Does anybody knows how to add new units ???

[chatgr]

Does anybody knows how to add new units without replacing old ones ?
Or how to modify units graphics ????
Or how to add new base facilities ?
Is any of this things possible ?
without writing C ;

[This message has been edited by chatgr (edited August 27, 2000).]

[Simpson II]

You can have new basic unit types, like unity rovers and MWs. These are added in alpha.txt, the format is explained there. Just change the number under the #units line so that the game reads the right number of units - so if you add one make it 15, etc.

You can't modify unit graphics.

You can't add/modify facilities, beyond cost and prerequisites.

Hope this helps.

[Basil]

Well, here's how to add "new" units using the alpha(x).txt files. The example I'm about to give isn't really a new unit - you could design it yourself in an actual game. But adding it to the alpha(x).txt file means that the AI will realize that that kind of unit can be built.

I *think* that you *could* add truly new units with their own graphics, but I've never really looked into what would be involved, so I could be wrong. Adding your own graphics would be hard - you'd be making a .pcx file or something, so you'd have to have both the knowledge and the software to do that.

Anyway, to start with the easy stuff (that I know how to do). Suppose that you want to let the AI build cruiser-based probe teams. Start by opening alpha.txt or alphax.txt, probably in notepad (depends on your operating system and what other software you have on your computer). In Windows you should be able to do this by double-clicking on the file. Search for #UNITS. This brings you to the right section of the file.

Now I start by thinking about which existing unit is the most like the one I want to make. In this case, it's the probe team. So I copy and paste the stats for the probe team into a new line, just after the last unit (the Unity gunship). Now I've added a new unit, even if it's a boring one, so I have to go back to #UNITS, and increase the number on the line underneath it by 1, (from 23 to 24 in alphax.txt, different in alpha.txt). This tells the program that there are now 24 standard units.

Now I've got to turn my probe team into a probe cruiser. I change the name from "Probe Team" to "Probe Cruiser", and I change the chassis from "Speeder" to "Cruiser". (You can tell what the program wants as chassis names by searching for #CHASSIS.) "Probe Team" is the correct "weapon", "Scout" is the correct armour, and 11 (Info Warfare - see the explanation in the 20 lines or so above the #UNITS line) is the correct code to tell the AI what to do with the unit. The next two entries, "cost" and "carry", remain at 0 (autocalculate) each - unless you are designing a truly new unit, these entries stay at 0. The next item, the prerequisite technology, has got to change - I'll change it to DocInit, the prerequisite for the cruiser chassis, since Planetary Networks, the technology required for probe teams is also a prerequisite of DocInit. I don't want a special icon for this unit, so the next entry stays at -1, but if I did this is where I'd specify it. Finally, we have a long string of 0's and 1's which indicate the special abilities of the unit. I've never figured out which order these go in, but I don't want to give this unit any special abilities, so I'll leave them all at 0. If I wanted to have a probe submarine, I'd notice that the Sealurk, which has the submarine ability, has the code string 00000000000000000001000000, so that 1 must represent the submarine ability.

Now your AI's understand about probe cruisers, and when they research Doctrine Initiative they'll start building them. Happy gaming!
[This message has been edited by Basil (edited September 02, 2000).]

[Mech Assassin]

Umm, at least all the wonders are in one file and there is some coding behind them. There are also many free slots for them, so it might be possible to make new wonders or city improvements.