Adding Facilities, Secret Projects, and Interludes?

[Sriseru]

Hello everyone!
I'm working on a mod and would like to add some stuff. I've looked through this section of the forum and have learned, among other things, that you can apparently only add 3 techs before you reach the limit (which I heard was 89).
Besides techs, I would also like to add new facilities, secret projects, and some new interludes. Is it possible to add these, and if so how would one go about doing so?

Oh, I noticed the discussion on this thread regarding the creation of .wve video files, and was just wondering if anyone has had any luck in finding a way to encode videos into that format?

[sisko]

hello Sriseru and welcome to AC2!
i'm sure our regulars will have some answers for your questions.
in the mean time can you tell us how did you find us and maybe some words about your mod (only if it is not a secret)?

[Sriseru]

Thanks for the warm welcome, sisko!

I was searching around for a way to create .wve files when I came upon this forum. I found that there's a lot of good information here about modding SMAC/X, so I decided to ask around for help.

As for my mod, it's based on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Now I know that this might raise a few eyebrows, but MLP:FiM is a surprisingly good show with a well-crafted and deep world.
I know it sound weird when you're not a fan of MLP:FiM. ^.^;;
I'll talk about the mod in a little more detail in the future once I've gotten further. In the meantime, have some screenshots:

[Buster's Uncle]

Nice citizen icons. 

[Sriseru]

Thanks, BUncle.

[Geo]

My, the Unity veers further off-course every other mod! 186 light years!? 

[Yitzi]

Hello everyone!
I'm working on a mod and would like to add some stuff. I've looked through this section of the forum and have learned, among other things, that you can apparently only add 3 techs before you reach the limit (which I heard was 89).
Besides techs, I would also like to add new facilities, secret projects, and some new interludes. Is it possible to add these, and if so how would one go about doing so?

One of the limitations of assembly-language modding (which is what has to be done without the source code) is that you can't really add things most of the time.  So adding techs, facilities, or projects is pretty much out of the question.  There is, however, a loophole: You can't add things, but you can change what they do, and there are all those blank facilities and projects just sitting there.  (i.e. the blank facilities and projects can be repurposed into whichever facilities/projects you want.) 

For techs, though, I don't really see any solution, though; there are just too many places which are based on the given number of techs.  It'd be easier than allowing 14 factions, but probably not by much.  You might want to just figure out a way to streamline your tech tree to bring it down to 88 techs plus transcendent thought (which doesn't behave like a normal tech).

Interludes would be easier to add actually new ones; because of how interludes are stored, I think it could be done, though you'd have to describe what trigger you want.

(Also, for facilities, projects, or interludes, you'd need to find a coder to put it in; I still have more projects of my own that I want to finish before accepting those sorts of requests, but when I'm ready I would probably be able to do it.)

[Sriseru]

One of the limitations of assembly-language modding (which is what has to be done without the source code) is that you can't really add things most of the time.  So adding techs, facilities, or projects is pretty much out of the question.  There is, however, a loophole: You can't add things, but you can change what they do, and there are all those blank facilities and projects just sitting there.  (i.e. the blank facilities and projects can be repurposed into whichever facilities/projects you want.)

I've had a look through the alphax file and I noticed those blank facilities and projects. I also noted three disabled techs which I assume I can replace.
I guess what I'm wondering is: if I replace a blank facility/project, how do I define what it does (for instance, increasing nutrient output)?

For techs, though, I don't really see any solution, though; there are just too many places which are based on the given number of techs.  It'd be easier than allowing 14 factions, but probably not by much.  You might want to just figure out a way to streamline your tech tree to bring it down to 88 techs plus transcendent thought (which doesn't behave like a normal tech).

Hm, I figured as much. If I can replace those three disabled techs, that would at least give me three free "slots". I'm also thinking of replacing the resonance and progenitor techs. Hey, if I replace Progenitor Psych, would that screw anything up, considering that Progenitor Psych enables communication between alien and human factions?

Interludes would be easier to add actually new ones; because of how interludes are stored, I think it could be done, though you'd have to describe what trigger you want.

Alright.
The first additional interlude would be triggered by the first declaration of Vendetta.
The second would be triggered by the first base lost to an enemy faction.
The third would be triggered by the first time a non-player faction becomes Planetary Governor.
The fourth would be triggered by the first time the player faction becomes Planetary Governor.
The fifth would be triggered by the first Planet Buster used.
Do you think it's possible to implement these?

(Also, for facilities, projects, or interludes, you'd need to find a coder to put it in; I still have more projects of my own that I want to finish before accepting those sorts of requests, but when I'm ready I would probably be able to do it.)

I would really, really appreciate any help you would be willing to lend me. =)
Though, to be honest, I'm really curious as to how one would go about altering the code of SMAC/X. :3

[JarlWolf]

A modification based on horse people? Well I guess we've seen weirder with Kilkakon's Lost Eden mod. (note: weird does not=bad. Just unique and batty.) Seems like you have a direction with it; I realize you asked help with the coding, but if you want a graphic artist' help I can lend a hand, I spied some vanilla bases. Though I am unfamiliar with this pony thing. Seen people kind of parade it around and someone once linked me to it, but I never really caught into it, wasn't my thing.

Regardless, let me know if you wish for help.

[Buster's Uncle]

One of the most frustrating things about modding interludes is that you can't change the triggers, alas.  (That would take .exe coding, which seems to be possible, but I've never seen it done; pretty much the top of my modding wish list is user-programmable interlude triggers.)






P.S. Tara Strong has a nice bodonkadonk.

[Sriseru]

A modification based on horse people? Well I guess we've seen weirder with Kilkakon's Lost Eden mod. (note: weird does not=bad. Just unique and batty.) Seems like you have a direction with it; I realize you asked help with the coding, but if you want a graphic artist' help I can lend a hand, I spied some vanilla bases. Though I am unfamiliar with this pony thing. Seen people kind of parade it around and someone once linked me to it, but I never really caught into it, wasn't my thing.

Regardless, let me know if you wish for help.

I'm glad you guys are this open-minded about this. ^.^
About the graphics: the bases are pretty much the only thing I haven't replaced yet. I'm going to attempt creating replacements eventually, but if I fail I might ask for your help.
Thanks for offering to help, by the way. =)

One of the most frustrating things about modding interludes is that you can't change the triggers, alas.  (That would take .exe coding, which seems to be possible, but I've never seen it done; pretty much the top of my modding wish list is user-programmable interlude triggers.)

Yeah, I figured that it would probably involve that sort of thing. :/
Though, thankfully the additional interludes aren't vital to the mod, it was just something that would be nice to have.

P.S. Tara Strong has a nice bodonkadonk.

Lol, I suppose she has. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Oh, we're not all that open-minded, and I apologize in advance for how much I'm going to make fun of you right to your face once I've gotten to know you - but there's something cool about doing something different, and it takes all kinds.  Greater diversity is greater richness for the community, and all that.

What do you do your graphics with, program-wise?

[Sriseru]

Lol, well I guess there's a lot to make fun of, if your able to find out the right things about me. :3

As for what I use, I primarily use Photoshop CS5.

[Buster's Uncle]

Okay; a big advantage of Photoshop is that it does a lot of the palette-handling stuff for you.  It'll save you having to fool with some of the work-arounds that GIMP ends up requiring. 

You can find a lot of instructional material in the Graphics thread in this folder, and that's a good place for questions, or click on Articles at the top of the page, and look under modding, to save yourself some searching.

[Sriseru]

I've already given the Graphics thread a look, it's very informative and useful.
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, though. =)