Ok, so I started modding Sins about 2 days ago, and I've managed to figure a lot of it out thanks to the tutorials 'round here, some intuition and a lot of trial and error. Some things I just can't get to work however, and I'd like to know if there's anything I can do about this.

Oh, and when Sins Diplomacy [Modding that since I CBF looking for the Rebellion files ATM, and I don't know if Harpo's txt/bin converter is up to Rebellion conversions, or where the mod folder for Rebellion is] minidumps, is where can I find an error log of what went wrong? Thanks.

Now, first up, weaponry on the Argonev Starbase isn't quite working as expected. I thought I'd add in some autocannon weapons as a second default weapon alongside the lasers, but its not quite going to plan.

I started y copy/pasting the Laser weapon data from the Argonev, then Copy Pasting the effects data from the Kol's autocannon attacks. I changed all fields to reflect autocannon weaponry as opposed to lasers as well. I also updated the Argonev's weapons number variable to 4. This is working fine so far.

When I build the Argonev, everything works fine from the start. Autocannons and Lasers fire, both from the same weapons points [As was desired]. Once purchase the weapons upgrade, however, things start getting a bit iffy.

First level of weapons upgrade: I do not remember exactly, as it was 3am at the time, but I believe Autocannons now fire from the centre of the Starbase [Direct centre of the connector between the top of the starbase and the underhanging portion that trade ports become attached to]. Beams are listed as a weapon and I believe fire as expected [3am, don't remember exactly]. Minor cosmetic issue I'm not too concerned with, but it seems to be the root cause of the problem.

At the second level of weapons upgrade, Autocannons now fire from beam weapon attachments whilst the beams fire from the missile weapons attachments. Missiles are not listed as a weapon, nor do they fire, despite being listed as a weapon in the entity file, with level 2 upgrade requirement that is there by default, and no changes to them or the Argonev's weapons upgrade entity file.

Throughout all upgrade levels lasers have remained consistently working.

So, my questions on this:

1. Is there a way I can dictate which weapon points each weapon fires from.

2. Is there a way I can successfully add autocannons as a 4th weapon, there by default, to the Argonev without losing missiles?

Secondly, Jump disruption is having problems when I add an extra effect to it. I decided to add a 3rd effect to the ability that it would reduce shields on a jumping away target by 100% [After of course nerfing the hull removal].

I edited the BuffDestabilizeHyperspaceTarget.entity file by changing the numinstantActions count to 3, and copy pasting the instant action section for hull damage, replacing everything in it that says "Hull" with "Shields".

That is all I have changed. When I attempt to enable the mod, Diplomacy Minidumps.

Questions:

1. Is there a separate set of conditions for shields that I need to know that is different from just replacing the word HULL with SHIELDS, or does such a set of conditions not exist [Or actions and such for that matter, but hopefully that was implied].

2. If I have done the conditions/actions/W.E correctly, is there a problem with what I have done with Buff's entity file, do I need to edit another entity file, or should I create a second buff entity file that I apply alongside the primary one to get this effect across?

Thirdly, probably a simple one, I cannot get shields to work on Strike Craft.

I have added a shields field in, yet they do not show up.

I have used a lower case s on the Shields, in keeping with the pattern that the h in Hull for strike craft is also lower case.

Questions:

1. Have I done something wrong [Exact steps: Copy paste Shield field from a frigate, replace capital S with lower case s, do the same for Shield Regen. Shields is located underneath hull, shield regen underneath hull regen]?

2. Is it hard coded to be impossible to add shields to Strike Craft?

Fourth, probably another simple one, I cannot get fleet formation priorities to work with priorities greater than the 4th [Priority level 3].

I edited the formationRank number on several ships to give fleets 7 Priority levels [0-6] for ordering themselves in formation. When working with ships with priority levels 3 and below, the game works fine. When working with ships of the same priority level greater than 3, it works fine. When working with multiple ships with multiple priority levels including one that is greater than three, Diplomacy will minidump when I order them to move.

