impinc

Join Date 07/2010

+43

[MOD] GCIV Supernova Mod Tools 0.5.0.1

I've been working on making some mod tools. The goal is to make creating mods you can't create from the game itself (especially for people who don't want to muck around with the xml manually).

Editors Included:

* Race editor

* Star System Editor

* Event Editor (Coming soon-ish)

This is an alpha version right now, and I'm looking to garner some feedback for further refinement.

Requirements:

* Windows 10 + 64-bit (Can make 32-bit versions on request)

Source code (MIT License) available here: https://github.com/ryanbis/gc4_mod_tools

Race Editor

General Info tab, which allows you to select the advisor portraits for the race:

It's recommended to just start from a base race, and modify from there.

From here, you can also manage your citizen's portraits

Stats tab. I'm not really sure what these do to be honest. Perhaps something to do with the civ's factions? Also the consumed trait seems set up purely for the festron (well, all the races that are consumable perhaps?)

Modifiers tab. This one needs some work in the design department, and some things aren't very clear on how they work. For instance everything that used the "SpecialValue" always used the same values, so here it's restricted to those (perhaps once we know what it does, and how it works, we could open it up more).

Full supported list of options for types, bonus types, and effect types. Things that are known to work are shown in white, and are sorted at the top of the list. Things in grey are unknown to work (if you find something works, or doesnt work, please let me know and I will update the lists).

Star System Editor

Create star systems either for the starting civilizations, or just for generic systems to be generated in the galaxy.

System to Copy will allow you to pick an in game system to modify (this is kinda buggy right now)

Set the system's general info, such as name, the description, and type:

Create Orbit Lanes, which contain Lane Bodies (Planets, Asteroids, Stars)

NOTE: Creating star systems only works when using the replace mod method. The program will allow you to save with the append type, but your system won't show up in the list when creating a new civilization unless you use the replace method.

Settings

This is where you can set your GC IV install directory (so the app can read in the game's built-in files), and the mods folder where you want the output to be exported.

Version 0.5.0.1 Download

* First official version to work with Supernova. The app is shifting to only support Supernova from 0.5 and on.

* Only the Race Editor is available for now.

* Star System Editor is close, but there are still some bugs that need to be squashed.

Version 0.4.1 Download

* Fixed a crash that would happen when trying to edit a value for a Colony Stat

* Race editor now has full accepted list of things for types, bonus types, and effect types. The lists are now sorted, and anything that is currently used in game, will be white. Anything that is technically supported according to the xsd files, but NOT used in the game (at least in that particular section of the game, like in this instance, for races) is a grey color. If people try these other options, and find they work, please let me know, and I will add it to the list of known items that work and will make sure it shows white in the list, and is sorted towards the top.

Version 0.3.2 Download

* Updated Colony Stats dialog to allow entry of special values (this is how the Onyx have growth based on Promethion, for example)

* Fixed a couple of bugs, and put in more restrictions to prevent bugs/bad data

* Got icons working for planet class descriptions (Minerals, Technology, Wealth, etc)

Version 0.3.1 Download

* Added Star System Editor

* Added Settings button on Main Menu

* Removed Settings tab from Race Editor

* Added MOD type option to both editors

* Added some checks to prevent bad data (but I'm sure there are still plenty)

Version 0.1.0 Download

* [Race Editor] Added Manage portraits button to general info tab

* [Race Editor] Added new window to manage citizen portraits

Version 0.0.2 Download

* App now comes as an msi file, to simply install (no need for any other external dependencies).

Version 0.0.1 Download

* Initial alpha version of the app. Requires .NET 6 runtime installed to work.

I was thinking of putting this up on github, or something so that others could contribute, if there is interest.

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Nastytang
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MindlessMe

Join Date 12/2011

+36

This is very well done. The interface appears very straight forward and easy to use.

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Updated OP with the link to get the first alpha version.

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Version 0.0.2 alpha.

Main difference here is that I got the installer stuff working, so now it's an msi file you install, and you don't need to do anything else.

