Adding Planets from one Mod to Another

If you are not an experienced modder this will be a big task. Use notepad++ "Find in Files" and "Compare" features.

Add the new planet entity to the entity.manifest and update the count.

Here is a look at the top of PlanetOcean.entity

TXT
entityType "Planet"
meshInfoCount 1
meshInfo
     typeNameStringID "IDS_PLANETTYPE_OCEAN" <--- String\English.str (planet name)
    asteroidTemplate "Sparse"
    dustCloudTemplate "IceSafe"
    meshName "Planet_Ocean_0" <--- Mesh\PlanetOcean.mesh ---> Textures\2 Planet textures
    cloudColor ff7f808a
    nullMeshRadius 0.000000
    nullMeshParticleEffect ""
    hudIcon "HUDICON_PLANET_OCEAN0" <---- Windows\Brush file ---> Textures\Planets
    smallHudIcon "HUDICONSMALL_PLANET_OCEAN0" <---- Windows\Brush file ---> Textures\Planets
    infoCardIcon "INFOCARDICON_PLANET_OCEAN0" <---- Windows\Brush file ---> Textures\Planets
    mainViewIcon "MAINVIEWICON_PLANET_OCEAN0" <---- Windows\Brush file ---> Textures\Planets
    undetectedMainViewIcon "MAINVIEWUNDETECTEDICON_PLANET_OCEAN0" <---- Windows\Brush file ---> Textures\Planets
    picture "PICTURE_PLANET_OCEAN0" <---- Windows\Brush file ---> Textures\Planets

Most planets have bonuses and not abilities which are in the planets entity file. The bonuses are also entities in the GameInfo folder and have to be added to the manifest.

Yeah, I know basic XML coding, I used to Mod for Star Wars Empire at War.

Just a run down of what need to copy over from one mod to another would be awesome.

What I know I need the Meshes and textures. Dont know about the Manifest files, Ill have to look at them. Im assuming that its just a list of strings for the engine file for easy finding...something like that.

If, the Entities dont appear in the Manifest...will that cause a Crash Dump? Minidump rather.

yes you will need to keep the manifest files up to date

or the game goes boom

Wow...thats gonna be a pain in the ass. If the Manifests are just basically string files...has anyone coded up a Auto-Manifest Program?

Harpo99999 has a tool for that

Got a Link per chance?

carl, here ia a link to the manifest maker thread, and my modding utilities thread.

the manifest maker was designed for a standalone mod, just so you know.

harpo

Well. I am having Issues. I have copied over all the textures, Meshes, entity files for one of the planets Im trying to add, I have added both the entries in the GalaxyDef file, and added the entry to the Manifest, adding one to the appropriate numbers for planets, manifest entries orbital bodies, but, Im getting a Minidump.

What I am trying to do is add the planets from the Maelstrom Mod to the Sacrafice of Angels 2 Mod...its not going well at all.

Are there any step by step tutorials out for adding planets?

I did this for Project Equilibrium....you will need to edit brush files and the entity manifest...add meshes, textures, appropriate graphics, and entity files...

I can't give you a guide, but if you download the GalaxyMod that updates Uzii's Sins Plus, pretty much every file in there is related to planets...if that mod has a file, it likely is one you need to change or similar to one you need to make....

Also make sure the mods you are trying to merge are for the same version of Sins. Simple, but depending on the version it can make a difference.

Otherwise Seleuceia's method seems like a good one.

Okay...I give up. I cant even get one new planet to appear in the game. Guess I just dont understand how or what resources are required.

GalaxyScenarioDef.galaxyScenarioDef

planetTypeCount 92
planetType
designName "TerranBinaryMoon"
designStringId "IDSGalaxyScenarioTypePlanetTerranMoon"
orbitBodyTypeCount 1
orbitBodyType "TerranBinaryMoon"

orbitBodyTypeCount 80
orbitBodyType
typeName "TerranBinaryMoon"
entityDefName "PlanetBinaryTerranMoon"
defaultTemplateName "Template:DefaultStart_Terran"

I play random maps and the planet does not appear until I add it to the

planetType
    designName "WeightedRandom"
    designStringId "IDSGalaxyScenarioTypePlanetWeightedRandom"
    orbitBodyTypeCount 53
    orbitBodyType "TerranBinaryMoon"
    orbitBodyType "TerranBinaryGas"

You still need gimp or photoshop to get the zoomed out Icons and Hud Display images into the Textures\Icons_planets.tga. Then add the coordinates to the appropriate brush files.

