Activities.ini

From Data Realms Wiki

Latest revision as of 04:49, 10 February 2013

NOTE: This describes the old Activities setup prior to release (1.0) and recent beta builds (B27, B26...). PAGE IS IN NEED OF A REWRITE.

Activities.ini is the file in the vanilla Missions.rte that tells the game what files to use to attack the player. It can be edited to give the enemies stronger weapons, troops or crafts. Activities.ini files can also be loaded from other modules (though only the first loaded Skirmish Activities will be used in game) in order to use the assets in that module. Activities.ini need not be called Activities.ini, for example, the vanilla activities are split into "Mission Activities" and "Skirmish Activities".

Without Changing Index.ini

Alrighty, so you have a mod and you want to fight against it. That is entirely possible for anyone, you need not have any great skill in coding.

There is one gigantic rule you must remember and follow. You cannot, under any circumstances, call (make a reference to) an actor, weapon, craft, or whatever, without first loading it. This means, somewhere along your logic chain, that you must have "IncludeFile = Mod.rte/Actor.ini" before you call "AddInventory = AHuman CopyOf = Actor".

Now, for purposes of this article we will be using a mod called simply "Mod.rte". Replace the word "Mod.rte" in this tutorial with your chosen mod, such as "AAL.rte" or "Kloveska.rte", though most mods nowadays already have activities packaged with them.

To begin, let's go through how to enable a pre-made activities.ini packaged with a mod.

Part one, you want to disable the basegame activities. This has been made easier in Build 23, simply put "//" before the IncludeFile line in Missions.rte/Index.ini referring to "Skirmish Activities.ini"

Now, part two. This may not be necessary, but check in your Mod.rte/Index.ini for an IncludeFile line for its Activities.ini. It may be commented out (a "//" to the left of the IncludeFile line). If it is, uncomment it (remove the "//"). This will enable the mod activities, and you're done.

Now we're going to be creating our own Activities.ini for mods that do not include them. For starters, disable the basegame activites as described above. Then, copy Missions.rte/Activities.ini, and paste it into "Mod.rte". Before we do anything more, add a line to Mod.rte/Index.ini including the new activities.ini. This should look something like "IncludeFile = Mod.rte/Activities.ini". To begin to modify your new activities, remove all the " AddAttackerSpawn = ACDropShip" or "AddAttackerSpawn = ACRocket" blocks. You are going to replace them with the mod's parts. So, your file should look something like this when you're done.

AddActivity = GABaseDefense
   PresetName = Skirmish Defense
   SceneName = Grasslands
   TeamCount = 2
   PlayerCount = 1
   TeamOfPlayer1 = 0
   TeamOfPlayer2 = 1
   FundsOfTeam1 = 10000
   FundsOfTeam2 = 10000
   CPUTeam = 1
   Difficulty = 3
   SpawnIntervalEasiest = 20000
   SpawnIntervalHardest = 8000

You can modify the "FundsOfTeamX" lines to change the amount of starting gold. There is a limit, but I do not know it exactly, so I will say that you should keep it to 200000 or lower.

Now, to actually add some spawns. You will need to do a little bit of diving in the mod's inis. To add spawns, look for something like "AddActor = AHuman (nextline tab) PresetName = Actor". This means that an actor called "Actor" can be used in your activities. AddActor = ACrab, AddActor = ACDropShip, AddActor = ACRocket, AddDevice = HDFirearm, AddDevice = TDExplosive, and AddDevice = HeldDevice are all things you can spawn in your activities. Look above for more help. Copy down their PresetNames, as well as the data type (the thing after AddDevice =). A basic spawn block.

   AddAttackerSpawn = ACDropShip
      CopyOf = Dropship
      AddInventory = AHuman
         CopyOf = Actor
         AddInventory = HDFirearm
            CopyOf = Gun

This is saying that you want a dropship with a presetname of "Dropship" to be loaded with an actor, "Actor", equipped with a gun "Gun. You can add all the "AddInventory" blocks you want, though usually most people keep it to about two guns and a digger and a grenade, if that. Continue to add "AddAttackerSpawn" blocks until you are satisfied with your dastardy creation. Then, save it and start up Cortex.

One of three things can happen here. More, actually, but these are the three I'm specifically going over here.
1. Cortex will start up and everything will work fine.
-Solution: Survive your newly created onslaught.
2. Cortex will start up, but when you select a difficulty in skirmish mode it will crash. Boo!
-Solution: Make sure your activities is loaded in the mod's index.
3. Cortex will not start up and give an error, about not being able to find "Actor" or something of that sort. Boo!
-Solution: Make sure you copied down the data types and PresetNames of all the objects you want to load.

