Heh, an entity.manifest generator sounds like a great idea. I can't tell you how many times I've spent an hour or two trying to figure out why my mod is crashing, when that fricken entitycount parameter needed to be bumped up by 1. Grrrr @ that stupid file!!!

However I already have a lot of scripts for modding set up as Bash shell scripts, which I run using Cygwin. It would be great to have a command line utility that performs the function of the entity.manifest generator you have, except that it takes a GameInfo directory as a parameter.

Example:

EntityManifestGenerator.exe -d GameInfo -o entity.manifest

Generates an entity.manifest file based on the contents of the `GameInfo' folder in the current directory, and plunks it into the file 'entity.manifest' in the current directory.

Since you already have the code for generating an entity manifest, would it be possible for you to take that part of the functionality and put it into a minimal console driver program like that?

Thanks!

Cygwin's Bash can run any Windows executable just as if you launched it from Windows Explorer. Batch files, EXE, whatever. What I'm looking for is a command line way to do it rather than having to click through a GUI. My scripts are designed so that I can safely mod the text version of my mod in a "staging" folder, and then run a script that creates BIN versions of the entity files and copies them into the mod folder itself. By adding an entity.manifest generator to that lineup, I only have to worry about my .entity files, which reduces the headache by quite a lot

allquixotic,

it would be possible for me to ADD command line parameterization to my manifest maker as the majority of its bulk is used in determinine where to look for the files ie the mod's folder, the entrenchment folder and sins folder no matter what language the os was installed with, the core of the program reads in a list of files in the folders of the type, removes duplicates and the entitys that ARE incompatible with entrenchment for entrenchment targetted manifests, then writes the manifest, and will support the next two expansions, and also allows for possible future manifests that might be needed.

hoho5000, sorry about hijacking your thread.

harpo

While cross platform compatibility would be nice, I created this program mainly for myself. Since I don't run Linux on my computer due to gaming and the fact that most of the modding community uses Windows as well, it's not worth my time and effort to make it so. Besides that, I'm not the most skilled Linux user .

Anyways, I posted this just to get it out there. The next release will have a few more features including a complete manifest generator and something I'm calling Mod Deploy. What it does is basically copy your mod files from whereever you're working on them to the game's mod folder, assuming you aren't doing all your modding there already... If you don't want to load up the entire program, I'm also incorporating it into a command line program that you can simply double click to perform all this, or enter your own parameters.

Hopefully I'll have a new release tomorrow.

I think I know what you're saying. It's up to the end user to provide whatever convertdata files they want to use though.

A new version is up, check it out.

The download link is not broken.

Anyways, it's been a while hasn't it? Well, I'm happy to announce that the latest version is almost done. What you can expect in this new version:

-Many bugfixes

-Some better coding

-An (almost) fully functional tech tree editor!

The tech tree editor (which you can access by opening a player entity file) includes the ability to load every single research subject of a side into a nice graphical table. From this table, you can select a subject to edit, create new subjects, and delete subjects. Everything contained in the subject file is viewable in the editing pane on the left. It's fairly self-explanatory, although probably the coolest feature (and my personal favorite) is the ability to modify string IDs and string values directly from the editing pane. Want to rename a subject? Just enter in a new name and a new String ID (if desired), hit the update button, and voila! You have a new string ID entry in your strings file (after you save the modified tech tree) without having to mess with the file at all. The same can be done for the description.

What the tech tree editor can not do:

-Edit/Add/Remove blocks

-Add or remove research screens (Combat, Defense, Civilian)

-Edit Artifact or Fleet research screens

-Draw or edit arrows from prerequisites

At the moment, everything appears to be in working order. All files save correctly, and the game runs with the new files perfectly. However, thorough testing has yet to be performed. That means that you (probably) shouldn't trust your research files with this program yet, unless you make sure you have a backup set.

Expect the new release either today or tomorrow.

Wanted to test the Research Tree Editor but had a problem. It seems the program expects to find all used entity files in the mod folder (whereas I only put the items I modify into the mod folder) instead of looking in the main sins / entrenchment folder in case its not in the mod folder when opening the Player entity files.

Running 1.041 Entrenchment. Excuse the german errormessages.

Informationen über das Aufrufen von JIT-Debuggen
anstelle dieses Dialogfelds finden Sie am Ende dieser Meldung.

