Don't you have to use the internal name of the assets?

For example, I have: <PreferredLogoType>GenericCrest24</PreferredLogoType>

So if you wanted to use Crest 12, you'd put in

<PreferredLogoType>GenericCrest12</PreferredLogoType>

or for Crest_44, you'd use

<PreferredLogoType>GenericCrest44</PreferredLogoType>

That way you don't HAVE to make a new file (unless you wanted to of course).

Or am I misunderstanding what you're saying?

Oh, and it seems that changing EntityID isn't necessary, except to put it where you want in the order (so 12 would put Rivas at then end of the line). I didn't change mine, and it put my faction first in the Choose Your Faction screen, pushing Altar to #2, but it didn't displace/overwrtie Altar.

Nice guide, btw, but it's faction, not fRaction

Basically.

What I did was made a copy of Crest_24 (my faction's crest) and copied it and called it Crest_53.png and did some color re-balancing on it to make it look different.

I made a copy of CoreLogos.xml and put it in My Games/Elemental/Units and named it NewLogos.xml

I deleted all the other crest definitions and put in:

Then in my faction's definition, I put in GenericCrest53 as my Preferred Logo Type.

Result?

I don't even think the file name would matter (as long as it's .png most likely) - just as long as it's in Gfx/Logos and you declare the internal name (so you can refer to it in your code) and tell the xml what your file is called so it knows the name of the logo you want it to fetch.

The logos appear to work that way but you can check the CoreLogos.XML to confirm it. I did and what your saying is correct.

I also appear to have had the same EntityID as the Kingdom of Altar too, no effect other then ordering. However, in order to ensure everything is bug free, I changed it once I made the discovery.

Lastly, I HIGHLY recommend Notepad ++ for XML editing. It's easy, clean, understandable, and has tons of helpful programming features to make editing/writing XML headache free.

Lastly, I HIGHLY recommend not editing any core files and backing up your stuff before updating. Updates can sometimes "remove" modded files (including sovereigns) and core files will inevitably be editing during development. You can do almost anything with a new XML file placed in the "My Games/Elemental" directory.

Do the faction backgrounds (and medallions backgrounds, for that matter) need to be defined somewhere? Or can we just put in the filename no problem?

couldn't find anything in the Core files about EnvironmentTerrainType it was either Environment or TerrainType

the default was either 1 or 2 which is ever for Empire  wanted an Arctic environment.

made my faction about 4 or 5 days ago not found anyway of knowing what i would need.

also all the faction abilitys are in AbilityBonuses.xml under Elemental/data/English

edit. issue with the way the xml

<EnvironmentTerrainType>4</EnvironmentTerrainType> --> Arctic Environment

For new Logos follow model in CoreLogos.xml and give it an internal name of your choice (any), making sure you use it in the <PreferredLogoType></PreferredLogoType> of your faction. The name of the file in the folder doesn't matter (your choice), just make sure it's the same you put in your custom Logo.xml file in <MainLogo></MainLogo>

I made a new xml called "NewLogos.xml" and put it in Docs/My Games/Elemental/Units

Then put this code in it:

That declared the image in the xml so I could use it in my custom faction definition:

Umm...why are the colors funky in that first code block....?

Not sure why I didn't notice before, but it looks like the OP's spell checker turned every instance of the word "Faction" into "Fraction". hehe kinda funny.

Still helpful post though

Especially when "Faction" is a word, so why did it change it LOL

I posted how I made the XSD here. I had lots of pics to explain and I didn't want to hijack this thread so I made a new one. Enjoy.

You mean like when it says "We can recruit a new unit type, called an Observer" ?

I only found one instance of Observer in the xml.

    <FlavorText>
        <Topic>Soldier_Level10</Topic>
        <Text>Peasant</Text>
    </FlavorText>
    
    <FlavorText>
        <Topic>Soldier_Level1</Topic>
        <Text>Observer</Text>           
    </FlavorText>

    <FlavorText>
        <Topic>Soldier_Level2</Topic>
        <Text>Forward Observer</Text>
    </FlavorText>

In game, it seems related to your weapon tech level (and probably armor tech too), but as far as the names - this is the only place I found them. I couldn't find any xml mention of Soldier_Level2 or the like in the xml (other than this file). Maybe it will be exposed once we have access to the AI routines.

The file is in \English\Data\Core World\conversations_ai.xml

There's more names in there as well.

Indeed. Don't edit core files. Though I did notice doing skins that some artwork Has to go into the Install Directories. I tried maintaining the file structure and copying it into the "My Documents/Games/Elemental" and that didn't work. Placing the custom art in there without the file structure also didn't work. It has to go into the proper folders in the core directories. As such, always keep a copy of it somewhere else just in case a directory gets deleted during an update. So far I've found that if your new content has a unique name it doesn't get deleted during a update or patch as long as the whole directory isn't deleted.

As for the editing, I still swear by UltraEdit.UltraEdit would walk up to Notepad++, punch it in the face and watch it hit the dirt. Kick it while it's down. Stomp on it. Spit on it. Piss on it. Then dump gas on it and flick a match setting it on fire. Then it would walk away and flick it the bird over it's shoulder while it leaves...

J/K, I've actually never tried Notepad++ because with UltraEdit I haven't needed anything else.