Modding / experimenting in the game (Emperor: Battle for Dune)

White wrote:
On the one hand, yes, but on the other hand, it is one of the most disliked units by me, due to the fact that it demolishes not only strangers, but also its soldiers equally well, and it needs to be constantly micronized so that it does not do things. Devastator is better than IMHO without a doubt.
As for the worm and air defense, even on hard they do not help and Desty perfectly fly in full force)
From 2:36:21 the author rushes in literally 2 minutes, using only the game mechanics)
In general, these unique super duper units are not really needed. Recently, I went for the whole company for kharkov, using a bunch of tanks and sardaukars, pieces of 5-6 tanks and 10-15 sardaukars. In the last mission, in the attack, he used only sardaukars, in the end he took the Ordos plant, built laser tanks and destroyed them. Devastators came in handy only at the beginning, as a defense from the first attacks, and then because there are simply no other units.
Now I pass for the Ordos, it is even easier to play for them - 10-15 laser tanks and the "hit-and-run" tactics with AI works perfectly. Even sardaukars are not needed. Only the infantry can deliver problems, but for them it is enough to deploy a couple of cobras on the map and occasionally lure the infantry to them with tanks. On the last mission, most likely, you will have to use sardaukars, tk. There is very little space there for ten tanks, and in a smaller number of them the Tleilaxu units will crush them with their mass + laser tanks are very vulnerable to leeches, shields are ignored, and the tank has little of its own HP.

White wrote:
By the way, these guns disappointed me in their time, they have a very low attack radius and the damage is not very strong. And yes, they do not consume energy at all (PowerUsed = 0)). Maybe that's why the destruction of the wind traps seemed useless.
They have one indisputable plus - if the attack animation has started, then no matter how far your unit runs / flew away, it will still get it. A similar advantage is possessed by the Harkov air turret, but its rotation speed is less than that of the Tleilaxu. Well, I already know about the zero energy requirement. It just raised questions before, until I got into the game files.
He said about the attack animation and remembered that in terms of weapons, the kharks are quite imbalanced - the fire tank and the air defense platform have one bug (or a feature) that allows you to destroy any unit / building at any distance, so long as this unit / building is not hidden by fog war. This is due to the long duration of the attack animation and the attack itself, which does not stop after the destruction of another unit by a unit. At this moment, you can give an order to attack any other unit / structure, and the damage will begin to pass over it, until the attack animation ends. With air defense platforms, this is easier to do, you will have to get used to the timing of a fiery tank. 10-15 platforms set on the scout (you can also choose your unit as a victim) kill him almost immediately, and the remaining animation time can be used on the enemy's palace or starport. If he is not destroyed,

White wrote:
I found one interesting mod on the Internet from our developer.
vk.com/wall-14783162_584
It allows you to build almost all workable units and buildings, even Smelter resurrected. Slightly corrected the behavior of the computer and game rules, the Readme describes all the changes.
I had this mod crashed with a bug, you need to correct the gr_genbarr.tga file in the textures folder and remove one r (or the entire file), then it starts. It is advisable to run on a pure English version of the game. I reported the bug to the developer, he fixed the bug and is now testing an improved version of the mod.
Yes, I know this mod. It was from this that I pulled out the sources of Rules.txt and used it as an example to learn how to properly configure the game.

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
I think with the help of XBF-VVE - you can bring life back to many models - including a scavanger (by attaching an animation to raising troops from an improved carrier, for example) .. a guild worm hunter (GUWormCatcher) and other units / buildings.
I know about this topic, I wrote above that craftsmen screwed drone weapons into flying niabs. For me, this is not particularly interesting, but more interesting than the general aimlessly dangling unit. I'll see what can be done here this weekend. But the idea of ​​replacing the animation of raising troops sounds reasonable, you will have to try.

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
Yes .. playable .. but they, like a smelter, destroy the company. Look what happens if you include them in the game. The models on all the maps of the company seem to be shifted down the list - and instead of some models, others appear. By the way, it becomes impossible to get through the company for the Harkonens, because instead of the army there are Ikshian scientists ...
An interesting moment. Are the models of buildings already located on the map shifting? Or, when, say, a factory is being built, a smugglers' starport appears instead?
If the first is possible, you need to shove the block describing the cut out buildings at the end of the block of the corresponding faction. Maybe there are certain requirements for the ordering of constructions in Rules.txt. Or maybe not, I'm not sure.
If the second - you need to look at ArtIni, perhaps. Well, the Group parameter for buildings, although it is unlikely to interfere here.


In general, I will try to do something, but I do not promise the results - perhaps there are limitations for campaign maps. It is impossible to pull out completely working cards, for example, - civil buildings will be given to one of the parties. What are they for? And you cannot edit ready-made map files, so the maps are partially playable. And with the shift of buildings, it can be the same.