************** Ausnahmetext **************
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Die Datei "G:\Brennschlampe\My Dropbox\Babylon 5 Shared\Mods-Entrenchment v1.041\Babylon5\GameInfo\RESEARCHSUBJECT_ABILITYACCESS_CLUSTERWARHEADS.entity" konnte nicht gefunden werden.
Dateiname: "G:\Brennschlampe\My Dropbox\Babylon 5 Shared\Mods-Entrenchment v1.041\Babylon5\GameInfo\RESEARCHSUBJECT_ABILITYACCESS_CLUSTERWARHEADS.entity"
   bei System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
   bei System.IO.FileStream.Init(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Int32 rights, Boolean useRights, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttrs, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)
   bei System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options)
   bei System.IO.StreamReader..ctor(String path, Encoding encoding, Boolean detectEncodingFromByteOrderMarks, Int32 bufferSize)
   bei System.IO.StreamReader..ctor(String path)
   bei SinsFileTypes.ResearchSubject.LoadFile()
   bei SinsFileTypes.ResearchSubject.Load(String file)
   bei SMH.TechTree.LoadTechTree(String file)
   bei SMH.Main.OpenFile(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.RaiseEvent(Object key, EventArgs e)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleClick(EventArgs e)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleMouseUp(MouseEventArgs e)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.FireEventInteractive(EventArgs e, ToolStripItemEventType met)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.FireEvent(EventArgs e, ToolStripItemEventType met)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mea)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripDropDown.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mea)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Message& m)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.WndProc(Message& m)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripDropDown.WndProc(Message& m)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   bei System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Geladene Assemblys **************
mscorlib
    Assembly-Version: 2.0.0.0.
    Win32-Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900).
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll.
----------------------------------------
SMH
    Assembly-Version: 0.3.1.1.
    Win32-Version: 0.3.1.1.
    CodeBase: file:///G:/Temp/Bab5ModForSins/SinsEditor/SMH.exe.
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.VisualBasic
    Assembly-Version: 8.0.0.0.
    Win32-Version: 8.0.50727.4918 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900).
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Microsoft.VisualBasic/8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll.
----------------------------------------
System
    Assembly-Version: 2.0.0.0.
    Win32-Version: 2.0.50727.4918 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900).
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll.
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
    Assembly-Version: 2.0.0.0.
    Win32-Version: 2.0.50727.4918 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900).
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll.
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
    Assembly-Version: 2.0.0.0.
    Win32-Version: 2.0.50727.4918 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900).
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll.
----------------------------------------
System.Runtime.Remoting
    Assembly-Version: 2.0.0.0.
    Win32-Version: 2.0.50727.4918 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900).
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Runtime.Remoting/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Runtime.Remoting.dll.
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms.resources
    Assembly-Version: 2.0.0.0.
    Win32-Version: 2.0.50727.4918 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900).
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms.resources/2.0.0.0_de_b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.resources.dll.
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
    Assembly-Version: 2.0.0.0.
    Win32-Version: 2.0.50727.4918 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900).
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll.
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
    Assembly-Version: 2.0.0.0.
    Win32-Version: 2.0.50727.4918 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900).
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll.
----------------------------------------
mscorlib.resources
    Assembly-Version: 2.0.0.0.
    Win32-Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900).
    CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll.
----------------------------------------
SinsFileTypes
    Assembly-Version: 0.5.1.1.
    Win32-Version: 0.5.1.1.
    CodeBase: file:///G:/Temp/Bab5ModForSins/SinsEditor/SinsFileTypes.DLL.
----------------------------------------

************** JIT-Debuggen **************
Um das JIT-Debuggen (Just-In-Time) zu aktivieren, muss in der
Konfigurationsdatei der Anwendung oder des Computers
(machine.config) der jitDebugging-Wert im Abschnitt system.windows.forms festgelegt werden.
Die Anwendung muss mit aktiviertem Debuggen kompiliert werden.

Zum Beispiel:

<configuration>
    <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

Wenn das JIT-Debuggen aktiviert ist, werden alle nicht behandelten
Ausnahmen an den JIT-Debugger gesendet, der auf dem
Computer registriert ist, und nicht in diesem Dialogfeld behandelt.

Ahh, yes there are slight differences in the Player Files from 1.03 to 1.04

Hope you can make it compatible soon as this would be a fine tool for helping modders out. (Well, I would only need the researchtree editor, as I do everything else using textpad.)

The possibility to duplicate entries would be helpful as well!

Thanks alot!!

when I try grabbing the file from the link I get timeouts or an empty zip file, are you having problems with your host?

After some downtime and a little data loss (just the current version and pics), things are operational again.

I'm hard at work on improvements to the program. I've rewritten and reorganized much of the code. The next main addition will be the ability to convert between bin and txt formats easily, and with multithreading (if desired). You have the option to convert more than one file at a time, which most of the time is faster. It uses a lot more CPU, but in my tests (converting just particles from bin to txt from both vanilla and Entrenchment), converting using three threads took 36 seconds, while using two took 55, and one took 76. Using any more than three simultaneous conversion threads doesn't yield much more of an improvement, but you can use up to 5 if you really want to. Going back to bin (using the exact same files) also reveals similar improvements; 47 seconds with three threads, 85 with one.

It'll take me a little while to rework the existing gui code to work with my rewritten code.

Yay! It's stuff like this that really lets the modders focus on being creative instead of trying to be a crash course all in one development team who has to figure out every little thing on the fly. These are exactly the kind of tools that need to be shipped with a game the developers want a strong mod support community to grow out of and so greatly extend the sellable life of the game.

Thanks! =)

New version is up.

I also have the source of the current version for the very few that might be interested in taking a look. Keep in mind, a lot of it is messy or not too great  .

Source

I'm not sure what you mean by "differently layouted blocks." Are you talking about the blocks themselves, or the actual reasearch subjects. Basically what the program does is reads in the height of each block on the research screen, then creates a table based off of that height. It only works if you use the same size buttons as in the original game.

As for having two technologies in the same place, my experience has been that the program doesn't let them occupy the same space, even if they are assigned to that space. For example, if two subjects had a position of (0,0), one would acutally be there, while the other would be at (0,1). I have not tried saving or loading a tech tree where that was the case, so I'll look in to that.

That conflicting/error list sounds like a good idea. I'll see what I can do.

Thanks.