how to Create a Modpack - Part 1

[heardie]

How to create a Modpack.

Hello every body.

This is a section that I hope, will help everybody be able to create great Modpacks for Alpha Centauri. When the game was first released I was disappointed about the limited resources we have for SMAC to create modpacks. For Civ2 there were the Units, Cities, Terrain, People that you could edit. Anyway for SMAC there was a great new addition. For those of you that don't know it is a faction. To edit these you can load up a faction file, and then edit it and 'save as' or, more recommended, you go to http://www.sidgames.com/ac/acedit and download ACEdit, which I am sure you would have already down. This excellent program lets you edit the faction file in a much easier way. If, however, for whatever reason you don't have it, I will discuss what everything means in both of them. Recently I also created I file for people who can't work out how to modify the files, or who don't like ACEdit or don't trust it. It is a faction template. It is just like any other template you have ever seen. It has things such as
INSERT FACTION NAME HERE

Basically, I am creating this file (the modpack, not the faction template) because many people, including myself, love Modpacks, and at the moment there aren't too many, and when I wrote this there was only one, with full graphic and faction modifications. I am working on my Centauri Modpack, which will contain (hopefully!) 7 brand new factions, new rules, maybe terrain, maybe scenarios, new technologies speeches in techlongs.txt and techshorts.txt and anything else I can find to edit. Although this doesn't seem like much, this is a lot, and while you are reading this I don't think it will be out yet, unless this file has been out for ages. I am also working on the "Earth Mod." This is very tricky. I will discuss the tactic I used to work out the graphics later on.

First of all, I will start with ACEdit:

When you load up ACEdit, (when I was writing this v 2.0 was the latest) you will se something that says filename. Below this there is a box where you can type in the name of your newly created faction. Below this is a box where you can type in the text you want. This is what your leader says, when you choose your faction. It is usually something about your faction, eg. The UOP, which is heavily involved in science, says,
"The substructure of the universe regresses infinitely towards smaller and smaller components. Behind atoms we find electrons, and behind electrons quarks. Each layer unraveled reveals new secrets, but also new mysteries."
If you go across a bit you will see five icons. These are, in order from the top, new faction, open an existing faction, Save faction, Choose which factions are in the game, and about ACEdit.
With open an existing faction, you can then edit that faction and create your own which may be similar to the one you opened. If you look above this you will see two boxes. They are "Assistant Name", "Scientist Name", and "Assistant City". The Assistant Name, and Assistant City, usually use the same thing, eg. If you Assistant name is George, than your assistant City my be George's Land.
Now if you go up the top, you will se there is a number of tabs. Click on the NAMES tab. Here you will see two tables. On the one on the left there is a number of boxes. The first of is the Official name, and it is the actual full name of your faction, NOT an abbreviation, eg. The Believers full name, is "The Lords Believers." The description name is what you describe your factions, eg. The Fundamentalist, The Producers, The Survivalist. Below this you have the plural name, eg the 'Spartans' or the 'Believers' Then below this again you have the adjective, which is just 'Spartan' or 'Believing'. Then believe that you have what your faction is, M Singular, M Plural, F Singular or F Plural. Then if you look to the second table you have a box that says Title. This is the title your leader has. It can be Mr, Dr, Sister, etc. In the box below that you have the name of you leader, eg Miriam, Santiago, Yang, etc. Below this you have three boxes, titled Adjectives. The top box is the best adjective for your faction, the second is a bad adjective for the leader, and the third box is the worst adjective for your leader. Below that you have two boxes. They are a good adjective for your followers, and a bad adjective for your followers.

