52 replies to this topic

[Bart]

I never understood the need for this program. Seems like using a nuke to kill a fly. All you have to do is take the changes you want from the gamedata.ini and simply place it in it's own tiny little file in the objects folder named "anythingyouwant"

1. if you want to change lots of things, that means moving and renaming lots of macros. then why not do them all at once
2. if EA comes with a new patch and you only have renamed what you changed, a lot of it won't match up (i realise this a pretty obsolete argument now that patches are unlikely)
3. if you put the stuff in the object folder, you still can't use it in weapon.ini and whatever (at least not everywhere)
4. you will spread the macros around, which will make you have to change things in multiple files. defeats the entire purpose of macro's eh

We have a strange bug in SEE, and rumour says it might be related to the -mod command?
Could that be true? And if so, is there a way to solve it?

Yes that could be true, I don't know. You may see me as the -mod command expert (which I do not claim to be, as it's such a simple thing), but I didn't program the engine and thus cannot know about these things

[Nazgûl]

Allright, thanks anyways... We'll try to solve it in some way...
And hey, I think this program rocks

[Hostile]

Call me old school but I never was into the macro system anyway. When I made a new unit I simply posted the parameters right in the unit.

If I need to change something, I simply open/control F what I'm looking for, edit, save, drag to BIG file. 20-30 secs tops.

And then back to testing.

Now I understand doing massive balancing changes would be aided by having one place to edit that stuff. But if it was done correctly the first time...blah............NM

Let me elaborate. When I add a new faction, I simply copy a faction, create and replace and playtest each unit before moving on. So it's already balanced right from the start.

See an existing faction is already (in theory) balanced. You balance each new unit or structure or upgrade as you add them.

I'm probably way off topic here anyway and just rambling. So carry on dmam it!

[Rob38]

That's exactly what I do Hostile I like that method better

[ched]

when as a coder you don't balance stuff yourself, it's far easier to deal with macros. The people in charge of balance just play with the values in there and voila !

[Sûlherokhh]

True. I have made many changes when modding. And i added (replaced) quite a few macros EA forgot/misplaced or didn't use at all. Which is the only way to work on a team with some sort of work splitting. Otherwise Naz would really have a hard time adjusting the balance and we'd always get into each other's way.

If you are doing all of it youself though ... I understand that it is seductive not to do more work than absolutely necessary. But i tell you this. With (functional) macros you will have a much easier time keeping the overview of things.

[witchking]

nice job with the tool

[Guess Who]

No 2.01 for rotwk :(.

[Captain Beremir]

Hey guys. I really want to start a little modding for myself, such as just renaming heroes/switching powers. I understand that this program will help me to download the INI, but I just DONT understand what to do. I read the -mod command tutorial but dont understand where you place your mod and/or what/where in the file name you name it. And will the INIs take a long time to load? (especially if I bring them on a disk to another comp?)

I really appreciate any help. Thanks

[Carbonox Infernox]

Today I present you with a tool, that is inevitably going to make your modding lives much easier

As you know, for some strange reason, when you use the -mod command to make your modifications to BFME, changes in gamedata.ini don't get read. Now, unfortunately that's just the file that contains all the unit data such as health and stuff. There are two things you can do:
1. Change all options directly in the appropriate files. In the end this will result in an unmanagable gibberish.
2. Move the macros (#define BLABLA) somewhere else. Unfortunately, you can't give them the same name, so you have to rename them. However, then you have to update all the references in all the ini files to your new macros, which you had to do by hand...



But not anymore!



