Modding Basics

How Mods Work

The engine will attempt to find the files it needs in mods before searching the root game path. Mods work by simply providing the different files to use.

 

Developer EXE

All modders should start by taking advantage of the tools included when running the Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion Dev.exe

Locate the game install directory and create a shortcut to the Dev.exe and move the shortcut to the desktop.

Example:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion\Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion Dev.exe

 

Running the Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion Dev.exe and clicking show mod path will create the developer mod folder for the current installed version.

Mod Path.png

 

 

 

Example:

C:\Documents\My Games\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion\Mods-Rebellion v1.85 Dev

 

Start a New Mod

1. Find the <Mod Path> that the game will use.

2. Create a new directory here. The name of the directory will be the name of the mod. You must restart the game to see any new mods. You won’t have to restart the engine to change a mod, just to create a new one and have it appear in the list.

3. The game is shipped with most of the data files converted to binary for optimization. The reference data files are text versions of any these files so that they’ll be easier to read and modify. The engine doesn’t care if the data files are in binary or text.

 

Example 1: Remove Advent

Summary: We are going to remove an entire race from the game. No one will be able to play the Advent in our new Mod.

 

1. Create a new directory in your <Mod Path> called “01 - Remove Advent”.

Example:

C:\Documents\My Games\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion\Mods-Rebellion v1.85 Dev\01 - Remove Advent

 

2. Locate the Sins of a Solar Empire <Install directory>

Example:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion

Copy the entity.manifest from the <Install directory> to <Mod Path>\01 - Remove Advent

 

3. Open the new entity.manifest from the 01 - Remove Advent mod. Opening new mod file types for the first time will typically bring up the "Open with" window, choose a favorite text editor like Notepad or NotePad++.

Search for PlayerPsiLoyalist.entity and remove the entire line.

Search for PlayerPsiRebel.entity and remove the entire line.

After both lines are removed, the section should look like this.

Scroll to the top and change the count -2.

was entityNameCount 1764

now entityNameCount 1762

Save the file.

 

4. Start theSins of a Solar Empire Rebellion Dev.exe and enable your new mod. This may take a few seconds, the engine is restarting to use your new mod.

 

5. Now setup a new game. Note that you can no longer select the Advent race for you player. It has been removed.

 

Example 2: Weak Advent

Summary: We are going to add the Advent Rebels back in, but they won’t have the technology to build all of their different capital ships.

 

1. Create a new directory in your <Mod Path> called “02 - Weak Advent Rebels”

Example:

C:\Documents\My Games\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion\Mods-Rebellion v1.85 Dev\02 - Weak Advent Rebels

 

2. Create the “GameInfo” directory inside 02 - Weak Advent Rebels

Example:

C:\Documents\My Games\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion\Mods-Rebellion v1.85 Dev\02 - Weak Advent Rebels\GameInfo

 

3. Copy <Install directory>\GameInfo\PlayerPsiRebel.entity to <Mod Path>\02 - Weak Advent Rebels\GameInfo\PlayerPsiRebel.entity

 

4. Convert PlayerPsiRebel.entity to TXT format.

 

5. Open up <Mod Path>\02 - Weak Advent Rebels\GameInfo\PlayerPsiRebel.entity in your favorite text editor.

 

6. Search for “capitalShipInfo”. It should be on line 35 in the file.

 

7. Right below “capitalShipInfo”, change the “count 6” to “count 1”, then delete the next 5 lines:  

 

 

You should now see:

 

 

8. Save the file, restart the game and enable this mod. Start the game as Advent Rebels and build the Capital Ship Factory. Note that you can now only build one type of capital ship!

 

Example 3: Not So Weak Advent

Summary: We are going to buff up the only capital ship advent can build from Tutorial 02.

1. Create a new directory in your <Mod Path> called “03 - Not So Weak Advent Rebels”

2. Follow steps 2-5 in Tutorial 02. Or simply copy the GameInfo from Tutorial 02 into this tutorial’s directory.

3. Copy <Sins Path>\GameInfo\CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLEPSIONIC.entity to <Mod Path>\03 - Not So Weak Advent Rebels\GameInfo\CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLEPSIONIC.entity.

4. Convert CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLEPSIONIC.entity to TXT format.

5. Open CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLEPSIONIC.entity in a favorite text editor..

6. Search for “MaxHullPoints”. You should see “StartValue 2100.000000” right below it. Change this to “StartValue 1337000”.

Save and close this file.

7. Copy your “String” directory from <Install_Directory> to <Mod Path>.

8. Open up <Mod Path>\String\English.str in your favorite text editor.

9. Search for “IDS_CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLEPSIONIC_NAME”. Right below this should be:

Value “Rapture Battlecruiser”

change this to:

Value “Super Duper Cruiser”