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Version 0.1.0 (alpha)

* Added a manage citizens button in general info tab (allows you to pick your citizen portraits for the race)

* Added new window for managing citizen portraits

* Advisor citizen portraits are now automatically added to the citizen portrait list

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Version 0.3.1

* Added Star System Editor

* Added Settings button on Main Menu

* Removed Settings tab from Race Editor

* Added MOD type option to both editors

* Added some checks to prevent bad data (but I'm sure there are still plenty)

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SchismNavigator

Join Date 06/2012

+165

I have stickied this thread. Surprised it wasn't already.

Great work imp!

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Thanks Schism. I'm surprised there isn't a modding category in the forums.

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Version 0.3.2

* Updated Colony Stats dialog to allow entry of special values (this is how the Onyx have growth based on Promethion, for example)

* Fixed a couple of bugs, and put in more restrictions to prevent bugs/bad data

* Got icons working for planet class descriptions (Minerals, Technology, Wealth, etc)

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How do you actually use this? I downloaded and installed. Cant find the location of the install.

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It puts an icon in the start menu. Hit the windows key, then type gc, it should come up.

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ForesterSOF

Join Date 10/2013

+32

For me it was intuitive. Looks nice to me.

Could you set the size to the resolution one is using instead of what the screen/video card can do.

In the future ability to edit custom civs.

Also description of what the pics need to be if you add custom ones.

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Quoting ForesterSOF,

reply 11

For me it was intuitive. Looks nice to me.

Could you set the size to the resolution one is using instead of what the screen/video card can do.

Thanks, Forester. About the resolution, right now everything is basically set in absolute values for the UI. Trying to build it to be responsive was taking more time than I wanted to spend on it at the time. I may move to a different UI library at some point, at which time I can revisit making it responsive.

Quoting ForesterSOF,

reply 11

In the future ability to edit custom civs.

Do you think this is necessary considering you can do this in game right now? I'm not really against it, just didn't think anyone would really want it, as the game does a pretty good job with it. But this might be a bit easier to pull off than my current endeavor of an event editor.

Quoting ForesterSOF,

reply 11

Also description of what the pics need to be if you add custom ones.

Great suggestion. I've added it to the github issues so I don't forget to get this in (at least where I know the answer, heh).

One thing the app does right now, is to convert any image you pick into png (normally you can't use jpg, but with the editor, you can because it will convert it to png before putting it into your mod folder).

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ForesterSOF

Join Date 10/2013

+32

The second is more for me.

For I made the digitizers and want to customize it easily. Others may want to do this. It is a wish that is on the to do list' but way down there.

This came about for me by not having the pic I needed at first.

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I must be doing something wrong. Ive loaded up the program. Set up the paths. Ive tried both replace and append to edit humans. In game I dont see anything. Tried to apped and replace Sol beef up mars etc. Save it. Nothing. None of the edit show up in game when either editing a race or creating a new one. I know im just missing something. Thanks for the hard work on this. Would love to get this working.

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Have you enabled mods in the game's options menu?

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Yes, mods are enabled. Im also running it as administrator. So this should just show up as a race to use when creating a civilization? Or my new star system should show?

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Yes to both. Only for star systems, it must use the replace type, which should be set by default. Where did you set your mod folder to? It should be in something like C:\Users\yourusername\Documents\my games\GalCiv4\Mods\MyNewModFolder.

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Version 0.4.1

* Fixed a crash that would happen when trying to edit a value for a Colony Stat

I'm hoping this allows people to create more interesting races, that are much different than the in-game ones. However, I feel that not everything that is listed will work, but I figured it's worth letting everyone play around with it.

The following screenshot shows how it looks:

The event editor button is there, but you can't open it yet. It's not in a spot where it's usable yet, but I wanted to get this version out with these two things that have been done.

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Ohh Thank you! do you know how hard it is to find Images for leaders using Google? As far as I can tell it can't be done but this mod effort should be very interesting!

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thanks for that link, I couldnt make heads or tails of the Git Hub stuff...I am old and damaged and not the tech guru I was.

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Hello, I installed the MOD tool, yet I do not know where to put the Install Director. Wich folder is the correct one to use?

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Wherever you have GCIV installed, for instance C:\Epic\GCIVTestEdition

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watching this thread

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So... master modding type person... how do I create custom name lists for my new race of critters? And is there a way to ensure male portraits are gendered to male characters and female to female?

Thanks in advance!

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