Modding Tools--Component Creator

[Krsqk]

I wanted to make sure that this didn't get buried in a topic no one read anymore (the Open Ended Tech Levels thread); so I copied it and gave it its own thread. Here's the scoop:

quote:

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Good news/bad news.

Good news first: After months (ok, parts of a couple of weeks) of hard labor (fiddling), the Component Creator is officially finished! Well, at least Version 0.75 of it is. I wanted to post it and get some feedback from modders\modders-to-be\players who want to be modders but haven't had time.

Bad news: The initial download is a hefty 2.05MB. (Sorry to all dial-up Users like me.) This is due to the size of the DLL I'm using. I haven't figured out yet how to extract only the functions I need from it and link to them in a smaller DLL. However, the good news is that future updates will be in the 300KB range; so added features won't mean another 10 minute download.

The entire package is included in a self-extracting RAR file; just extract to your SEIV directory. It will create a "Component Creator" directory with the required files and two sub-directories. If, for some reason, you would rather have a different archive format, post and let me know; the RAR just saved 400KB over ZIP, which modem Users appreciate.

Anyway, enough jabber; here it is:

Component Creator.exe

Please comment--this is definitely a work-in-progress. If you have questions, please see the included readme first.

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[geoschmo]

Ok, I have played around with it for most of the afternoon. My first impression is this is very cool. It has the potential to be a very useful tool for modders. I do have a few suggestions.

I am guessing a lot of people would like to use this for tweaking and extending exsisting components. It needs some sort of text input to make this convienent. I understand that the level modifiers could be very difficult to calculate, but some parsing of the Basic Info, Tech Reqs, Abilities for level one, and other base values would really speed up the process to get things started.

The weapon data screen is very good, however as you state it doesn't work very well for damage at ranges if the damage is not linear, or if it drops off like APB. Perhaps for those weapons give the ability to manually input each levels damage at range chart, instead of calculating them. It would take more work for the user, but it would still be easier that making the whole components by hand. Of course that can be done now by simply putting garbage numbers and going back later and tweaking the damage chart for each level.

Would be nice if it would have a little more flexibility on the tech level modifiers for the cost/tonnage/supply settings. Instead of postive and negative numbers it would be nice to be able to multiply by a decimal. For example, instead of -10 per level until I reach zero and then go negative, I'd like to be able to multiply by .95 per level, getting closer to zero each level, but never quite getting there. Of course it would have to round off, and at some point I guess it would round to zero, but it would never go negative.

Geoschmo

[geoschmo]

Oh yeah. And just a basic UI gripe. I can't see my task bar when the program is on top. I have to minimize the program to be able to switch to another screen.

Geoschmo

[Gimboid]

Heres an alternative component editor/creator that i wrote.

It differs from Krsqk's editor in that it reads in the abilties.txt and techareas.txt files and makes them selectable as tech requirements and/or abilties selectable for the component being created.

It is intended for use as an individual component editor, and not a multiple component creator as Krsqk's is.

Features

-> Creation of valid components following correct format for use in the components.txt file, program reads in the current components.txt file then appends the newly created component to another copy of the current components.txt file, so that the original data is not overwritten.

-> Editor takes note of any abilities and tech requirements that the component should have, it does not check whether there are that many levels of that tech or if the ability values are too high.

-> Allows maximum of 9 tech requirements and/or 9 abilities to the component that is being added.

-> Editor takes note of weapon type and adds or does not add the relevant weapon details to the component in the file.

-> Abilities and tech areas required for the component is flexible, and takes note of already modded Versions of techareas and abilties so that the program can be used to create valid components for existing mods.

Component Editor Ver 0.35b

Also - On the + side, download is only 21k as program was written in VC++ and makes use of standard windows dll's which are already present on windows PC's

[Andrés]

I still find that the most powerful comp modder is the Excel spreadsheet I'm using now, using Word to mailmerge it into SE4 format.

[geoschmo]

How do you do that Andres? That sounds interesting. Does it format the lines properly and eveerything?

Geo

[Andrés]

comps.zip
Here's an example of the Excel file. I don't have the Word merger document here, but I do make a line for every column even if it is not needed the game doesn't have problems with that (although the final file size is unnecessary bigger).

[Val]

I have been doing the same thing for any text file I want to create, from Components to TechAreas. All you really need to do is make an excel sheet with a header row for each of the catagories you are going to want in the final merge (a hint that will save time and repetition - if you have a row that is going to be the same all the way through, such as "Custom Group := 0", then you can put that in the Merge file rather than a column). After you setup your Excel file, go into word and copy out a sample component and the clear out the variables you want to change (eg - Name := PDF Cannon I - Erase the "PDF Cannon I, but leave the space after the := ), also be sure to hit enter at the end to give you a space in between components! Then you go to Tools and choose MailMerge and pick Catalog for the merge (this will create a stream of components/techs/etc. rather than one per page). Then you can either save it as a text file or (what I do) copy it and paste it into the correct data text file in metapad or notepad.

By using the merge option, I have been able to create over 2000 weapons in the B5 test mod where the only real trouble was creating the data on the spreadsheet for the merge!

If you want to get fancy, you can even create VB scripts and excel formulas that will increase/decrease the techs by preset percentages

[Krsqk]

Version 0.90 of the Component Creator is now released. This patch fixes a bug in v0.75 which caused the left/right damage multipliers not to be saved to data files. It also adds some requested features, such as parsing of text files and editing damage at range. See included readme.txt for complete details.

A patch is available for Users of v0.75.

Component Creator v0.90--extract to SE4 directory (will install in its own directory)

v0.75 to v0.90 patch--extract to SE4 directory

Questions/comments/suggestions still very much welcome.

[Suicide Junkie]

I downloaded from those links you provided, but the title bar on the program still read 0.75, not 0.9

PS: I did browse through the readme, but I didn't see how to enable/use matrix (dimensional) components.