Adding and creating new unit bulletpoints

[Matmannen]

Hey, I'm Matmannen and I'm gonna show you how to add your own unique bullet points to your modded units; they're those green and red points found in a units stat box in the UI, giving a summary of the unit, point by point. I know what you're thinking and I'm thinking the same; why would anybody write a tutorial about this insignificant thing. And, it's true, in the grand scale of unit modding, it's a small decorative detail. But, what some people can forget is that the little things can make or break a mod; all its tables can be in good and sound order, but without the visual appeal...

...anyway, now that I have made my case, let's get down to business!



I decided to write this mod because the process of creating new bulletpoints isn't as straightforward as it seems, and once you understand how, it'll be alot simpler then it looks. In this tutorial I will use my most recent unit mod Wulfheart and his huntsmen as an example. For this tutorial you'll need two tables from <db> ui_unit_bullet_point_enums__core and ui_unit_bullet_point_overrides__core; you'll also need one table from <text> called ui_unit_bullet_point_enums__core. Let's start working on them.

ui_unit_bullet_point_enums__core



In this table you're gonna first add your bulletpoints to the game, if you don't add your bulletpoint to this table but you do the others, your game will crash. In the first column [key], you're gonna write the key of your bullet point. Make sure you add (_) between the words of your key. The second column decides what colour the bulletpoint will have, positive will make it green and negative red. The third column, [sort order] decides where this individual bullet point will be positioned in relation to other bullet points, lowest number goes first etc, etc. In vanilla, the numbers are very random (they span from 1 to over 150 even if there are only about 50 bulletpoints), some bulletpoints even share number. Just make sure that the bulletpoints you add to your unit do not share the same number and you should be good.

ui_unit_bullet_point_enums__core



In this tables you're gonna tie your bullet point key in the left table with your unit keys in the right table. As you can see, while vanguard_deployment and stalk are vanilla bulletpoints, the other three are modded. In your unit modding, the vanilla bulletpoints might be enaugh for you, but I find that adding your own can really bring some character to your units.

Instead of just adding Bonus vs Large, I add Huntsmen and Monster Hunter, though functionally all three tags bare the same message, the last two add character and uniqueness. There are also examples of this in Vanilla. Ungrim Ironfist has a significant bonus vs large (35) yet there is no bullet point saying bonues vs large. The bullet point reads Dragon Slayer. Makes him unique, doesn't it?

WITHIN THE UI BOX, THERE IS ONLY SPACE FOR FOUR BULLETPOINTS.

ui_unit_bullet_point_enums__core



Now finally, we have the last table on our agenda. This table contradicts the orthodoxy of ui tables. Usually there is one table for names and one for descriptions, but here they are one and the same; the deciding factor between the two isn't table but tags. For one new bullet point; you'll need two new lines. In the first line, you're gonna write the name of the bulletpoint; this is what you'll read in game. In the first column you're gonna write "ui_unit_bullet_point_enums_onscreen_name_" followed by your bulletpoint key, in this case it's "monster_hunter". In the following column you're gonna write the name as it appears in game i.e Monster Hunter.

In the second line you're gonna write the description of the bulletpoint; this is the tool tip that expands if you let the mouse hover over any individual bullet point. In the first column you're gonna write "ui_unit_bullet_point_enums_tooltip_" followed by the key, i.e "monster_hunter". In the second column you're gonna write a short and descriptive explonation of what the bulletpoit means. For the Monster Hunter bullet point it reads: "This unit consists of seasoned monster hunters. Wielding a significant bonus versus large, they make their presence known."

Don't forget to check for typos, it may help to copy paste what you wrote into notepad just to get a better view of it; the small columns can retrict your vision and ability to really see your mistakes. After this, you should be good to go. (after going through the many typos in this tutorial, this line really made me chuckle. To my defense, I wrote this 2:30 am )

Happy modding!