need some help with my 1st mod

[Xietor]

I have read the mod manual, and do not see any charts or advice to get the location of weapons and armors that are not common. Edi's list cannot be opened because i do not have office, only word.

In any event this is a very simple 1st effort. The goal is to have a national hero start the game as a Man commander, and to modify the tower guards. I would also like to start the game 300 gold short to "pay" for the hero. I have the text saved on
microsoft word. How do i make that a dm file? I saw the advice to someone else to save as allfiles, but i do not get that option.

here is what i have so far:

#modname �Beowulf�

#description � This mod gives Man a national Hero to start the game, and for more gold and resources, improves the noncapital infantry unit the Tower Guard. As a penalty for starting with a hero, man starts the game with 300 less gold.�

# icon



#version 1.0
# selectnation 30
#startscout �Beowulf� 2037

#end

#selectmonster 63(tower guard)
# clear
# descr �The Tower Guard are the elite unit of Man, and serve as the last defense of the Tower of Chelms. They receive a defense bonus when defending castles.�
# ap 13
# mapmove 1
# hp 11
# prot 0
# size 2
# str 10
# att 11
# def 11
# enc 3
# prec 10
# mr 10
# morale 12
# gcost 14
# rcost 23
# weapon broadsword 8
# armor full chain mail 18
# armor full helmet 21
# armor Shield 2
# nametype 102
# castledef 1



#end


# newmonster 2037
# name Beowulf
# descr �A knight of unequaled physical stature and renown, Beowulf slew the dreaded monster Grendal in a fierce single combat. Near death, poisoned, and without hope for himself, Beowulf cut out the creature�s heart and ate it to insure it remained dead. Beowulf immediately began to recover from his wounds, and no longer felt the creature�s poison burning his blood. He later swore allegiance to the Knights of Avalon and joined their cause. In return, he was gifted with a magical weapon and armor.�




# sprl(lord of war image)
# spr2(lord of war image)
# ap 15
# mapmove 3
# hp 27
# prot 10
# size 2
# str 17
#enc 2
# att 15
# def 15
# prec 11
# mr 16
# mor 14
# gcost 25
# rcost 1
# weapon �sword of sharpness� (weapon number)
# armor �shield of valor� (armor number)
# armor �chain mail of displacement� (armor number)
#armor � horned helmet� (armor number)

# fear 0
# forestsurvival
# maxage 300
#itemslots 13574
#startage 37
#poisonres 100
# goodleader
# heal

#end

any help would be appreciated.

[Foodstamp]

Here is your banner!

[Xietor]

And I will proudly fly and credit Foodstamp for the banner!

[Xietor]

i asked Foodstamp in a pm, how to get the banner he made me into the text document that contains the mod. here is his reply:

"Let's take this one step at a time.

Let me explain what a mod really is first of all.

A mod is a text file that gives specific commands to Dominions 3. Those commands include pointing to where a picture is stored, or assigning stats to units, things of that nature. All it does is give the game commands to carry out.

The best way to dive into modding is to look at mods created by other people. Feel free to grab one of my mods and use it as a template to start your mod.

The graphics do not actually go into the text document. You can either dump them directly into the mods directory in your dominions folder, or you create a subdirectory and store all your graphics there (the preferred way). In the text document you are actually going to point to the graphic file. For instance, to do a banner you might say....

#icon "./beofwulf/beowulfbanner.tga"

The banner is actually in a folder in your mod directory called "beowulf" that you create by right clicking and choosing new folder and naming it to that. Then you just dump the graphic in there."

Thanks again Foodstamp. I did borrow many ideas from the black steel ulm mod with respect to formatting the text part, but the reference to the image was a bit confusing. And I was curious as to why he did not just cut and paste it all into one document, which may not be possible. I had no clue.

[Foodstamp]

NP at all. I am sure you will have more questions along the way. Feel free to ask here, all the modders are super helpful and always willing to answer questions.

If we can get Bandarlover going on modding, I am sure we can get you going as well. JK bandar

[Xietor]

I only need one image for this mod, that of the starting hero Beowulf. After some thought, I was thinking the lord of war graphic may be cool.

