Distributed Energy is tied to Orichalcix (TechnologyStrategicDeposit6) & Hazardous Mining Facility Is tied to Quadrinix (TechnologyStrategicDeposit6)

But Instead of redefining the improvements / specializations or moving the TechnologyStrategicDeposit5/6 techs why not just change the Technology Prerequisite for the resources themselves ?

In "Public\Simulation\EmpireImprovements.xml" it defines the techs that unlock each strategic resource (Quadrinix shown below)

<EmpireImprovementDefinition Name="EmpireImprovementStrategic6" Category="CategoryStrategic6" SubCategory="SubCategoryResourceExploitation">
        <TechnologyPrerequisite Flags="Prerequisite,Discard,Technology">TechnologyStrategicDeposit6</TechnologyPrerequisite>
        <SimulationDescriptorReference Name="EmpireImprovementStrategic6" />
</EmpireImprovementDefinition>

It unlocks it with it's simulation Descriptor (No Hard coding here) found in "Public\Simulation\SimulationDescriptors[EmpireImprovements].xml"

<SimulationDescriptor Name="EmpireImprovementStrategic6" Type="EmpireImprovement">
   <Modifier TargetProperty="AllowToExploitStrategicRare2"     Operation="Addition" Value="1" Path="ClassEmpire/ClassColonizedStarSystem" TooltipHidden="true" />
   <Modifier TargetProperty="AllowStrategicDeposit6"           Operation="Addition" Value="1" Path="ClassEmpire" TooltipHidden="true" />
</SimulationDescriptor>

To move the unlock of strategics just make a new tech definition (or pick an existing one) on the tech you want to move it too and then just replace the technological prerequisite in empire improvements with it.

Dagart wrote:

This list contains:
> Current Datatypes you can use to mod
> Current Datatypes but not moddable (for the moment)
> Current Datatypes but not moddable (and maybe never)
> New Datatypes still in dev (will be deployed in the next or an ulterior update), moddable or not

If The not all the datatypes all moddable why does the diagnostics show the game "Loading plugin files for database of type XYZ" for all 161 Datatypes.

Sorry for all the questions I'm just trying to understand the system, As there is only so much you can attempt to learn from looking in the assemblies

Ok, I will list that too!

I've tried to make a remaking of all 8 hero ship textures so that they are blue (as thats simple for a first retexture) but I could never guess the right names for the retextures. 

Also If I wanted to retexture the weapons to match would I need to set only one weapon to be retextured (as all weapon textures the same single texture file) or will I need to set them all to be retextured ? and if so what are the names I would need to retexture them ? (sorry for yet more questions)

For heroes spaceships, I listed the Remapping Definition names according to the Material Data names and the MaterialProperty Names, here: SpaceShip heroes.pdf.pdf

For heroes weapon modules, currently, they can't be reskinned. It's in our plans and I watch on it ;)

Dagart wrote:
For the trail, currently you can't (and I don't know if it can be added later):
> Create a new trail color: it's a particle system directly created in the game engine.
> Select the trail to applied on a ship: It's hardcoded to each ships (via the ship prefab from the game engine).

Damn, Oh well the issue only affects pathfinder hero ships so its not the worse

Dagart wrote:

Ninakoru wrote:

Hi Dagart,

I'm trying to modify industry costs for buildings, but is not overriding the original values. My xml file contains this plugin element:

            <DatabasePlugin DataType="IndustryConstructibleElement, Assembly-CSharp">
                <ExtraTypes>
                    <ExtraType DataType="StarSystemImprovementDefinition, Assembly-CSharp" />
                </ExtraTypes>            
                <FilePath>Public/Simulation/ConstructibleElement_Industry[*].xml</FilePath>
            </DatabasePlugin>    

Adding the entire mod if you happen to check the issue:

Game Balance.zip

Also as a request, could you add the option to edit the registry file on a later patch? (Public/Registry.xml) There are a few cool formulas there that I want to mod :P

Good news: we corrected the bug in the last update and you will now able to override the original values.
Concerning the option to edit the registry file, we are on it.

Great! Good news indeed! :)

Hello there! Just wanted to report that, on a Mac, there doesn't seem to be a way or path by which I can access the "Public" game files with the core game data, and thus have no idea what the baseline is or how to change it effectively for modding. This is most likely because I'm absolutely terrible at navigating my computer, but it would nonetheless be nice to have a clear path, preferably in the manual itself.

Urzamax wrote:

Hello there! Just wanted to report that, on a Mac, there doesn't seem to be a way or path by which I can access the "Public" game files with the core game data.

In steam right click on endless space 2 and click properties then select the local files tab and click browse local files and you should see the public folder.

