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Creating a custom Capital Ship name list

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Creating a custom Capital Ship name list

from Sins Forums
Another day, another weird thing I'm trying to do :P So I'm adding a 4th race, and I want to add its own cap ship name list.

Each player(RACE).entity file has this line (with the appropriate Tech/Psi/Phase):

capitalShipNameType "CapitalShipTech"

and the string file has name listings under IDS_CAPITALSHIPNAME_TECH00-TECH45 (again, with appropriate TECH/PSI/PHASE).

However, neither capitalShipNameType nor CapitalShipTech appear in any other file that I could find (Windows advanced search for contents :P), and there's no clear connection between the two.

I tried changing the capitalShipNameType to my race's name, as well as adding appropriate strings, but that doesn't do it.

Each player(RACE).entity file also has:

raceNameParsePrefix "TECH"
raceNameParsePrefixFallback "TECH"

which I changed to match my race, figuring maybe it finds the name strings using those prefixes, but no dice also. Anyone have any ideas?
modding
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Reply #26 from Sins Forums Top

I am especially perplexed by the maximum in game character limit of 13 given that if you modify the string file directly you can have up to 26 characters.  And in fact, several of the in game names utilize between 14 and 17 characters already.  I haven't been able to find where this limit is imposed, but its not for a lack of trying.

Reply #27 from Sins Forums Top

What I would liek to know if I can create a custom capship name list tot hat in MP my ships are automaticaly given one of the names I have selected for it. So I don't have to manuly rename them.

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Reply #28 from Sins Forums Top

Annatar,

It sounds as though anything short of a exe editor isnt going to work, though I had a thought that you could add new entries for the tec, psi and phase capitalship names in the string folder, but that is really only a partial workaround as it doesnt give your 4th race names specific only to them, but would also apply to the race you are adding the names for.

:(

Sorry, unless the Devs create something in the forge tools for modifying or adding race entries i dont know.

Thought i could help, tried replacing my original files with modified ones, but messed up the main games and have to re-install from impulse. But it was an interesting experiment.  :) Even with the re-install.

Take care,

-Teal

 

Reply #29 from Sins Forums Top

:)  I suppose im sometimes a bit obsessed by all of this, haha, but have been working along the lines you mentioned, just to see if i could find a reference SOMEWHERE, for the capitalshipnametype. Somewhere we haven't looked yet.

I thought perhaps that renaming the meshes, and the textures of a single ship, or perhaps one of the files in the base install folder has a reference for the capitalshipnametype? Like when files aren't listed in Entrenchment, but they pull from the base game folders.

No luck yet, but there is the ability to re-name them in game, that is tied to the executable of course. Perhaps the lines exist in the exe itself?

Hacking the exe though might be more than i can do with a hex editor.

Of course it would be nice if the exe "referenced" a file somewhere with the appropriate list of values, but it may not of course.

Or perhaps the GalaxyForge? I haven't looked at it closely enough since i have been having difficulties getting the templates to work right since the update.

I have also thought perhaps of some variant of the main three, or their in-game names, like Phase2 or Vasari as values that might be workable to get an additional list of ship names in game.

Has anyone hacked the exe at all?

Has anyone seen what it looks like and whether or not it is editable?

Sorry, going in circles here,

Hmmm....

What about registry entries for the game in Windows? are there values listed there for perhaps "Types"?

Or perhaps hidden folders or files in the game folders?

Probably not that cryptic. If I was a Dev, I would probably hard code it because its quicker or list it in a text file somewhere the game scans for its setup values when loading.

Well... still thinking, but stumped, because i cant of course look at any of this from school, but well... tonight I can look at some of it.

We could of course ask the Devs, Craig or Blair and they could say yes, or no, or maybe, or its coming be patient.  :)

Anyway, will get back with you and let you know how the search goes.  :)

Haha, like looking for harmonic valves that make cars run harmoniously,  :) Which may mean its in the exe and not to be found in a file at all, no matter how many i look through.  :)

Anyway, as Sherlock was famous for saying "The game is afoot!"

Still searching...

