modding bugs

davea

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 19, 2012, 3:21:22 PM

Hupailija wrote:
Actually it was fairly easy to add several planets oh and ability to terraform to those too.

Have you verified which of the existing buildings can be built on these planets and which cannot? And which ones the AI will build on these planets? Adding them may be relatively easy, but I don't think getting everything to work properly with them is easy.

davea

Newcomer

davea

Newcomer

12 years ago

Sep 8, 2012, 4:55:31 PM

Thanks for releasing the icon pack. I have one bug to report, and one suggestion.

Bug: some icons are missing from the icon pack. Specifically, StarSystemImprovementUniqueHisshoLarge, which is used in the tech tree hover help. The other icons like that are also missing. I am not sure if there is any other place where the large versions of these are displayed, but for certain that one is missing.

Suggestion: The directory structure of the icon pack does not match, at all, the directory structure of the game. This means that I need to carefully study the directory path in the xml file, and then manually create my own directory path in my mod. This way, I can make graphical changes without requiring xml changes. For example, I want to recolor the icon for the hissho-specific technology Efficient Shielding (unlocks destroyer). I do not want to change the xml file for such a small change. So, I find the icon in the resource pack: Technologies/TechnologyE04HisshoSmall. Then I lookup the definition in TechnologyExpansion.xml: Gui/DynamicBitmaps/Technologies/TechnologyE04HisshoSmall. Then I create multiple extra directory layers in my mod, so that I don't need to change the xml. If the resource pack had the same directory structure as the game, this would be much easier.

davea

Newcomer

davea

Newcomer

12 years ago

Sep 1, 2012, 3:57:43 PM

The last three releases have all changed the galaxy generator. One of my mods "more anomalies" does not change the galaxy generator, but it does change one of the xml files under plugins\galaxygenerator. I know you don't consider the following behavior a bug, but I do. In order to mod one file inside plugins\galaxygenerator, a modder is forced to include the entire contents of the directory, including the galaxy generator dll. Even with standalone=false. So when you change anything in the plugins\galaxygenerator directory, you break all mods that do this.

Please change this, so that a mod can include only one xml file instead of all the contents.

Also, please clearly identify in your release notes when you break all these mods. For example, you broke them in 1.0.14, 1.0.17, and 1.0.18, which is three times in two weeks. The release notes for 1.0.14 and 1.0.17 don't mention anything about this. In 1.0.18 you at least mention that the galaxy generator is changed, but you mention a performance improvement, not a format change. Even once you support "standalone=false" in the plugins directory, this is still important for mods such as alternativ galaxy generator.

We understand that to provide rapid feedback, you need to make these changes. But every time I have to go back and explore every single mod to figure out if you broke it without mentioning a change in the release notes, my willingness to port the mod to the new version decreases.

davea

Newcomer

davea

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 29, 2012, 3:39:39 PM

Grubsnik wrote:
after 1.0.16

in StarSystemImprovements.xml will only block you from building an improvement, but still display it to a user, is this intentional, or did something break in my minimod?

I have noticed this as well, but actually I noticed it before the patch. Only sometimes. I had systems with no applicable planets, but a food item like Sustainable Farms was displayed anyway. I could click it, but there would be no reaction, it was not added to the build queue. I did not try to reproduce or understand it.

Grubsnik

Newcomer

Grubsnik

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 29, 2012, 7:34:38 AM

after 1.0.16

in StarSystemImprovements.xml will only block you from building an improvement, but still display it to a user, is this intentional, or did something break in my minimod?

Ravine

Newcomer

Ravine

Newcomer

200g2g pts

12 years ago

Aug 28, 2012, 1:29:09 PM

thashepherd wrote:
You're probably right about that, davea. At this stage I think we'd rather have developers than translators anyway. Translating some of the english vocalizations I've done is going to be....difficult. How the hell do you say "Anti-Baryon Gravitophoric Proximity Annihilation Point Defense System" in French? (German has a word for everything)

Système Gravitophorique Anti-Baryon de Défense Rapprochée à Annihilation de Proximité (though the Point Defence / Proximity Annihilation qualifiers sounds a little be redundant to me). Or you could go with the CIWS denomination which includes most of point-defence systems in the Navy.

Nycidian

Newcomer

Nycidian

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 28, 2012, 4:34:30 AM

Ok another bug and one I doubt any one knows about.

[CODE]

TargetProperty="Defense"

OperationType="Addition"

BinaryOperationType="Multiplication"

Right="$(Population)"

Left="50"

Path="../ClassStarSystem"

BindOnSource="false"/>

[/CODE]

Ok this works fine and in the vanilla game doesn't seem buggy, however

[CODE]

LOGISTICS

[/CODE]

When I changed this localization to change my hero class tittles I found an interesting bug. While the effect targets system defense it seems because the variable name is the same for the Hero stat the tool tip says that this ability give +200 LOGISTICS to my star system (it actually does give system defense).

Doesn't change the game at all but definitely a display bug.

Nycidian

Newcomer

Nycidian

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 27, 2012, 10:06:40 AM

I have tested the science leech not the dust leech but I am betting if one is bugged the other is too, at the very least it should be looked into. I thought at first it didn't work at all but I kept trying it out at different systems and finally over a planet for one turn i got a bit of science, I have no idea why its not working but how ever it is supposed to work I don't think this is it.

