Official CA Q&A thread - XML and XSD modding

[taw]

I'm fairly sure that the more intelligent community members will find some use for it (correct me if I'm wrong taw)

From what I've gathered, any campaign map changes would take cleanroom
reimplementation of their whole map editing toolchain, so it would be a massive effort
even with full documentation and a lot of examples. That's just borderline feasible.
Duke Nukem Forever of Total War modding. Comparatively, writing lua 5.1 decompiler
would be a piece of cake.

On the other hand, I don't always get these estimates right, for example supertexture
turned out to be much easier to open than I expected.

[T.C.]

From what I've gathered, any campaign map changes would take cleanroom
reimplementation of their whole map editing toolchain, so it would be a massive effort
even with full documentation and a lot of examples. That's just borderline feasible.
Duke Nukem Forever of Total War modding. Comparatively, writing lua 5.1 decompiler
would be a piece of cake.

On the other hand, I don't always get these estimates right, for example supertexture
turned out to be much easier to open than I expected.

But better that we have more info, right?

[Bethencourt]

Hi!

Any news about AI ships reparation in campaign?

[Tellos Athenaios]

@Craig: Any chance of an update from the UI team?

[The Hedge Knight]

Hey Craig, could you tell us exactelly what all the feilds in landbattle.xml do please, some are pretty obvious but i feel some do nothing or are not so obvious in effect.

[ForteS]

Hey Craig, just something I've remembered of, since CA now seems more interested in help modders are you guys planing to make your next titles more easy to mod? Or will they be done the same way?

[Dynamo11]

Hey Craig, just something I've remembered of, since CA now seems more interested in help modders are you guys planing to make your next titles more easy to mod? Or will they be done the same way?

I think the next Total War will be Warscape and maybe even the one after that. Seems like we're stuck with it for the foreseeable future.

[taw]

Btw, if the above is useful, please let me know. Would love to know how people are getting on with this info.

Group formation converter for ETW/NTW/S2TW benefited from this greatly.
For S2TW we had to figure out the last part ourselves, but knowing 100%
of ETW/NTW format it was much easier.

I'm updating esf-xml converter now. The part about 0x10 being angles would
probably be missed.

[Yarkis de Bodemloze]

Craig, is therea way to add custom made effect bundles for dilemmas and events in S2? Im mean I can make them but they don't get triggered as payoffs by events and dilemmas.

EDIT: Scrap that question! I found the solution.


Another thing: Why did CA choose to make it impossible to overwite vanilla tables with moded tables in S2? It makes modding the game a chore since you are stuck with undeletable vanilla entries unlike ETW/NTW. No wonder that the interest in moding S2 is so low and most mods are nothing but some stat changes.

[Primergy]

Some questions by me:

Are the _cs2.parsed.tech meshes allowed to be modded or do they belong to 3rd Party Toolbox?

In NTW you introduced a "special" farm_template_tile for Winter Battle maps. Would the game load an autumn farm_template_tile when the battle map is in fall, or is this hardcoded?

Which fx shader is used by the graphic option "volumetric effects" (in NTW) and is there an entry inside which can be changed so that that the Alpha Map of Battle Flags is loaded correctly instead of appearing black on the flag mesh?

[Steph]

Any update to some of the questions which I think are still unanswered?

Voice sounds
No news on a way to fix it? So far the answer was "yes, they are messed, you must compile them to make them work, but we can't give you the tool", and you gave no answer explaining how they are suppose to be compiled, to help us make our own. So it's still a serious unresolved issue, where a very nice feature of NTW is broken anytime we mod.
Really hard to accept that.

Battle presets
For NTW, In the battle_type_faction_presets table, what is the meaning of the values in the weighting type column?

These I know
88 - Land - Small fund
89 - Land - Medium fund
90 - Land - Large fund

148 - Naval - Small fund
149 - Naval - Medium fund
150 - Naval - Large fund

But what are

28
62
63

for?

Culture and subculture, and general
Your answer : Generals unit is decided by culture of the faction and defined in the agent_culture_details table

I want to have faction specific general units (different stats). So if I want the generated general to be correct for France, I'd need to
- Make France a new subculture "France"
- Link this subculture to a new culture "France", in the "cultures_subcultures" tables, and then in "agent_culture_details", use the French_General unit ID for the Bodyguard unit column.

Correct?

Question: can we safely add subculture and culture?
It means duplicating entries (splitting European to France/Britain/Prussia, etc) in building_culture_variants, but it doesn't seem to be used somewhere else?

Marksmanhip
If I have an infantry unit with accuracy 35, and a musket with marksmanship 0.
Is that the same chance to hit has a infantry unit with accuracy 0, and a musket with marksmanship 35?

Also, what is the "physics" behind the accuracy? If I have 35, does it mean 35% change to hit ?

I tried to change the marksmanhip value, but then when I right click on a unit, the accuracy remain the same. When the range would be visible. It is normal? Can we see the final accuracy somewhere?