This tool I made does that for you



Here's how it works:
- Download the rar file and extract it in 'X:\somefolder'
- Put a copy of your INI files in 'X:\somefolder\old' (so you will have, for example, 'X:\somefolder\old\commandbutton.ini' and 'X:\somefolder\old\object\goodfaction\units\men\aragorn.ini')
- Make a new .bat file, with these codes (save it in 'X:\somefolder')

java -jar MacroRenamer_1.4.jar M_ old new
pause

- Run the bat file by double clicking
- Let it run (this will take a long while, but it will report what it's doing)

What it will do:
- Load all macros in gamedata.ini
- Rename them all, by putting a prefix before them (which, in the .bat file above, is 'M_'. change it if you want something else*).
- Update all files to reference the new macros, and store them in a new folder

* = the prefix can only contain numbers, letters and the underscore. IT MUST NOT begin with a number

Now, when it's done, all you have to do is:
- move all the macros in 'gamedata.ini' to 'default\water.ini'
- move the GameData block in 'gamedata.ini' to a new file 'object\gamedata.ini'
- and of course put the new INI files at the appropriate place in your mod

Notes:
- I've programmed this tool not to alter the original files. However, bugs can of course always be present, so have a backup!
- You need the Java Runtime Environment for this to work. I've programmed it on version 6 (or 1.6, if you like), but maybe it will work on 5 as well (but get 6 anyway)
- If there are files that you are 100% sure, don't contain any references to a macro, delete them before starting, because the program will go trough them anyway

Using the -mod command is now definitely THE only way for modding.
Have fun






Preconverted INI folders

BFME 1 - 1.03
BFME 2 - 1.06
ROTWK - 1.00

If you have another useful converted INI folder (e.g. ROTWK originals) please send them to me.






Changelog

Version 1.4
Apparently there was still a bug in 1.3, it didn't read macros in files that are simple included by gamedata.ini. That is fixed now
Also:
- Progress bar changed from dots to stars
- The tool logs everything in macrorenamer_log.txt, in it's working directory

Version 1.3
Because there are some macros in experiencelevels.ini with the same name as some hero KindOfs (e.g. ARAGORN and GANDALF) some serious crashes occured when trying to launch the converted BFME 2 1.06 INI. This version only reads macros from gamedata.ini, which is more a workaround than a solution, but will do for now.

Version 1.2
There was a serious bug in 1.1, making it unusable. This one has fixed that. Also:
- It reports the time it takes to do one file, and all the files
- It will not process a file if it is already present in the target directory (useful when the program crashes)
- Improved layout

Version 1.1
After trying to convert a BFME 2 INI directory, which was still at the beginning after an hour, I made a version that performs a lot better.

Version 1.0
First version

this whole thing is confusing

[drogoth232]

hello everyone i am stuck at these parts

- move all the macros in 'gamedata.ini' to 'default\water.ini'
- move the GameData block in 'gamedata.ini' to a new file 'object\gamedata.ini'
- and of course put the new INI files at the appropriate place in your mod

and also what does this mean

2. Move the macros (#define BLABLA) somewhere else. Unfortunately, you can't give them the same name, so you have to rename them. However, then you have to update all the references in all the ini files to your new macros, which you had to do by hand...

thanks in advance

[The_Witch-King]

how do you instal it i have trid but i cant


The Sky has Fallen

[Ridder Geel]

What have you done?
Please tell us what steps you have taken to try to make it work

[The_Witch-King]

well i dont understand the instrucun thats all

[Rainwizard6]

This is very cool, thank you for this, discovered this method of modding today. This makes it easier.

[jumboklik]

Hello!

Can somebody write me have to make the files for ROTWK 2.01? Like for noob, with easy instructions, I see not only me have the problem with this. I have tried for my own, but every time I try I came up with game crash.

Please help!

[Rob38]

Hmmm... I would have thought RotWK 2.01 would be up but it appears we only have the unpatched version. I'll look into this some more.

[Kwen]

Ok... I know this is old. But I'm stuck... lol. I can't figure out how to make a .bat file in windows 7. Because by default you can't change file extensions simply by their name...

[Phil]

You can, but you must disable the default behaviour of hiding file extensions (this is recommended for security anyway):
In Windows Explorer, click Alt+t, then o to bring up Folder Properties. In the View tab disable Hide extensions for known file types.

[Kwen]

Thanks. Now for the epic process of converting them..