In general, I managed to fix the NIAP of the guild with the help of the xbf-editor. A file with documentation goes to the editor himself, which is quite good. Perhaps, together with graphical editors (the guide mentions milkshape3d), you can even edit, change the models of units and buildings.
Inside xbf, the files have an interesting structure, I did not delve much into it, but there, in the form of blocks, there is a description of unit models and effects (animation, maybe), at the very beginning there is an FXHeader block, which is responsible, at least, for the animation of the attack. After this block, there is a description of the elements of the unit / building model in the form of a matrix of values. As I understood from the guide, these are the coordinates of the vertices of the 3D model, which are connected by lines and actually form this 3D model, after which the texture is stretched over it.
In general, I did not go into the jungle of 3D modeling, because we don't really need this - the animation of the shot with the 3D model is not particularly tied in any way.
What I've done? Read this comment:
Emp20YearsLater wrote:
"Yes, there is a way to fix it. I replaced the FXData section from the Guild Niap flyer's XBF files with the FXData section from the Atreides Drone XBF files, and with the modified XBF files, the Niap shoots.
And with the help of the xbf-editor, he did the same. I changed the FXHeader of NIAP to the FXHeader of the atreides drone (the text file describes how to write my xbf file based on the text file), I did this in three files - GU_IN_NIAP_H0.xbf, GU_IN_NIAP_M0.xbf, GU_IN_NIAP_. All files are the same inside, only some of the lines differ, apparently denoting the names of files with textures. I am assuming that H, M and L are the LODs of the units, which depends on the LOD settings of the game. In principle, it could only be changed for the H-level (the highest), but I decided to play it safe and redid it for all three. FXHeader also took atreides drone from three xbf files, with different levels of detail.
Then I whipped up the unit icon for the building menu, registered the necessary things in ArtIni and Rules, and voila - this is the result:
Spoiler
The quality is not very good, I apologize - I made a regular print-screen and inserted it into the paint. It is very difficult to notice the texture of the trail from the shot and the projectile itself here, but they are there. What is noteworthy is that only the sound of a shot and the sound of a projectile hit from the Atreides drone. At least the texture is used precisely from the NIAP weapon - it is very similar to the trail from the guild's mega-cannon projectile (well, in general, it is logical), only less noticeable and clearly reduced. The projectile itself, however, was also taken from the mega-cannon.
The reason is that all units in Rules have a TurretAttach parameter. And for each unit, its own value is set, for NIAP it is "GUNIAPGun". Initially, I wanted to change it to "ATADPgun", like an atreides drone, thinking that if the FX is from the drone, then the weapons from it should be screwed on, otherwise there will be problems. But first I decided to check the NIAP with my own gun, and as it turned out, not in vain. I think it is precisely because of this parameter that the texture of the shot at NIAP has remained its own.
And here the question is brewing - what does FX generally affect? I assume that FX (or SFX) are sound effects. Apparently, only the sound effect of the shot was not made for NIAP, but he has everything else. Therefore, in the future I want to screw FXHeader from NIAB or a maker, it should be more fun,
However, if FXHeader affects only the sound effect, it will not help us in any way to fix the mechanics of the same Scavenger. But you have to check.

I spent two or two and a half hours on this whole thing, I had to sort it out. But the result is worth it. The xbf structure, by the way, cannot be broken, otherwise the file will break. Replacing FXHeader is a kind of ritual. First you need to open the xbf to be corrected in the editor, save the copy in text format, then open the xbf in the editor with the FXHeader of which you need to replace FXHeader in the first xbf, then select "text to xbf" and select the text copy of the first xbf, and then save the result. The process is not particularly time consuming, but dreary and long.

A screenshot of the trail from NIAP, you can see it better here.
Spoiler

Tomorrow I will try to fix the flying unit for the Tleilaxu, maybe there will be something interesting there. Perhaps the trail will be taken from the living turret to the Tleilaxu. Well, I'll take on the transport workers, maybe that's what will come of it.
I can share the fixed xbf if someone needs it. And not only xbf, but everything that I changed.

Yowane's fan wrote:
In general, these unique super duper units are not really needed. Recently, I went for the whole company for kharkov, using a bunch of tanks and sardaukars, pieces of 5-6 tanks and 10-15 sardaukars. In the last mission, in the attack, he used only sardaukars, in the end he took the Ordos plant, built laser tanks and destroyed them. Devastators came in handy only at the beginning, as a defense from the first attacks, and then because there are simply no other units.
Devastators create a lot of problems if they are thrown onto an enemy base)) Ordos have the worst case, they do not have stationary air defense, infantry fighting vehicles and infantry. In my opinion, the computer rarely builds mines.
Sardukars, like Freemen, yes, I remember one Ixian clone of Fedaykin ran Giedi Prime)) Well, there are simply "camps" for Freemen, I liberated them and replenished my army. The main army sat on the base, not even entering the battlefield in fact.

Yowane's fan wrote:
Now I pass for the Ordos, it is even easier to play for them - 10-15 laser tanks and the "hit-and-run" tactics with AI works perfectly.
Just recently, I also had fun)) AT and HK units are too slow for them. Khan's default harvesters.

Yowane s fan wrote:
He said about the attack animation and remembered that in terms of weapons, the kharks are quite imbalanced - the fire tank and the air defense platform have one bug (or a feature) that allows you to destroy any unit / building at any distance, so long as this unit / building is not hidden by fog war.
I know, I myself discovered this by chance in the company of Kharkov) And for the fiery tank. I did it simply - I shot through ctrl at an empty place on the map and arranged remote pyrokinesis sessions for the awesome enemy))

Yowane's fan wrote:
It's easier to do this with air defense platforms, you will have to get used to the timings of a fiery tank.
I found out about the platforms later, and on the contrary, it seemed to me harder to manage them)) Who is used to what.

