Just looking for a little help...

from Sins Forums

Hey. A few years ago I got the original Sins and loved it. Then for some reason my computer decided it could no longer handle it, so I had to give it away. A few years later, I bought Trinity, with a new, high quality computer, and I am loving it. Now onto the part I need help with. I would like to know what to use to mod Diplomacy, because I cannot find anything that does. I know how to mod, I just don't have the tools, you know? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

modding
3,048 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

both myfist0 & myself have released the current texted reference sets, I have a set of modding utilities that work with all current sins and expansions, and there are other utilities like bcextreme's and others that should be in the first few pages of the modding area, and ther is also myfist0's weebly.

hope this helps

harpo

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Technically, all you need is notepad for game files, decent graphics editor for 2D assets (anything that can open/save .tga and .dds files), for 3D models you need a program that can somehow get a mesh to .xsi format. The sounds are in .ogg format, but the game can apparently handle MP3s as well. All of these can be accomplished by free programs.

As to getting started, you'll want the games "reference files" (the base game files are in binary format, these are the game files in a legible format). There is a converter but its easier to download them (see harpo's post). That said you might want to wait a week or two, as a new patch for diplomacy will be released then, and depending on what you are modding, it could break your mod.

TouchTasks - Access tasks with ease on Windows touchscreens.
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

Harpo's tool and the weebly are great assets.

Once you get more adventurous take a look at my Sins Editor and Entity Validation plug-in for Eclipse. The syntax wiki associated with my plugin is a conversion of my validation rules and can be used to understand some of the modding constraints.

 

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

Hey, thanks! That was fast!

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Well, I might as well join in. Danman posted a complete package of free tools: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/359484

Direct link to the download (buttom): http://www.danmangames.com/dmgadv/pc-games/mods/sins-of-a-solar-empire.html

The thread is a bit old so most of the tools probably have a newer version, but you can always use the list to see if there is anything interesting.

I am also working on a tool which can currently be used for entity editing (not all types supported yet): https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/403935