PBW needs your help

geoschmo · #1 February 12th, 2008, 09:04 PM

But this time it isn't money or parts. I need knowledge, or someone (or more than one) willing to spend some time to come up with the answers if they are not already known.

We've started supporting custom shipsets on PBW, but I don't really understand all the ins and outs of how it works in SE5. And unfortunately I don't have the time to do all the testing needed to answer these questions myself.

I need to know what files in a custom shipset folder are absolutely necessary to the ability of the game to process turns at the command line. You don't have to know anything about the PBW code. PBW simply uses the SE5 command line options. You can do the same thing using the command prompt or a batch file.

Some of the shipset folders are huge. Even the stock races are bigger than 10MB. Multiply that by the number of versions and mods we support, and it gets to be a bit of a waste of space. I have an inkling that not all the files are needed for the game to actually process the turns at the command line. Anything I can strip out without causing the turns to fail or the game to switch the user to default race files will be appreciated.

Please, enlighten me.

Geoschmo

Captain Kwok · #2 February 12th, 2008, 09:33 PM

I think you can eliminate 90% of the folder size by getting rid of all the image files. Almost all of the text files could be referenced in a given turn and they can contain custom information, so I'd just leave them since they are small. The compiled script files (.csf) are needed as well.

On the mod side of things, all the image files could be dropped. That should clear up considerable space.

geoschmo · #3 February 12th, 2008, 09:47 PM

But wouldn't eliminating the image files cause the game to revert to using the Abbidon(or whatever it defaults to) shipset? Or are you saying all that is neccesary to keep the empire linked to the proper shipset is that the server has the properly named folder in the empire directory? Geo raises hand and prepares to slap himself upside the head...

Edit: No, that's not right. An empty folder wont work. Is it just some specific text files? Or a certain one or few image files? The turns will process with nothing. What I need to know is how little can they process and not change the empire image the next time the player opens their turn.

This should only affect player empires anyway. If they miss their turn and the AI takes over, whether it follows the AI behavior prescribed by the particular mod they are using will be the least of their concerns. The issue of AI behavior would be nice to deal with, but probably beyond the scope of what I will be able to accomplish. There are simply too many variables.

All I'm trying to do is make it so you can use a custom shipset in a PBW game and your empire will still look like it's supposed too when you get your turn back from PBW.

Captain Kwok · #4 February 12th, 2008, 10:13 PM

Yes, just keep all the empire folders with the text/csf files stored in it. That should keep everything in order for the players.

geoschmo · #5 February 12th, 2008, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Captain Kwok said:
Yes, just keep all the empire folders with the text/csf files stored in it. That should keep everything in order for the players.

No, that's not correct. When I run a turn with just those files and no image files the game changes the empire to another shipset.

Captain Kwok · #6 February 13th, 2008, 12:00 AM

I was under the impression that running the game using the command line to process the turn neglected to load any images. If that's not the case, then MM should be considering that. It should be so as long as the model files are present (needed for combat calculations) and the slot layouts are present (for damage allocation, design creation) and other AI important files like the scripts or speech files, that it should run with no issues.

geoschmo · #7 February 13th, 2008, 12:14 AM

Hey, welcome to my world Kwok.

These are issues that have been brought up over and over to no avail. This is why I've delayed a year in implementing custom shipsets for SE5. At this point I'm no longer trying to get the issues resolved and I'm simply trying to come up with the best way to work around them and get it done with what we've been given.

geoschmo · #8 February 13th, 2008, 12:15 AM

By the way, what's a "model file"?

Captain Kwok · #9 February 13th, 2008, 12:56 AM

The model files are the .x files in an empire's folder. They're definitely required for combat resolution.

Does SE4 require the images for command prompt processing?

geoschmo · #10 February 13th, 2008, 01:58 AM

No, SE4 doesn't require shipset images. You can run without the custom race folder at all. It will simply use the default AI files and then when you open your empire will still have your pics attached to it. If you open the turn without the pics on your computer it will pick another picset at random, but no permanent change is made. Once you get on a computer with the picset you used when setting up the empire originally, it will look right.

So the game needs the .x files for actual damage calulations? That's not just for display purposes during the replay? So I guess those files would be required then. That's the bulk of the race folder right there for most of the ones I've looked at. What does the game do if you have a shipset with no .x files I wonder.