Mod Material: Elrond's Second Set of Elven Ships

Mod Date: 2005.02.17

Author: Elrond

Materials Developed:

Admirals Log Images: Elrond

Odf Files: Elrond

Installation Instructions: Elrond

SOD Models: Elrond

Textures: Elrond

Build Button: Elrond

Wireframe: Elrond



TOC (Table of Contents):

A. Rationale for this mod.

B. Installation of this mod.

1. Extracting files to correct folders.

2. Instructions for putting ship in game.

3. Instructions for placing buttons and wireframes (sprites).

C. Uninstalling this mod.

D. Statement of Use of this mod.





* It is possible that one or more odf files may have references in them that you may need to change by using a text editor.



A. Rationale for this mod:

*Also see the readme.txt file in the Elven Cube download.

This mod is a continuation of the work I originally began. Many more ships and stations are included - including

one from the Universal Conquerers - a Barrier Sphere. The textures for the Barrier have not been completed, so I have

chosen to use one that I have used for the Elves.



B. Installation of this mod:

1. Extracting files to correct folders:

Hopefully you have done this before. Most everyone has used WinZip or WinRAR to extract files, but if you haven't,

then it would be a good idea to mess around with those programs so that you know what you are doing.



Extracting the files is actually just a simple matter of dragging ALL the folders in the archive to your Armada 2

install directory; however, if you want to just extract the files out of each folder separately, here's how and

where to send them:



Files Extract to this folder of your ARMADA INSTALLATION FOLDER

Admirals Log BMP Files:

*.bmp /bitmaps/AdmiralsLog/ShipImages

Textures:

*.tga: /Textures/RGB



Models:

*.SOD (all SOD files): /SOD



ODF Files:

Install all odf files by extracting them directly from the archive odf folder to that in your install folder.



That's it! You've hopefully extracted all the files to the correct folders.

Simple version of above:

*.bmp: /bitmaps/AdmiralsLog/ShipImages

pod_weapon.odf, research_movable.odf: /odf/stations

all other *.odf: /odf/ships

*.SOD: /SOD

*.tga: /Textures/RGB



Well, that's not it - YET. Don't start drinking in celebration quite yet. There's still more to go if you want to

use this ship and its armor pods in the game!!!

2. Instructions for putting ship in game:

Now that all your files are in the right places (if they are not, go back and do it again!), you must now ensure

that this ship and its pods will work in the game.



To build the ship in the game, you MUST have a shipyard build it - actually, I would recommend that a construction

ship build this ship, as it is quite large. If you have a large enough shipyard to build it in, then follow

STEP I. If you will be building this with a Construction Ship, then on to STEP II.



STEP I: Putting the ship in a shipyard:

01) Open a shipyard odf file (for instance, fyard.odf, byard.odf, etc) in a text editor. Notepad will do.

02) You will see something in the shipyard file like this:

buildItem0 = "fscout" (if it's the fyard.odf file)

You will also see other 'buildItem' references there. If the shipyard has buildItems the whole way

up to 'buildItem12', then you will have to find another shipyard because the most that I found a

shipyard or construction ship can build is 13 (including buildItem0).



03) Now that you have found a shipyard to do this in, you will have to add another 'buildItem' reference.

To do this, you MUST ENSURE that the buildItem you add is not followed by a number that is the same as

one of the above. For example:



---------> (shipyard file): place this in any available shipyard or construction ship with available space:

Realize that the Elven Fortress, the Elven Base, and the UC Barrier will be built using a

construction ship, not a shipyard - take note of that.

-> in a shipyard or starbase:

buildItemX = "Elven_Fleet_Cube"

buildItemX = "Elven_Construction"

-> in a construction ship:

buildItemX = "Elven_Base"

buildItemX = "Elven_Fortress_Level01"

buildItemX = "UC_Barrier"

---------> buildItemX: X = the number of the next available buildItem.



