Questions about modding Fleet Ops

posted on February 7th, 2011, 4:30 pm

Okay so I am not the most experienced or knowledgeable of modders but I have done a few simple things with the stock game (adding weapons, changing build caps etc) most of the things I have tried with FO that are more than changing a number or two have caused the game to crash. A few of the things I want to accomplish include adding some ships and making them buildable, adding or swapping weapons and just a few minor tweaks, however every time I try to do anything other than raise a cap limit it breaks the game and I have to start over Any tips or tricks would be helpful

posted on February 7th, 2011, 4:37 pm

try the guide's modding page

It can probably explain a lot.

Adm zaxxon and tyler are good friendly modders, feel free to pm them.

[Jagannathsa]

posted on February 7th, 2011, 4:54 pm

Last edited by Jagannathsa on February 7th, 2011, 5:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Awesome that guide helps out a lot, though it doesnt answer the question of adding a weapon to a ship, do I have to add the same weapon to each odf with the same name? (as far as I can tell they are the different ranks of the same ship) Im lost heh

Edit: Also was curious if the ships on the site that were made for older versions of FO still work for later releases of FO.

posted on February 7th, 2011, 5:04 pm

you dont HAVE to give all ranks the same weapons.

U could give a rank 1 monsoon a starfleet phaser, rank 2 could get klingon disruptors, rank 3 dom polarons etc. Most ships keep their weapons when they rank, and get new ones at high ranks.

Each ship will have an odf for each avatar, which is what u build. Then the ranked odfs should be shared unless there are avatar differences. Each rank gets an odf. replaceweapons will require an extra odf too. Its a lot of odfs lol.

posted on February 7th, 2011, 5:25 pm

wow maybe Im getting in over my head is there something a little simpler that I can try first to get the hang of this? I just keep getting confused with all the different things to modify I spent all night last night trying to get the excalibur into my game and it always crashed so idk maybe I just need more practice . . .

posted on February 7th, 2011, 5:27 pm

To start, you could try just copying an existing ship and changing the names and hardpoints? Keep the weapons the same until you've had some practice.

posted on February 7th, 2011, 5:49 pm

Yeah that SOUNDS simple, only problem is when I think "lets make a alternate sabre" I go to the odfsystem folder and find like 20 different sabre models, which do I copy?

I know Im prolly gunna be a big pain but this is something that I really want to get the hang of. thanks for helping me out guys 

[Tyler]

posted on February 7th, 2011, 5:56 pm

Last edited by Tyler on February 7th, 2011, 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ones with Y at the end are Risner, Z are Mayson, M are alternate modes and no letter at the end are avatar neutral. If you copy the version you want to base it on and removed the special that causes the alternate mode (fed_impulse for the Sabre), it will work.

The alternate modes that make up most of a Sabres odfs are optional.

Edit: Also was curious if the ships on the site that were made for older versions of FO still work for later releases of FO.

They do for the most part, but some updating will be required. Things like the renamed tritanium cost needs to be back to the stock code or it'll be ignored by the game.

posted on February 7th, 2011, 6:16 pm

Okay so before I start, I just want to make sure that I understand, if I copy the file fed_saberY.odf and make it fed_whatevernameiwant.odf then that will make it a new unit buildable by both avatars?

posted on February 7th, 2011, 6:20 pm

If it's added to the yards and techtree accordingly, the letter extension is just to organize them to tell the difference easily.

posted on February 7th, 2011, 8:14 pm

Okay so I added the buildable warp-ins mod and now I am trying to get adm zaxxon's ship pack to work but it still crashes the game after I followed the directions (tried at least 4 times to do this) I want to make the ships buildable as well as warp-ins but Im not sure what I need to edit to get it to work any ideas?

posted on February 7th, 2011, 8:21 pm

The Warp-Ins that come with the game have 2 seperate, yet virtually identical sets of odf; the regular Warp-Ins and a second version with A at the end of the filename that are buildable.

It's that simple; copy the Warp-Ins, rename the odfs, add the new ones to a yard and the techtree. Just remember to remove the capfile code for non-veterans and change the rankup entry so it doesn't become a Warp-In on ranking up.

posted on February 7th, 2011, 9:19 pm

Well I tried to put the Achilles from Zaxxon's ship pack and I cant get it to work so maybe someone can help me find what Im doing wrong . . .

I copied the fed_achilles odf as well as all the files with the prefix FedW_achilles to data/odf/system

I added builditemx = Achilles.odf to both euradi yards (y and z) and made sure the list was in numerical order

then added fed_achilles.odf to both techtree files.

then I copied the bitmaps, textures, SOD, sprites and techtree folders into the data directory and overwrite previous files.

the game starts and lets me load the instant action screen, then when I launch the mission the loading screen comes up and the game crashes right after the loading screen goes away . . .

posted on February 7th, 2011, 9:29 pm

Check the odfs for spelling mistakes.

posted on February 7th, 2011, 9:32 pm

That sounds a lot like a spelling error somewhere  :sweatdrop:

Your builditem was fed_achilles.odf (at least in correspondence to what you wrote there) I hope  :blush:

Remember to take a look at the bug/crash checklist

Ninja'd