If layers are confusing you, you need to watch some basic gimp tutorials. People are going to assume you have a degree of familiarity with the features of an advanced image editor. And you'll be glad you took the time to do it later on. I doubt there is anything specifically for Sins that basic.

Check the modeling texture links up on top--one of them discusses layers and alpha channels.  Understanding layers is an essential that will carry over and help you in any graphics or modeling program.

Going to poke again about some error the dev exe likes to throw. Was wondering if anyone has any insight as to it's possible sources, as when I get this error, the game minidumps immediately afterward, which is extremely disturbing.

Assert @ C:\Projects\P4\SinsRebellion\Release\CodeSource\Engine/DataStructures/DynamicVector.h(172)

i >= 0

For whatever reason in Rebellion the most common cause of that error now seems to be referencing an entity file you didn't put in the entity.manifest. Which is weird since it didn't give that error in Diplomacy, but anyways first thing to do is to double check you aren't missing a file.

or have a mis-typeing of a file name (ye olde typo-graphic-al err-or)

harpo

Oh dear. That sounds most disturbing. Odds are I cut something out from the base game (specifically of the Vasari) that I likely should not have done.

I managed to figure it all out eventually, using the information you provided and one very basic tutorial, it was ALOT easier than I thought it was and I now have successfully created two types of Ocean Planet in my private mod, with thicker cloud layers and correct icons to boot. I am trying to add a second type of dwarf planet/moon (<- use to be called moon), but the texture doesn't seem to want to wrap around the entire globe, I have dark patches and when I almost get it around the globe, the top and bottom seem semi transparent, any advice on this problem?

ok I have a problem when I start sins it dumps and gives me this

Entity Ref not found: RESEARCHSUBJECT_ABILITYACCESS_DARKFLEET

but I havent gone near it. I checked it and it seems to be fine.

I have no idea whats wrong

Entity Ref not found:  =  Not in entity.manifest

no it is there i checked

and its spelled right

does the manifest INCLUDE the extension on EACH of the added files?

if not then ADD the file extension to the manifest.

harpo

Solved, the Planet Entity had Asteroid True, I set it to False and ta da, no more lines/see through glazed looks yay managed to get our Moon and several other Planets in my mod ha ha! :')

I dont know what it was I had to reinstall sins but it works now so it wasnt my mods.

 it must have been something that happend to the game itself

but thanks for the help

ok I have another question what does this mean

Assert @ C:\Projects\P4\SinsRebellion\Release\CodeSource\GS/Player/PlayerOrbitBodyInfo.cpp(187)

squad != 0

i tried doing a search for it and got nothing.

solved it. entity count was not right so it didnt find the last entity file.

it was a starbase so it must have been something to do with that

A question about Multiple titans

I know its possible to add multiple titans (at the same time) using Returning armada ability to spawn one.

Eg. goafan77's:

buffInstantActionType "SpawnShipsAtPlanet"
instantActionTriggerType "AlwaysPerform"
spawnShipsLevelCount 1
spawnShips
    minFleetPoints 150.000000
    maxFleetPoints 151.000000
    requiredShipCount 1
    requiredShip
        type "TITAN_TECHREBEL"
        minCount 1
        maxCount 1
    randomShipCount 0
spawnShipsArrivalDelayTime 5.000000
spawnShipsHyperspaceSpawnType "FleetBeacon"

But does this prevent you from then building a stock titan the "normal way" because you already have a titan active, or if you build the "normal titan" and it dies does this prevent you rebuilding it.

And is it possible to Limit the Returning armada titan to just 1 active at a time? Perhaps making an ability that can't be used while a ship is alive

Is returning armada the only way to get more than 1 titan...  there really should be a 'NumActiveTitansConstant = 1'

On the same note, is there any way to make 'maxNumberOfCannonsPerPlayer 4' work on another structure, or to somhow limit a structure to only 1 per well?

GoaFan77 posted

"That said, I've come up with a separate technique that could all you to limit them to an arbitrary number, but I want to use them it in my mods first before I give all of my secrets away."

GIVE UP YOUR SECRETS!!

this is the link for anyone looking

https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/421212/page/1/#replies

Yes and no. Building a titan the normal way does not prevent you from spawning additional ones via ability. But as long as you own one titan, no matter how you got it, you cannot build another one the normal way.

Yes its possible.

No, it only works on super weapon type modules. The only way to limit a structure to one is to change this constant, make it cost half + 1 the maximum possible tactical/logistical slots (including planet bonuses and the Advent +10 tech), or to spawn it at the very beginning of the game with templates and make it captureable.

Well, slight change of plans. I was planning on using this as the mechanic behind my "hero units", however I found capitalships were actually easier for this purpose. That said, I have provided examples of a fully functional system for spawning up to an arbitrary number of titans to a few other modders who have assisted me, and I may add an optional add on for my mod that uses it to satisfy people complaining about titans keeping their levels.

Sort of a piece of cake.  You can do it multiple ways, not sure what GoaFan77 is doing specifically.

To limit it, the first thing you need is for the spawning entity to be unique.  It can't be off the Titan factory for instance, you can build as many of those as you have room for.  The easiest way is to spawn a unique building for each faction at their homeworld on game start, something invincible, incapturable, and otherwise irrelevant.

From here, you have multiple options for making it unique, the most foolproof one I can think of off the top of my head is doing the buff file in two stages.  The first applies to the spawner, and disables abilities, this prevents casting further titan summons.  Of course, the buff also summons the Titan, and applies a post spawn buff, it should finish on OwnerChanged.  The buff on the titan needs to send another buff back to last spawner using OnBuffFinish for the trigger, and finish on OwnerChanged.  The buff you send back should be a simple RemoveBuffOfType, negating the original application and freeing the building to construct again.

Without multiple abilities or spawners, specific counts get more difficult.  I'm too lazy to try and figure out a solution for this right now, so you'll either have to wait for him or someone less lazy and or smarter than me.

Your other two questions are Yes and No, in that order.  I agree with the wish for a constant.

Edit: I type too slow...

all i wanna do is simply edit the in-game windows to make'em fit into a 1024x600 resolution screen, the actual thread don't work on rebellion so i'll do it myself, what can i use to edit those windows?

Notepad and any image editor that can edit both .tga and .dds files is all thats required for UI work in Sins. I use paint.net, lots of others like gimp as the main highly functional image editors (you may need a plugin for .dds with gimp).

Notepad will be needed to edit .window files in the Window folder, as these files tell the game where to place the textures you'll be downsizing in the image editor.

Stupid Question

whats AbilityMissilePhaseBoost and BuffMissilePhaseBoost used by?

8000 range, intrinsic, 4 level, aura that increases Phase missile bypass by 10-20-30-30%

    ID "IDS_ABILITY_MISSILEPHASEBOOST_NAME"
    Value "Amplify Missile Phasing"

    ID "IDS_ABILITY_MISSILEPHASEBOOST_DESCRIPTION"
    Value "Increases the likelihood of the phase missiles being able to phase through enemy shields."

Amplify Missile Phasing ... I can't find a single ship in the game that uses this???

yet the file was updated for rebellion?

Driving me nuts!

Okay i did as you told and i see these, everywhere:

"area [506, 144, 199 , 56]"

what are those 4 coordinates? in a normal screen it should use only two

does those 2 extra values "199, 56" mean the space the button uses on screen?

FYI--use Notepad++ for text editing so you can use the line count from the dev exe debug logs to find your errors in the game files.

Congratz on your 1000th post.

because this thread has been a light in the dark, and has assisted modders everywhere