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Czarina Julie

Czarina
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Apr 11, 2008
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Two previous threads have evolved into this thread. One from HOI DD and one from the AoD root. This thread should put the discussion of the new AoD Game & Scenario Editor in its rightful place, under User Modifications.

I highly recommend people make comments on what they would like to see, what they don't want to see, and any other suggestions. My two main goals are too automated (as much as I can) modding. This should speed up the tedious & repetitive work that experience modders perform. Second is to bring modding to people who normanually wouldn’t be able to mod due to lack of knowledge. This is not something I can do in two ½ hours lunches (like the HOI History Archiver). I'm looking at getting a first release (sprint one) out between 30 to 45 days. I only have nights and weekends available.

List of recommendations (as of 18 Feb 2010) that I will include in this editor:
*** Editor Wish List ***
  • All the features incl. in the corrupted vanilla editor
  • An easy way to rename countries.
  • An easy way to create new divisions.
  • To connect province number and province name when switching owner of provinces. An easier way to change ownership/controlled/core provinces
  • An event creator.


Here is a small list of items I would need some help for:
  1. Once the majority of the development work is done, I'll need individuals that can translate (from US English) to any other languages. There will be a language file for any language submitted. This language file will change all menus, descriptions, etc in the Editor GUI based upon a user preference/option.
  2. Occasionally I'll post questions when I get to something I'm not well versed on (example: I need to come up with a description of a certain value for a specific modifier).
  3. Once the first release is published (Beta), I'll need some experience modders to test (attempt to break) it. Later releases will be available to all. I just want to get a stable base first before opening up all troubleshooting to everyone.

The following languages that it will be translated into:
Code:
[B]Language	Translator[/B]
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
English (US, sorry Brits) 
Finnish         tuore
German          Smasher69
Italian         Titan79 
Norwegian       FiffA (NOR) 
Portuguese      tedescooo
Romanian        secretalex125
Spanish         Lendrich
Swedish         TeutonburgerW

Overview (draft): The editor will be able to create/edit scenarios, edit save games, and function in a Team Mode. The editor will incorporate click and drag functionality, Tip information, and eventually a clickable map. This will all be done in phases (sprints).
The application will be written [mostly] in C# .NET with possibly some libraries in C++ (if needed). I will be using MS Visual Studio 2008 for the development environment. This editor will only work on Window machines (sorry Macs).

Sprint 1 - Create & Edit Scenarios: The user would be able to select from the Menu:
Code:
File
     Scenario...
          New...
               Empty Scenario
               Existing with Dev 
          Load Scenario
          Package Scenario

If the user selects File, Scenario..., New..., Empty Scenario
A new (blank/empty) scenario will be created. All sub folders will be created within the directory selected by the user.

If the user selects File, Scenario..., New..., Existing with Dev the user will be able to select an existing scenario. All pertaining directories and files will be copied to another location on their hard drive. All changes and modifications will be made to these files, not the vanilla or vanilla patched versions. This development environment will have all the files of the selected scenario or a blank/empty scenario (if starting from scratch). This will include all global files (executables, libraries, etc) so that it can be played separate from ones vanilla/game playing version.

If the user selects File, Scenario..., Load Scenario the user will be able to select an existing scenario. All changes and modifications will be made to the directory the user selects. The user could possibly overwrite his vanilla version with this selection.

Sprint 2 - Team Functionality:
Code:
Data
     Import
     Export...
          a list of all available exports 
               (E.g. leaders, ministers, events, units, etc)

If the user selects Data, Import they will be able to import specific 'sections' (Node) of the scenario. This will include logic to determine what node type it is. This will also perform verification of type and id values so that they will not conflict with the scenario they are being imported into. An open file [dialog] widow will appear and the use can select the specific file (leader, minister, etc) file to import. If the user is in the leader tab, minister screen and right clicks a contact menu will appear giving the user the option to import. Once clicked, an open file [dialog] widow will appear.

If the user selects Data, Export..., ??? they will taken to a screen listing all objects [within that category] to multi-select (shift+click and ctrl+click). For example: I want to export all of my Ethiopian leaders to another modder so that he can help me. One could also export all the leaders in the scenario, all leaders from one country, or just ctrl+click on various leaders files to export. This functionality will also be in a context menu (right mouse button click). Example: I'm in the leader edit screen and right click the Ethiopian leader’s node. I'll be able to export all of Ethiopia’s leaders. Now if I were to right click an individual Ethiopian leader, I would be able only to export that one leader.