THE RIGHT WAY:



buildItem0 = "fscout"

buildItem1 = "fdestroy"

buildItem2 = "fcruise1"

buildItem3 = "fassault"

buildItem4 = "fcruise2"

buildItem5 = "fcruise3"

----> The next lines are where you put the included ships:

buildItem6 = "Elven_Fleet_Cube"

// You would do better putting this in a starbase, but it is already buildable from there,

// so you won't need to do this unless you plan on building these from somewhere else!!!

buildItem7 = "Elven_Construction"

buildItem8 = "Elven_Fleet_Cube"





THE WRONG WAY:

buildItem0 = "fscout"

buildItem1 = "fdestroy"

buildItem2 = "fcruise1"

buildItem3 = "fassault"

buildItem4 = "fcruise2"

buildItem5 = "fcruise3"

----> The next line is incorrect, as it uses the same buildItem that another one does.

buildItem5 = "Elven_Fleet_Cube"



As you can see, the builditems must be sequential from 0 to 12. You should not repeat a buildItem or

skip buildItem numbers.

04) Now that you have added the ship in your shipyard, you will now save your editted shipyard odf file

as you would save any text file - make sure it's an odf file and make sure that it's the same

name it was before, as you don't want to have another headache to deal with!!!

05) OK - you're not done yet! You will have to make a techtree entries. To do this, open the tech1.tt file

in a text editor.

-------> tech1.tt

06) Scroll down and find a reasonable place to create an empty line and then ADD THIS IN THE TECH1.TT file:

Elven_Base.odf 0

Elven_Construction.odf 1 Elven_Base.odf

Elven_Fortress_Level01.odf 1 Elven_Base.odf

Elven_Fortress_Level02.odf 1 Elven_Fortress_Level01.odf

Elven_Fortress_Level03.odf 2 Elven_Fortress_Level01.odf Elven_Fortress_Level02.odf

Elven_Fortress_Level04.odf 3 Elven_Fortress_Level01.odf Elven_Fortress_Level02.odf Elven_Fortress_Level03.odf

Elven_Fortress_Level05.odf 4 Elven_Fortress_Level01.odf Elven_Fortress_Level02.odf Elven_Fortress_Level03.odf Elven_Fortress_Level04.odf

Elven_Fortress_Level06.odf 5 Elven_Fortress_Level01.odf Elven_Fortress_Level02.odf Elven_Fortress_Level03.odf Elven_Fortress_Level04.odf Elven_Fortress_Level05.odf

Elven_Fortress_Level07.odf 6 Elven_Fortress_Level01.odf Elven_Fortress_Level02.odf Elven_Fortress_Level03.odf Elven_Fortress_Level04.odf Elven_Fortress_Level05.odf Elven_Fortress_Level06.odf

Elven_Fortress_Level08.odf 7 Elven_Fortress_Level01.odf Elven_Fortress_Level02.odf Elven_Fortress_Level03.odf Elven_Fortress_Level04.odf Elven_Fortress_Level05.odf Elven_Fortress_Level06.odf Elven_Fortress_Level07.odf

Elven_Fortress_Level09.odf 8 Elven_Fortress_Level01.odf Elven_Fortress_Level02.odf Elven_Fortress_Level03.odf Elven_Fortress_Level04.odf Elven_Fortress_Level05.odf Elven_Fortress_Level06.odf Elven_Fortress_Level07.odf Elven_Fortress_Level08.odf

Elven_Fleet_Cube.odf 1 Elven_Cube.odf

Elven_Fleet_Cube01.odf 1 Elven_Fleet_Cube.odf

Elven_Fleet_Cube02.odf 1 Elven_Fleet_Cube.odf

Elven_Fleet_Cube03.odf 1 Elven_Fleet_Cube.odf

Elven_Fleet_Cube04.odf 1 Elven_Fleet_Cube.odf

Elven_Fleet_Cube05.odf 1 Elven_Fleet_Cube.odf

Elven_Fleet_Cube06.odf 1 Elven_Fleet_Cube.odf



Putting the above lines in this order and just as they are is IMPERATIVE, as the pods that are

created by the fortress will look different from pod-to-pod. The ship and pod odfs are set up in

a way so that the first pod will be build on one hardpoint, then the second will be created on

the next, and so on. If this is allowed to be out-of-order, then your pods will look funky on

your ship. The pods generated must be placed in order, as they represent levels of the Fortress.

