that need to be there.

 

If you used the first way, you now have some of the needed files. You can take leyasu.txt attached, copy it to xcom\binaries\win32. Edit patcher.bat and replace defaultgamecore.mod with leyasu.txt. Run patcher.bat.

[leyasu]

This is what i did, perhaps I made a mistake in one of the steps. pls correct me if i did

 

1. Opened Defaultgamecore.ini in the steamapps/common/xcom-enemy-unknown/xcomegame/config with notepad

 

2. edited the HQ_starting_money to =9999

 

3. saved and copied the file to steamapps/common/xcom-enemy-unknown/Binaries/win32

 

4. renamed file to Defaultgamecore.mod

 

5. Downloaded Modpatcher 0.12 and copied all three files from it to the Binaries/win32 folder

 

6. Ran the Patcher.Bat

 

7. Ran the modpatcher application

 

8. Edited the Defaultgamecore.ini file in the Binaries/win32 folder to HQ_starting_money=9999

 

9. turned steam to offline mode.

 

10. Ran XCOM game. I had a game at the first mission just before i got to the Base for the first time but my credits is still 190 at the start

 

 

Pls advise what i am doing wrong

 

Regards

[Drakous79]

Step 1 is kind of wrong, because you're rewriting possible backup, but it's nothing Steam couldn't fix. Just copy the file to Binaries, then rename it to *.mod and then edit it and save it.

 

Step 5 is wrong, because you have overwritten your modified *.mod file.

 

Step 8 is not needed.

 

Hope it works for you.

Edited December 9, 2012 by Drakous79

[leyasu]

What should i do for step 5? Cause if i only copy the Modpatcher application and the patcher.bat they cannot run. It only seems to work if i copy the third file too

[Drakous79]

patcher.bat - batch file that runs command "modpatcher DefaultGameCore.mod"

modpatcher.exe - tool to modify XComGame.exe with values from DefaultGameCore.mod

DefaultGameCore.mod - renamed DefaultGameCore.ini

 

Put patcher.bat, modpatcher.exe and DefaultGameCore.mod into Binaries folder and run patcher.bat after editing *.mod file.

 

Think of it like this - in case of easy execution, you need all 3 files in Binaries folder. You can extract them, edit provided DefaultGameCore.mod and run patcher.bat. But it can happen there would not be up to date DefaultGameCore.ini (renamed to mod ofcourse) in downloaded archive. That is why I advised to use your ini.

Edited December 9, 2012 by Drakous79

[endersblade]

I followed this (not new to modding, in the sense that I used to use the Resource Editor to do this), saved the DefaultGameCore.ini file from the config folder as DefaultGameCore.mod, as well as the patcher.dat and modpatcher.exe to the correct folder, ran the patcher.dat file (assuming it worked, it made a new EXE), and then every time I try to start XCOM with the modded EXE, it pops up a steam window saying 'completing installation' and downloads a file or something, takes about 10 seconds. Get in game, nothing too effect. I'm using the edited hosts file to block the firaxis connection, but it still borks my modding attempts >.>

 

Using modpatcher 0.12. edited the hosts file as linked above (and the 'test' link didn't show up/download a file, so I know the edited hosts file works). Made two simple edits: Enabled Second Wave, and set the HP bonus on kevlar armor to 99 and soldier HP to 99 as well (in case one or the other doesn't take effect immediately). Neither showed up. If I put steam into offline mode, it pops up that 'completing installation' window, but it stays at 0% indefinitely.

Edited December 10, 2012 by endersblade