Slitherine, can you help me?

[spedius01]

Ave

I've been trying to activate two more squads in squads.txt, with some strange results. This is what I've done so far:

01. The next two squads are "Spare28 & Spare29", I copied and pasted ID 12 (Legionary) & ID 24 (Principe) into a space that I'd created above the two spares. I altered the IDs of my copies of 12 & 14 to 27 & 28, then I deleted the two spares. I also ensured that MadeBy Republican and MadeBy Gauls were both "switched on". I saved and closed squads.txt.

02. I then accessed localisation.txt and filled in IDS_SQUADNAME27,"Principe" & IDS_SQUADNAME28,"Legionary". Next I scrolled down to IDS_SQUADTEXT27,"Here I input info on the Principe" and IDS_SQUADTEXT28,"Here I input info on the Legionary". More scrolling down to IDS_SQUADBATRES27,"Principe??" and IDS_SQUADBATRES28,"Legionary??".

03. Next I accessed battlegfx.txt but I was unable to add any additional data as it was write protected, read only.
I thought, logically, as long as the names were the same maybe battlegfx.txt would read these two extra items.

04. I fired up Legion Arena and pushed the recruitment button and there at the bottom of the list were #28 & 29 with their respective icons, principe & legionary, but no animated figure and no name other than #28 & 29. I'd given these two new squads 50 denari price tags so I could recruit them immediately. I recruited the legionary squad and proceeded to the deployment screen. I selected this new squad and it's base appeared with no figures on it. I placed #28 in the front with orders to advance, the rest of my army were on long hold. I then pressed fight and off we went. My new squad was invisible, but the mini-map could see it. #28 attacked the nearest enemy and launched a continuous barrage of javelins at them. I would imagine they were frightening to death, being attacked by an invisible enemy. Legion Arena locked up and I had to reboot.

Here endeth my saga of the invisible #28.

What do you think I've done wrong or havn't done at all? Can you help me, please?

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[grimsta]

to make Battlegfx.txt writeable just right click on it and deselect "read only" i bet it was animation problems!

[spedius01]

to make Battlegfx.txt writeable just right click on it and deselect "read only" i bet it was animation problems!

Ave grimsta,

Thanks for the tip. You're quite right. I right clicked on battlegfx.txt and selected properties and unticked read only.

The saga continues.

05. I went into battlegfx.txt and copied and pasted another version of principe & legionary onto the bottom of the page. Saved and exited.

06. I fired up Legion Arena again, accessed recruitment and there they still were, #28 & 29. No change, I didn't want to risk another crash so exited LA.

So, sort of back to square one and a half.

Vale,

M. Spedius Corbulo

PS. I as write this I'm listening to Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood singing "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" on a cassette.

[IainMcNeil]

In battlegfx.txt you'll need to make the name match with that used in squads.txt. You'll also need to make a copy of the unit graphics you want to use in the data\battle\units directory. E.g. If you want to copy the general copy Legate.XAM. Note, there are up to 4 levels of detail and you'll need to copy all 4. Change the part of the name that is Legate to NewName.

It's all a bit complicated. If I were you, I'd leave the first 5 slots at the end of the file blank and start at unit 32.

[spedius01]

In battlegfx.txt you'll need to make the name match with that used in squads.txt. You'll also need to make a copy of the unit graphics you want to use in the data\battle\units directory. E.g. If you want to copy the general copy Legate.XAM. Note, there are up to 4 levels of detail and you'll need to copy all 4. Change the part of the name that is Legate to NewName.
It's all a bit complicated. If I were you, I'd leave the first 5 slots at the end of the file blank and start at unit 32.

Ave Iain,

No luck, I'm afraid.

The four levels of detail we're talking about, are the .xam files in units, squads.txt, localisation.txt and battlegfx.txt, right?

Or are you talking about the possible four .xam files for each troop type in units?

The new names must be identical in ALL four places? Either, no spaces between words or with spaces between words?

Is the list above all the places that I need to go to make my alterations to complete this mod, or are there more?

Finally, would it be possible to make "A Legion Arena "Modded" Checklist" sticky, please?