I looked at the sprite library, and it appears to be locked(password protected).

Is there any way i could get the 2 Lord of War sprites out of it?

other burning questions:



1. The mod is presently a word document. I am assuming that is a text file. How do i turn a word doc into a dm file?


2. As a penalty(small i know) for starting with a hero, I wanted to start man with only 100 gold instead of 400.

I have looked in the mod manual and do not see the command for setting the starting gold.

[Foodstamp]

Adding the Lord of War as your graphic is a bit easier than you might expect. All you need to do is add a command to the Beowulf unit...

#copyspr 1340

In game this command will assign the Lord of War graphics to the new unit.

Concerning weapons. I got bad news for you. Alot of the weapons that are listed with the same names as magical artifacts do not work properly. In game, it will show him as having the weapons and armor on his person (not in the item slots), but they will not have the same properties as the real items. I am not sure this is the case with 100% of the items that share names with craftable magic items, but at the very least it was like that with the ones I tried.

That being said, you may be able to create new weapons and armor and assign some of the effects you want to those.

I use notepad to create mods. Normally I go through the routine of saving as a .dm file that you seem to have looked at already. Also, I would suggest picking up ParadoxHarbinger's unit creator. It can save a lot of time creating new units, and it cuts down on the initial typos that are normally game crashing.

[Xietor]

thanks.

I made a game and just made the items, so i have their numbers. Since he is a starting hero, i can see right off if he has the right weapons and armor.

Once i make sure the mod works, I will adjust his weapons/armor if they are not up to snuff.

[Sombre]

If you need any help, graphics etc we are here to help. All we ever ask is that you give our mods a whirl as well as making your own.

Sometimes a little feedback is all it takes to set us off greatly improving something, discovering a new modding trick etc.

[Xietor]

I may have the graphics solved now with the banner help and the copy command for the lord of war.

And i have started playing more mods. I played the black steel of ulm a lot these past few days, and i am always sing the worthy hero mod, and most likely will never play another sp game without the old age mod.

The conceptual balance mod has perked my interest, but its scale is so vast, i am hesitant to try it yet. I doubt anyone will ever play my mod, it is just something that caught my fancy. Beowulf was a great literary hero, and i think he may fit in with man. I think it is fun to have a thug from the start and try to build him up. hence Beowulf.

This mod also addresses what i consider to be an issue for MA man, crappy infantry away from the capital. it does not twink them a lot, but moderately.

This is what may be the final version if i can get it into a dm file format:

#modname �Beowulf�
#description �This mod gives Man a national Hero to start the game, and for more gold and resources,improves the noncapital infantry unit the Tower Guard."
#icon "./beofwulf/beowulfbanner.tga"
#version 1.0
#domversion 3.06


#selectnation 30
#startscout �Beowulf� 2037
#end

#selectmonster 63
#morale 12
#gcost 14
#rcost 23
#weapon broadsword 8
#armor full chain mail 18
#armor full helmet 21
#armor Shield 2
#end


#newmonster 2037
#name Beowulf
#descr �A knight of unequaled physical stature and renown, Beowulf slew the dreaded monster Grendal in a fierce single

combat. Near death, poisoned, and without hope for himself, Beowulf cut out the creature�s heart and ate it to insure it

remained dead. Beowulf immediately began to recover from his wounds, and no longer felt the creature�s poison burning his

blood. He later swore allegiance to the Knights of Avalon and joined their cause. In return, he was gifted with a magical a weapon and armor.�

#copyspr 1340
#ap 15
#mapmove 3
#hp 27
#prot 10
#size 2
#str 17
#enc 2
#att 15
#def 15
#prec 11
#mr 16
#mor 14
#gcost 25
#rcost 1
#weapon �sword of sharpness� 74
#armor �shield of valor� 57
#armor �chain mail of displacement� 81
#armor �black steel helmet� 40
#fear 0
#forestsurvival
#maxage 300
#itemslots 13574
#startage 37
#poisonres 100
#goodleader
#heal
#end