Yowane s fan wrote:
And here the question is brewing - what does FX generally affect? I assume that FX (or SFX) are sound effects. Apparently, only the sound effect of the shot was not made for NIAP, but he has everything else. The
more surprising is the decision of the developers to score on this feature. It turns out that it’s not even a matter of lack of time.

Yowane's fan wrote:
I spent two or two and a half hours on this whole thing, I had to sort it out. But the result is worth it.
Yes, very interesting) The game after so many years can still surprise))
I wonder what will happen with this unit in the end =)

Yowane's fan wrote:
I can share the fixed xbf if someone needs it. And not only xbf, but everything that I changed.
Yes, it would be cool) Maybe I can sort it out myself)

Yowane's fan And not only xbf, but everything that it changed.
Share) we are waiting.

Yowane's fan wrote:
Well, I'll take on the transport workers, maybe something will come of it.
There are few transports .. there is perhaps a scavanger to be given the opportunity to work as an improved carrier - now he can only sit down behind a unit - but not take off.

Yowane's fan wrote:
Are the models of buildings already located on the map shifting?
Yes. those that are already standing. Not only buildings move, but also units.

By the way, a shift occurs - only if you add to the game buildings that have been completely removed from the company - that is, they are not found there in any form. For example, if you add a guild pyramid to the game - it occurs only once - there will be no problems with the company. But if, for example, you add TLdoom - which the company does not have at all - the catwalking will begin with shifts.


By the way, I finished that mod - sent it to you in a personal.

Readme to fashion.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E7TPAU_rkIo1FxiogeEyChXySG6HOAAH/view?usp=sharing

In general, I found a viewer for viewing models - surprisingly, there were not so many of them - the viewer is here: https://github.com/IceReaper/ebfd-re

Download resources, install dotnet (https://dotnet.microsoft.com/ download), then using PowerShall you go to the folder and the viewer (cd command) and collect from sources - dotnet build. All .. you can view broken xbfki .. frankly speaking, there are not so many of them ..

Viewing Xbf gives answers to some questions, namely:

-
1) Harkonen repair site HKRepairPad is absent as such. Not surprisingly, if you include it in Rules.txt, the game crashes .. there is no XBF file. Instead, AK_IN_repairpad_H0.xbf (apparently a smugglers' repair yard).

Here the person writes - I tried unlocking the repair pad, but it had an unusual effect of disabling the construction of the Harkonnen factory. So I guess it can't be used.

https://forum.dune2k.com/topic/6413-a-repair-pad/?tab=comments#comment-91256

How did he try to unblock it? there is no xbf file - that is, the model is missing .. it cannot be unlocked.

https://forum.dune2k.com/topic/12056-non-buildable-units-structures/?tab=comments#comment-298782

Here too: The HKRepairpad does look nice though and you can define it as a Starport or a low level helipad people write that she looks beautiful ... in general xs ..

2) The same applies to the ORHelipad Ordos helipad - there is not a word about it in Rules.txt .. however, there is a mention of it in the texts of the game and in the mods it is also .. it turns out that you can make an XBF file yourself from 0 (well, or developed sent some of the unpublished content to the moderators).

3) The GUWormCatcher model is also absent in XBF files .. nevertheless, some mods have information about it (or rather, about its removal - because of bugs, since it was removed, it means there was something to delete). mod: https://forum.dune2k.com/files/file/1198-emperor-fast-unit-mod/

from EFUMv4Text.txt

Due to the object limit, to get this mod to work, I removed the fake harvester, GUwormcatcher, Tleilaxu Walker and Transport, Fremen Biker and modified the Quad and Imperial Tank rather than duplicating them, so if you use this mod with single player campaign levels that include any of these 7 units, the game may crash or not work normally. The mod should work fine in skirmishes and multiplayer games.

4) There is a fairly well-made model of the Sardaukar landing ship - IMDropShip. Apparently the possibility of transporting the infantry by air was considered ... or maybe there is such a possibility. until I add it to the game, I don't know.

5) The smugglers had their own general ..

6) There were whales on Kaladan .. (model is enough push) On Draconis - penguins .. (can jump from rocks)

7) ATSilo, ORSilo, HKSilo - they are mentioned in Rules.txt, but XBF files are also missing .. there is one neutral silo - AKINSilo (apparently also smugglers) .. in theory, these buildings could be used in mods as storage for money (that is, adding boxes to them after destruction). Although it would be better to return them to their original role of storing spice.

8) Well, for little things, different models .. the same guild cyclops eye, which is also impossible to build through Rules.txt. And also a small version of the worm.

9) There are even animations of shards (debris) that the scavanger had to carry for burning to the smolters.

Here are some of the models from the description -

AK_IN_repairpad_H0.xbf


IMDropShip


IMDropShip


IN_GU_CyclopseHouse Guild building from Rules.txt - which cannot be built.


SM_General - general of the smugglers.


IN_SmallWorm_H0l


PS I am haunted by the fact that mods with dune2k have some HKRepairPad, ORHelipad and GUWormCatchera models ... maybe the absence of these models is the fault of the localizer that cut off the game? .. or maybe there are some beta and alpha releases in which there were more models? ...