If you get an error that is not one of the above, post in Support. With plenty of details as to exactly what went wrong.

And that's it. One step closer to modding in Cortex. Congratulations if you got it. If you didn't, carefully check your work.

Grif's guide

Okay, so first off, get to your /Cortex Command/ directory in Windows Explorer.

Go to <mod>.rte.

Open Index.ini in Notepad. It will always be in the first folder inside Mod.rte.

After EVERY line except for Datamodule in this folder, add a double-slash: //

Once accomplished, the mod Index should look like this:

DataModule
//   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Blender/Index.ini
//   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Bunklearer/Index.ini
//   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/CIWS/Index.ini
//   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Crusher/Index.ini
//   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Invinciclone/Index.ini
//   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Kinetic/Index.ini
//   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Bunker/Index.ini

Note that the DataModule line is not commented out, but all the others are. That's important; if you comment out DataModule the game will crash on startup.

NOW. Copy EVERY includefile line from the mod. (except for my mod, where the last line is to an activities edit and not needed)

Go back to the /Cortex Command/ directory, and click into Base.rte.

Open Index.ini. Now, this is the tricky part, so pay attention.

First, paste all the IncludeFiles you just copied at the end of the includefiles of Index.ini, but BEFORE the IncludeFile for Activities.ini.

So, the pasted includefiles are after EVERYTHING EXCEPT ACTIVITIES.

That's vital; because most mods have dependencies somewhere inside base.rte.

Now, your Index.ini should look something like this:

DataModule
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Materials.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Sounds.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Effects.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Ammo.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Devices.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Actors.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Scenes.ini
// IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Blender/Index.ini
// IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Bunklearer/Index.ini
// IncludeFile = Grif.rte/CIWS/Index.ini
// IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Crusher/Index.ini
// IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Invinciclone/Index.ini
// IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Kinetic/Index.ini
// IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Bunker/Index.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Activities.ini

The especially savvy members will now begin to wonder where I'm going with this; now every IncludeFile that references the mod has been commented out.

Well, now what you do is, delete the //es you made in the mod Index. Once they're in Index.ini of Base.rte, we want them to load; but if we have both sets of includefiles load, then you will have duplicates of everything in the buy and build menus.

So, proceed to remove all the doubleslashes.

DataModule
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Materials.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Sounds.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Effects.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Ammo.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Devices.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Actors.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Scenes.ini
   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Blender/Index.ini
   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Bunklearer/Index.ini
   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/CIWS/Index.ini
   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Crusher/Index.ini
   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Invinciclone/Index.ini
   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Kinetic/Index.ini
   IncludeFile = Grif.rte/Bunker/Index.ini
   IncludeFile = Base.rte/Activities.ini

Now, go to Activities.ini, and add away. Note: You will have to add the Includefiles from EVERY mod you want loaded; it's probably the primary reason I put all my mods into one pack.

To change what craft are delivered, use this basic guide: In each mod .rte, somewhere, there is a root instancename for what you want to mod into Activities.ini, and a root prop type for it.

Nearly always, this will be one of the following:

• ADoor
  
• ACDropship
  
• ACrab
  
• ACRocket
  
• AHuman
  
• HDFirearm
  
• HeldDevice
  
• TDExplosive
  

Most of the time, this is fairly self explanatory.

If it's a door, it's going to be an ADoor.
If it's a dropship, it'll be an ACDropship.
If it's a crab, OR a four-legged turret, it'll be an ACrab.
ACRocket is for rockets.
HDFirearm just means gun (held device firearm), so any gun mod will use this.
HeldDevice is what Shields use; specifically the Riot Shield.
TDExplosive is for most bombs, and all grenades.

So, here's what you do. Depending on the mod, the particle type will change. So, first, what you have to do is find the prop type. Generally, in the buy menu, this will be explained for you. The Actors tab covers AHuman and ACrab. AHuman also covers Robots, so don't make it ARobot in your activities edit. Craft covers ACRockets and ACDropships. Hint: Rockets have one engine, dropships have two. Shields tab has HeldDevices, Bombs has TDExplosives. Tools and Firearms are both HDFirearms.

So, then, you have to get the instancename, which is just the name of the mod. This is even easier; just look at what it's called in either the Bunker Editor or Build Menu.

Now, open Activities.ini, scroll down to the Grasslands activities, and mod away.

AddAttackerSpawn = <prop>
CopyOf = <instancename>

All there really is to it. Oh, and if you're curious, yes, you can make AHumans fall from the sky. Or HDFirearms.