Hi, I want to create my own tech tree. I found an tech tree editor here, but i can´t download it, because the file was deleted and I could not find any tutorial how to do it. So my question is, how to create my own tech tree?
Open a research file from the reference data. If that confuses you, take a step back and learn the basic steps of modding first.
https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/419658
http://soase.x90x.net/index.html
Tech trees are comprised of individual .entity files, so you can create an entirely new tech tree just by editing copies of existing research subject files and then adding them to the Player<Race>.entity file of your desired race. If you have the files in TXT format instead of BIN you can use a text editor to edit them (Notepad++ is your best choice for this). If not you'll need to run the proper ConvertData executable to convert them to a readable format.
I'm sure ZombiesRus5 will show up soon to talk about how awesome his Eclipse plugin is for this sort of thing and why you should use it, and he'll probably be able to explain how to edit tech trees better than I could, anyways.
Thanks so much.
It's not particularly helpful for tech trees, it's just nice for telling you available modifiers, prerequisites, and it can check to make sure you have the standard tech costs and times for each tier. But it's still for each individual research, it doesn't have anything to load the entire tree like I think that program did.
That's still horribly useful, especially for a novice modder.
Yeah, well most of the novice modders are unfortunately intimidated by a big programming tool like eclipse. Heck Sinperium has been modding for years but he still can't figure it out.
Really it comes down to if you have programming experience but are new to modding it will be super easy for you, if you have never worked on a mod or coded in your life I'm not sure if Eclipse is a good place to start out.
There are a few steps to consider when modding a tech tree
1st) To resize research tree windows, you need to go into the Player.entity file. That data to edit is about 3/4 of the way down the entity file (id recommened getting notepad++, its great for editing those files). Basically the size is in matrix format [horizontal position (distance from left of screen), vertical position (distance from top of screen), window width, window height]. Be sure to add your additional research entities to the counters in both the player and entity manifest files!
-the above is useful if your adding tech's but you start running out of room, you can move the windows around so you can get more space!
2nd) Editing research files, like the others have said, simply requires editing the respective entity file, if you are creating a new file you will need to reference the name of the research entity in BOTH the player.entity, and the entity.manifest files. Editing an existing or new research file is straightforward, each tech will have some entity modifier or research float modifier that puts permanent, non-stacking effects on other entities (like ships, structures, and planets). Check the modding forum here for a list of all the research modifiers at your disposal!
3rd) Editing names of research files, you won't want to stick with vanillna research names so you would simply edit the "NAME" and "DESCRIPTION" files in the research entity to a new string (i.e. "IDS_RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARMORNEW_NAME" and "IDS_RESEARCHSUBJECT_ARMORNEW_DESCRIPTION"), then the next step is too ADD those, to the english.str file (that has all the strings in it). It is easiest just to copy an existing pair of name/description strings and edit them. Then once you have your new strings, make sure to add your new strings to the total count at the top of the page!
There are more specifics involved, but I hope that helps!
Modding with Notepad++ is like making out with the abstinence ring wearing virgin next door. Sure It's a lot of fun and exciting when you first start... until you meet the more experienced girl in the next town over. Ya It's a little more difficult to get there but she'll do things the ring wearing virgin will never do.
LMAO. Love the analogy.Unfortunately I'm squarely stuck in this category for the moment.I've downloaded Eclipse, but the whole thing confused the crap out of me initially.I'll probably try to figure it out when I get a little more time though.
LOL, but the end result is still the same... Because in the end, you can still mod anything in sins with notepad++.
I simply prefer notepad++ eventhough I, like others here, have been modding this game since 2008
Personally I wouldn't go that far; having been able to set up and use Eclipse, it's quite useful, but 98% of what I do is still done in good old Notepad. Heck, I even use regular Notepad more than Notepad++.
Being scared of all the different things you can do might result in this approach
Now THAT is ballsy!
Notepad++? Eclipse? You pansies...real men use notepad...hasn't given me any troubles...
And when was the last time you released a mod exactly Seleuceia? I mean I know you're working on your super secret project for your "other" group of friends, but it's hard to see your work if I don't have any of your code since Diplomacy.
Eh, there isn't that much I can screw up. I mean, it's not like Sins is written in XML where missing a single < or / will crash the game on load. Now that is where having something other than Notepad, such as XML Notepad or Eclipse, becomes really useful. Mind you, even in those dark days, I still used regular Notepad for a majority of my coding, eventually learning to use tools as a checker, but alas.
On the flip side, using Notepad/++ makes me very attentive, as everything is a glass house and can be broken with extreme ease.
Well I sure as hell am not going to share it with the likes of you....
Idk, I've found GCII with it's XML to be far more resilient in the midst of syntax errors or bad references....perhaps it is the difference between the games, not XML and...whatever you want to call Sins....
I don't know if you're serious or you're giving me a hard time, but I swear there was a smilie after that when I posted that.
I have no idea, but if you're just using notepad to edit things I have to say Sins is much easier from a readability standpoint. Tags aren't hard but they can make it hard to read if you're not using a good XML editor. Especially as most companies that will use XML based files are just generating those files anyways. At least Sins files have some decent spacing rules.
I used to use notepad for editing XML (this was a long time ago)....didn't really have any problems with it, especially if as a general rule you copy/paste tags...now though I use visual studio, mainly because it's the default program and I'm way too lazy to change that....
Real men us VI... everything else is for Mama boys.
You must have confused VI with Nano there.
Definitely not a real man if you don't know what VI is!
Real Men Hull Tank.
I use Notepad++ for meshes and regular notepad for everything else, not just sins but Supreme Commander, Dawn of War, Homeworld 2 and all of the other txt-related games I've done major content for.
That said, Goa was able to massively simplify some super secret stuff through Eclipse I think, so it definitely has its uses.
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