[Docn] Director Start.xml

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jlehtone
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Re: Can't seem to unlock the Yaki start (editing startfiles)

Post by jlehtone » Tue, 14. Apr 09, 21:11

Illanair wrote:Was browsing the forums for tit and tat and noticed the "hidden" Yaki start and instructions on how to reinsert it into the game.
Where were those instructions? Imagine someone else finding those instructions and failing the same way that you did. Even if you get help, the next fellow is not likely to find your thread and then the problem has to be solved again and again.

I did merge your thread to a thread that serves as tutorial for modifying starts, and is thus easy to find via sticky. Now, if solution is found for you, it might improve this tutorial at the same time, and save a few gray hairs in the future. :goner:

InfamousOne
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Question regarding Missions

Post by InfamousOne » Sat, 18. Apr 09, 18:52

Hello all, I am new to the X-Universe and I noticed that in the custom game, you automatically start out as Argon. Is there a file I can modify or a script that has been made that would allow me to start a custom game as Terran? Thanks in advance for your help....cheers

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jlehtone
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Post by jlehtone » Sat, 18. Apr 09, 18:58

We do have sticky threads, such as [url=http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=216693]TC Tutorials[/url]. One link in it is called 'Start.xml' by apricotslice. Intuitive name or not, that thread talks about changing the parameters of game-starts.

For utmost inconvenience this thread now merges to the above-mentioned thread. :)

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Post by InfamousOne » Sun, 19. Apr 09, 06:30

LOL, thanks jlehtone, I was wondering where my post went :-D I had a look around in the start.xml and all I saw in there were the plot game starts and not the custom game start. The one I looked through was in 03.cat, could the one governing custom starts be in one of the later .cat files? Thanks again for the help.

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NewnotesJR
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Has anyone ever attempted to add one of the plots to the custom game?

Post by NewnotesJR » Tue, 19. May 09, 10:45

hyades wrote:I chose custom game start, well into it and all ( silly me!! ). Can I following the provided advice & add the storyline?, without a full restart.
apricotslice wrote:No, I think you need to restart.

I'm new to this, so forgive me if I'm grossly ignorant, but what if I wanted to try to make such a thing possible anyway. What would be the easiest way to go about making one or more of the various plots available in my already well underway custom game. Or at least ruling out the possibility so I can say for sure that it's impossible.

I'm not sure that it matters, but I'm playing X3 TC
Last edited by NewnotesJR on Tue, 19. May 09, 10:51, edited 1 time in total.
What game is this, uh, ohhhh, I see, it's that game, the one with the good guy, the bad guy and the good guy wins . . . if you play as the good guy that is.

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apricotslice
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Post by apricotslice » Tue, 19. May 09, 10:48

You cant change the already running game in that way. Its all stored in your save game.

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apricotslice
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Post by apricotslice » Sat, 4. Jul 09, 15:50

Additional comments - July 2009.

To change the starting ship or add in a new start, you change L\true\gamestarts.xml. This contains the basic start details, including the starting ship, and the details seen on the game start menu. New starts cannot use text file references, and must be hardcoded as text within the quotes of the gamestart statement. (only text in the 03.cat text files is referenced as the game starts, and this should not be touched.).

Each start included in gamestarts, needs to exist in 2 parts of director\start.xml.

The first part includes the plot activation.

The second part includes starting ship fittings, race relations, additional player ships and viewable sectors.

To add another ship, use the <create_ship command, at the same level as <reward_player. Example in the Yaki start.

WARNING : If you make the start.xml file too big, it may not execute on lower end or memory limited computers. I particularly found this when also adding a lot of stations and ships to the game using multiple setup.... scripts. Its like the computer makes a list of things to do, and start.xml and your setup scripts are well down the list, and if the computer runs out of resources, the start.xml just doesnt get done.

To get around this, if your start.xml is going to be large, then only have a single setup script, that checks for a global variable on starting the first time, and because it doesnt exist yet, it does nothing except turn the global variable on. After the first load of a save game, the setup finds the global variable exists, so calls your scripts for what you want created in the game. It then sets the global variable to something that says its completed, and all other times the game is started, it should find the task complete and so not run anything else. I recommend you include hotkey creation at the same time.

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Post by TMPhoenix » Sun, 5. Jul 09, 23:56

I'm new to this, so forgive me if I'm grossly ignorant, but what if I wanted to try to make such a thing possible anyway. What would be the easiest way to go about making one or more of the various plots available in my already well underway custom game. Or at least ruling out the possibility so I can say for sure that it's impossible.

I'm not sure that it matters, but I'm playing X3 TC
I was just reading this and I had a thought:

Would it perhaps be possible to trigger the desired plots / create the required objects / make the requested changes by writing a custom "mission" and then triggering this mission somehow?

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apricotslice
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Post by apricotslice » Mon, 6. Jul 09, 09:27

You could yes. But very few people have the expertise at this point to do such a MD.

TEKing66
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Post by TEKing66 » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 03:17

Just a little something I have noticed regarding custom game starts.

I was setting up a custom start and had the start.xml and gamestarts.xml files in their proper folders under my X3TC install folder.
The new game start was showing up like it should in the new game menu.
But, when I would load it, I was only getting the default equipment instead of the equipment I had setup in the gamestarts.xml file. Also I tried packing the files in .pck and still it would not work properly. On a hunch I decided I would pack these two files into .cat & .dat and load it as a mod. Once I did that, everything works as it should. Works as a "Fake Patch" as well.
My mods for X3TC & X3AP

Been with the X-series from the beginning. If it happens in the X_Universe I've been there done that several times over.

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Aro
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Post by Aro » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 07:17

Last time that happened to me the fix was to check game start id numbers and ensure they matched.

