Tutorial: Creating a new Planet type
First and foremost, I am going to assume that if you want to make new planet that you are capable of basic modding.
Right, here we go. Copy one of the other Planet####.ENTITY files in GameInfo(For this tutorial, I am going to copy PlanetIce.ENTITY) and rename it to whatever planet you are about to create. Now, in the new planets file, edit and change everything you want, but remember to change the 'Count' number at the top of each section to reflect the number of stages etc you have there. I recommend deleting all but the first meshInfo and changing the meshInfoCount to 1.
IMPORTANT: Every reference to 'Ice' in this file, change to your planets name, apart from where it says:
dustCloudTemplate "IceSafe"
and
planetTypeForResearch "Ice"
I have no idea what the dustCloudTemplate is, so I didn't touch it. As for the research type, whichever planet you change it to, it will reflect that planet type's effect.
For Example: By leaving it as "Ice", you will only be able to colonise your planet after researching 'Ice Colonisation'. And when you research the 'Ice Population Increase' it will have the same effect on your planet. If you want to make you own research, then use Skyline's tutorial, and basically, figure it out. Just start by copying the RESEARCHSUBJECT_PLANETACCESS_ICE####.entity and changing the relative values to reflect your planet type. I strongly advise against doing this until you have a sound knowledge in what you are doing.
Also, add or change the relative Planetary bonuses to what fits your planet. And don't forget to change the 'Count' number.
Now, strings. Open your english.str file and find the line for the Ice planet's string. In notepad, hit Ctrl+F and type in IDS_PLANETTYPE_ICE, then press enter. Copy that section and paste it at the bottom of the file (makes it easier to find later). Now change ICE to whatever your planet type is. Then below that change "Ice Planet" to whatever you want displayed as your planet's name.
Now at the top of the strings file, change the 'Count' number by adding 1 to whatever it reads. This is VERY important.
Now the GalaxyScenarioDef.GALAXYSCENARIODEF file found in GameInfo. Open it, and add your planet type to whatever you want in the PlanetType setion, and don't forget to change the 'Count' number. If you add a new section, that contains just your planet, don't forget to change the 'Count' number at the top of the PlanetType setion too.
Now, further down the file you will come to the orbitBodyType section. Create a new one by copying the Ice planet bit. Change the typeName to whatever name you used for your planet in the PlanetType section, then change the entityDefName to the file name of your planet(Planet####.ENTITY). And once, don't forget to add to the 'Count' number at the top of this section.
The defaultTemplateName defines what militia forces will be present when your planet is spawned in-game. Change this to one of the other planet templates, for example, Terran is well defended by militia, whereas Asteroids are not.
Now, meshes. Copy the Planet_Ice_0.mesh and rename it by replacing Ice with your planets name. Open this file and change the lines:
DiffuseTextureFileName "C:\PlanetIce01-cl.dds"
and
SelfIlluminationTextureFileName "C:\PlanetIce01-da.dds"
Rename the files here by replacing Ice with your planets name.
Now we start the fun part. Textures. Copy the entire textures folder(1.07Gb) from your Sins' directory into your mod folder, and copy the two files described above (PlanetIce01-cl/da). Open them up and change the planets surface to what you want it to look like. If you can't figure out how it all wraps around, the middle section is the main body of the planet, the two poles are at the top and bottom of the picture. The file ending in 'cl' is the light side of the planet, and 'da' is the dark side.
Now the final bit, and the most difficult, icons. I will explain this best I can, but you are going to have to work with me here, as its not the easiest thing to explain.
In the Window folder you must change 4 files:
InfoCardIcon-Planet.BRUSHES
MainViewIcon-Planet.BRUSHES
Picture-Planet.BRUSHES
HUDIcon-Planet.BRUSHES
I will explain how they work, then you can change and edit them yourselves. For each icon/picture, you will see a section like this:
brush
. . . name "INFOCARDICON_PLANET_ICE0". . . . . 1
. . . content "Simple" . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
. . . fileName "Icons_planets" . . . . . . . . 3
. . . pixelBox [ 208 , 626 , 22 , 22 ] . . . . 4
Line 1 is the name of the icon, this needs to be the same as the one in your Planet####.ENTITY file you created at the beginning.
Line 2 is not relevant.
Line 3 is the file name in the Textures folder you copied earlier.
Line 4 is the position (X,Y co-ordinates in pixels) of the TOP LEFT CORNER of the box the icon is in. And the last 2 numbers are the dimensions of that box, in pixels again.
By using these few lines you should be able to find the icon/picture that it describes. Once you have found it, copy it to a blank space on the file in question (don't forget to copy the alpha channel too, or it won't show up) and edit the tiny picture to what you want. Then you must take down its position the same way it is described in the .BRUSHES files. You should keep the same dimensions as the original icon you copied.
I have explained everything as much as I can, but a lot of this, like ALL modding, is trial and error, working out things for yourself, and figuring out what is wrong, then fixing it.
Good luck, this is not an easy thing to mod, there are a lot of things that can go wrong.
Edit: Typos. But please forgive any bad grammar or spelling, writing that much text gets very monotonous and I lose track.