They are all oriented differently. Just to give you an idea of what it may look like if you don't

have the techtree as it is above, the wrong pods built in the wrong places WILL NOT CRASH THE GAME,

but a pod that is placed in the wrong axis will be in the wrong place.

3. Instructions for placing buttons and wireframes (sprites):

OK - now you can actually see the ships in the game. And you can also build the pods. The ships are already set with

a pre-determined set of weapons - but you can change these if you go in a text editor and edit the

*.odf files. Check Westworld's Big Book of Modding for tips on editting weapons.



Now you will be adding entries for the buttons and wireframes. You will see the button when you go to build the

ship (in the button area). The wireframe will be displayed when you select the ship. Follow these simple steps to

have your ship do this in the game:



----------> gui_global.spr:

01) OPEN the gui_global.spr file in your /SPRITES folder of your Armada 2 install directory. Use a text editor.

02) SCROLL down the list of numerous entries to:

# Federation build buttons

03) Then you will SCROLL down the list of more entries to:

@reference=64

04) MAKE A NEW LINE under that line and TYPE OR COPY in the following:



b_Elven_Base gbelven_fortress_level01 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Construction gbelven_construction 0 0 64 64



b_Elven_Cube gbelven_cube 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Cube_Pod01 gbelven_cube_pod01 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Cube_Pod02 gbelven_cube_pod01 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Cube_Pod03 gbelven_cube_pod02 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Cube_Pod04 gbelven_cube_pod02 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Cube_Pod05 gbelven_cube_pod03 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Cube_Pod06 gbelven_cube_pod03 0 0 64 64



b_Elven_Fleet_Cube gbelven_fleet_cube 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fleet_Cube01 gbelven_fleet_cube 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fleet_Cube02 gbelven_fleet_cube 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fleet_Cube03 gbelven_fleet_cube 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fleet_Cube04 gbelven_fleet_cube 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fleet_Cube05 gbelven_fleet_cube 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fleet_Cube06 gbelven_fleet_cube 0 0 64 64



b_Elven_Fortress_Level01 gbelven_fortress_level01 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fortress_Level02 gbelven_fortress_level02 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fortress_Level03 gbelven_fortress_level03 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fortress_Level04 gbelven_fortress_level04 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fortress_Level05 gbelven_fortress_level05 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fortress_Level06 gbelven_fortress_level01 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fortress_Level07 gbelven_fortress_level01 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fortress_Level08 gbelven_fortress_level01 0 0 64 64

b_Elven_Fortress_Level09 gbelven_fortress_level01 0 0 64 64



b_UC_Barrier gbucbarrier 0 0 64 64



OK - now on to step 5:



05) You have placed the entries for the build buttons and now must do the wireframes.

SCROLL down to:

# Wireframes

# ----------

06) After that, SCROLL some more down to:

# Federation wireframes

07) After that entry, PLACE THIS ENTRY:

@reference=512

08) MAKE A NEW LINE and PLACE THIS IN THAT EMPTY LINE:



Elven_Basew1 welven_fortress_level01 0 0 512 512

Elven_Constructionw1 welven_construction 0 0 512 512



Elven_Cubew1 welven_cube 0 0 512 512

Elven_Cube_Pod01w1 welven_cube_pod01 0 0 512 512

Elven_Cube_Pod02w1 welven_cube_pod01 0 0 512 512

Elven_Cube_Pod03w1 welven_cube_pod02 0 0 512 512

Elven_Cube_Pod04w1 welven_cube_pod02 0 0 512 512

Elven_Cube_Pod05w1 welven_cube_pod03 0 0 512 512

Elven_Cube_Pod06w1 welven_cube_pod03 0 0 512 512



Elven_Fleet_Cubew1 welven_fleet_cube 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fleet_Cube01w1 welven_fleet_cube 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fleet_Cube02w1 welven_fleet_cube 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fleet_Cube03w1 welven_fleet_cube 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fleet_Cube04w1 welven_fleet_cube 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fleet_Cube05w1 welven_fleet_cube 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fleet_Cube06w1 welven_fleet_cube 0 0 512 512



