PC Action 1996 May/PCA0596.ISO/gtarchiv/03960026/newinstr.txt

Text File | 1995-06-08 | 13KB | 269 lines

=====================
TIE SHIP EDITOR 1.33
=====================

INSTRUCTIONS:

You must have a copy of TIE Fighter or Defender of the Empire and
a copy of the Universal Game Editor (UGE1.0) in order to use this
editor.

There are a few types of files included in this package:

filename.mdl    These are the UGE Game Module Files
                They need to be put in the UGE10 directory
filename.lfd    These are modified files from TIE/DoE
                They need to replace files in the game
Ship##.lfd      These are files for the Imperial fighters used in training.
                They contain text info, what fighter data will be used,
                and what historical mission filenames are looked for.
                So far up to 13 ships may be used including Rebel craft!
                *Ship##.lfd belongs in C:\TIE\RESOURCE directory.*
flight.ovl      This is a TIE/DoE file - it is the Master Fighter Database
                It contains all the critical flight, weaponry and location
                data of every ship in the game.   PLEASE MAKE A FEW BACKUPS
                OF THE ORIGINAL!!!
                *Flight.ovl belongs in C:\TIE Directory.*

TIESE10/20    Imperial Ship Editors [SE10=T/F,T/I,T/B,T/A] [SE20= T/D,MIS,GUN]
RTM1        Rebel Ship Module I [X-W,Y-W,A-W] Allows editing of flight/weapon data
RTM2        Rebel Ship Module II [B-W,T-W,Z-95] "     "       "   "     "      "
Fighter Names    Allow Fighters to be used in Training Room

============
WHAT TO DO?:
============
First you have to put all the .mdl files in the UGE10 directory.
        move c:\tiese132\*.mdl c:\uge10
Start the uge program by double-clicking its icon or from dos typing
        cd\uge10
        uge
Hit the A Key for Add a new game Module
        The editor will ask you what filename.mdl you want to use as a "template"
        You will need to select one based on its filename
        RTM I & II is Rebel Training Module - Allows Rebel Ships in Training.
        Rebel Fighter Names allow that ship to be used in TIE.
        TIESE1 & 2 is the Ship Editor - changes Imperial ship stats.
Select the file you want to be altered
        TIESE use the C:\TIE\FLIGHT.OVL file
        X-Wing,Y-Wing,A-Wing,B-Wing use the C:\TIE\FLIGHT.OVL
Hit the return key twice.

Now you should see a list of the names describing variables
you can alter in the game with a menu on the right side of the screen.

Simply use the arrows to move to the variable you wish to alter and hit return.
The variable should have a red background and type the changes in.
When you ESC out of the program, all info is saved.

For example, the only variable that needs to change so you can play
Rebel fighters in missions is the Cockpit Filename.   All Rebel
fighters should use the TIEINT (Tie Interceptor) Cockpit Filename.

Simply type tieint in the space (This is the CP directory filename
that the program looks for).   Any other file will produce unpredictable
results.
        NOTE: Xwing CP files are NOT compatible and will crash the game.

===============================
TO FLY REBEL SHIPS IN MISSIONS:
===============================

You must have changed the mission that you intend to fly with a Mission Editor
such as TMB 1.21 or TIEDIT 1.0.   You will need to make sure the following
guidelines are adhered to:

1. Any Rebel Fighter used by the player may use either IFF code!
2. The Player's Flight group must be selected -  ie Make sure you have selected
   the Rebel craft as the player's flight group.   If no flight group is
   selected, the game will crash when it is started.
2a. If you select a flight group with a delayed start, you will sit unable to do anything
   with grabage in your cockpit until the timer or conditions are met and then enter the game.
   NOTE: The game does start without you and ships are destroyed while-u-wait!
   This can be kinda cool in entering into the midst of a battle.
3. You must have changed the CP filename in the editor to say tieint instead of the
   original fighter name.

Checking these rules should ensure a quick and simple edit that will allow you
to play either side of the game.

===========================================================
USING REBEL SHIPS IN THE TRAINING ROOM/HISTORICAL MISSIONS:
===========================================================

You will have to edit the fighters as described above but there is another step.
The ship##.lfd files have to be modified.   Copy the ship2.lfd file to another
location and rename it.

Type:   copy ship2.lfd c:\
        cd\
        ren ship2.lfd ship8.lfd
        copy ship8.lfd c:\tie\resource

Later you can simply rename the ship8.lfd file in your c:\ direectory to another
number and copy it.

Now select the Rebel Training Module (RTM1 or RTM2) and pick the ship 8 file
to be altered in the UGE.   You will change the species filename variables.
They are the names that the game looks for to access the fighter data.

Example: Let's put an Imperial X-Wing in the game as Ship8.

Copy the ship2.lfd file as described above.
Start the UGE and hit the A key to add
Type the name Rebel Training Module or something you like to remeber this by.
Select the RTM file
Select the ship8.lfd file in C:\TIE\RESOURCE
Hit enter twice
You should see a few variables marked as species filename or species.
They should have tieint in there boxes next to them.
Use the arrow keys to move down and hit enter
Now type xwing in each and return.
Change the name Tie Inetrceptor (T/I) to Imperial X-Wing(X/W)
Change the Ship Number to 56.
        ====================================
        THE SHIP NUMBERS DON'T MAKE SENSE?!:
        ====================================
        Remember, the numbers are in hexidecimal; 56 in hexidecimal is 8.
        Larger numbers are much larger into 10,000's:
        NUMBER          HEXEDECIMAL EQUIVALENT
        8               56
        9               57
        10              12337
        11              12593
        12              12849
        13              13105

* * * VERY IMPORTANT!!! * * *
You will need to use new historical mission names and create them using an editor
OR copy and adjust an existing T/I Historical Mission to use the X-Wing.
Use the following filename structure:
X-WING Historical MISSIONS:     HX1W
                                HX2W
                                HX3W
                                HX4W
Don't use .tie (the game is smart enough to look for that)   Make sure any new missions
are in the C:\tie\mission DIRECTORY.