Unit ability
Question from me "I've seen a new Unit_Special_Ability table, not exposed in PFM yet. It contains things such as column_formation, loose_formation. Is it usable in NTW, or a left over from before?"

Your answer "Yes it is used in NTW".

Well, I tried adding "column_formation" in my "unit_to_unit_abilities_junctions_tables" to one unit. And I try a battle with this unit select, it crashes. So, is it working? What should we do it to make it work?

Unit class
You said earlier "Classes are also used in the AI to help it work out what units are good against others."
In what table is this AI help defined?

Unit quality
What is the effect of the cdir_unit_qualities table?

About name of create unit
For land units, you said the db is not used, but we can change it from the startpos. For each faction, we have a
- Land_Unit_Names_Allocator, inside
-- Land_Unit_Names_Map, inside
--- 22 x Land_units_Names_Map (one for each class), inside
---- Unit_Class_Name_Allocator, and for the class with names
----- Unit_Class_Name_List, with a list of possible names for the regiments (unit of this class).

How does it work for naval units? There we have
- Naval_Unit_Names_Allocator, inside
-- Unit_Class_Name_Allocator, and for the class with names
--- Unit_Class_Name_List, with a list of possible names for the ships(unit of this class).

But there is only one entry, and not as many entries as naval unit class, contrary to land units.

In other words, I have the impression we can have different names for each class of land units, but for naval units, it's one big list, not one list for each class.

Can you confirm?

Rebels and liberated allies
Asked before, TC answered, but it wasn't really my question. Can we control how many units of each type a faction will give you for free after you liberate it?

[Steph]

Also, could you release something similar to XSD for the startpos, so we know for sure what all the entries are for?

[AmiR TimuR]

where is our promised support??

[Jack Lusted]

Any update to some of the questions which I think are still unanswered?

I can answer some questons relating to units.

Battle presets
For NTW, In the battle_type_faction_presets table, what is the meaning of the values in the weighting type column?

These I know
88 - Land - Small fund
89 - Land - Medium fund
90 - Land - Large fund

148 - Naval - Small fund
149 - Naval - Medium fund
150 - Naval - Large fund

But what are

28
62
63

for?

28 is a leftover from Empire when custom battles were split into early and late. 62 and 63 are not used.

Culture and subculture, and general
Your answer : Generals unit is decided by culture of the faction and defined in the agent_culture_details table

I want to have faction specific general units (different stats). So if I want the generated general to be correct for France, I'd need to
- Make France a new subculture "France"
- Link this subculture to a new culture "France", in the "cultures_subcultures" tables, and then in "agent_culture_details", use the French_General unit ID for the Bodyguard unit column.

Correct?

Question: can we safely add subculture and culture?
It means duplicating entries (splitting European to France/Britain/Prussia, etc) in building_culture_variants, but it doesn't seem to be used somewhere else?

Not really my area, but you will likely have to duplicate the UI folder for that culture multiple times as well for portraits and the like. Not sure what else you may need to do.

{QUOTE]Marksmanhip
If I have an infantry unit with accuracy 35, and a musket with marksmanship 0.
Is that the same chance to hit has a infantry unit with accuracy 0, and a musket with marksmanship 35?[/QUOTE]

Yes.

Also, what is the "physics" behind the accuracy? If I have 35, does it mean 35% change to hit ?

Ish. Different types of projectiles have different calibration areas. There is also a missile_distance_for_half_chance_hit which dictates at what range 100% accuracy would result in a hit of the calibration area. Both can be found in _kv_rules. So at the half chance hit range, a 100% accuracy projectile would hit within the target box (1m x 1m for muskets). So 35 accuracy is pretty good at tha range but is lower further out.

I tried to change the marksmanhip value, but then when I right click on a unit, the accuracy remain the same. When the range would be visible. It is normal? Can we see the final accuracy somewhere?

Projectile marksmanship values are not taken into account in the UI, only the stats of the unit itself.

Unit ability
Question from me "I've seen a new Unit_Special_Ability table, not exposed in PFM yet. It contains things such as column_formation, loose_formation. Is it usable in NTW, or a left over from before?"

Your answer "Yes it is used in NTW".

Well, I tried adding "column_formation" in my "unit_to_unit_abilities_junctions_tables" to one unit. And I try a battle with this unit select, it crashes. So, is it working? What should we do it to make it work?

Column formation is not fully implemented. It won't work.

Unit class
You said earlier "Classes are also used in the AI to help it work out what units are good against others."
In what table is this AI help defined?

It is defined in the code, not a table.

Unit quality
What is the effect of the cdir_unit_qualities table?

Used to bias AI recruitment within groups of units so it favours better units. The other cdir_unit tables are used to help Ai form well made armies.

