Sins Forums
I downloaded a few custom maps, but am at lost as to where to put them. I tried to put them into the \Galexy folder, but the game didn't reconize it. I have Trinity 1.011 .
assuming you have sins 1.191/entrenchment 1.051/diplomacy 1.011, the galaxy forge maps NEED to be placed here for xp
C:\Documents and Settings\'user name'\Local Settings\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\GalaxyForge
or here for vista/windows 7
C:\Users\'user name'\AppData\Local\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\GalaxyForge.
for sins 1.15/entrenchment 1.01 and earlier, the correct location IS the program files \galaxy folder, and you also NEED to edit the entrenchment's galaxy.manifest to include the maps and also the total count of maps
NOTE the first two folders after the 'user name' are hidden , so to see them you must first click on 'tools' then 'folder options', then 'view', then click on 'show hidden files& folders' then click ok, then you will be able to browse your want to the folder. I suggest when you find the folder that you create a shortcut to it on the desktop
NOTE 2 the 'user name' in the above paths is your WINDOWS login user name, eg Administrator
also the galaxy forge maps in the local apps galaxyforge folder only show up in the galaxy forge tab of map types in sins 1.16+/entrenchment 1.02+
if the map IS a galaxy forge and giving the instant win/loss screen then MAKE sure that EACH player has a home planet and is not for a particular mod that has extra home planets and stars
if the galaxy forge map is placed in the program files galaxy folder, then the map NEEDS to be manually added to the entrenchment & diplomacy galaxy.manifests(not recommended as EACH update will replace any files that are different or have been changed)
and if a map you want to play was released before 25th feb 2009 then you will also need the sins map updater from here
http://files.filefront.com/sins+map+updater+v201rar/;13585432;/fileinfo.html.
there is a second type of map which SHOULD be placed in the mapdesigner folder, you can tell if it is by the eighth line reads randomizeStartingPositions TRUE', if this line is FALSE then it is a galaxyforge map and could be in an older map format. the current map format version is 3 this can be seen in line two of the file. if the map is a version 0,1 or 2 then the map updater will make it playable in current versions and expansions
the differences between map versions 0,1 & 2 were only the addition of ONE line near the start of the file, BUT mapversion3 has 5 new lines PER PLANET/player & template and 5 changed lines per planet/player & template and WILL CAUSE THE minidump curse if you just change the version number.
harpo
If I change that line in a Galaxy Forge map to read "TRUE", could I run the maps from the regular Galaxy folder in the main game files? Could I tweak them so that they would auto-download to people just like map designer maps?
I've tried to figure out a way to do this before so that custom maps would be viable for online multiplayer, but previous attempts failed. If you could figure out a way to do it by tweaking some lines of code, I'd be grateful.
Would that line actually have an effect on player start positions if they were set in the player properties of a map?
NO the map structure is radically different between mapdesigner & galaxyforge. the only way to convert a mapdesigner to galaxyforge IS to load the mapdesigner map in galaxy forge then save it in galaxyforge folder. as far as I know there is no way to convert a map from galaxyforge to mapdesigner due to the major differences in the map structure.
harpo
I cannot find C:\Users\'user name'\AppData\Local\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\GalaxyForge . The game itself is in C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock Games, not in 'users\username' . regardless, i cannot find the galaxforge folder. I downloaded the galaxyforge3.rar file, but the only extraction software I found on the internet were questionable, as I do not have any extraction software standard on my vista. I would like a link to a good extraction software. the exact map I downloaded was the SWgalaxyclassic, Realspace, Fungalaxy, and the Hub.
| 7-Zip (free open source) | |||
| WinRAR (trial) | |||
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WinZip (trial constant pop-ups) UNHIDE THE HIDDEN FOLDERS AS IN WHAT HARPO TYPED IN BLUE. This is the same as installing mods for Sins and there is an article at http://soase.weebly.com/placing-mods.html This is for XP and VISTA Open Windows Explorer. On the menu bar select Tools --> Folder Options
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I long for the day when developers stop kow-towing to Microsoft and Games for Windows and return to the old days when managing a game's files was simple and straightforward--you have one single folder containing all of the files for the game including a place for custom content. No need to hunt down hidden folders.
Ok. I un-hid everything and I found the \galaxyforge folder. But if I switch to the galaxy forge selection in the actual game, the game freezes up and shuts down. I did alter the programming a little by changing it to 'version# 3', because all the standard maps are like that. Before that they were not even showing up.
please change the ones you altered BACK to the original version number and use my map updater.
and if a map you want to play was released before 25th feb 2009 then you will also need the sins map updater from here
http://files.filefront.com/sins+map+updater+v201rar/;13585432;/fileinfo.html.
just delete the targetsinsver.txt and run the map updater, it will fix all the maps so that thay WILL work in any sins/entrenchment/diplomacy since 1.15/1.01/1.0.
the differences between map versions0,1 & 2 were only the addition of ONE line near the start of the file, BUT mapversion3 has 5 new lines PER PLANET/player & template and 5 changed lines per planet/player & template and WILL CAUSE THE mimidump/freeze curse if you just change the version number.
harpo
Did that, but the maps won't show on the galaxy forge. But it did solve the freezing problem. I even re-downloaded the maps and ran them through the updater. still nothing. I do have the latest updates for the game. If this to much of a problem, then just say so and I'll forget about it, the game is great without it.
Oh, the updater did mess up the custom random maps, so that the game froze up on that selection. but they were not very important and deleting them fixed the problem
syphron, which version of the map updater did you use?
the one on the downloads page is version 1.00 and the one I linked to in my last reply is the latest version which is version 2.01, but from memory even version 1 checked the version numbers and did not process those it did not understand, but version 2 will update mapversions 0, 1 & 2 to mapversion 3 making all needed changes.
if you want me to sort out the maps for you just archive them into a zip,rar or 7z and email them to me at harpo99999 at hotmail.com and I will fix and test them and get them back to you and I do have the sins 1.191,entrenchment 1.051,diplomacy 1.011 & even a trinity with latest versions.
harpo
The link provided v1.1.7 . I'll email you the maps sometime tomorrow. My email is rhetthuston at hotmail.com. Thanks for your help.
if it was the mapupdater v1.1.7 then it is a very old version from MARCH 2009 while the 2.01 is from july 2009 and can handle(update all previous map versions to 3 while the 1.17 could only do mapversion2 to 3 from memory.
and the original maps ARE what I want to fix for you.
harpo
see reply # 10
OR
the map updater thread which points to the latest complete modding utilities by me
harpo
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TOTAL BS!