Once you have altered the flight.ovl file to allow the use of a Rebel ship,
made a new ship file, and assigned new historical missions, you can go to
the training chamber in tie and after the Missile Boat you will find the
X-Wing.

===========
EXTRA SHIPS
===========
Up to 5 more ships can be added and more held in "reserve".
The recommended order is ship8= X-Wing, ship9= Y-wing, ship10= A-wing,
and ship11= B-wing; ship12= T-wing.

For some reason ships 13 does not work so you could assign other ship #'s
ships13 and and their custom missions (using unique filenames) and snap them
into ship12 when you want.   Here's how...

Let's say you want to fly a Z-95 for ship12 but you've already made that
a T-wing.
1. Rename ship12.lfd as ship12.old.
        Don't worry about renaming the missions, as long as you assign different historical
        mission names they'll be invisible to the game.
2. Make a ship13.lfd file by renaming and copying
3. Use the RTM module but use the M key to modify choices
3a.Hit return for the same template but select ship13.lfd for the file.
3b.Hit return until you get to the variables list.
3c.Change the Species name to z-95, the number to ???,the Text Name
   to Zulu95 Headhunter(z-95), and the historical mission names.
4. ESC out of the UGE and rename the ship13.lfd file to ship12.lfd

You have a new fighter in ploace of the old one.   Switching back and forth
is a matter of using rename command.

========================
MODIFYING IMPERIAL CRAFT
========================
MAKE SURE YOU BACK UP YOUR FLIGHT.OVL AND SHIP##.LFD files and keep them
in a safe place in case your editing adventures go awry!!!

REMEMBER!       ANY MODIFICATIONS YOU MAKE TO A SHIP WILL AFFECT ALL SHIPS
                OF THAT TYPE A MISSION FRIEND OR FOE!!!

Use the TIESEI to modify T/F, T/I, T/B, AND T/A
Use the TIESEII to modify GUN, T/D, and MIS
You can modify flight statistics without limit
        :Power (SPEED RATING - 100 = Top Speed: No shield/weapon/beam)
        :Acceleration
        :Pitch Rate
        :Roll Rate
You can modify Defensive Capacities:
        >Shields (SBD RATING * 50)
        >Hull Strength (RU RATING * 105)
You can change weapons and their location:
        =The Number of Lasers and ion cannons
        =Linkage status of lasers
        =Location in X,Y,Z of lasers
        =Number and capacity of Projectile weapons

Like the X-Wing Ship Editor by Mark Schlageter, ships have 12 racks
assigned #'s 0 through 11.   The first weapons must be lasers/ions.
The first weapon rack must be 0.   The weapons must have a continous
set of numbers (no gaps).
        Two lasers would be: Starting Rack 0   Ending Rack 1.
        Two Lasers & 2 Missiles:Laser Start Rack:0  End Rack:1
                                W/H   Start Rack:2  End Rack:3
        2 Laser,2 Ion, 2 Missile:       Laser Start:0   End:1
                                        Ion Start  :2   End:3
                                        Missile    :4   End:5

I haven't figured out how to add the SLAM engine or more than 2 warheads.

=======================
OTHER SHIPS IN THE GAME
=======================

It was discovered that other ships have limited ability to fly in TIE/DoE.
These are the TRN,ETR,ATR,& SHU.   All of these ships function normally using
the CP filename assignment to TIEINT.   They will function normally with one
important deficiency - SENSORS.   These craft do not have an active detection
sensor suite.   What this means is you cannot ID or identify anything when
you fly one of these craft.   If this will not spoil the mission, have fun.

A NOTE ON THE YT-1000/1300 CORELLIAN TRANSPORT: Despite my efforts, the Corellian
Transport has numerous problems flying in TIE - Your lasers and shields will
not recharge!   You would also be limited to either one or no lasers!
It appears that there is data in other files which overrides any alterations
to the flight.ovl file.   As of this version, the CORT is impractical to
play.

=============
FINAL NOTES:
=============
There are a few things that cannot be done - YET.   You cannot add a brand new
ship to the game (one that is not written into the flight.ovl file).   That
is because I haven't figured out a way t re-write an entire file and see if
the game will accept it.   All modifications I have tried to "add" instead
of alter have caused an immediate crash - the game wouldn't start.

You cannot change the appearance of ships in the game - that is most likely
coded in the species.lfd file and there are lots and lots of coordinates to
mess with - more time than is worth the effort.

Battles CAN be manipulated and there is a custom Battle Editor which can add
new battles and customize mission filenames as well as text.   I have the
editor (another UGE module).

Cutscenes cannot be edited as far as I can tell beyond fiddling with the
text subtitles in the animation.   I'm not sure if they use a custom
animator program or a flc file.

This editor would have been impossible without the tireless effort of
Jack Hartman - creator of the UGE 1.0 editor.   Please consider registering
the shareware editor to recieve upgrades and more modules from him.

Also to Mark Schlageter whose X-Wing Ship Editor pointed me in the right
direction to look for the codes and gave me a benchmark to compare figures
from TIE to XWING (the codes are almost identical).

Finally, this effort would have been impossible without William Call's
Online TIE club, EMPEROR'S HAMMER on America Online.   This club served as
the stimulus to search and design the editor.   If you're looking for a
club that has solid plotline, dedicated people, and tons of missions then
contact Mstr [e-mail] to join.