TA Map Editor Question

Using Home Systems

from GalCiv2 Forums

I apologize if this has been asked/answered before, I searched for a while and didn't come up with anything, but I wasn't really sure what to look for, so it may have been there.

 

Anyways, I'm using the map editor in Twilight.  I've made a custom map with a fixed starting location for each of the races, but there's a problem.  Earth doesn't look like Earth, Mars doesn't look like Mars, Jupiter doesn't...you get the idea.  Is there a way I can get the race-specific home system graphics on a custom map, while still keeping them in a fixed location, with altered stats?  IE, can I have Earth looking like Earth, but without the color & size of Sol changing, the number of asteroid fields changing, to their default values?  Can I have Mars looking like Mars, but still have it start as a "barren" world rather than a "habitable by all" world?  I saw that each race has an entry in the "CustomPlanets.xml" file, which seems to specify how each planet should look, but I wasn't sure how to transport that data into my map file.  I opened the .GC2Map saved file of my custom map and saw similiar looking syntax, but can't figure out how to put the CustomPlanets data into that file without making the game crash upon attempting to load the map.

Also, on an semi-unrelated note, is there a way around the 5 planets-to-a-star limit, or a way around the stars-must-be-7-tiles-away limit?  I'd like to get the entire solar system in there rather than just the most prominent planets, and I'd like to get Alpha Centauri a and Alpha Centauri b a little closer together.

Anyways, hopefully that isn't confusing anything.  Any help will be greatly appreciated.

modding
7,206 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Is there a way I can get the race-specific home system graphics on a custom map
End of quote

I don't believe so, no.

 

Stars can only have five planets period, this is an engine limitation (things go really messy when there's more).

Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Crap.  This is probably a long shot and more work than it's worth, but theoretically, could I create a whole new planet type (like barren and aquatic), assign it only one possible look (that being Earth's look, or whatever planet I'm trying to replicate), and then make Earth that kind of planet?  Is that doable within GCII?  I'm still sorta new to modding the game, so I'm not really clear on what is and is not doable yet.

WindowBlinds - Free yourself of the default settings, customize your desktop.
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

The extreme environments are also hard-coded, the best you could do is replace an existing one. I'm not sure if the texture list is dynamically loaded (i.e., having only one for the type won't crash the game), but that much should be easy to test.

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Hm, I don't want to replace an extreme environment, since even if I replaced all of them I still wouldn't have enough slots for all the unique planets.  Hopefully I can find a way around that.  I notice that the texture seems to remain consistent between saved games, so it must be storing the way the planets look, maybe I can edit that somehow to point towards the correct textures.

Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

You might want to read the following thread before you draw any conclusions on the 'in-game restrictions' for custom systems & other possibilities with the map editor...

https://forums.galciv2.com/312077

o_O

Anything is possible when someone works hard at *A* solution!

Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Wow, thats great, thanks a lot.

Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

I'm new to the map editor and have some problems. I've selected a homeworld for every race, but when I want to start my own map, I'm not starting at the planet I've selcted in the editor. I start at some random star system somewhere on the map.

So, what do I have to do to start at my selected homeworld?

Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Ross, is this for a Custom race or a regular (Terran to Krynn) "default" race?

Cuz, it matters that the Homeworld owner is defined right into the map (as edited & saved) WITH the drop-down box list provided.

Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

I've selcted "Terran" as my race and added a terran homeworld to my own map in the editor.

Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

This may sound strange, but IS the custom map selected during the setup phase to play with?

And if so, where is that specific map located? the regular 'C:\Documents...\...\' or from a mod folder?