Do you have the text versions of the files yet?

Hmm..  Just download Harpo's stuff for now as they're already in text format.  Worry about getting ConvertData to work later.

Download

Stick this in whatever folder you want, though make it somewhere easy to get to.

After that, go into the game and click options->mods->mod path.  This will create a mods folder called Mods-Rebellion vX.YZ.  This is the location:

C:\Users\<your name>\Documents\My Games\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion\Mods-Rebellion v0.96\

That location is where you should put your mods.  To create a mod, go into Mods-Rebellion vX.YZ and create a folder by whatever name.  For you, let's make a folder called "Advent Super Capitals."  Inside that, make a folder called "GameInfo."  

Now, copy the Advent capitalship files from your reference folder into GameInfo.  The files you're looking for are...

• CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLEPSIONIC.entity
• CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLESHIP.entity
• CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLESHIP2.entity
• CAPITALSHIP_PSICARRIER.entity
• CAPITALSHIP_PSICOLONY.entity
• CAPITALSHIP_PSIPLANETPSIONIC.entity

Now that you've copied the files from your reference folder to ...\Advent Super Capitals\GameInfo, open them up.  Scroll down until you hit  NumWeapons <integer>.  Below that, you'll see the various weapons that ship has.  Increase the damage numbers to something absurd, say 9999.999999.  Then go back up and increase the hull/shields.  Repeat the process for the other files.

Congratulations, you've made your first mod!  Load the game, go to options->mods and click on your mod and click enable.  This will stick your mod in the second list box.  Make sure the checksum isn't zero and if it's not, click Apply.  Play game as Advent and watch as your new super capitals trounce everything else in your path.

Generally, you will want to change the effectInfo section...lines like:

soundID "EFFECT_ADAPTIVESHIELD"

can be changed to:

soundID ""

One exception is:

 attachType "Center"

which should be changed to:

attachType "Invalid"

Some other general knowledge you'll want to know about the GameInfo files are as follows...

• Phase means Vasari, Psi means Advent, and Tech means TEC
• There is no "cruiser" type for target filters; only frigate
• the frigate target filter encompasses corvettes yet a lot of files still have corvette even if frigates are already listed
• abilities work by being assigned a position on a ship/structure/planet/star.  The ability then applies a buff.  That buff can either perform actions to the object that has it, apply more buffs to itself, remove buffs from itself, or apply buffs to other game objects
• -1 means infinite.
• for things such as passives, it is always a good idea to make sure that the primary buff the ability applies (such as BuffAdaptiveShield) has PrioritizeOldBuffs.  This will cut back slightly on processing time because every tick of the ability the game won't try to reapply the buff again.
• as more and more buffs become linked, they become known as "buff chains."
• sufficiently large buff chains can act as logic gates.  I know Evil Tesla has made some and I have done quite a few.  Idk if Tesla's still around though.  I'm assuming other modders have done so however.
• new features added in Rebellion allow logic gates to be made more easily, though it is still an advanced task to do something more complex than a simple if-statement.  Logical AND, logical OR, and whatnot are entirely possible, though they are more complicated.
• the only source of random numbers that can be used for abilities are applying a buff on chance of weapons fire.  check out Subjugating Assault, Disruptive Strikes, Incendiary Shells, and others.  Once again, practical application of such is far above where a beginner should be, but it is possible and if you need help, I'd be happy to do so.
• Fighters and bombers both go under the category of "Fighter" for target filters
• strike craft have the "Fighter" heading on their entity files
• squads can have abilities but fighters cannot
• fighters cannot be made to have shields; it WILL crash the game
• use the dev version when testing your mods
• sometimes the dev version will throw errors that aren't your fault
• (common sense) before using someone else's work, always credit them and only use their work if they have approved or have previously okayed anyone and everyone to use their mod (ie: Bailknight's Graphical Mod)

If you have any more detailed questions, feel free to PM me.

Steam appdata folder with your normal exe.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\sins of a solar empire rebellion

look, i know how to navigate my computer. i go to where exactly youve all been telling me, but i don't see any file, text document, or folder that says directoer exe.

I found it, thank you Harpo99999. Karma point