17 replies to this topic

[centurionbc]

well i was wondering how i could make say a civilan structure into a nod, alien, GDI etc structure?, any1 know how?

[Phil]

I can't use existing Civilian buildings, or override them in my mod

This is a known issue with this version of the Mod SDK. Due to the way that the map specific assets (civilian structures, props, etc) are loaded, they are not able to be referenced by the Mod SDK, and therefore cannot be used.

[Boomerang Python]

but hmmm i hope to god they sort that shit...

[Mighty BOB!]

So do I but I find it to be highly unlikely.

[Mastermind]

It's down to how the game is built, and unlikely to be fixable. Releasing all of the source art would work, but that's a ton of stuff.

[Boomerang Python]

well it was fucking possible with generals, dammit, this messes up plans..

[Torn]

Not really.

[ambershee]

I can imagine that being rather annoying. Out of curiosity, what is it that makes them inaccessible?

[Mastermind]

It's due to how the files are stored and loaded. The civilian assets are in a separate memory stream from the faction assets (which are always loaded). The SDK can reference properly the assets in the two streams which are always loaded, but not the ones in the worldbuilder (which is where the civilian/map specific stuff is) stream. Through the magic of things just working, using meshes from the two always loaded streams will resolve properly. Meshes from the worldbuilder stream will not. Does that make enough sense?

[Mighty BOB!]

Then our task is clear. We must nag EA to release all the source art until they do!

[ambershee]

It's due to how the files are stored and loaded. The civilian assets are in a separate memory stream from the faction assets (which are always loaded). The SDK can reference properly the assets in the two streams which are always loaded, but not the ones in the worldbuilder (which is where the civilian/map specific stuff is) stream. Through the magic of things just working, using meshes from the two always loaded streams will resolve properly. Meshes from the worldbuilder stream will not. Does that make enough sense?

Makes sense, but sounds like an awkward set up to me.

[Mastermind]

It works fine for the game, since the map specific assets are compiled into maps separately, and are selectively loaded, while the faction assets are just bulk loaded at the start. It speeds up load time and reduces memory usage at the same time.

[ambershee]

Most games would just have the maps reference the civilian structure class and instance them with the correct parameters for each one, then load them that way, rather than bulk load anything at all.

[Mighty BOB!]

I was just thinking and, this means we can't alter the number of garrison slots in buildings doesn't it?

[Mastermind]

Most games would just have the maps reference the civilian structure class and instance them with the correct parameters for each one, then load them that way, rather than bulk load anything at all.

C&C 3 is designed around streams, rather than other more "traditional" approaches, and is what accounts for the massively fast loading times.

So, rather than creating instances of classes with the parameters, they load a binary representation from disk, saving on the overhead of memory allocation (since one bulk allocation can be done at the start) and class instantiation (constructors), and, the big savings, they don't have to really parse any non-binary formats.

[Helge129]

What I know is, that it is possible to load cnc3 WITH a mod.


(Thanks to Dibelius and Phirytox)

[Golan]

Doesn´t solve the problem of civilian assets not being properly accessible though. What´s worse, this royally fucks up buildmap.bat .

Edited by Golan, 14 November 2007 - 12:09 PM.

[Helge129]

Danm it...

EA

royally fucks up

everything....