If the user selects Data, Import an open file [dialog] widow will appear and the use can select the specific file (leader, minister, etc) file to import. If the user is in the leader tab, minister screen and right clicks a contact menu will appear giving the user the option to import. Once clicked, an open file [dialog] widow will appear.

If the user selects File, Scenario..., Package Scenario this will create an installation package for a scenario selected by the user.​
 
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You are really good!
 
Woho! :D

May I ask for an additional feature?

Make the graphic show up as they do in-game somehow, because now, you can edit and alter the picture all you want in your photoshop etc, just to later find out that you accidantley saved in wrong bit mode, had the colors corruped, etc, etc. Kinda frustrating when you made 50 unit icons and realized all were wrong (with green dots all the way around). :p

So, a quick check to see how the graphics look in-game..
 
Heya love the iniative! :D

Good luck, and if HOI2 is anything like HOI3 then...eh...well ;)

If you need any help, I may be of some assistance because I'm writing the HOI3 Editor in C# :)
 
May I ask for an additional feature?
Make the graphic show up as they do in-game somehow

No need to ask. I've already done this. So when you click & drag (or double click) any type or leader file (Air/Naval, Laned, minister, etc) to the 'Edit' box, you'll see the picture too. Now if you want to edit/replace the picture for the leader, just double click it and a Open File (dialog) window will open allowing you to select a different picture.

Originally Posted by tuore
Dude, if you get this done, it will make modding WAAYYY easier.

It's not a he, it's a she.

Yea! It's Dudette to you! :)

If you need any help, I may be of some assistance because I'm writing the HOI3 Editor in C#
Sweet!! and same to you. I'm also using C#. I'm currently testing my HOIReader. Of course, which is the longest & most tedious part. Will try to keep it as user friendly as possible. A lot of tree controls (just seem logically since most of the files are just scripts) and hover overs for tips (actually explainations of the specific field/value). The interactive map (for changing provinces & province data) will be done with Silverlight. We use it at the office for configuring our middleware application.
 
Sweet!! and same to you. I'm also using C#. I'm currently testing my HOIReader. Of course, which is the longest & most tedious part. Will try to keep it as user friendly as possible. A lot of tree controls (just seem logically since most of the files are just scripts) and hover overs for tips (actually explainations of the specific field/value). The interactive map (for changing provinces & province data) will be done with Silverlight. We use it at the office for configuring our middleware application.
Yes, yes. Reading and writing seems to be the hardest part :p

Oh and I have just started to learn silverlight, so there is definitely going to be some "communication" between us :D

I give you two thumbs up on the interactive map idea
icon14.gif
icon14.gif
 
Oh and I have just started to learn silverlight, so there is definitely going to be some "communication" between us
Me too. Just learning it but since our new middleware application uses it (and the developer works for me) it shouldn't be too hard to get some lessons :D

I give you two thumbs up on the interactive map idea
Yea, it's a great tool. Click Drag a box around the provinces you want to reassign to another country and ctrl+click functional to do it one at time. Since it creates the provinces dynamically, it will support even mods where the map is totally different from orignal HOI2 (or in your case 3) map
 
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I want to know this, can a editor/mod work with HOI2 AND AOD?
 
I want to know this, can a editor/mod work with HOI2 AND AOD?
First it will work with AoD only then I'll create another defination for reading and parsing HOI2Arm. The file formats are different from each other so when I'm reading the file(s) (file if Save Game, files if scenario) into the editor I need to know what format (AoD, HOI2Arm, HOI2Arm 1.3, HOI2DD, etc) to use for reading the files and then use the same format for saving the file.
 
Czarina, where can I download this?
Oh and if its not too much, does anyone know a scenario reviewer or something to see if there are any typos or part missing from a scenario file(s)?
 
Czarina, where can I download this?
Oh and if its not too much, does anyone know a scenario reviewer or something to see if there are any typos or part missing from a scenario file(s)?

It's not done yet.