Then if you click on the tab up the top that says sentences you will be taken to the new page. Now you have a lot of text boxes. They are
Together we shall both... Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence
My intent is... Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence
She is bent on... Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence
You seem bent on... Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence
You have been accused of... Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence
You shall remit me a small... Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence (after this it has a little arrow - click on this to choose Male sing, Male Plural, Female Sing, Female Plural)
For the services my forces provide in. Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence
I shall instruct... Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence
You are in contravention of... Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence
I shall not stand here while you... Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence
She spends here time... Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence
You spend your time... Then in the text box you should type the end of this sentence
"Your"...then you type in the rest of this sentence (Then you have the arrow again) "does not impress me"
Think how this could benefit your...(Then you have the arrow again)
"I trust your "...then you type in the rest of this sentence (Then you have the arrow again) "are proceeding good"
This is pretty easy to understand.

Then if you click on the tab up the top that says "Truces, treaties" you will be taken to a new page. This page is also self-explanatory. Basically the top box is when you are asking for a truce what it says. The only tricky things are; $NAME3
$TITLE0
$NAME1
Which put in the name of the person, and there title. This sentence could be a reflection on the type of faction you are trying to create. For instance the Spartans are an attacking faction and their sentence is;
1."You cannot hope to stand against me, $NAME1. Pledge Blood Truce now or face total destruction."
2."Truce it is, then. I thank you."
3."Bluffing will get you nowhere, $NAME3. Prepare to be obliterated!"
Sentence 2 is the yes answer and sentence 3 is the no answer.

Below this you have the treaty sentences. This is basically the same as above. Again the Spartans.
1."$TITLE0 $NAME1. My survivalist followers are content to guard their homes in armed peace. I suggest we sign a Treaty of Friendship and stay out of each others' way."
2. "Fair enough, but I shall guard my borders carefully."
3. "Hardly. A faction armed to the teeth hardly seems friendly to me."

The next tab is "Techs, facilities". Here you have four pull-down boxes where you can select the text tech you want your faction to receive at the start. Then below that you have a text box which lets you select the number of free choice technologies at the beginning. Then if you look at the top right hand corner you will see something that says "Free facilities at each base." You cannot give secret projects this way. Below this you have a selection that will let you select free units at the beginning. Please note the game will only accept 8 option that are in red.
On the next tab, "Social", you have your Social options. You can choose things such as Morale, Police, and Research.
Here are there effects:
ECONOMY-Raises or lowers the economy rating
EFFIC-Raises or lowers the effic rating
SUPPORT-Raises or lowers the support rating
MORALE-Raises or lowers the morale rating
POLICE-Raises or lowers the police rating
GROWTH-Raises or lowers the growth rating
PLANET-Raises or lowers the planet rating
PROBE-Raises or lowers the probe rating
INDUSTRY-Raises or lowers the industry rating
RESEARCH-Raises or lowers the research rating
You can have several options in the box next to this. You can have IMM, IMP, PEN, ROB or you can use +,-.++, etc. I think the max you would use is three plus' or minus'.
IMM= Immunity from minus effects in the named social area. (IMM prevents minus energy
effects in social model).
IMP= Impunity from minus effects from a particular social setting. (IMP prevents all - effects from chosen setting.)
PEN= Opposite of impunity: doubles the negative effects of a particular setting.
ROB=Robust halves the intensity of minus effects in the named social area (ROB halves minus efficiency effects in social model).
This are included in the red option talked about above.
Below this you have four check boxes. These are
"Interest in Power"
"Interest in Knowledge"
"Interest in wealth"
"Interest in population growth"
This is fairly self-explanatory, it is just what you are interested in. You can select more than one.
Then if you go up to the right, you have the "Priority" drop down list. This is what your faction is interested in. For instance, if you are a science based faction then you would select, "Research."
Your social priority is the social priority you are interested in. These are the Social Engineering Table, with values such as "Frontier" and "Knowledge"
Below this you have "May not use." It is the Social Engineering Table value that your faction can't use.
Below this you have the faction's willingness to use force.