[CODE]

[/CODE]

[CODE]

[/CODE]

thashepherd

Newcomer

thashepherd

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 19, 2012, 10:12:38 PM

You're probably right about that, davea. At this stage I think we'd rather have developers than translators anyway. Translating some of the english vocalizations I've done is going to be....difficult. How the hell do you say "Anti-Baryon Gravitophoric Proximity Annihilation Point Defense System" in French? (German has a word for everything)

davea

Newcomer

davea

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 19, 2012, 10:07:20 PM

I have often found that translators are willing to work on the first version, but when they get a new version which has 2000 old strings and an unknown number maybe 1000 of changed strings, it is difficult to keep up their enthusiasm. Same problem for voice acting on RPG mods.

thashepherd

Newcomer

thashepherd

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 19, 2012, 9:59:05 PM

davea wrote:
I agree that my strings are not localized yet. For most mods I have seen in other games, english is first, and once a mod is *finalized* then it may be localized. Are you really planning to translate all of your 3000 strings into all five supported languages for your first release? Even if you do, I highly recommend you keep it in a separate file, just so that any translator knows which strings they need to do.

Hupa has a French translator for his mod, but I don't think we've decided what exactly will be included in the first 'release'. Hupa and myself are working in English, and Epithemee is transferring that to the french localization file.

davea

Newcomer

davea

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 19, 2012, 9:57:04 PM

I agree that my strings are not localized yet. For most mods I have seen in other games, english is first, and once a mod is *finalized* then it may be localized. Are you really planning to translate all of your 3000 strings into all five supported languages for your first release? Even if you do, I highly recommend you keep it in a separate file, just so that any translator knows which strings they need to do.

thashepherd

Newcomer

thashepherd

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 19, 2012, 9:55:51 PM

Hupa's right - the SCALE of the localizations you have to do is insane! Half the time Notepad++ crashes when I try to do a diff between versions

Between Hupa and myself, our english localization file is probably at 9,000 lines (up from 5,500 stock).

Hupailija

Timer

Hupailija

Timer

21 300g2g pts

12 years ago

Aug 19, 2012, 9:30:21 PM

Couple things:

1) If you don't translate your mod heroskills to france or german or put same files to those files it will look messy.

2) In your mod you have maybe 9 new sentences in localization file.

I have in mine right now something like 1200 and it will rise (hopefully) during next week to 3000+, once you hit to that amount it doesn't really matter anymore whether it has old and existing localization.

Quess this is all about scale and purpose.

You are making simple mod to english speaking audience, I am in a team which makes huge mod for all Endless Space players no matter where they come and what they speak (though I am still looking someone who can speak german).

Hupailija

Timer

Hupailija

Timer

21 300g2g pts

12 years ago

Aug 19, 2012, 9:18:18 PM

Have you verified which of the existing buildings can be built on these planets and which cannot?

Now thats just question of removing couple sentences... basically any building which points to planet can be build to any planet. If building path says some specific planet it of course can't be build there.

You either have to give to those buildings more accessibility (as in let one build those to new planets) or remove restrictions completly.

Then again I don't have "existing" buildings at all in my endless space atm so answer is: "none or all".

And which ones the AI will build on these planets?

Aaand this depends of how AI is build. Since I haven't tinkered with AI in endless dream yet it can do anything or nothing and I wouldn't be shocked.

I except to see that it doesn't build ships, doesn't understand engines, can't research and so on. If I notice that it does even one of these in endless dream I am shocked.

davea

Newcomer

davea

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 12, 2012, 4:41:01 PM

I am not sure if modding bugs should go into the tech support forum as separate threads, or whether they should go in the modding forum. Let's try one thread, here. This thread is not for modding "questions" or "suggestions", but for "bugs" where it seems clear that something should work, but it does not.

Hupailija

Timer

Hupailija

Timer

21 300g2g pts

12 years ago

Aug 19, 2012, 3:02:44 PM

davea wrote:
Interesting suggestion. As far as I can tell, terraformation requires a new planet type as target, which involves changing a lot of files. Every improvement which works on certain planet types needs to have an addition for this type, etc. Although the current description only allows terrans, if I can get it working I will add a stronger tech which allows it on any tier 1, tier 2 planet. Then it will be an alternative to higher level terraforming.

Actually it was fairly easy to add several planets

oh and ability to terraform to those too.

davea

Newcomer

davea

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 19, 2012, 2:45:24 PM

Interesting suggestion. As far as I can tell, terraformation requires a new planet type as target, which involves changing a lot of files. Every improvement which works on certain planet types needs to have an addition for this type, etc. Although the current description only allows terrans, if I can get it working I will add a stronger tech which allows it on any tier 1, tier 2 planet. Then it will be an alternative to higher level terraforming.

Grubsnik

Newcomer

Grubsnik

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 19, 2012, 11:03:50 AM

Can't you work around that by addressing it as a terraformation instead of an anomaly reduction?

davea

Newcomer

davea

Newcomer

12 years ago

Aug 18, 2012, 5:20:08 PM

I created a mod which gives a new race-specific anomaly reduction to horatio, but it won't work unless the planet already has some anomaly. The mod adds a new technology after Soil Revivification called Genesis Project. This unlocks a reduction called Genesis Transformation, which is supposed to add the Garden of Eden anomaly to any terran planet. If the planet already has an anomaly (good, reduced or bad) it works. The "scissors" icon appears in the zoomed planet dialog so the reduction can be selected. But, if the planet has no anomaly, the scissors icon does not appear.

Carefully unzip the attachment into (my documents)\Endless Space; it contains both a save game, and a set of modding files for a mod called "Anomaly Bug". I have added an entry for the tech into TechnologyExpansion.xml and added the reduction itself into PlanetImprovement.xml.

In the save game, I have set up system Betel, some distance east of home planet Takim. Betel I is a terran with no anomaly, II has a reduced anomaly, and IV has a good anomaly. Please note that II and IV have the transformation button available, but Betel I does not.

Please fix this so that anomalies can be added to planets which don't already have one.
anomaly-bug.zip