Faction Installer

**Augustus Lucifer** · September 04, 2009, 03:55 PM

The faction installer is something being worked on to expand the coverage of a potential future custom battle pack by allowing for an AUH faction to be inserted into any mod of choice fairly simply(for the end user, not so much for me) to be pitted against other mods' factions. Currently writing it in Python which I don't have a hell of a lot of experience in, so kind of feeling my way around as I go.

Functions Required

Each file that governs the adding of a faction needs to be read and edited to insert the new faction/s. Some files have different needs in this respect for the most efficiency.

Folders

Check to insure each of: /text, /models_strat/textures, /loading_screen/symbols, /unit_models, /unit_sprites, /menu, ui/unit, ui/unit_info, ui/captain banners ... exist, if not create them.

descr_cultures

Check culture types available to append faction entry, if file doesn't exist assume vanilla cultures

descr_religions

Check religion types available to append faction entry, if file doesn't exist assume vanilla religions

descr_sm_factions

Insure the file exists, if it doesn't throw up incompatibility
Check for # of faction entries to insure there's room to add factions
Check the number of factions available in custom battles and prompt the ability to set one to No if full
Utilize a standard_index and logo_index utilized by another faction in the mod being written to
Append faction entries

descr_banners_new

Append with banner entries and add banner files or copy from a pre-existing faction

descr_character

Create junk entries as faction is not to be enabled on the campaign map, requires insertion within file scheme

descr_lbc_db

Append faction entry

descr_model_strat

Create junk entries corresponding to descr_character entries

descr_names

Append faction names entries

names

Append faction names string entries

expanded

Append faction string entries

campaign_descriptions

Append faction string entries

descr_offmap_models

Append faction entry

descr_faction_movies

Append faction entry

descr_win_conditions

Append faction entry

descr_sounds_music_types

Add faction to factions line of first entry

descr_strat

Add faction name to end unplayable list

export_descr_unit

Insure the file exists, if it doesn't throw up incompatibility
Check file for # of unit entries to insure there's room under 500 to add the units.
Cope with commented out entries so they aren't counted
Append unit entries to end of file
Modify entries or use separate entries in a list array to conform to a few of the more popular mods stat systems

battle_models.modelsdb

Determine unit count at top of file
Add unit and mount entries, mounts need to be inserted below other mount entries
Append unit count to previous + # units added

descr_skeleton

Need to figure out a way to tie this in with the bmdb to insure the animation lines work. Possibly append, if doesn't exist then copy vanilla and append.

FILES

Add unit model/texture/sprite files, logo files, and any other non-junk referenced files
Something has to be done about the effects file

GUI

Tie functions into GUI
Start by prompting for a selection of mods from list or Other to take any special tweaks
Throw up interactive error reports and resolution options

BACKUP

Backup previous files to *_auh.bak
Include uninstallation procedure

**Wundai** · September 05, 2009, 04:47 AM

Hmm can you clarify this for me Chris:

Unit balancing, how can your faction installer concept work if your faction is not balanced against the other factions from the other mod, since they were someone else's creation?

The only way I could see it working is if you collaborate with these other mods in Unit balancing plans, or am I wrong?

**Augustus Lucifer** · September 05, 2009, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by Wundai

Hmm can you clarify this for me Chris:

Unit balancing, how can your faction installer concept work if your faction is not balanced against the other factions from the other mod, since they were someone else's creation?

The only way I could see it working is if you collaborate with these other mods in Unit balancing plans, or am I wrong?

It shouldn't be to difficult to look at the EDU of another mod and use sort of a nearest neighbor concept with slight alterations to achieve that balance. That's the least of my problems right now though, if I can get all of the above done somehow then the unit stat alterations for a few of the more popular mods would be a piece of cake. My main hurdle is going to be figuring out how to break up file line strings that I don't know what they say into separate values based on their syntax and formatting, then running them through regular expressions and replacing them in-line with another regular expression. I currently don't know how to do the half of that, so gotta hit the books and see as I go.

What we won't be doing is modifying other mods files and distributing them in any way, if we did we'd have to class it as a sub-mod and get distribution permission from every mod on the face of the planet that someone could conceivably apply it to. The goal is not to do anything besides facilitate the personal enduser modification of a mod of their choosing to add a faction by automating the process, thereby requiring them to have the unmodified files of the mod and not doing anything they wouldn't already have the individual rights to. Think of it like applying Charge's map pack to any mod of your choosing, except adding a faction takes a lot more time and specification so it's simpler to automate it.

When all is said and done I'll probably release the installer as open-source so other mods can do similar things if they so desire, and better python programmers can fix my shoddy code.

**Yelü Dashi** · September 05, 2009, 06:49 PM

Is this really a priority right now ? Sounds complicated and will necessitate learning Python scripts....

..I'm not even sure I would want to let someone install Song units into SS or w/e. I thought we had bigger/more important fish to fry ?

**Augustus Lucifer** · September 09, 2009, 06:42 AM

This is not pertinent, it's just something I'm doing on the side as part of a personal endeavor to learn more about Python.

As to installation in other mods, it seems necessary to the success of a battle pack to facilitate such a function. When you think of Song vs. Jin, Song vs. Song, and Jin vs. Jin or what have you, there's only so many scenarios you could play before you'd set the mod aside and forget about it. But if you could pit them against other factions across the modding spectrum, you'd keep coming back to it and keep the mod fresh in your mind. Song vs. Rome? I'd play it.

There's a lot of complications though above and beyond just the aforementioned, so it may not even be plausible. Another possibility is collaboration with other mods in development who feel they're at a similar release state, which would involve a more direct approach and directly defined contents.