Then if you click on the next tab you will be taken to the other page. Here you have a huge list of text boxes.
The first one is PSI combat bonus. This is the bonus percent you get for PSI combat, for when fighting Mind Worms, etc.
The next one is "Free research points per base. "This is fairly self-explanatory.
The next on is Extra Drone for every x number of citizens. The x is the number of drones for the x amount of citizens.
The next one is the same, just it is the number of talents for every x citizens
The next one is how much energy you begin with
The next one is percentage of hurry cost, eg. 110% will mean something that costs 100 will cost you 110 when you hurry it.
The next none is percentage of research costs. It is fairly self-explanatory, just like above.
The next one is the commerce rate. It is also self-explanatory. e.g., 1 would make it +1 commerce rate (I think!)
The next one is just the tech that you gain when (x) numbers of players knows it, where x is the numbers of factions that need the text.
The next one is a morale modifier. If it is 0 it indicates an exempti9on from negative modifiers from others sources,
If you look to the top right you will see six check boxes. These are all self-explanatory. They are "Mind Control Immunity", which makes your units immune to mind control. The next one is "Fanatic: +25% bonus on attack" Select this if you want your units to have a 25% attack bonus. The next one is "Prototypes cost 0," which would be used for a military faction, or maybe a very intelligent faction. It just makes prototypes cost 0. The next one is "1 faction frequency at beginning." This makes you get one free random faction at the beginning. The last one is "Terraform Cost halves" which cuts in half all terraformming costs. This would be used for a Planet faction, or a faction who likes to terraform.
Below this you have the multiplier for governer votes. Nbote this is another red option. Here you enter a number. If you want double than you will add 2 not 200 as in percent. The next one is modifiefer nutrient in fungus square. This is the modifier for nutrients produced inn fungus.
The next two are the same, just modifiers, for minerals in fungus squares, and modifiers for energy in fingus square.
Next you have the population modifier. This is the number to be added to the population limit for Hab Domes, etc. this can be positive or negative.
Lastly, but not leastly you have the Energy Interests. These are Energy reserves interest.
Non-zero = constant percentage per turn (including negative)
Zero = +1/base each turn
Then if you click on the next tab "Bases" you will see a huge number of boxes. For thefirst number these are land bases, and the last number are sea bases.
Last but not least we have datalinks. These are what appears in the help section when you are choosing you faction. For the Datalinks 1 you fill in Leader, which you named above, Background, which you make up, Agenda, which is usually what you selected before (power, wealth, etc.) and anythunkg else, and the last one is the free tech they receive.
In Datalinks two you have all the social modifiers. The ones on the lkeft are the actual modifier and the one's on the right are the reseaon why.

That's it for now.

Drew Heard
For more great downloads visit http://members.xoom.com/acchiron


------------------
-Chiron Creators-
"http://members.xoom.com/acchiron"

[heardie]

Next comes faction.txt:
It works like this;

INSERT FACTION NAME HERE
Insert Official Name Here, Insert descriptive name here, Insert Plural Names here, M, 2, Insert Name Here, M, -1, 0, 0, 0, 0,
TECH, Insert Tech name here, SOCIAL, (Insert + or -, Modifier, eg. MORALE, POLICE) INSERT OTHER OPTIONS
Politics, Insert Social Priority Here, Insert Priority Here
Politics, May not use, nil
Insert Adjective here, Insert.
Assistant name, Scientist name, Assistant city
Insert Title Here, Insert Good adjective for the leader, Insert bad adjective for the leader, Insert good adjective for the followers, Insert bad adjective for the followers,
Insert worst adjective for the leader
Together we shall both "..."
My intent is "..."
She is bent on "..."
You seem bent on "..."
I shall not stand here while you "..."
She spends here time "..."
You spend your time "...."
You have been accused of "..."
your "...." does not impress me, M1
Think how this could benifet your ".....", M2
I trust your "....", M1
you must remit me a small "...", M1
for the services my forces provide in "..."
I shall nistruct "..."
You are in contravention of "..."
BASES
default base1
default base2
default base3
default base4
default base5
default base6
default base7
default base8
default base9
default base10
default base11
default base12
default base13
default base14
default base15
default base16
default base17
default base18
default base19
default base20
default base21
default base22
default base23
default base24
default base25
default base26
default base27
END
WATERBASES
default waterbase1
default waterbase2
default waterbase3
default waterbase4
default waterbase5
default waterbase6
default waterbase7
default waterbase8
END
BLURB
Insert Blurb Here