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[grimsta]

take the principes ones:

copy all the stuff as normal
but change the name to something else - like......gromit
change the name of all files you copied to gromit.

then maybe the game will understand its a new unit?

[spedius01]

take the principes ones:
copy all the stuff as normal
but change the name to something else - like......gromit
change the name of all files you copied to gromit.
then maybe the game will understand its a new unit?

Ave grimsta,

Thanks for the assist but I've done that.

I've changed all of the new files so that they're in sync right across the board.

The game is still offering me invisible troops.

I won't give up and I will crack it.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

PS. As I write I'm listening to "Swing Out Sister" on a cassette!!!

[IainMcNeil]

Ah, you'll need to delete the graphics cahce in the cache dir. Try that and see what happens. You need to do this every time you change units.

[spedius01]

Ah, you'll need to delete the graphics cahce in the cache dir. Try that and see what happens. You need to do this every time you change units.

Ave Iain,

Nope, still won't work???

Please allow me to list the steps that I have taken.

Step 01. Ensure Legion Arena is NOT in the DVD driver.
Step 02. Alter squads.txt (Ensuring the names are matched with those in battlegfx.txt)
Step 03. Alter battlegfx.txt (Ensuring the names are matched with those in squads.txt)
Step 04. Alter the .XAM files in units (Changed the names ONLY on the copies that I'd made of Princepe & Legionary)
Step 05. Alter the three sections in localisation.txt (Ensuring the IDs are matched with those in squads.txt)
Step 06. Delete ALL 19 files in the Cache directory (beginning with bay.omf and ending with snowy2.omf)
Step 07. Insert Legion Arena into the DVD driver and begin the game
Step 08. Check the recruitment list for the required additions

In Steps 02. to 05. I made sure that the new names were indentical. ie. NO spaces between words (MarianLegionary & AquilaLegionary)

Are these ALL of the steps that I need to make to effect the changes that I want?

What steps would you take to make the changes, what would be the sequence, would it be different to the above?

Please answer with a lot more details?

Can the game recognize MORE than one version of each troop type?????

Finally, can you PLEASE make "A Legion Arena "Modded" Checklist STICKY????

**UPDATE**

SUCCESS, in almost all areas,

In a desperate "last hope" action, I selected #30 and "Lo and behold" it worked, gasp, shocked noises!!!

01. On the recruitment screen you have 30 & 31 (0 Fame 50 Denari) with a thumbnail animated figure of a principe and a legionary.
02. On the army camp screen, if you've selected either, they are complete and do work as they should
03. On the deployment screen they are complete.
04. On the battle screen they are complete and do work as they should
05. Back to the army camp screen all after battle effects on #30 and #31 are as they should be

Final thoughts.
The last pieces needed to complete the mod is attaching the names and descriptions to the two NEW additions to our squad list. If it's not in altering localisation.txt, where is it? Any suggestions?

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

PS. I've left all before the **UPDATE** untouched as it showns the "chain of events" path.

[Redpossum]

Good work, bro.

But what do you mean by, "I selected #30" ?

[grimsta]

apparently there is a limit on the amount of units we can add.

In squads.txt there are enough spaces to have 50 units, there are 26 in already, from the game.
Slot 30 means that he went to the space where ID=30 and entered the data there...correct?

[IainMcNeil]

To be honest I'd have to try it all myself to be sure. There are lots of little bits and pieces you need to do, which is why modding is a pain. When I get a bit of time I'll look into it, but we're a bit busy right now.

Is there enough interest in modding to set up a new forum for it? We can leave it in this forum or move the threads across to a new dedicated area?

[spedius01]

To be honest I'd have to try it all myself to be sure. There are lots of little bits and pieces you need to do, which is why modding is a pain. When I get a bit of time I'll look into it, but we're a bit busy right now.
Is there enough interest in modding to set up a new forum for it? We can leave it in this forum or move the threads across to a new dedicated area?

Ave Iain,

I know it's a bit late now, but just another thank you for your support and interest. You don't need to answer this.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[spedius01]

Good work, bro.
But what do you mean by, "I selected #30" ?

Ave possum and grimsta,

Thank you, coming from you, possum that is indeed praise to be savoured. I don't want to embarrass you, but I do respect your opinion and any observations that you would care to make would be greatly appreciated.