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
or maybe there are some beta and alpha releases in which there were more models?
I recently found a trailer for Dune in good quality here:

It can be seen that there was some kind of beta version of the game, which is different from the original. On the old screenshots, it is also there, the menu itself is somewhat different, the Ordos gas tower has a different model and the additions for the Refinery were built as separate buildings, and not through upgrades.


I also found notes for the old patch 1.08.
BALANCE ISSUES
1) Atreides Air Drones will no longer be able to out-run missiles. Their speed & armor have been decreased.
2) Harkonnen Devestators now fire a modified plasma bullet which has some nice splash damage. This makes them much better against groups of infantry, like the Atreides Kindjal. Thus, they live longer, and can be more effective against vehicles & buildings.

That is, before the Atreides drone was faster than missiles and fatter? I compared the rules from 1.07 and 1.09 - I did not find any differences at all. Maybe someone knows which patch to watch it on. Or it is not spelled out in the rules.

White wrote:
Ordos gas tower has a different model
Yes .. at 17 seconds.

Here's a mention that someone managed to get a beta version of the game.
https://forum.dune2k.com/topic/4050-ebfd-betas-out/

So, I did some more experiments and picking. As a result, in a nutshell:
1. I did not succeed in making the Tleilaxu flyer shoot. It simply has no weaponry (judging by Rules.txt), an attempt to add the TurretAttach = ATADPGun parameter and replace FXHeader in xbf with the FXHeader of the drone was unsuccessful. Well, he does not attack and that's it - he flies close to the attacked unit and freezes. Perhaps he was not supposed to shoot, but play the role of a transport worker. Although there are lines in xbf hinting that there should have been a cannon.
2. It is impossible to screw the sound of a shot from NIAB or something else to NIAP. All the same, FXHeader affects not only sound effects, but also animations. After replacing FXHeader NIAP with FXHeader gu-maker, the first one stopped taking off and moving, and when I destroyed it, he made the sound of a dying guild worm.
3. Force the scavenger to raise the units succeeded. The solution with the substitution of FXHeader helped, took it from the improved ordos carrier. I don't know if the scavenger had any unique animation, but after replacing FXHeader he will definitely not have it.
4. Similarly, I forced StuntFrigate to raise units (an analogue of a regular frigate that delivers units, I don’t know how they differ), but after replacing FXHeader it lost its unique trails from engines and lights on the front.

Demonstration of frigate and scavenger operation:
Spoiler

In an amicable way, it would be necessary to figure out how to change FXHeader partially, not completely. Perhaps the HEX-Editor will allow you to change this data, but will it be able to open xbf, and if it does, will it not hurt? I didn't check it today, I'll try it sometime later. If possible, it will be possible to add different animations and effects to units without depriving them of their unique animations. It would be nice.
Perhaps there is a way that will cause the non-firing unit to fire. I want to try to screw the weapon on to the Fremen biker somehow. If it works, let's try the Tleilaxu again on the flyer.

As promised, a link to my work is:
https://disk.yandex.ru/d/mSxhAvd0VRDlGQ
There are two folders here - xbf from scavenger and NIAP. I also posted MODEL001 and 3DDATA001 game archives next to the folders - this is a ready-made solution, in it you will find ArtIni, Rules with already configured units, which I wrote about above. There are also icons for the unit building menu and xbf. I did not include the modified xbf flyers for the Tleilaxu and the frigate in the archives. The rest is there.
Rules.txt and ArtIni.txt can be used as an example of editing units. All unique quest units are built in the smugglers' spaceport. To build a spaceport, you need to:
1. Build a Freeman camp
2. Improve a Freeman camp
3. Build a hangar (any faction)
To build unique units, you will also need to improve the smugglers' spaceport.
Also, in my Rules.txt, the X and Guild mega-guns are configured, for their construction you will need a spaceport + guild palace / X factory. Cannons take a long time to build. Suboids pop out of the X's mega-gun after the sale.
Also, in ArtIni, orange and green colors are replaced by black and white, respectively.
Perhaps something else has changed, I don't remember anymore, you will see for yourself.

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
Yes. those that are already standing. Not only buildings move, but also units.

By the way, a shift occurs - only if you add to the game buildings that have been completely removed from the company - that is, they are not found there in any form. For example, if you add a guild pyramid to the game - it occurs only once - there will be no problems with the company. But if, for example, you add TLdoom - which the company does not have at all - the catwalking will begin with shifts.

By the way, I finished that mod - sent it to you in a personal.
Most likely there is a limit on the number of units, someone wrote about this somewhere. Perhaps this is where the shift comes from. large wind traps go somewhere at the beginning of the building block description. If you add them to the end, it's not a fact that it will work. Either nothing will change, or it will simply not work to build them, tk. limit.
Mod can look somehow. And the idea with Cheat Engine is not bad, it will be necessary to check. Along with the HEX editor.

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
7) ATSilo, ORSilo, HKSilo - they are mentioned in Rules.txt, but XBF files are also missing .. there is one neutral silo - AKINSilo (apparently also smugglers) .. in theory, these buildings could be used in mods as a storage for money (that is, adding boxes to them after destruction). Although it would be better to return them to their original role of storing spice.
This crap, as well as the slabs for buildings (foundation), was most likely taken from previous games, but did not include it in the game. In Dune 2000, silos were needed to store spice. For me, this mechanic is useless, it just complicates the game a little, in a bad way. Excessive hemorrhoids and occupied space.

