My First Stab at Modding

[blakiseskream]

Hello there,
I have been playing this game for 11 years now, and haven't really engaged in the online community at all, but since pb6 and I realized that people out there still play this game I decided to take a stab at modding.

So heres the thing, I've managed to get into the .pak and edit all the .odfs I need. (this is a strictly .odf mod, nothing fancy)

Basically I am messing around with the scrap costs, armor, and damage of some units, trying to make the game more fast pace. (If you rememeber battlestrat I've just taken lots of the .odfs and put them into the pb6 .pak) I call it the Combat Mod.

Now I play this game online and LAN with some friends and I want to know how to get the mod to install without just copying and pasting .pak files which can be a little tedious. I know I can use the addon but I'm hesitant, ive been having problems with some .odfs copying over all bad. (I keep on getting a recycler with 2 constructers)

Anyway yeah, any help and information would be appreciated, if Im posting this in the wrong place any assistance to where the right place would be would be helpful.

TL;DR Making a gameplay mod, need help learning how to install it in other directories, also thoughts. Popping my posting cherry.

[Ded10c]

When you're taking ODFs out of paks, make sure you use them in priority order. That is, look for the ODF you want in patch13.pak first, then data.pak.

Don't put ODFs back in .paks unless you are releasing the mod and have tested everything. And never save them into a .pak that's already there.

Store all your ODFs in addon, then use something like 7-zip to zip them all up and distribute the zip.

[Nielk1]

What you want to do is save your ODFs now and do a clean re-install to repair your pak files. Then, you should make a folder in addon called "blakiseskream's mod" or whatever. In there you can place the ODFs and other assets. Once you have it how you want, you can zip this up and release it. Most mods have their own addon folder and pak files and cfg to be able to be used without harming stock play.

If you are doing an ODF mod and it is not for the SP campaign, you should consider making it a Recycler Variant. If you do this, then it can be easily downloaded and added to a game. It would be accessible at any time for IA, MPI, ST, etc, depending on the settings and anyone with it could join the game. The best thing about rec variants is that if someone does not have it, you can choose to use a regular Recycler without the need to close BZ2 and restart with a mod disabled.

[blakiseskream]

okay... so I extract the edited .odfs I have. Put them in a folder in the addon directory... and then, use mod manager to access it?
Do I need to create a .cfg file? If so do I just configure it to look into the folder I put into addon?

Then towards the Recycler Varient: basically all the mod does is I have units have a lower scrap cost and faster build time. I also made weapons a little bit more powerful, and edited the FX. Lastly I added some things that I already had the .odfs for, for instance a Mr. Roboto for ISDF that can build Rocket Tower, Assualt Tower, Gun Tower, and ADV power. As well as a SCION APC (sweep) and scion Gauss Gun. Would a recycler varient allow me to incorporate all these things? and if so how do I go about setting that up.

Thanks.

[Nielk1]

If they are in addon they are always on. If you put them in a new folder, like blakiseskream_addon, you can make a custom CFG file like that of bzone.cfg and add blakiseskream_addon to it at the top. Then start bzone.exe with '/config customcfgname.cfg'.

For a Recycler Variant, it is sort of like a mod, but it does not override stock assets. Instead, it makes assets uniquely named often though a suffix. For example, the scrapper Recycler in MRVP uses ODFs such as ivrecy_scrapper.odf, ibrecy_scrapper.odf, ivscav_scrapper.odf, ivhscav_scrapper.odf, ivcons_scrapper.odf, ibsilo_scrapper.odf, ibscav_scrapper.odf, and ibscup_scrapper.odf.

[blakiseskream]

how do I start bzone.exe with the /config? do i rename the .exe file or something else...

[blakiseskream]

also how do you add the recylcer varient to the list for Multiplayer?

[Nielk1]

Look into autoreg files.

Also, take a shortcut, and change it from
"X:/dir/to/bz2/bzone.exe"
to
"X:/dir/to/bz2/bzone.exe" /config customconfig.cfg

[GSH]

Battlestrat... now that's a word I haven't heard in quite a while. Unfortunately, it's not a great memory. I added recycler variants precisely because lamer-mods like battlecrap were causing all sorts of bad assets and problems for people. If you make a recycler variant, and do it right -- i.e. you don't touch any stock assets, because they're stock and not for you to touch -- then people can merge in your files without causing bad assets. And that's a good thing.

If you do the wrong thing and touch any stock assets, then putting them in a separate folder, and providing an installer that makes a shortcut w/ a new .cfg on it is the best way to clean up your mess. I've provided templates on these boards to help with just that.

Bottom line: I'm tired of cleaning up after lamer mods that touch stock assets. I've implemented *two* ways around that. Don't annoy me further.

-- GSH

[blakiseskream]

lol...
so about those stock assets... does pb6 touch data.pak at all? or does it just ad patch13.pak? You see I think I've **** up my stock assets in my pb6 directory beyond recognition, but i still have my 1.2 directory, however now that you mention how bstrat **** up stock assets, my 1.2 directory is modded like crazy, anyway to know whether or not my assets are still good when i upgrade it to pb6.

Also I think I've figured out this recycler varient thing pretty well, and I have my mod working (it still needs some fixes but I don't have any .odf conflicts when I use the recycler varient). Thanks for the help...

[GSH]

Yes, 1.3pb6 uses files from data.pak. Some files in data.pak are overridden by patch13.pak, but modders should stay hands-off data.pak, too. Stock assets are supposed to be read-only for modders. If not, it's bad assets time.

-- GSH

[Nielk1]

Basically it is best to make a full on mod with a custom CFG at such time that you are making MAJOR changes, like an entire new campaign. For things like battlestrat does, it is best you make a Recycler Variant simply because it is easier to use.

I think I should make a guide on rec variants or something so that people do not get entirely lost.

[blakiseskream]

Yes, 1.3pb6 uses files from data.pak. Some files in data.pak are overridden by patch13.pak, but modders should stay hands-off data.pak, too. Stock assets are supposed to be read-only for modders. If not, it's bad assets time.

Is there an easy way to check to see if my stock assets are bad in my 1.2 directory? Or will upgrading it to 1.3 fix that issue?

[GSH]

Data.pak is installed from CD. Only. The 1.1/1.2/1.3 patch installers do not touch data.pak in any way. Want clean stock assets in data.pak? Reinstall from CD. That's the only way to do that.

-- GSH

[blakiseskream]

Thanks for the info, looks like I was able to repair the .pak successfully, and I finished (for now) my varient.

heres a link to it if you want to see: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FLZIMQOS

Thanks for all the help!