Elven_Fortress_Level01w1 welven_fortress_level01 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fortress_Level02w1 welven_fortress_level02 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fortress_Level03w1 welven_fortress_level03 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fortress_Level04w1 welven_fortress_level04 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fortress_Level05w1 welven_fortress_level05 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fortress_Level06w1 welven_fortress_level01 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fortress_Level07w1 welven_fortress_level01 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fortress_Level08w1 welven_fortress_level01 0 0 512 512

Elven_Fortress_Level09w1 welven_fortress_level01 0 0 512 512



UC_Barrierw1 wucbarrier 0 0 512 512



09) Now you have finished inputting the button and wireframe entries. You are DONE with gui_global.spr.

10) Now that you're done, SAVE the file gui_global.spr, as that's what you do when you are done editting

a file (I'm sure you know that - hopefully - I'm just not assuming anything)! ;-)



* Important Note: The wireframes for the pods may not work - for some reason, wireframes on these pods do not seem to be

working yet - there may be another version out sometime that will include perhaps new wireframes and/or

the odf files for the pods and/or new readme file for new entries. The wireframe for the ship itself works. All

buttons work - all weapons work as well - no problems with anything else.



C. Uninstalling this mod:

01) Remove the files that were originally in the archive file for this mod and do so by using the reverse

of the instructions above.

02) That's it! Now if you already added references to these pods or the ships, or the tga files or to the

models themselves, it would be a good idea to change those references first. Make sure you keep

backups of your files because, as you read on, you will notice that I am in no way responsible for

anything this download may do to your game or system (I don't know what it would do to your system,

but I must mention it). BE SMART and have COMMON SENSE when adding files and editting files -

backing up files is a MUST for EVERYBODY!!! Even if you are an expert at modding Armada 2, I still

believe that you should back up your files. Crashes or problems in the game caused by this mod are

not the only reasons you should back up - hard drives crash all the time. Don't become a statistic

as I know I have before when I lost three months of work - that is what I call a catastrophe! Don't

let it happen to you!



D. Statement of Use of this mod:



All materials created in this archived file were created by me (Elrond). There are none other to credit, save for

perhaps the members of armadafleetcommand - that includes:



CaptSyf, CaptBenSisko, Phantom (that SOD tutorial on making the Bradbury class starship rules!), any others I did

not get a chance to mention! Pretty much the entire community is responsible for all I have learned in such a small

amount of time (two years). Members of Armadafleetcommand and Armada2files have given me ideas, provided advice on

things I didn't understand, and led ultimately to me being motivated enough to begin and continue a large-scale

mod that I have been doing now over two years! Thank you dudes!





Now you know what the last part is about - it's what we all must say in our readme files, but it is very important and

prevents things from happening that shouldn't!



I am in no way liable for the effects of this mod. This mod has been tested (like my other mods) on two operating system

platforms, including Windows 98 and XP SP2. This mod was also tested using Armada 2 patch 1.2 - the most recent patch to

this date. The material that this file concerns has in no way anything to do with Activision or those who created Armada 2.



Do not attempt to make money off of this mod - doing so is for one thing a bad idea and secondly, it ticks off the people

who originally created it - any person who has created something values that statement. This mod has been released to the

Armada and Armada 2 modding community - that means that it is free of use and is not to be in any way capitalized upon.



Now enjoy this mod. Most questions about its operation in the game can be answered by Westworld's Big Book of Modding -

that can be found on armadafleetcommand.com and also armada2files.com. Viewing those documents will prevent you from feeling

like you've asked a stupid question.





This mod is also my tribute to the modders that are no longer a part of the modding community. It is also my tribute to the

December '04 Tsunami victims, to our troops and the troops of our allies - some of which have been severely injured or killed

in combat, to peace in my nation, to peace in your nation (wherever you are from), and to hope and a peaceful and productive

prospect of the future (that in part has been brightened by Star Trek's principals and visions of the future).



Take care and enjoy this mod. I can only hope that you enjoy playing the game with this ship as much as I enjoyed creating it!



- Elrond, New Rivendell (PA)