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
PS I am haunted by the fact that modders with dune2k have some HKRepairPad, ORHelipad and GUWormCatchera models ... maybe the absence of these models is the fault of the localizer that cut off the game? .. or maybe there are some beta and alpha releases in which there were more models? ...
Anything can be. Perhaps they were taken from beta, there were different walls, and defensive towers, and the effects of unit projectiles were very different. Or all the same, somewhere in the files, these xbf are. I personally did not peer.
Although, perhaps, the guys themselves made these models, because milkshape3d can be paired with an xbf editor, it seems. Let's say you sculpt a model, describe it in a text editor, turn it into xbf with the help of an editor. But FXHeader will have to be taken from an existing unit if there is no way to edit it and create it from scratch (haven't tested it yet).

White wrote:
So the Atreides drone used to be faster than missiles and fatter?
However, even now, with 2-3 stripes, it flies away from the missiles calmly.

Yowane's fan wrote:
Well, he doesn't attack and that's it - he flies close to the attacked unit and freezes. Perhaps he was not supposed to shoot, but play the role of a transport worker. Although there are lines in xbf hinting that there should have been a cannon.
They write that he had to .. by the way, pay attention that the same situation with the smugglers 'harvester (FakeHarvester) - he had to shoot .. probably shoot the infantry (GHarvesterLight) ..
Yowane's fan wrote:
I don't know if the scavenger' and some unique animation, but after replacing FXHeader it will definitely not have it.
Probably it was .. as I wrote earlier, the garbage that the scavanger was supposed to carry has its own Xbf files .. "debris .. what is there" (the rules also has this parameter) .. the garbage dropped out of the troops as planned, and then burned up in the smelters - this would not be a mod, but a whole add-on for the game 20 years ago. In fact, all the animations are there .. but I think that editing xbf will obviously not be enough here, you need to use the Hex editor to climb into Game.exe.
Yowane's fan wrote:
Either all the same somewhere in the files these xbf are.
I do not think. I checked thoroughly.
Yowane's fan wrote:
Although, maybe the guys made these models themselves, because milkshape3d can be paired with an xbf editor, it seems.
It is quite possible that .. I read here that some buildings do not have a model - but they have a texture. The Ordos site was made tighter by overlaying native textures on the xbf model of the Atrides site. Probably, the same was done with the HKRepairPad, only AK_IN_repairpad_H0.xbf was used as a model, i.e. the smugglers' repair site.
Yowane's fan wrote:
As promised, a link to my work:
Thanks, I will add Guniap to my mod. GUScavenger could not be included in the game - either I completely broke my Rules.txt, or something with the assembly .. If you uncomment in Rules.txt, that is, remove the slashes from // Scavenger (at the beginning of the file), then the fight is stupid will start, the game will crash without leaving the map. If you leave it as it is and add Scavenger to "try the building" for production, then the game will crash ~ 30 seconds after the start.

At the same time, the scavanger was ordered through the spaceport without any problems .. I


thought to look at your file, but it turned out to be empty. For the future, when you upload an RFH file, an RFD file must be included with it, it is this file that is the archive. RFH is something like a steam locomotive .. and so you flooded a locomotive without a car.

Can you "Step by Step" describe exactly how you issued the weapon to the GUNiap XBF Viewer / Editor, starting from its launch? what is "FXHeader / FXData" how to see it in the program?

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
They write that he had to .. by the way, note that the same situation with the smugglers' harvester (FakeHarvester) - he had to shoot .. probably shoot the infantry (GHarvesterLight) ..
I saw this type of weapon, it is commented out in Rules, and at the very beginning, and at the harvester itself. It is unlikely to work - most likely, there should have been at least some model for the gun, but there is nothing like that on the harvesters.

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
Probably it was .. as I wrote earlier, the garbage that the scavanger was supposed to carry has its own Xbf files .. "debris .. what is there" (the rules also has this parameter) .. the garbage dropped out of the troops as planned, and then burned up in the smelters - this would not be a mod, but a whole add-on for the game 20 years ago. In fact, all the animations are there .. but I think that editing xbf will obviously not be enough here, you need to use the Hex editor to climb into Game.exe.
It is necessary to watch with the original XBF how it behaves. Although, judging by the fact that in the original he does not know how to rise, it means that there is no animation at all.

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
It is quite possible that .. I read here that some buildings do not have a model - but they have a texture. The Ordos site was made tighter by overlaying native textures on the xbf model of the Atrides site. Probably, the same was done with the HKRepairPad, only AK_IN_repairpad_H0.xbf was used as a model, i.e. the smugglers' repair site.
This is more like the truth. There are a lot of textures (tga format).

