Actually i added new researches for my mod. It's access to a ship.

Research window

First you need a research.entity file, that stores the research itself.
This is the research for the Diablo Class Escort Cruiser from Distan Stars MOD

RESEARCHSUBJECT_FRIGATEACCESS_ESCORTTECH.entity


TXT
entityType "ResearchSubject" > Type of the entity
hudIcon "HUDICON_RESEARCHSUBJECT_FRIGATEACCESS_UTILITY0TECH" > icon
smallHudIcon "HUDICON_RESEARCHSUBJECT_FRIGATEACCESS_UTILITY0TECH" > icon
infoCardIcon ""
NameStringID "IDS_RESEARCHSUBJECT_FRIGATEACCESS_ESCORTTECH_NAME" > Name of the research. Stored in english.str
DescriptionStringID "IDS_RESEARCHSUBJECT_FRIGATEACCESS_ESCORTTECH_DESCRIPTION" > Short description of the research. Stored in english.str
researchWindowLocation
block 2 > Which area got the research (0 is the top)
pos [ 5 , 0 ] > Place of the research ( Colomn, Line )
ResearchField "Combat" > Is it represented on a military or non military field.
Prerequisites
NumResearchPrerequisites 0 > is there are an other research(es) are needed to be available
MinimumArtifactLevel -1 > only for artifacts
BaseUpgradeTime 50.000000 > time for research
PerLevelUpgradeTime 10.000000 > Time increase for additional levels (added to the base time
BaseCost
credits 1250.000000
metal 300.000000
crystal 350.000000
PerLevelCostIncrease
credits 100.000000
metal 25.000000
crystal 25.000000
Tier 5 > The tier level of the research. Bigger means more advanced techs (as i see, this this determines to the program, how many labs are needed for the research)
onlyWorksIfTierLabsExist TRUE > Are labs needed for being researchable (the lab need is the same as the tier where you put the research
MaxNumResearchLevels 1 > Are there additional levels for further upgrade
priority 0.000000 > Determines the research priority
researchBoolModifiers 0 > Are the research made constant modifiers (Disable ability, Phase out, etc)
researchFloatModifiers 0 > Floating modifiers (used for multi level upgrades, such as weapon damage, population limits, etc)
artifactPicture "" > only for artifacts


After this, you need to add the research for the race

Again, the diablo class (for Tec) PlayreTech.entity

researchInfo
count 104 > Determines how many researches the race have (if don't adjust, the mod could be activated, but takes more time)
entityDefName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_FRIGATEACCESS_UTILITY1TECH"
>>> entityDefName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_FRIGATEACCESS_ESCORTTECH" <<<
entityDefName "RESEARCHSUBJECT_HULLTECH0"


Then you must point the research from the entity what the research unlocks


Prerequisites > is there requirments for build
NumResearchPrerequisites 1 > How many researches are required
ResearchPrerequisite
Subject "RESEARCHSUBJECT_FRIGATEACCESS_ESCORTTECH" > The required research
Level 1 > Which level of the research unlocks the ship

Unit stats

i hope this helps you a bit.
if you any questions, you can contact me via PM.

Skyline sir, you are a God among men. I cannot thank you enough. I had done all the above apart from the Player####.entity. I was searching for a file like that, which listed all the available research for an empire, I just didn't know where to look.

It was the 'Colonise *PlanetType*' which I was adding, and everything had fit in apart from the research showing up.



Thats also handy to know, I came across some references to arrows when looking for the elusive files, and wondered whether I would have to manually design and put them in. Thanks for the tip Annatar.

Once again, thanks for both of your replies, greatly appreciated. Oh, and one last thing, has a Modding Wiki been set up yet for Sins'? It would help a lot of people, me included. And any tricks, tips, and info we find while modding would have a place to be written down.

Yeh, I'm sticking to the small mods at the moment, just adding one thing, or to one aspect of the game. It will be interesting to see just what exactly the finished Mods Tools will be capable of.

Feel free to ask questions, Redion So far everything is going by trial and error since nothing's really documented. I've dabbled in adding a new race, new units, making new abilities (pretty fun, but can be a bit frustrating without knowing all the "type" parameters possible, and needing to dig around every existing file to try to find it.

Like, last night I was trying to make an ability that increases the same unit's damage and I completely forgot that the Rupture capital has a similar ability to increase damage of squadrons.

So I spent probably an hour and a half trying to go through a bunch of research and ability files and experimenting with the right buffEntityModifierType parameter, until Foogsie logged on IRC and pointed me at the Rupture's ability

That Player****.entity is in the GameInfo Directory, wich you can find in this TEXT format in the modding tools under the folder ReferenceData
Annatar11... don't need to tell... i also want to figure out how to add an ability, that already in the game, just some of the values are different. In the current state, i spent most of the modding time with try to make the newly added researches/abilities/buffs workable.
The best tip i can give it to everybody is to CHECK EVERYTHING, than again, again, again...
The game engine is really sensitive. It can crash just because you used small character, instead of big.

Me too... just a week before, the most common thing on my desktop is a "nasty" picture from my girlfriend... Now only watches notepads and MiniDump windows.
I'm afraid, the next time, when i meet my girlfriend i'll try to change her "attributes" or adding new "abilities"

Wow lol, I stick with only two at a time - then I keep my errors down to a minimum I have tried with more but eventually I had to close all cus . . . wtf belongs to . . . u know – quit frustrating lol

I have tried PM Blair Fraser, but it seems he is too busy

Hope instead one of you can help. I would like to know the following:

If I extending research levels for an item in research tree – example we have an item where we now can research 2 levels in Sins v1.02 and now I make it to 3 levels - will AI-players now take advances of this new level without I doing anything else than make this new level in tech-tree?

Redion

Great - thanks m8!

Also got a reply from Blair now, and he tells they should do it - so in all very good info

Redion