Hmm, i *think* king uses a specail kind of patriot...

You should be able to just change the ship in each of the npc ship files. In each of the mission folders (Missions\m01a, Missions\m01b etc.) there is a file called npcships.ini. Open each file in turn, and if King is in the mission there should be an entry for his ship - called "something_King_something" probably. Just change the archetype and loadout in these entries.

Edit: You should be OK with King, but note that some of the cutscenes specify a ship archetype and loadout themselves, instead of using the character's ship. If any cutscenes do this you'll have to decompile and modify them yourself.

Edited by - Accushot on 8/18/2005 10:16:32 AM

Yes, the cut scenes are the problem. I know about the mission-specific npc loadouts and I've solved the real-time play changes. That's what I was afraid was the case. That means it lies in the realm of the forbidden (EXE), right?

the cutscenes, no, they reside in the THN files. Decompress them and find the reference to kings ship, change it, and your ready (like INIs, you don't have to recompress them)

Yep, you're looking for COMOUND objects of type "spaceship". Change the "template_name" property to match the new archetype, and obviously the loadout as well.

Note that you'll need to make sure the effects etc. match up to the new ships. The ships in cutscenes are just empty shells, so effects such as engine flares are applied separately. You'll need to make sure you don't change ships from, say, a twin-engined to a single-engine fighter, otherwise there will be a reference to the second engine hardpoint that doesn't exist. This usually causes a crash. If you hadn't already guessed, THN files are a headache.

Bingo! Yes, that's it. Thanks, guys.

Darn! To paraphrase Quintaine, "I think there's something still missing..."

I made the changes, but there is no effect in the cutscenes. (Yes, I put the modified thn files in the appropriate mission folders within the mod.) In fact, it seems to have no effect whatsoever -- not even a crash. It just goes merrily along putting whatever ship was originally scripted to be there. I'm still unclear as to what the "template_name" property in the thn files refers. Does this refer to the nickname in the shiparch.ini file? The ship_archetype property in the npcships.ini file? Is it something else entirely that I haven't yet defined?

This has me pulling my (thinning) hair out. Sorry to be so thick, but do you guys have any further clarification?

Edited by - recursion on 8/21/2005 7:08:43 PM

To give you more specific info on what I'm trying to do:

This is the last bug in a mod I'm trying to finish. I made a new model inspired by the F/A-37 "Talon" in the recent movie "Stealth."



It is one of three identical prototypes commissioned by the LSF (for Juni, King, and the third is offered to Trent as the starting ship). Shortly after the developmental testing of the prototypes is complete, the plans are stolen by parties unknown (wink-wink, nudge-nudge). So, it can't be bought anywhere -- until it shows up on the Osiris as an alternate to the Anubis.

The problem I'm still having is in the cutscenes at the end of Mission 01a (where Trent and King are flying across the surface of Pittsburgh -- King still shows up in his Patriot) and the end of Mission 13 (where Trent, Juni, King, Orillian, and Von Claussen are inside the Dyson sphere and Trent fires off the "tinkertoy" -- everyone but Trent is still showing up flying the Anubis).

I was able to get Juni's ship to change in the scenes on planet Sprague -- and I didn't have to modify the thn files for that mission. I just replaced Juni's unique Defender variant in the shiparch.ini file (and the corresponding npc and loadouts, of course). It seems to me that there is the key.

Of course, I could be completely wrong.

Edited by - recursion on 8/21/2005 7:24:09 PM

which is very likely

No argument here. I just tried an experiment -- changed King's unique Patriot in the shiparch.ini file (li_fighter_King) and used the original thn files for Mission 01a ... still flying across Pittsburgh in that dang Patriot. Okay ... I'm thoroughly confused now. I've tried changing the thn file template_name property and the npc and loadouts ... and tried changing the shiparch files to match the original thn file's template_name property -- and neither has worked.

Any further suggestions?

changing the THN should do the trick. You sure your doing it right?

Well, it sounds like you're doing it all correctly. All you should need to do is find the line "entity_name="li_fighter_King_1"," , and change the string two lines below it from:
<pre><font size=1 face=Courier>template_name="li_fighter_King", </font></pre>
to:
<pre><font size=1 face=Courier>template_name="li_freighter", </font></pre>
in this case King will be flying a Rhino instead of the Patriot. Also, make sure that you are deleting/moving the old file and renaming the new one to remove the ".lua" extension.

This is King's entry from the npcships.ini in the m13 folder :-

[NPCShipArch
nickname = MSN13_King
loadout = MSN13_King
level = d13
ship_archetype = or_elite <-------- ship
pilot = MSN13_King
state_graph = FIGHTER
npc_class = lawful, elite_fighter

As you can see King uses the anubis. The THN's get their info from several different ini files so missing one entry can leave feeling totally p***ed off, and wondering why it doesn't work.

**shuffles of with a new headache**

Right ... I understand that. Yes, that's exactly how I did it. In real-time play, King is flying the new ship with the right loadout. One would think that changing the thn file template_name property would be the only thing needed to make the new ship show up in the cutscene. When I activate the mod in FLMM, it backs up the original thn files (as it does the other affected files) with flmmbak extensions. All of the thn files where entity_name="li_fighter_King_1" look like this (for that entity section)when the mod is activated:

entity_name="li_fighter_King_1",
type=COMPOUND,
template_name="fa37trent",

where fa37trent is the shiparch.ini nickname for the new ship.

I am totally bamboozled over this. What you guys are saying makes total sense, and I think I have followed your instructons to the letter. What I observe in real-time play indicates the npc and loadout data are correct, and the altered thn files seem to be correct with the original files "deactivated" by FLMM. I am assuming that the template_name property refers to the shiparch.ini nickname.

I have scripted the required changes in the loadouts.ini and all of the npcship.ini files in each mission folder. I have check, rechecked and triple-checked to see that everything is consistent among all the affected files. The mod plays flawlessly throughout the entire storyline with the exception of the cutscenes. Even then, there is no crash or other problem other than the ships all appear as the original thn files call out for them.

Is there anything else I could possibly be missing?