I'm on windows but I assume this would also work on a mac.

So I'm trying to make a simple mod right now, Government and by extension Laws, because I want to put some new benefits on Democracy and Federation and give Dictatorship more powerful laws just like Republic. Unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the mod to show up in my Local Mods when I start the game, despite apparently following all of the instructions.

I'd like to point out as well that there is a comment for the FilePath function that talks about using * as a wildcard, but it is entirely unclear what that actually means, particularly as the example is missing from the comment. Also, in the SimulationDescriptors for SystemImprovements, the improvements are organized by Stages that are all out of whack in relation to where they actually are in the era's? It's very confusing.

Anyhow, I have the file here, I'd love to know what the heck is wrong and see if the correct solution can get commented into the original tutorial files next chance you get. Law & Order.xml

Aaaand lo and behold, apparently the Undo key combo deletes your files, somehow, so I just lost all the modifications I made to the Government file. Awesome.

Thanks Cyrob! I added a warning concerning spaces and special characters, to the tuto and the comments in the starterpack.

CyRob wrote:

But Instead of redefining the improvements / specializations or moving the TechnologyStrategicDeposit5/6 techs why not just change the Technology Prerequisite for the resources themselves ?

Simple: I have no idea what I'm doing and am playing this all by ear, because the Modding Tutorials flew way over my head and explained very little to me. I only came on here because what I had gleaned from experimentation was that I was doing things right according to what rules I had figured out, and thus I couldn't tell if there was something wrong or I just didn't get another, deeper rule. It's like early alchemy, you keep breaking the rules until you figure out what they are. Most of what you just described doesn't mean anything to me, but I get what the Empire Improvements part is and where it's located, so I at least know where to bodge it and that I can in fact fix this.

Thank you for the explanation, and I'll implement it right away! I'll be glad to see this problem fixed so I can play with a smoother, less Economy quadrant reliant economy.

IceGremlin wrote:

Simple: I have no idea what I'm doing and am playing this all by ear, because the Modding Tutorials flew way over my head and explained very little to me. I only came on here because what I had gleaned from experimentation was that I was doing things right according to what rules I had figured out, and thus I couldn't tell if there was something wrong or I just didn't get another, deeper rule. It's like early alchemy, you keep breaking the rules until you figure out what they are. Most of what you just described doesn't mean anything to me, but I get what the Empire Improvements part is and where it's located, so I at least know where to bodge it and that I can in fact fix this.

Thank you for the explanation, and I'll implement it right away! I'll be glad to see this problem fixed so I can play with a smoother, less Economy quadrant reliant economy.

I think everyone doing modding here plays it by ear. Most of what I know has come from reading the files and experimentation. I know I still have plenty more to learn as almost every time I answer a question on here I don't know the answer and have to dive into the files to find it. That’s how I’ve ended up learning most stuff. It's how I learnt about what I just posted, I didn't know about it 3 hours ago.

In regard to some of the stuff not meaning anything to you;

The General structure of the files is that for every thing  there is a Definition in the relevant file normally labelled <Thing’sTypeDefinition Name=”Thing”> 

Now the definition is the framework of the thing it normally does not contain any information (there are exceptions) but rather tells the game where to get the information. 

If the thing has an effect it will have a <SimulationDescriptorReference> that tells the game the effect is difined in the <SimulationDescriptor> with Whatever name. 

Simulation Descriptors contain Modifiers which just define an effect to apply to a certain path.

Now back to the Definition, They can have <SomethingPrerequisite> that define what is required before they come into effect / are available.

Definition’s can be linked to <GuiElement> just by them sharing the same name=”thing” the Gui element defines the thing’s title and description and picture (if applicable)

I think that covers the basic structure if that helps, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Hey Modders!
With the next update, mods concerning the ships reskin will require some changes to continue working.
> RemappingDefinitions no longer requires a path:
Current version : <RemappingDefinition Name="Prefabs/Game/SpaceShips/SS_Heroes_Small_01">
New version : <RemappingDefinition Name="SS_Heroes_Small_01">

And last, when you export materials and textures, an XML file is also exported to help you to create your mod.

So don't forget to update your mod after the new patch and let us know if you have questions!

Thanks for the heads up, I might not have noticed one of my mods had broken for a while without it.

I'll make the changes ready to upload when the update comes out.

Speaking of, is there any planed timeframe for when the update is expected?

Dagart wrote:

The mod looks cool ;)
For the trail, currently you can't (and I don't know if it can be added later):
> Create a new trail color: it's a particle system directly created in the game engine.
> Select the trail to applied on a ship: It's hardcoded to each ships (via the ship prefab from the game engine).

Any update on this? I figure it's likely to remain inaccessible. :/