Grimsta's partly correct, it would appear that there is some kind of glich or possibly some misunderstanding on my part. I don't think that localisation.txt is the way to name new squads or input descriptions of them so that the game will faithfully show them on the Army camp screen. I've created two new clone squads using the legionary and principe data as originals. Where my problem lies, in sequence in squads.txt, these two clones are #30 & 31 (but their new IDs are #29 & 30) and that's what comes up when the recruitment button is pressed, #30 & 31 with neither name nor description. That's what I was referring to in my complicated and convoluted way in the post above. I selected #30.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Redpossum]

Hehe, why thank you, Speedy. You are far too kind, I'm sure.

OK, I went through something very similar with modding Gates of Troy.

I agree that it shouldn't be in localisation.txt, but I'm pretty sure it is.

Your two clone squads are showing up as 30 and 31 because those are the default, "placeholder" names.

OK, I am inspecting Squads.txt right now.

I see what you mean, ID 29 has a name of Spare 30. And ID 30 has a Name of Spare 31.(Funny what a half dozen pints of best bitter will do for the lads, eh Iain?)

OK, now I open up Localisation.txt

Right at the top, we see a few lines of gibberish, the we start in with the IDS_SQUADNAME entries, and they appear in the same order as the squads in Squads.txt, Peasant, Militia, Militia, Auxilia, etc

Scrolling down, we see the entries relevant to you

IDS_SQUADNAME29,"30",
IDS_SQUADNAME30,"31",


I think you just need to replace that 30 and 31 within the quotes with whatever name you want.

[spedius01]

Hehe, why thank you, Speedy. You are far too kind, I'm sure.
OK, I went through something very similar with modding Gates of Troy.
I agree that it shouldn't be in localisation.txt, but I'm pretty sure it is.
Your two clone squads are showing up as 30 and 31 because those are the default, "placeholder" names.
OK, I am inspecting Squads.txt right now.
I see what you mean, ID 29 has a name of Spare 30. And ID 30 has a Name of Spare 31.(Funny what a half dozen pints of best bitter will do for the lads, eh Iain?)
OK, now I open up Localisation.txt
Right at the top, we see a few lines of gibberish, the we start in with the IDS_SQUADNAME entries, and they appear in the same order as the squads in Squads.txt, Peasant, Militia, Militia, Auxilia, etc
Scrolling down, we see the entries relevant to you
IDS_SQUADNAME29,"30",
IDS_SQUADNAME30,"31",
I think you just need to replace that 30 and 31 within the quotes with whatever name you want.

Ave possum,

Thank you for your input and most sound advice.

Logically it would appear that localisation.txt should be where these changes ought to be made, but it seems that it isn't. Try it out for yourself to prove or disprove my doubts. If you check out my post in this topic of 12 January Step 05. you will note that this is one of the items I've already tried.

With regards to the numbering thing, if you look in squads.txt, the very first squad (White Peasants) is ID #0 but in sequence it is #1. Thereafter there will always be this difference between ID # and sequence #.

Your opening sentence really grabbed my attention, you've actually been through all of this before? "OK, I went through something very similar with modding Gates of Troy." You know that I haven't? Please tell me more?

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[pipfromslitherine]

localisation.txt is not actually used by the game, you would need one of our tools to create the appropriate data. I guess we might let you guys have it...

Cheers

Pip

[grimsta]

I guess we might let you guys have it

How much do we need to pay you for that?

[spedius01]

localisation.txt is not actually used by the game, you would need one of our tools to create the appropriate data. I guess we might let you guys have it... ;)
Cheers
Pip

Ave pip,

I'm metaphorically tipping my hat to you, but only if you change "might" to will.

Thank you, that would be most welcome if possible.

That "tool" is the missing last piece in the activation process of the spares in squads.txt, yes?

Could you include copious instructions too, please?

What else can this tool do?

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[spedius01]

I guess we might let you guys have it

How much do we need to pay you for that? :wink:

Ave grimsta,

How could you possibly infer that Slitherine would charge us for this "tool".

Shame on you!!!

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo