I am announcing a new utility that can copy all of a players MODS AND update the mods to a new patch.
at present it it can update mods in txt form from entrenchment 1.01 &1.02 to entrenchment 1.03 and sins 1.15-6 to 1.17, it works in a similar way to my map updater ie it first copies the files from the source folder( and it does copy ALL files and folders), it then reads in the entity file from the destination folder, re-names the entity to entold, checks to see if it needs the changes and makes the nessacary changes and saves the corrected entity. I have already tested it with manshooters dynamic v0.9b and my own megastarbases mod (both in txt form and it copied and updated both in 33 seconds, but the more mods and the larger the mods and also if the mods ar binned the SLOWER the updating time. eg with celestial bodies v0.8b, ds entrenchment beta 0.7, dynamic 0.9b, firefall 2.2, ms entrench v2.22, requiem 2.2, sins of the 13th tribe v0.4, unknown darkness beta 0.01 and my megastarbases mod (totaling 3.9GB of files) it took 40 minutes to update all of them.
and as the entity files in the mods ARE updated you only need to run the utility when a new patch to entrenchment comes out and I have supplied updated instructions to the program.
the links for old versions have been removed
I have been given permission to include the convertdata*.exe's with my utilities so I am now releasing my utility pack
I have released all of my modding utilities/tools in one archive and INCLUDED the NOW needed convertdata*.exe's from all of the sins versions that my utilities support, ie sins 1.15,1,16 & 1.17 and also entrenchment 1.01,1.02, & 1.03
also I made sure that the correct targetsinsver.txt is included
1/1/2010 the latest version which has the updated program for the textbin gui and diplomacy compatibility is now up at
7/2/ 2010 uploaded the 1.19 release of the utilities including the latest mod updater which is set to ignore the 5 fx files that can cause dumps in entrenchment mods
19/2/2010 latest version of the complete modding utiities with the essentals files incuded is up at
the latest version is up at http://www.filefactory.com/file/b0b3g8a/n/harpo_sins_utilities_1.191_e_d.rar
now also at http://www.filefront.com/15858795/harpo-sins-utilities-1.191ed.rar/
and the dip 1.21 version http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8023186/sins%20mods/harpo%20sins%20utilities%20for%20sins%201.191%2Cent%201.051%2Cd1.21.rar
I have tested this version on 32 bit & 64 bit sins,entrenchment & diplomacy, the only issue is a overflow value with many mods in a mod folder. I will fix this in the next version
just a reminder if you are getting an error stating that sins version found ::: need version 1.1.9 then you NEED the registry keys that point to the sins install folder for 32bit windows
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Drengin.net\sinsfor 64bit windows
HKLM>SOFTWARE>Wow6432Node>Stardock>Drengin.net>sins
and they should have a Path string value that contains the EXACT path to the sins game folder
the latest version includes the use of the sinstrinity registry key to find the path to the sins install if the sins path key is blank, and also a probable fix for the error 76 (path not found) error that appears to be caused by having a '\' at the end of the sins(trinity) path, so you do NOT need to edit the registry entries
here is the drop box link
and the file factory link
and now the utility pack with diplomacy 1.3 and trinity 1.3 convertdata btw I do not recommend using the mod updater to update the mods to diplomacy 1.3 as there are a large number of changes in the playerRACE.entity files and the entity manifest, and new and removed pacts compared with diplomacy 1.21
corrected the link above, the above link archive NOW has the diplomacy1.21 convertdata
and the first link for the utility pack with convertdatadiplomacy 1.31(file factory)
utility pack convertdatadiplomacy 1.31 (drop box)
updated the utility pack for the latest patch and the mod updater WILL update original mods to 1.192, entrenchment (still uses the 1.051 folder so no update) and diplomacy 1.3# to 1.33
filefactory link to full utility pack for o1.192 e 1.052 d/t 1.33
18/11/2011 updated the utilities to the latest steam compatable patch ie original 1.193, entrenchment 1.053, diplomacy 1.34, trinity 1.34 AND updated the manifest maker to remove the two entities that diplomacy no longer wants
filefactory latest utility pack for O1.193 e1.053 d1.34 t1.34
harpo
Hey Harpo,
When I try to use your text-bin converter so that I can edit the gameinfo files the GUI just stops responding every time I try to use it. Do you have any tips?
first make sure that the expansion name is on the name of a folder in the PATH to the files eg /mods-entrenchment v1.23/mod name/gameinfo etc, the expansion name not being in the path to the file seems to be the main reason for the convertdata's locking up asthe textbin uses the path name to choose the convertdata to use on the files, and I have had the convertdata's lock up when used on files from another expansion.
I have a problem with downloading, when I download the file, it is just in plain file format, no extensions, just a file.
it should be a .rar, I just tested the download using firefox 12, and without altering the save file name it DOES arrive as a .rar file.
you could try re-nameing the file (right mouse click on the file, then left click on re-name, then press the end button and type '.rar' then press enter, this does assume that you have either winrar OR 7zip archive manager(s) installed on your computer so that you CAN open the archive.
now one more problem, I try clicking on the converter applications and they dont work, what should I do?
I wanna convert entity files from bin to txt
run the 'sinstextbinner.exe'. it uses the various ConvertData_expansionV#.###.exe to actually do the conversion(which are the official convertdata programs supplied with the sins/expansion) and it will do a in-place conversion between text & bin depending upon the settings you put in the menu.
Is it possible to get something like this for Rebellion? Or is that a no-go for now?
there is a dirty workaround at present for the 1.19.12 utility pack version and that is to copy the convertdata_rebellion.exe into the folder for the sinstextbinner.exe, and make sure that the path to the folders to be converted has rebellion in one of the folder names (eg the path to the reference files for rebellion in one of my computers is 'F:\sins reference\sins of a solar empire rebellion 1.01' with all the usual sub-folders inside it), and there is also a beta for the sinstextbinner.exe in the textbin gui thread that was altered specifically to work better with rebellion and have a wider folder view so that you can see the entire folder name even with a version number added to the end.
Any chance your gonna update your manifest maker for Rebellion? ... Please.
it is planned to be the next utility that I work on, after I get the map updater working properly, the last will be the mod updater, and I think I will completely drop the string editor as there are a couple of others around.
Harpo I don't exactly understand what to do. Do you convert the folder and are the files then automatically updated?
call me dense, but you have an entrenchment to rebellion mod converter?
semazralan, at present I do NOT, and from what I have seen ie the extra line in meshes, the extra weapons and their lines in the entities, then there will not be as far too much alteration for the small utilities that I write.
icdan, the steps to use the sinstextbinner are
1 copy the entire sins (expansion) folder out of the program files tree
2 (if wanting to work with rebellion files only) copy the convertdata_rebellion.exe into the same folder as the sinstextbinner.exe (when I release the next update of the utility pack this step will not be needed as the programs will be able to access the convertdata's inside the program files folders)
3 run the sinstextbinner.exe, and using the drive and folder controls in the program browse to the folder you had copied the sins (expansion) TO
4 click on the convert this folder button
5 click on the convert the folder now button
6 wait unit the conversion process is complete (the sinstextbinner will indicate the total time taken and also list all the files that were converted and the ones that did NOT need to be converted and the ones that could not be converted.
7 if you have other folders to convert then go to step 3 otherwise click on the exit button
Harpo, does the converter folder have to be in the main Sins folder? I am doing all other steps verbatim. My file path includes "Mods-Rebellion 1.02" in it and I still get a not responding error every single time. I am trying to convert a mod from text format to bin so the game runs smoothly. I have already copied and pasted the "convertdata_rebellion" from the main SINS folder to the folder which contains "sinstxtbinner.exe" and followed the GUI directions. The pathname to my folder is My Documents/My Games/Ironclad Games/Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion/Mods-Rebellion 1.02/Total Rebellion 1.02.
I really don't understand what I am doing wrong. Any info is appreciated. I used to use your utility without any problems. I have only had problems since Rebellion came out.
-Draco
the current release of the textbin gui has only partial support for rebellion, BUT there is a beta version named sinstextbinner2.exe in the textbin gui thread that should be rebellion friendly, but I have not had enough time to do much testing of it due to RL backlogs.
and the release version does want all the convertdata_ExPaNsIoN exe's in it's folder, but does fall back to the install locations of the original sins,entrenchment & diplomacy convertdata's.
and it will be a few days before I can re-setup my rebellion teseting machine as the bench space was needed by customer computers(that I am fixing between my onsite callouts
I apologize for being an idiot. That probably should have been my first question. The beta version worked fine. Thanks again for all your hard work.
Harpo, sorry to drop in and not search through but I've used your entity updater--do you have anything Rebellion usable that does something similar for the GSD and/or String files?
sinperium, I have not ever attempted a gsd edit/updater, and had attempted a string editor/translation assister, but nearly burnt out during it's development and did not finish it.
Thanks. I had remembered you posting about the strings awhile back.
No worries. Love the entity one.
Harpo, I am wondering if you are going to be providing mod updaters for Rebellion because the game was patched not too long ago from its 1.1 version.
I have not started to even look at the mod updater for rebellion as to properly develop it I need to have my development tools (ie visual studio) on the same machine as the game for testing, BUT as steams licence requires giving steam permission to go searching through the files on my computer and take what ever they want, I will NOT be installing the development tools and source codes on a machine with steam.
so.. any update on those tools?
not at present, as I am having issues with adapting to the later dev tools as the old ones do not work with win7 which is now on my main machine and none of my xp machines (that CAN run the older dev tools)have steam or will get steam installed on them.
what issues?
getting time to sit down and learn the changes from vs VB 6 to vs2010 vb. I am also considering simply uploading all the sources for the utilities and abandoning the programs as I find the rebellion sins to be boring to play unlike the older entrenchment & vanilla.
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