Appending to IDS files (or replacing them?)

Comments

• GrimLefourbe Member Posts: 637

  August 2016

  I think there are weidu functions for those, there is one for PROJECTL.IDS (http://www.weidu.org/~thebigg/beta/README-WeiDU.html#hevea_default278). You don't modify the .IDS file, you just call the weidu function with the proper arguments.
  
  I'm not sure there are weidu functions for the others.

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• chimeric Member Posts: 1,163

  August 2016

  Thanks, that's something. MISSILE.IDS and PROJECTL.ids repeat each other, though, except the numbering is off by one position. So if there is code for one, there has got to be something for the other. Now SPECIFIC, hmm...

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• kjeron Member Posts: 2,371

  August 2016 edited August 2016

  In general: Read each entry in the relevant file, start from 0 and check each value going up until you reach one that is not being used, add an entry using that value, then patch your files to use that value.
  
  Projectiles require another step: Take (value - 1) and add an entry to Missile.IDS using that new value, that is the value you will use for the Projectile. Missile.IDS is not used by the game, has missing entries, and so cannot be used to find available values, however, it is used by Near Infinity and DLTCEP to give meaningful names to projectiles other than their filename, so it is generally worth updating.

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• chimeric Member Posts: 1,163

  August 2016

  And how do I patch my files, or rather the files of the players who download and run the Weidu installer, for this? If the answer were obvious to me, I wouldn't have asked, you know.

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• kjeron Member Posts: 2,371

  August 2016

  If its basics that you need, the best way to learn is to download another mod and see how it does things. Preferably one with decent commenting that explains what its doing.

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• chimeric Member Posts: 1,163

  August 2016

  Well... there are two considerations. One is that I don't know which mod patches the right files in the right way. I don't want to learn the whole of patching by trial and error, I only need this narrow application, so I'd rather ask. SPECIFIC.IDS in particular cannot be patched the way described above, by letting Weidu assign its own numbers to custom positions, because lines in that file are called on by their numbers in the trigger. You can't trigger to a Specific with the name of the position, you need to ask for the integer. Two, if asking for advice is begging for help, as I sometimes think, then one ought to resort to it as little as possible. If, on the other hand, you look at dispensing advice as a pleasant activity we engage in in our free time, no strings attached, then I'm not a moocher for inviting others to that interaction easily and often.

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• kjeron Member Posts: 2,371

  August 2016 edited August 2016

  chimeric said:

  If, on the other hand, you look at dispensing advice as a pleasant activity we engage in in our free time, no strings attached, then I'm not a moocher for inviting others to that interaction easily and often.

  I have only one string: I am knowledgeable of and am confident in what I'm trying to explain. I can give you the code, but explaining it is not something I can do very well. I generally don't use any commenting, and would be a terrible source to learn from my mods.
  Here is something for Specifics. It would go as early in your installation as possible.

   DEFINE_ACTION_FUNCTION ADD_SPECIFIC STR_VAR label = ~~ RET index  BEGIN
    OUTER_SET index = ~-1~
    ACTION_IF FILE_CONTAINS_EVALUATED (~SPECIFIC.IDS~ ~^.+[ %TAB%]%label%\b~) BEGIN
     COPY_EXISTING ~SPECIFIC.IDS~ override
      COUNT_2DA_ROWS 2 rows
      FOR (i = 0; i < rows; ++i) BEGIN
       READ_2DA_ENTRY i 1 2 state_label
       PATCH_IF ~%state_label%~ STRING_EQUAL_CASE ~%label%~ BEGIN
        READ_2DA_ENTRY i 0 2 state_id
        SET index = state_id
       END
      END
     BUT_ONLY
    END ELSE BEGIN
     ACTION_IF (~%label%~ STRING_EQUAL ~~) BEGIN FAIL ~Missing Specific's label~ END ELSE BEGIN
      ACTION_IF ((~%label%~ STRING_CONTAINS_REGEXP ~ ~) = 0) BEGIN FAIL ~Specific's lable cannot have spaces~ END ELSE BEGIN
       COPY_EXISTING ~SPECIFIC.IDS~ override
        COUNT_2DA_ROWS 2 rows
        FOR (i = 1; i < rows; ++i) BEGIN
         READ_2DA_ENTRY i 0 2 state_id
         SET $occupied_slot(~%state_id%~) = 1
        END
         FOR (i = 0; i < 256; ++i) BEGIN
          PATCH_IF (!VARIABLE_IS_SET $occupied_slot(~%i%~)) BEGIN
           SET index = i
           SET i = 256
           PATCH_IF index <= rows BEGIN
            INSERT_2DA_ROW index 2 ~%index% %label%~
           END ELSE BEGIN
            INSERT_2DA_ROW rows 2 ~%index% %label%~
           END
          END
         END
       PATCH_IF (index = ~-1~) BEGIN PATCH_FAIL ~No available slots in SPECIFIC.IDS~ END
       BUT_ONLY
      END
     END
    END
   END
  LAF ADD_SPECIFIC STR_VAR string = ~custom_label~ RET specific_1 = index END

  The first part is a function that will do what I described: read every entry and find a vacant slot.
  The last line can be reused with different labels and a different "specific_#" for additional entries.
  custom_label is the arbitrary string you want to identify your specifics as, it needs the ~'s on both sides of it, cannot have spaces, probably not special characters(at least not other ~'s).
  The variable "specific_1" will store the value you need to use in effects like Opcode 177.

  
  And here is the code to alter your spells/items at installation:

  ADD_PROJECTILE ~%file_path%\MYPROJ.PRO~
  
  COPY ~%file_path%\MYSPELL.SPL~ override	// or COPY ~%file_path%\MYITEM.ITM~ override
  // Projectile:
   LPF ALTER_SPELL_HEADER // or ALTER_ITEM_HEADER it its an item
    INT_VAR
     projectile = MYPROJ  //  the filename without extension
   END
  // Specifics:
   LPF ALTER_EFFECT
    INT_VAR
     match_opcode = 177  // Use Eff file, or the number of the opcode your using to target a specifics)
     match_parameter1 = ~value~ // (whatever placeholder value you have in the effect already)
     match_parameter2 = 6  // specifics
     parameter1 = specific_1
   END

  The LPF's, ALTER_SPELL_HEADER and ALTER_EFFECT, are functions built-in to Weidu, unlike the "ADD_SPECIFIC" which I had to define myself. These two can alter most fields in item and spell files for existing headers/effects, but I've only included the parts you will need. They will(by default) return warnings if they do not alter the file.
  file_path will need to be written out starting from(but not including) the folder containing Chitin.key for that game, the same one the Setup-MYMOD.exe file will be located.

  
  edit:typo, edit2: sorry, another typo in the code

  Post edited by kjeron on August 2016

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• chimeric Member Posts: 1,163

  August 2016

  kjeron said:

  chimeric said:

  code

  I just noticed this reply. This all looks just fantastic. It's too bad I would have to learn the whole coding for Weidu business to understand this, be able to use this, adapt this and find errors, if any, in my implementation of it. As it is, I'm like a blind man with an elephant - you can help him ride, but he still won't know what. I should stop asking people for code, it's no good to me.
  
  I guess I'll just include some instructions for manual changes in the IDS files when the mod is ready. It's not difficult to open up a few files in Notepad and insert some entries there.

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