Modding Tools

[DeadZone]

I will say this now

If anyone has ANYTHING related to game modding that they need hosting, and its not too big (ie. nothing over the top)

Then just email it to me at
chrisnewton.at.lfhost.com
and state you want said file hosted on PXS
Also, feel free to add me on MSN damonsteel.at.msn.com

Failing that, Im sure Fyron or SJ would be happy to host it

And not to forget, I work for a webhosting company (though our restrictions will prevent you hosting programs, you could still host sites there while hosting the program else-where)

And moose, lets limit the blood shed with the programs (*refers to your signature )

[ June 16, 2004, 15:43: Message edited by: DeadZone ]

[MooseUpNorth]

Originally posted by DeadZone:
And moose, lets limit the blood shed with the programs (*refers to your signature )

I'd... consider wearing body armor during the installation if I were you.

... just in case.

... oh, no reason...

[DeadZone]

LOL

So, when can we expect the first program?

[MooseUpNorth]

Originally posted by DeadZone:
So, when can we expect the first program?

When it's done, I'm afraid. I wasn't kidding about the tight schedule for the next month.

I'll probably start with components, then ships, then slots. (I'm not looking to duplicate work or anything, but these things do tend to tie in together.) After, I'll do systems, planets, then stores. Campaign specific data will come afterwards. After that, well, we'll see.

[DeadZone]

One question

Once you have done a few, will you look into combining them as one, or leaving them all as seperate programs

[Ed Kolis]

If you're using .NET, I've written a class that will read (and maybe write, I can't remember) SE4 or Starfury data into a "field" structure for use by a program, and SJ has done something similar with VB5, so let one of us know if you need our code!

[Exan]

That could be useful since I finally got Visual Studio 6. I planned on doing a map editor of some sort. I have previously done a simple rally manager game with my friend with VB but now I have forgotten almost everything I knew.

Still if you could give the code of the field structure thing that would help a lot. I mean why invent the wheel for a second time?

[DeadZone]

If you invent the wheel for a 2nd time, you might make it more round than the first

Seriously though, yeah, if you could also send it too me I would be happy
I know SJ has the VB5 classes hosted on his webspace

[ June 17, 2004, 15:29: Message edited by: DeadZone ]

[Ed Kolis]

Well, my code's in C#, and while I could convert it to VB.NET, that wouldn't do much good as you're using VB6 which is radically different...

But basically, I have a structure called Field, which contains 2 strings, Name and Data.

Then to read the next field from a data file, I use this function:

code:

---

/// <summary>

 		/// Reads a data field from an SE4 text file and verifies its name if the

 		/// name parameter is not null.

 		/// </summary>

 		protected Field ReadFieldText(string name)

 		{

 			string line;

 			Field field;

 			

 			// Read lines until a non-blank line is found

 			// Note that this is "nicer" than SE4's parser, in that

 			// extra newlines between lines are simply ignored, and the

 			// later entries are still read

 			// Find the first delimiter

 			int delimiterPosition;

 			do

 			{

 				// Read the next line from the data file

 				line = textReader.ReadLine();

 				delimiterPosition = line.IndexOf(delimiter);

 			} while (delimiterPosition < 0); // read until good line found

 			

 			// Create the field

 			field = new Field(line.Substring(0, delimiterPosition).Trim(),

 			                  line.Substring(delimiterPosition + delimiter.Length).Trim());

 			

 			// Verify if necessary

 			if (name != null && field.Name != name)

 				throw new ParserException("The field name \"" + field.Name + "\" was found where \"" + name + "\" was expected.", line);		

 			

 			return field;

 		}

---

The ParserException is just an exception class I created so I can tell a parser exception from any other type of exception.

This particular implementation will verify that the name of the field is some specific value, so you can make sure the fields are in the right order. Or, if you pass a null reference (does VB6 have those?), it won't verify and just return the next field no matter what.

Would you find everything I've worked on handy, even though it's in C#? I can post it on my website if you want...

[Exan]

Well I've done dozens of programs that reads a list of some sort. I'm more interested in how do you make the program realize the empty spaces between the text and the := mark.
For example:
Obj name := qwerty

Like that. Can you just make the program read it line by line and checking if the line matches the required text. Like in Obj name. Then jump over the spaces and take the obj name and save it to objname table for example.