-- Insert Leader name here
"Insert Book name here"


DATALINKS1
LEADER: {Insert Leader name here}
BACKGROUND: {Insert Background here}
AGENDA: {Insert adgenda here}
TECH: {Insert Tech here}

DATALINKS2
Insert Datalinks: {Insert Datalinks}
FACTIONTRUCE
xs 440
caption $CAPTION7
"Insert truce sentence here $NAME3"
"Insert Yes sentence"
"Insert No sentence"
FACTIONTREATY
xs 440
caption $CAPTION7
"Insert treaty sentence here, $NAME3. $TITLE4"
"Insert Yes sentence"
"Insert No sentence"

; This line must remain at end of file
The following are all the modifiers for SMAC
TECH = Free technology at start. Parameter
is either a tech id (e.g. "Cen") to
indicate a specific technology, or a
number (e.g. 2) to indicate a number
of player-selected technologies.
MORALE = Morale modifier (if 0, indicates an
exemption from negative modifiers from
other sources).
PSI = Percentage combat bonus for PSI Combat.
FACILITY = Every new base gets this free facility.
Param indicates facility (e.g. "4" is
a Perimeter Defense) from the facilities
list. Do NOT attempt to give satellites
and secret projects this way.
RESEARCH = Free research points per base per turn.
DRONE = Extra drone at base (per "param"
citizens, rounded down)
TALENT = Extra talent at base (per "param"
citizens, rounded up)
ENERGY = Free energy reserves at start
INTEREST = Energy reserves interest.
Non-zero = constant percentage per turn (including negative)
Zero = +1/base each turn
COMMERCE = Increased commerce rate
POPULATION = # to be added to population limit of
each base for purposes of Habitation
domes, etc.
HURRY = Percentage change in costs of "Hurry"
button on construction (e.g. 125 means
125% of normal cost, so 100 costs 125).
UNIT = Extra free unit at start; param is
index from units list (e.g. 0 equals
Colonists, 1 Terraformers, 2 Scout
Crawler)
TECHCOST = Modifier % for tech research rate.
(e.g. 125 means each discovery costs
125% the usual number of research
points).
SHARETECH = Gain any technology known to # other players
TERRAFORM = Halves terraform raise/lower cost
SOCIAL = Gives a modifier in the named social effect category
("SOCIAL, +EFFIC" raises the EFFIC rating by 1;
"SOCIAL, --POLICE" lowers POLICE rating by 2);
ROBUST = Halves the intensity of minus effects in the named
social area ("ROBUST, EFFIC" halves minus efficiency
effects in social model).
IMMUNITY = Immunity from minus effects in the named social
area. ("IMMUNITY, ENERGY" prevents minus energy
effects in social model).
IMPUNITY = Impunity :-) from minus effects from a particular
social setting. "IMPUNITY, Police State" prevents
all - effects from "Police State" setting.
PENALTY = Opposite of impunity: doubles the negative effects
of a particular setting.
FUNGNUTRIENT= Modifier to NUTRIENT produced in fungus squares
FUNGMINERALS= Modifier to MINERALS produced in fungus squares
FUNGENERGY = Modifier to ENERGY produced in fungus squares
COMMFREQ = Gets an extra comm frequency (another faction to
talk to) at beginning of game. (Parameter is ignored)
MINDCONTROL = Vehicles and bases immune to mind control
FANATIC = +25% bonus on attack
VOTES = Multiplier for governor votes
FREEPROTO = Prototype cost reduced to zero for this faction

That's basically it for faction editing in SMAC. For more info you can mail me at dheardie@hotmail.com

[This message has been edited by heardie (edited December 26, 1999).]