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
Thanks, I will add Guniap to my mod. GUScavenger could not be included in the game - either I completely broke my Rules.txt, or something with the assembly .. If you uncomment in Rules.txt, that is, remove the slashes from // Scavenger (at the beginning of the file), then the fight is stupid will start, the game will crash without leaving the map. If you leave it as it is and add Scavenger to "try the building" for production, then the game will crash ~ 30 seconds after the start.
At the same time, the scavanger was ordered through the spaceport without any problems.
Something very strange. In my Rules.txt at the very beginning, Scavenger is commented out, I did not touch this line. At the same time, it is in UnitTypes, and everything is already good there. In the unit settings, I changed only PrimaryBuilding and UnitGroup, left the rest unchanged. As far as I know, it is impossible to order subdom units from the starport. You probably changed the House parameter? If so, try returning the original Guild value.

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
Thought to look at your file, but it turned out to be empty. For the future, when you upload an RFH file, an RFD file must be included with it, it is this file that is the archive. RFH is something like a steam locomotive .. and so you flooded a locomotive without a car.

Can you "Step by Step" describe exactly how you issued the weapon to GUNiap's XBF Viewer / Editor, starting from its launch? what is "FXHeader / FXData" how to see it in the program?
Forgot about RFDs, added them to the folder. Also added XBF-editor and DuneEx. A little later I will translate and post the instructions for the XBF-editor that comes with it. I will add the XBF editing order to the same instruction, and duplicate it here too, but all this a little later.

Yowane's fan wrote:
Forgot about RFDs, added them to the folder. Also added XBF-editor and DuneEx. A little later I will translate and post the instructions for the XBF-editor that comes with it. I will add the XBF editing order to the same instruction, and duplicate it here too, but all this a little later.
Checked it out, it's cool. Now everything works with RFD. Unless the Frigate captures units, but does not take off. Checked on MCV and Minotaur. The guild flyer has already been tested in battle, not bad. The Cobras didn't like it: D

Yowane's fan wrote:
This crap, as well as the slabs for buildings (foundation), were most likely taken from previous games, but did not include in the game. In Dune 2000, silos were needed to store spice. For me, this mechanic is useless, it just complicates the game a little, in a bad way. Excessive hemorrhoids and occupied space.
Is there a foundation? Silos were an additional element of the economy - you could steal resources from the enemy and deprive him of money by blowing them up.

I rummaged around in the internet, trying to find traces of the Emperor beta. Alas, nifiga. But reading old interviews, I found one funny thing:
https://web.archive.org/web/20010304000400/http://www.gamerspulse.com/interviews/battle_for_dune/dune.shtml
"Also, the Ix have a projecter tank , which creates illusions of any unit within range, even an enemy's. While the illusions cannot fight, they are great for spying and deterrent tactics. "
It turns out that the developers did not plan that the projections would cause damage. But they do: D

There is also information about how much they cut in total.
"How many units did you start with before culling to the present selection?

We started with around 60 ideas for units amongst the 3 Houses & 5 subhouses. We pared that down to 46 unique units that leverage different tactics to each faction. We also reduced the number of buildings to 13 from around 18. We felt it was important to make building choices simple & easy to grasp ".

In the folder with the XBF editor, I added a translation of his instructions. In translation, I do not pretend to be absolute accuracy and literary style, but I tried to preserve the meaning and style of the author. If there are wishes for correction - you can tell me about it here.
Also, on my own behalf, I added a short instruction on replacing FX data, read it much faster than the original instruction. The process of work in it is described a little more clearly.

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
Although there are lines in xbf hinting that there should have been a cannon.
How could you see them? looked at the txt file or are there any options in the program?

By the way, effects of shots, models, sounds can be taken from other mods .. I wrote about the XbfViewer program from IceReaper (https://github.com/IceReaper/ebfd-re) an irreplaceable thing in gutting ancient mods. Since you can see xbf as it is - the screenshots above, they are from this program.

For XbfViewer to work properly, the game must be installed in C: Westwood Emperor and nothing else.

Software for building from source - https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download

Next, launch Windows PowerShell and go to the viewer directory: cd ebfd-re-master XbfViewer

After that, we run 2 commands one by one:

1) dotnet run
2) dotnet build

Launch file - XbfViewer.exe will appear in XbfViewer bin Debug net5.0
To view the xbf model - create a folder in the viewer directory (net5.0) with any name - for example Models, drop it there .xbf file and start the viewer.

White wrote:
Checked, cool. Now everything works with RFD. Unless the Frigate captures units, but does not take off.
The corrected XBF of the frigate was not included in the archives. until I figured out how to save the old animation of the frigate and at the same time attach a new animation to it, from the carrier of the Ordos. The same goes for the Tleilaxu flyer.
In general, the strange thing is that units with the AdvancedCaryall = True parameter have a capture animation by default (landing down, towards the unit), but do not have a lifting animation. Although, perhaps the point here is that the lifting animation can be different, depending on whose unit we are lifting - ours or someone else's. But there are no visual differences between these two options, just the delay before the start of the animation is different.

White wrote:
The guild flyer has already been tested in battle, not bad.
It is quite slow and its damage is not very good. It is noteworthy that the flyer can only attack ground units, while any other air unit either attacks both ground and air units, or only air units. An incomprehensible limitation.

White wrote:
Is there a foundation? Silos were an additional element of the economy - you could steal resources from the enemy and deprive him of money by blowing them up.
Yes, many (if not all) buildings have a DeployTile parameter with paired values. I may be wrong, but there is a suspicion that this parameter is not used anywhere. I am assuming that these are the coordinates of the end points of the building for the foundation slabs.
As for the economy, maybe. But even without this feature, there are enough ways to spoil the economy of the enemy.