-Teal

 

 

Reply #30 from Sins Forums Top

teal,

on this hunt I have checked the registry and the galaxy's also for ANY hidden files & or folders, and the only references that I can find for ship names are in the string file ie 49 names for tech caps, 39 names for vasari caps, 30 names for advent caps, AND ONLY 6 names for each race's starbases.

I have also searched ALL the non-exe files and found NO reference to the IDS_CAPITALSHIPNAME file. it looks like this is set in the exe.

harpo

 

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Reply #31 from Sins Forums Top

:)  Well, the hacking the exe is really probably imoral and not too cool to the devs, and it is really beyond me anyway, so that was more frustration than anything talking. But I appreciate your help Harpo.

I was wondering if the name list is generated randomly or if it always picks the first name first. If so, could we simply append our custom list of names after the first 30 for phase and designate the ship to start with that?

I'm really grasping at straws here, but thought it might be simpler than finding something that doesnt exist.  :)

Thank you for the help Harpo!!  :)

-Teal

 

 

Reply #32 from Sins Forums Top

I have tried adding extra capital names and starbase names to the string file and all I get is Minidumps on my development comp. so I am re-installing entrenchment, but testing the extended string I only get string not found , then I remembered to add the number of strings to the count

harpo

 

Reply #33 from Sins Forums Top

upon futrther testing with the correct string count YES we CAN add additional ship AND starbase names, and they are randomly selected, eg my first starbase used my ninth starbase name and the second starbase took the tenth name

harpo

 

Reply #34 from Sins Forums Top

:)  Very very very Cool!!!!!  Harpo!!!!    :)

Which of course means that we can add names of our own, but the drawback of course is that we cant yet figure out how to get names for new races which are exclusive to them.  :(  Well... win some lose some, or well.... haha, win some and so far a draw on the second... i dont want to admit failure when we havent had the devs say it cant be done. :)

I wonder if i could make a batch file, haha, that is a stretch, but maybe huh? I saw someone use a batch file to run the convert.exe on binary files to convert to text. Very nicely done.  :)  So maybe after loading the game we could run a batch file to change all the names of one race over to our new names?  But then, the game is already loaded in memory, and even if we change the files, they havent been loaded...  hmmm.....   still thinking...  what about stacking? We have our names for our first races in the first mod, our custom names in the second under say the "Zeer" race, or whatever, right?

So we stack them, picking up the names for the first three races in the first mod, and the custom names in the second mod? Hmmmm, think it will work?

Will have to give it a try to see, second mod might have just one race and the pirates, the first of course our first three races and the pirates which over-rides the pirates in the second mod, so we have two mods, 3 + 1 races and the pirates, and how many names?

Might be worth a go, will try it, oh my!!!  I can see me not getting any sleep for a couple of hours, haha, or keep thinking about it and giving it a try tomorrow... except i really dont want to wait, haha, impatient!!!  :)

Well... I will think about it and get back to you. If im bleery eyed tomorrow and incoherent!!  Haha, well... you will know i didnt get much sleep.  :)

-Teal

 

 

Reply #35 from Sins Forums Top

teal the BAD news is that it is a SINGLE file not a case for a batch to convert files using the convertdata's between txt & bin, but I did start a string editing program but ran into some difficulties with it, and am trying to think around the problems of the error checking part of the program. I might just kill the error checking and mearly indicate the entity and reference value that is accessed, and add in planet,star,capital and starbase name edit, add and delete functions.

harpo

 

Reply #36 from Sins Forums Top

:)  Whew!!!!  That is alot.  :)

It will be a entity files editor?  Sounds very very cool!!  :)

Let me know when you have it ready!

-Teal

 

Reply #37 from Sins Forums Top

it will ONLY be a string file editor & also suit translators, I might drop the read entity files part as it will NEED the location of the reference files as the program WILL ONLY read TXT mode files and this is the area that is stuffing me up. I could email you the early alpha but it would only frustrate the hell out of you. it is nowhere near to beta yet.

harpo

 

Reply #38 from Sins Forums Top

:)

 

Reply #39 from Sins Forums Top

:)

 

Reply #40 from Sins Forums Top

:)  hi Annatar