Okay...I then need all the textures and meshes for said planet. And then I need to get the planet icons for the brush file. I think that is what I was missing. I was copying and pasting things over and adding them to the Galaxy Def, I didnt know I had to edit a image file too. Would that cause a Minidump if I dont add the images to the brush files?

IIRC it just gave me missing brush file error "Skip" option. Lets say you are adding the binary planet like I showed above. I did not edit the brush files rather the planet.entity just points to the existing terran icons for now until I create an icon set.

PlanetBinaryTerranMoon.entity

meshInfo
 typeNameStringID "IDS_PLANETTYPE_TERRAN"
 asteroidTemplate "Sparse"
 dustCloudTemplate "Sparse"
 meshName "Planet_Binary_Terran_Moon"
 cloudColor ffffffff
 nullMeshRadius 0.000000
 nullMeshParticleEffect ""
 hudIcon "HUDICON_PLANET_TERRAN0"
 smallHudIcon "HUDICONSMALL_PLANET_TERRAN0"
 infoCardIcon "INFOCARDICON_PLANET_TERRAN0"
 mainViewIcon "MAINVIEWICON_PLANET_TERRAN0"
 undetectedMainViewIcon "MAINVIEWUNDETECTEDICON_PLANET_TERRAN0"
 picture "PICTURE_PLANET_TERRAN0"
  
All the bold are links to the brush files which tell the game on which texture sheet to look and the coordinates.

brush
 name "INFOCARDICON_PLANET_GRASS0"
 content "Simple"
 fileName "Icons_planets_m0d.dds"   <---Texture Sheet
 pixelBox [ 178 , 750 , 22 , 22 ]        <---Where on texture sheet and size
brush
 name "PICTURE_PLANET_GRASS0"
 content "Simple"
 fileName "Icons_planets_m0d.dds"
 pixelBox [ 1 , 721 , 167 , 75 ]
brush
 name "MAINVIEWICON_PLANET_GRASS0"
 content "Simple"
 fileName "Icons_planets_m0d.dds"
 pixelBox [ 205 , 724 , 50 , 50 ]
brush
 name "HUDICONSMALL_PLANET_GRASS0"
 content "Simple"
 fileName "Icons_planets_m0d.dds"
 pixelBox [ 175 , 724 , 28 , 23 ]
brush
 name "HUDICON_PLANET_GRASS0"
 content "Simple"
 fileName "Icons_planets_m0d.dds"
 pixelBox [ 205 , 724 , 50 , 50 ]
brush
 name "MAINVIEWUNDETECTEDICON_PLANET_GRASS0"
 content "Simple"
 fileName "Icons_planets_m0d.dds"
 pixelBox [ 260 , 724 , 50 , 50 ]

Okay, I cant get this to work at all. Im trying everything as suggested. Im trying everything, literally I can think of. I dont think I am missing anything, but every time I try and run it with a planet, its crashing with a minidump.

I cant even open the Minidump to see where I am going wrong.

Here is a step by step of what I am doing:

1> Make a folder on desktop containing the folder structure of the mod, this includes GameInfo, Mesh, Textures.

2> Copy over the GalaxyDef File from Sacrifice of Angels Mod.

3> Find all the resources required by the planet RingWorld. Meshes, Textures, Entities, Planet Abilities.

4> Open up my Mods Galaxy Def File, and in a seperate Window, Open up the Planets Mods Def File.

5> Find the entries for Ringworld and Copy and paste them over, increasing the PlanetType and OrbitalBody counts by 1.

6> Copy and paste the mod into and over the SOA Mod.

7> Run the Manifest Maker.

8> Run the game using a map made in Galaxy Forge, using the new planet.

9> Minidump and disappointment .

I dont use the manifest maker. Learn to add your new entities to the manifest manually and update the count.

Are the planet abilities also from entrenchment mod? Try removing them from the planet.entity and work on just the planet and no special map.

If the planet is in the list

planetType
    designName "WeightedRandom"

it should show up somewhere on a huge radom multy star map. Use surrender and keep playing and look for it.

So you are saying try adding it by removing all the Planet Bonuses for it, then add them in manually later?

This is insane. Empire at War used XML and was never this hard. I used to texture, mesh and code new ships and planets in that. IT was easy.

EDIT: Where can I see a list of the Texture and sound resources a planet needs? I already found the Mesh in the entity file.

Okay, that was my final attempt. I just cant do it. I cant figure out where I am going wrong. I make all the entries correctly, I copy all ability and bonus files, I copy all the Meshes over and the textures and...nothing. Minidump, after Minidump, after Mindump. I guess I just suck.

Sorry I could not help more but it is a big job.

I appreciate the help. I do. Ill just wait till SOA incorporates Plus.