Icepick

Join Date 04/2006

[SPOILER/UNDOCUMENTED FEATURE] Note: This will remove any trace of fun from the game! (AKA 1st mod experience)

OK, so I am working on the Wiki for Elemental and I stumble across the place where the custom units are stored. Finding .xml files that are the same names as my custom units I get into them and of course start editing . So here is how on turn 2 you can see the entire map (and go to any tile on it)

First in game make a scout with a 1 day build time. Then quit, go open the xml file (in the my games/elemental/units folder), increase sight to 150 and speed as well. Save the .xml file, start Elemental, start a new game, and then on the first turn build a city, and in the city train that unit you just modified. Next turn, you get to see the entire map and everything on it. Takes all the fun out of playing, but great for beta testing/wiki building

I debated on whether or not to post this here, but someone will figure it out sooner or later anyway, so I may as well get the credit

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Wait, so you modded in a super uint you feel kills the fun of the game? I can't believe I'm going to ask this, but you do at some point have to realize you can play the game without modding it, or not mod in super units...

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Edit: Whoops, nevermind

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Modding stuff like stats might make it easier to do some bug catching, especially movement and LOS.

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Icepick

Join Date 04/2006

Yeah, hence why I did it, it IS neat seeing the whole map on turn 2, and basically getting to see pretty much where everyone/thing starts out at. Do note that it may actually cause some bugs tho, moving a character clear across the map makes my machine stutter pretty bad, and its a core i7 clocked out to 4 ghz. I know the devs prolly dont want to be bothered with "I moved 85 squares and it crashed to desktop" threads, and modding such an early build of a game probably isnt the smartest thing in the world, but it is fun

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Best we find these things out now IMO. NIce work.

Nacho

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econundrum1

Join Date 04/2007

+36

yes it does make it easier to check out the whole map and find problems with the map generation so interesting, I too had found those xml files hadn't tried modding them though.

One thing though best to back them up before you change them.

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Icepick

Join Date 04/2006

The folder I am talking about appears to be all user generated files. I believe the mods and/or customized stuff will probably wind up here eventually. Should anything you do actually break the game, just delete the custom unit's xml file (or dont build it in the 1st place). Do note that when you build a unit that can see the entire map that it takes a minute for the FOW to be removed from the entire map.

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I saw that turn 2 full map in the map bug thread and was wondernig how that happened. Sure beats wandering all over the map looking for rivers.

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FYI, a sight of 100 works just as well, and might not take as long to lift the FOW.

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I'm very curious to see how this will relate to the final game. Certainly a player shouldn't be able to just change their units like that. However, if there is to be mod work, players should be fine to modify units as desired.

I suspect the best way to handle it is somehow encrypt the main game units, but have copies or freely available ones for use in mods or whatever. Of course even then, there still needs to be ways of sorting them from each other so that you can decide which units to use in which games.

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For single-player, I'm sure anything will go, just like Civ games. For multiplayer, there's probably some checking involved to make sure players are using the same files ( mod or vanilla ). If everyone's units are matches, things should be even.

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Well, for multiplayer I think it would depend on the host. If SD hosts it then everything will be vanilla/cannon content. How ever if Joe Schmo hosts it then everything hes modded would probably have to be dled by a client connecting.

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This remind me a problem with some versions of GC2 where you were able to build in game (without needing to edit any XML file) an uber scout vessel by only adding cheap sensor modules. I think they manage to slove the problem by restricting the maximum sensor range and change how sensor modules add up to increase sensor range.

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