Custom game can have plots. Had started to work on it but was unable to test at the time due to not having the game. Ketraar then made one available here, http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=253219
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TEKing66
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Post by TEKing66 » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 15:03

Yea, I set the plots "enabled" for my Pirate Prowler game start, though it will be hard to actually get them if you play the part of a pirate like a real pirate.
But, during testing of the start, I actually raised my rep just to see, and eventually they were offered. With that start, which is setup to be a hard start, you have to work extra hard if you want to play the plots. Which actually is by design, I mean if your going to be a proper pirate then life will be tough. And going "straight" won't be easy either, since you will need to prove yourself to everyone.
My mods for X3TC & X3AP

Been with the X-series from the beginning. If it happens in the X_Universe I've been there done that several times over.

LarryBurstyn
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So?

Post by LarryBurstyn » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 16:55

Is there a way to start a ship already docked with another ship? I can add ships but if I want to dock them at the start I cannot find out how to do this.

Currently my gamestart gives me an equiped carrier and undocked (equiped like I want them-not default equiped) fighters where my first act after starting the game is to dock the fighters. I would like to start with them already DOCKED.

Is there a list somewhere that lists all the allowed commands in Mission Director (such as do_all).

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So?

Post by LarryBurstyn » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 16:55

Is there a way to start a ship already docked with another ship? I can add ships but if I want to dock them at the start I cannot find out how to do this.

Currently my gamestart gives me an equiped carrier and undocked (equiped like I want them-not default equiped) fighters where my first act after starting the game is to dock the fighters. I would like to start with them already DOCKED.

Is there a list somewhere that lists all the allowed commands in Mission Director (such as do_all).

LarryBurstyn
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So?

Post by LarryBurstyn » Wed, 14. Jul 10, 16:55

Is there a way to start a ship already docked with another ship? I can add ships but if I want to dock them at the start I cannot find out how to do this.

Currently my gamestart gives me an equiped carrier and undocked (equiped like I want them-not default equiped) fighters where my first act after starting the game is to dock the fighters. I would like to start with them already DOCKED.

Is there a list somewhere that lists all the allowed commands in Mission Director (such as do_all).

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Aro
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Re: So?

Post by Aro » Thu, 15. Jul 10, 00:09

LarryBurstyn wrote:Is there a way to start a ship already docked with another ship?

Code: Select all

<create_ship ... dockobject="(ship to be docked at)">
LarryBurstyn wrote:Is there a list somewhere that lists all the allowed commands in Mission Director (such as do_all).
Check the game .cat's for the following files:
director.xsd
director.xsl
dirschema.xsl
director.css
director.htm

Save these all to a folder then open director.htm in a browser able to view the active content (such as ie). It will list commands, attributes, and more plus it has a handy search feature.

LarryBurstyn
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Re: So?

Post by LarryBurstyn » Thu, 15. Jul 10, 18:11

Aro wrote:

Code: Select all

<create_ship ... dockobject="(ship to be docked at)">
Ok, something I'm doing wrong this command does not work for me. Tried it both with and without the () marks. Do I "nest" this with the create_ship command that creates the Avenger?

<create_ship typename="SS_SH_TR_M3_VERDANDI" race="player" dockobject="(SS_SH_AT_LEV_AVENGER)">
<position x="0" y="0" z="0" min="20km" max="30km" height="10km"/>
<sector x="8" y="8"/>
<equipment>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_TECH251" exact="400" comment="Cargo Bay Extension"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_TECH246" exact="10" comment="Rudder Optomisation"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_TECH213" exact="10" comment="Engine Tunings"/>
<ware typename="SS_LASER_EMP" exact="12"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_LIFESUPPORT" exact="1"/>
<ware typename="SS_MISSILE_POLTERGEIST" exact="55"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_SW_NAV_1" exact="1"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_SW_SPECIAL_1" exact="1"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_SCANNER3" exact="1"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_TECH241" exact="1" comment="Docking System"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_SW_FIGHT_1" exact="1"/>
<ware typename="SS_WARE_SW_FIGHT_2" exact="1"/>
<ware typename="SS_SHIELD_C" exact="4"/>
</equipment>
</create_ship>

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Serial Kicked
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Post by Serial Kicked » Thu, 15. Jul 10, 18:39

I don't know nothing about MD, but apparently you're trying to dock your ship at a "ship type" instead to a real ship. And that's not good.

apparently the correct way is something like that, at least to dock something at the player's ship:

dockobject="{player.ship}"


not "(ship type)" but "{object}"
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LarryBurstyn
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tanks (Thanks)

Post by LarryBurstyn » Thu, 15. Jul 10, 19:56

I figured out that you have to NAME the carrier FIRST and then use the name in the command...


example
<create_ship name="Avenger" typename="SS_SH_AT_LEV_AVENGER" race="player">
Creates and Names the carrier "Avenger" (The name is NOT used in the game only in it's creation so it cannot be used to name ships in the game.).


then later you can use
<do_all exact="120" comment="Number of times to do it">
<create_ship typename="SS_SH_TR_M3_VERDANDI" race="player" dockobject="Avenger">
creates and places 120 Verdandi fighters in the carrier "Avenger".

CAUTION:: SOMETIMES UNUSUAL things happen if you try to put too many ships into the carrier (if it holds 120 ships don't try to dock 121+ fighters).

EDIT: you do not need the position and sector info on ships that are going to be docked. end EDIT.

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Aro
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Post by Aro » Fri, 16. Jul 10, 01:18

Yeah, you need to create (or find a ship and assign it to a variable) a ship first to dock the other ship(s) to.
The reference name of the target ship takes care of the sector/position info.

Code: Select all

<create_ship name="myCarrier" typename="SS_SH_A_M1"...

<create_ship name="subShip" typename="SS_SH_A_M3" dockobject="myCarrier"...

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