Stickied thing to translate

from Sins Forums
"That because the game files are in Binary. This tutorial was created when they were in text form. You can get the text form from the beta mod tools in the sticky."
 
This is something that was said by someone who has not been on for months, so where is the text form??
 
All the stuff I see is in jumbled format, so I can only get the jist of a fraction of it... So where is this stuff?
modding
3,119 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Click the Downloads button on the site, scroll down to the mod tools section and there's always a link for the most up-to-date reference data in text.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Well its not in the text itself, it says that the forge tools has it, which is all well and good, except that nothing seems to work in it aside from Galaxy forge...I don't know why but particle forge has never worked for me... and I can't seem to get the other programs to activate...They say that I'm missing a dll (this includes things like developer), so they don't work, but a few like Conver XSI pop open this dos window for a split second and before I can read the command, it closes...The same goes for convert data...
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
but a few like Conver XSI pop open this dos window for a split second and before I can read the command, it closes...The same goes for convert data...


You should read the pdf documentation, which will explain their usage :P ConvertXSI/ConvertData are command-line programs to convert existing files into formats used by the game. For example, if you change an .entity file for your mod, you can use convertdata to encode it in binary, so the game loads it faster. It's not necessary to convert, but it does speed up loading times when everything is in binary.

For the other programs, make sure you have the latest .NET framework installed, and I think there was a thread around the forums somewhere about where to get the missing DLL.. that's all I can think of.

Your best friend for the GameInfo files will be trusty ole Notepad :P
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
What dll files are you missing? The programs require .Net 2.0 to work, have you double checked that you have this up-to-date on your machine? Everything seems to run fine for me so perhaps it is simply updating .Net to get things working correctly for you. If not, list the dll's that you need maybe someone knows where you can get them.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
Hmm well where could I find whether I have .net 2.0 or not??
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
You can go to Windows Update site and search for .NET Framework, they should have a download there and it will probably tell you if you need to update yours or not.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
Ok well I told it to download it and its doing something. When you here that ht ht bd bdht and the light is flashing like five time a second, you know its thinking...

Ok, its downloading now so I think that may have solved the problem...maybe..so don't leave just yet...


Also I read the pdf's and they look like they are 3D imaging software, not DOS, so yah...
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
Well it didn't download correctly, said it was incompatible with the current version...
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
Ok, so now what...
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
Okay, let's start from the beginning a bit. The mod pack should have the following:

- Galaxy Forge for making maps
- Particle Forge for making weapon/ability effects
- Reference Data with text versions of every data file the game uses, where applicable
- Developer .exe that lets you have a bit more error logging and allows you to apply changes while the game is running.
- Convertdata/convertxsi programs.
- PDFs for a generic modding tutorial, and more advanced ones for the XSI modeling/importing, etc.

You said Galaxy Forge works, so that's a check. The Reference Data is modified by hand, and convertdata takes the text and translates to binary once you're done with the mod. How to get started with the data and the usage of convertdata should be covered in the generic intro tutorial pdf.

ConvertXSI is used after you make a completed model in XSI and it converts it to the Sins meshes so the game knows what to do with it.

So that takes care of those..

Particle Forge and the developer .exe don't work?
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
So I am assuming XSI is some 3D modeling program...which you probably have to buy for who knows how much...I have solidworks which I won in a robotics competition, and it would normally have sold for 2,500!! ITS JUST A PROGRAM!!!  :(  Or is XSI a file type?

Reference data: I understand that, already started working on it...
Galaxy forge: always has worked
Developer: know what it is but, just doesn't work, says it encountered a fatal error
Particle Forge: yep... doesn't work, says it has "encountered a problem and needs to close"


So yah... Don't know why or how but Developer and Particle forge don't work.. PF just keeps failing, no clue why...I have tried uninstalling it and the re installing it, downloading it together, downloading it seperately... NOTHING WORKS!!!  :( 
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
So I am assuming XSI is some 3D modeling program


Yes :P However, you can get the free version of it, which the company released for mod-makers. It's a little more limited in features, obviously, but it still does a good job.

You can grab it here. There are also some very nice video tutorials for it, and people on the forums can probably help you out some. I don't do any modeling, so that's where my help will have to end :P

Developer: know what it is but, just doesn't work, says it encountered a fatal error
Particle Forge: yep... doesn't work, says it has "encountered a problem and needs to close"


I saw the other thread where kryo was trying to help you make sure you have .net 2.0 running. I think the issue is something related to it. You mentioned a missing dll earlier, what was that about?

Edit: Did some digging, check out this thread. Specifically, DANMAN's upload of the missing DLL that should fix it. Also, make sure you're running the mod tools from the same directory where your Sins of a Solar Empire.exe is.