White wrote:
I've rummaged around in the internet trying to find traces of the Emperor beta. Alas, nifiga. But reading old interviews, I found one funny thing:
web.archive.org/web/20010304000400/http: //www.ga ...
"Also, the Ix have a projecter tank, which creates illusions of any unit within range, even an enemy's. While the illusions cannot fight, they are great for spying and deterrent tactics. "
It turns out that the developers did not plan that the projections would cause damage. But they do: D

There is also information about how much they cut in total.
"How many units did you start with before culling to the present selection?

We started with around 60 ideas for units amongst the 3 Houses & 5 subhouses. We pared that down to 46 unique units that leverage different tactics to each faction. We also reduced the number of buildings to 13 from around 18. We felt it was important to make building choices simple & easy to grasp. "
Yes, even from the trailer you can see that the game we ended up with is very different from the original version. But the quality of the first versions, apparently, is worse.
In general, I do not care about the cut content. If the game allowed to write mods to itself, add new objects and did not have stupid restrictions (a limited number of units, for example), it would be much better. it would be to decide on your own what else you need in the game, and what - on the contrary, you don't need.

Updated the translation of the instructions, corrected some of my mistakes.
Well, since I thoroughly delved into what the author wrote, I can say for sure that using the XBF editor, you can still change unit models, textures and even behavior (animation). To do this, you will additionally need MilkShape3D. According to the description, everything looks rather complicated (for me), but maybe 3D graphics specialists can handle it easily.
In addition, the author of the program mentions a Hex editor with which you can edit XBF files. Before I came across this mention, I had already tried to open these files in Hex-Editor Neo, and I can say for sure that the editor easily opens them. True, in its normal form there is only FX data, and everything else (grids, vertices, values ​​and other 3D crap) is deduced from symbols. I think this is fixed by the correct setting of the editor itself.
In the future, I want to try to partially correct the FX data of some unit using a Hex editor and see what happens. Apparently, there is such an opportunity.

UPD: I
forgot to duplicate the text of the simplified instructions for fixing unit animations in XBF.
Here it is:
---
There are units in the game that have everything that is needed for correct operation
except for special animations (attack, transport of units).
Using the XBF editor, you can replace the original unit
animations with animations from another unit of similar specificity.
For example, the
animation from ATADP can be used to fix the animation of the GUNIAP attack .

This is done as follows:
1. Open the game archive 3DDATA001.RFH using DuneEx
2. Find the XBF files of the jumbo unit. There can be from 1 to 3.
For GUNIAP these are GU_NIAP_H0.xbf, GU_NIAP_M0.xbf and GU_NIAP_L0.xbf
3. Extract xbf files from the archive.
4. Open the XBF editor, select the File item in the main menu,
in it, select the Read File item, select one of the three XBF files, and
wait. As soon as the file is loaded into the program, select the File item,
in it Save Text File and save the text version of the selected XBF.
This must be done for each of the three files.
The program has a special buffer, so to work with each
file, I restarted it so that the wrong file would not be in the buffer.
4. When text variations have been created for each of the three XBFs, close the
XBF editor. We choose from which unit we want to take the working animation,
let it be ATADP. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for ATADP XBF files.
5. Open the XBF editor again, load AT_ADP_H0.xbf
(File -> Read File) into it, wait for the file to load.
6. Select the File item, in it the Text To Xbf item, then select the
text version of the GU_NIAP_H0.xbf file. We are waiting for the
conversion to finish .
7. As soon as the file is converted, select the File item, in it
the Save Xbf File item and enter the name GU_NIAP_H0. It is
better to save new Xbf files in a separate folder from old Xbf files.
8. Items 5, 6, 7 are repeated for each of the pairs of Xbf files.
Those. load AT_ADP_M0, use it to convert the text
version of GU_NIAP_M0, do the same for _L0 files.

That, in fact, is all. Keep in mind that
sound effects and texture effects are replaced along with the animation .
For example, if initially the frigate had illumination on the front
and its own trails from engines, then when replacing its FX data
with FX data from an improved carrier of one of the factions, the
original lights and trails of the frigate's engines will disappear.

If a kosyachny unit has only one Xbf file
(as a rule, it is the _H0 file), then select only
one Xbf file from the donor unit in accordance with it, with the corresponding letter at the end.
You can also
name new files your own, the main thing is that at the end of the file name there should be _H0, _M0 or _L0. For example, GU_MyNIAP_H0.xbf.
For your names to work, you will need to go into the ArtIni file,
look for the desired unit and specify the
new name as the value in the Xaf parameter , without _H0 (or _M0, _L0). For example, if the original
Xaf = GU_NIAP then you write Xaf = GU_MyNIAP.
---

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
How could you see them? looked at the txt file or are there any options in the program?
In the text version of xbf there are lines with the names of individual objects of the model, there was something about Gun. Must watch.

Emp20YearsLater wrote:
Shot effects, models, sounds, by the way, can be taken from other mods .. I wrote about the XbfViewer program from IceReaper (github.com/IceReaper/ebfd-re) an irreplaceable thing in gutting ancient mods. Since you can see xbf as it is - the screenshots above, they are from this program.
I would like to figure out how to edit the initial effects first. Replacing is not the best option.