Questions:

1. Is there anything other than the formationRank number on each ship that I need to change to get this to work?

2. If no, is it hard coded into Diplomacy and is therefore impossible to have priority levels outside of the 0-3 range?

3. If yes, has this change in Rebellion to be a higher number thanks to the inclusion of Titans and Corvettes?

4. Is there any workaround I could exploit, such as a formation offset number that I could use to offset the location of ships compared to the formation in a backwards manner, much like how Corvettes in Rebellion always seem to be offset to the side of the formation by about 2000 [Or more I think] distance?

Finally, the fun one. I have attempted modding both the Big Red Button ability and the Phase jump inhibitors ability, yet have begun to have issues with them that seem to be related to Entity file names.

I'll start off with the Phase Inhibitor Problem as its the shorter of the two. I decided to give each race's Phase Inhibitor Structure a different set of effects, to make them all unique considering they all use the same one by default. I renamed the HyperspaceDisruption entity files - both the ability and the buffs - with a 'Tech' after them. I changed all paths within these files to point towards the new file names. However, when I go to construct a Phase Inhibitor Node, I click the 'build Phase Inhibitor Node' button on my construction cruiser, and Diplomacy Minidumps. I believe this is due to the display it shows of the ability's area of effect, as I'll explain later.

For the Big Red Button, I wanted to Nerf it but keep it somewhat useful at the same time. I decided to do this by creating multiple buffs that would be applied over increasingly large areas. A 600/1000 damage buff over 1500/2000 range [Level1Value/Level2Value], A 450/650 damage buff over 2500/3000 range - ect. I renamed the first buff to "BuffSelfDestructTargetPrime", copied it 3 times and renamed each as "BuffSelfDestructTargetSecondary", "BuffSelfDestructTargetTertiary" and "BuffSelfDestructTargetFinal" respectively. I then edited the instantactions number in the "BuffSelfDestructSelf" entity file to reflect the new number of instant actions [I added one to apply each new buff, with a different range on each]. I linked each instant action to the buff I wanted it to apply, replacing "BuffSelfDestructTarget" with "BuffSelfDestruct[Insert term here]" [replace "[Insert term here]" with the proper term for each buff].

I built an Argonev, researched the BRB, and upgraded my Argonev to have it. When I highlighted over the ability, however [Not even clicked, highighted], Sins would minidump.

So, I tried again, instead of applying all buffs from the "BuffSelfDestructSelf" buff, I cut and pasted each successive buff application into the actions of the previous buff, and updated all instant action counts accordingly. I tried again, and the same thing happened.

I then deleted all excess buffs, and had just "BuffSelfDestructTargetPrime". I built an Argonev, and still when I highlighted over the BRB, the Diplomacy minidumped.

So, I changed the name and the paths back to "BuffSelfDestructTarget" and tested. Lo and Behold, it worked.

So I recreated the "BuffSelfDestructTargetSecondary" entity file, added applying it to the list of instant actions "BuffSelfDestructTarget" had to perform, without renaming "BuffSelfDestructSelf". I edited the instant actions count number to the reflect the extra instant action and tested. Diplomacy minidumped when I highlighted over the ability.

I have come to the conclusion that it is displaying the area of effect that activates these errors, and the file names that cause them. I believe this to be the case as in both attempts at changing the names of files the game minidumped at the point where it would show the area of effect that each ability would have [At the time of construction for the Phase Inhibitor Node, when mousing over the ability for BRB].

Questions:

1. Am I correct in my conclusion?

2. Is there a registry of entity files I need to edit to get this to work?

3. If no, what do I need to edit to get this to work?

Thanks for any help, and sorry for the big wall of text.

Also, is this something I should have posted in Sniperium's "Modders "Get-an-Answer" Thread", or was posting it in its own thread a better idea?

Thanks!