About name of create unit
For land units, you said the db is not used, but we can change it from the startpos. For each faction, we have a
- Land_Unit_Names_Allocator, inside
-- Land_Unit_Names_Map, inside
--- 22 x Land_units_Names_Map (one for each class), inside
---- Unit_Class_Name_Allocator, and for the class with names
----- Unit_Class_Name_List, with a list of possible names for the regiments (unit of this class).

How does it work for naval units? There we have
- Naval_Unit_Names_Allocator, inside
-- Unit_Class_Name_Allocator, and for the class with names
--- Unit_Class_Name_List, with a list of possible names for the ships(unit of this class).

But there is only one entry, and not as many entries as naval unit class, contrary to land units.

In other words, I have the impression we can have different names for each class of land units, but for naval units, it's one big list, not one list for each class.

Can you confirm?

Correct, ships are just one big list, it is not broken down by class.

Rebels and liberated allies
Asked before, TC answered, but it wasn't really my question. Can we control how many units of each type a faction will give you for free after you liberate it?

I do no believe so, but again not really my area.

Hope this has been helpeful.

[alhoon]

Ish. Different types of projectiles have different calibration areas. There is also a missile_distance_for_half_chance_hit which dictates at what range 100% accuracy would result in a hit of the calibration area. Both can be found in _kv_rules. So at the half chance hit range, a 100% accuracy projectile would hit within the target box (1m x 1m for muskets). So 35 accuracy is pretty good at tha range but is lower further out.

I can't say I understand that paragraph.
Does it work that way in ETW too? If yes, I'll ask the people that know how it works for more explanation. If not... I can't say it matters a lot to me.
It's interesting though that accuracy is also tied to the gun. Is that the same in ETW too?

[T.C.]

It's interesting though that accuracy is also tied to the gun. Is that the same in ETW too?

Yes.


Jack, if you could pass these on (addressed to Craig last time I posted them) it would be great

Craig, what's the position on possible sharing of decompiled UI lua files? We have our own tools to decompile the luacs, but they don't decompile very well, in some cases at all or in a totally unusable state. Would you be able to share even one or two that are of interest to modders; we won't need any post release support with these, such as was given with the db files. I'm one of few people who can/does edit these files and I've a good grasp on it

One more request, would you b able to get us anything on CampaignUI, FrontendUI or BattleUI? CampaignUI would be the most important
Thanks again

Question for you Craig:

grant_unit() (in scripting) has the following description:



However, I've only ever been able to get it to generate units at settlements, never outlying slots. The description indicates it should work at slots, at least sometimes. Could you ask Ed about this please

Another question, not sure if this was answered:

If we mod it so that unused agents, such as priests (yes, we know some of them were used for Spanish campaign agents) spawn in the grand campaign, they spawn without a portrait, or unit card icon. Is there any reason for this? Can it be avoided?

Also, editing the Zone of Control stat in agents_tables has no noticeable effect. Is this stat used/useable?

Any news on this Craig?

Also, about maps - so you can't release esf conversion tools (legal issues/ not interested in going down that route/ whatever) or extensive documentation as its a serialisation format, and you can't create a custom map for us to learn from. How about giving us source files before everything is compiled into esf? For perhaps the Italian/Egyptian campaign? That way we'd have something small (= easy to understand) and you guys wouldn't be giving away too much. TBH this is probably the last route that gives map modding a decent chance, given my points above. I know a lot of your stuff will probably be in formats used by your in-house tools, but I'm fairly sure that the more intelligent community members will find some use for it (correct me if I'm wrong taw)

[PietroMicca]

Some more explanation about models in DB tables....

[Jack Lusted]

I can answer one of those TC

Question for you Craig:

grant_unit() (in scripting) has the following description:


However, I've only ever been able to get it to generate units at settlements, never outlying slots. The description indicates it should work at slots, at least sometimes. Could you ask Ed about this please

Early on in Empires development barracks and other unit recruitment buildings were placed outside settlements and units recruited there would spawn there. That was changed later to be central settlement for a region, so that is why it won't spawn them at slots.

[T.C.]

I can answer one of those TC



Early on in Empires development barracks and other unit recruitment buildings were placed outside settlements and units recruited there would spawn there. That was changed later to be central settlement for a region, so that is why it won't spawn them at slots.

Thanks for the answer.

[Steph]

"Classes are also used in the AI to help it work out what units are good against others."

It is defined in the code, not a table.

So it means that if I want to use the let say "elephant" class for my cuirassiers to have a better control on the regiment names, it could have uncotrollable side effects?
Do you think it is relatively safe to do things like that, or should it be avoided?


[QUOTE=Jack Lusted;10032590]What is the effect of the cdir_unit_qualities table?
Used to bias AI recruitment within groups of units so it favours better units. The other cdir_unit tables are used to help Ai form well made armies.[/QUOTE
Can you be a little more specific? Does the AI wieght this quality value against the cost to decide what to build?

Hope this has been helpeful.

I would have been happy with more positive answers, but at least it helps understanding what I can or cannot do.
Many thanks.