Yowane's fan wrote:
It is quite slow and its damage is not very good. It is noteworthy that the flyer can only attack ground units, while any other air unit either attacks both ground and air units, or only air units. An incomprehensible limitation.
I did a little "corrected" - change for Rules.txt

[GUNIAPGun] // (characteristics of the weapons)
TurretMinYRotation = -190.0
TurretMaxYRotation = 190.0
TurretYRotationAngle = 2.0 We do
Bullet = GuildRocket_B
ReloadCount = 35

[GuildRocket_B] // (shell characteristics)
maxrange = 10
Homing = true
Speed ​​= 28 // 14.0
TurnRate = 0.3 // radians per tick
ExplosionType = MissileHit
Debris = DebrisSmall
Damage = 1000
AntiAircraft = true
Warhead = HEATAIR_W
BlastRadius = 100
BlowUp = TRUE

[GUNIAP]
Score = 6
House = Guild
StormDamage = 10
PrimaryBuilding = GUPalace
UnitGroup = FromGUPalace
Terrain = Rock, Sand, NBRock, Ramp
Cost = 2000
BuildTime = 900
Size = 2
TurretAttach = GUNIAPGun
HeightOffset = 8
Speed ​​= 6 // 10 //7.0
TurnRate = 0.05
Armor = Aircraft
Health = 3000
CanFly = TRUE
Circles = TRUE
ADF = TRUE
AiAir = TRUE
AiSpecial = TRUE
// SoundSelected = PilotSelected
SoundOrdered = PilotOrdered //
ExplosionType = Explosion
Debris = DebrisMedium
TechLevel = 6
// Starportable = TRUE
// ReinforcementValue = 8
DamageEffect = MediumDamageFX
ChaosEffect = MediumChaosFX
HawkEffect = MediumHawkFX
// HitSlowDownAmount = 50
// HitSlowDownDuration = 100
ViewRange = 30
UnstealthRange = 30
CanSelfRepair = 1
ExcludeFromSkirmishLose = TRUE
GetsHeightAdvantage = FALSE
AIThreat = 100
// LEVEL 1 ----------------------------------
VeterancyLevel = 10
ExtraRange = 50
ExtraDamage = 25
ExtraArmour = 50
ExtraFireRate = 30 // (ExtraFireRate - Reload speed)

// LEVEL 2 ----------------------------------
VeterancyLevel = 30
ExtraRange = 75
ExtraFireRate = 20

// LEVEL 3 ----------------------------------
VeterancyLevel = 50
ExtraRange = 100
ExtraFireRate = 10
changes for objectsets.txt (AI).

OBJECTSET // (Identification of AI GUNIAP as an air attack unit (taking part in raids, that is, an attack on the base with a group of 5-10 units.)
Name = AttackAircraft
Object = HKGunship
Object = ATOrni
Object = GUNIAP
ENDOBJECTSET

// Used to identify GUNIAP - do not remove
OBJECTSET // (AI GUNIAP Identification)
Name = GUNIAP
Object = GUNIAP
ENDOBJECTSET

OBJECTSET
Name = Aircraft // (Identification of AI GUNIAP as flying object)
Object = HKGunship
Object = HKADVCarryall
Object = ATOrni
Object = ATADVCarryall
Object = OREITS
Object = ORADVCarryall
Object = ORADP
Object = ATPADP
Object = HKADP
Object
ENDOBJECTSET

OBJECTSET
Name = AntiInfantry // (AI GUNIAP'a identification as an object to exterminate infantry)
object = ATinfantry
object = ATTrike
object = ATMinotaurus
object = ATSniper
object = HKLightInf
object = HKFlamer
object = HKFlame
object = HKBuzzsaw
object = HKInkvine
= ORChemical the Object
the Object = ORDustScout
the Object = ORKobra
the Object = GUNIAP
the Object = GUMaker
Formation's = 1
ENDOBJECTSET

// the All tanks
ObjectSet
the Name = Tanks
the Object = ATTrike
the Object = ATMongoose
the Object = ATMinotaurus
the Object = ORDustScout
the Object = ORLaserTank
the Object = ORKobra
the Object = HKAssault
the Object = HKInkVine
Object = HKFlame
Object = HKMissile
Object = HKBuzzsaw
Object = TLLeech
Object = GUNIABTank // (We tell AI to use the NIAB as an attack tank - so that the situation is atmospheric).
ENDOBJECTSET

// All tanks apart from the really expensive ones
OBJECTSET
Name = BasicTanks
Object = ATTrike
Object = ATMongoose
Object = ORDustScout
Object = ORLaserTank
Object = HKAssault
Object = HKInkVine
Object = HKFlame
Object = HKMissile
Object = HKBuzzsaw
Object = TLLeech
Object = GUNIABTank - so that the atmosphere was atmospheric).
ENDOBJECTSET
Now they fly around the map in a group of 5-10 pieces, cutting out everything that moves (sometimes NIAB tanks come next). At first I thought to remove it - but then I left it. Since the enemy could never cause real harm in an air attack - now it will demolish with a 90% probability, first allies - and then yourself. Therefore, you need to really think about air defense.

Well, as a consequence - the last mission will be specifically complicated. Fig knows the truth will the enemy build them or not .. did not check.