Buggy files, and how to fix them yourself

from Stardock Forums
Now that I'm more familiar with the base GalCiv data files, I'm noticing there are a few problems with some of the files.

If you are comfortable using NotePad, you can easily fix these files.

The following is the list of discrepancies I've come across, feel free to add your own. Perhaps StarDock will see this list and fix the files listed as well.

FILE: \Data\UP_Issues\AbilityBonus01.upissue
ISSUE: The file says ability bonus, but the UP Issue contained within is a dupe of the UP HQ issue.
REMEDY: Rename the file so it no longer has a .upissue extension, for example .BADupissue

FILE: \Data\UP_Issues\StarbaseTax02.upissue
ISSUE: The file says StarbaseTax02, but the UP Issue contained within is named StarbaseTax01, and there is another StarbaseTax01 out there.
REMEDY: Rename the issue to StarbaseTax02, like so:
//--------------------
UPISSUE StarbaseTax02
//--------------------

FILE: \Data\UP_Issues\TradeFed01.UPISSUE
ISSUE: The Trade Federation is supposed to charge you 10% of your trade, instead it only charges 1%
REMEDY: Change OptionVal01 from 1 to 10. Contrary to appearances, this is not a Yes/No UP Issue, the percent to charge is governed by the OptionVal of the winning choice. In this case Yes should equal 10.

FILE: \Data\UP_Issues\TradeFed02.UPISSUE
ISSUE: The Trade Federation is supposed to charge you 10% of your trade, instead it only charges 1%
REMEDY: Same as above, change OptionVal01 from 1 to 10.

FILE: \Data\SoldieringAbility01.ANOMALY
ISSUE: The Morale anomaly is affecting Ship Defense, not Morale.
REMEDY: Find the ANOMOLY Morale section of the file. Change Quantity from 2 to 4. (Yes, Quantity, kind of goofy, I know).

FILE: \Data\achievements.imp
ISSUE: The Technology capital does not double research as advertised. It's only granting a 10% bonus.
REMEDY: Find the IMPROVEMENT TechnologyCapital section of the file. Change Research_Improvement_Bonus from 10 to 100.

FILE: \Data\bonusevents.event
ISSUE: The event Pods01 is supposed to grant a Research bonus for the Neutral and Evil options, but it does not.
REMEDY: Change GoodAttribute/NeutralAttribute/EvilAttribute from 8 to 9.

FILE: \Data\bonusevents.event
ISSUE: The event MoNatives does not affect your Morality.
REMEDY: Change MoralityWeight from 10 to 5.

FILE: \Data\bonusevents.event
ISSUE: The event PrecursorShip does not affect your Morality.
REMEDY: Change MoralityWeight from 6 to 5.

FILE: \Data\coreevents.event
ISSUE: The event Research01 is supposed to grant a Research bonus for the Neutral and Evil options, but it does not.
REMEDY: Change GoodAttribute/NeutralAttribute/EvilAttribute from 8 to 9.


~SDC~
3,811 views 25 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Thanks!

Version 1.03 has fixed all of the .EVENT problems and the StarbaseTax02.UPISSUE. AbilityBonus01.UPISSUE has been deleted, the rest still need to be fixed.

End transmission.

~SDC~
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Really? I upgraded to 1.3 and my BonusEvent, CoreEvent, and StarBaseTax02 files weren't affected.

I could be wrong though, my files are pretty heavily modified at this point. I'd think that if the files were fixed that the new verbiage I put in would have been overwritten.

And they weren't mentioned as fixed on the Patch list.

Can anyone else confirm these were fixed?

~SDC~
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
Speaking of pretty heavily modified... I may have modified the 1.03 files at the same time I was modifying the files in two other directories. Which would mean that my previous post was completely, 100% wrong. (Except for the "Thanks!") Quelle surprise.

End transmission.

~SDC~
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
Thanks HawaiiFive-O!!! :D

I can confirm that after a fresh install and upgrade to 1.03 that these potential bugs in the data files are still as reported above.

PS - I pointed out that Research one myself (twice actually :notsure: ) and can confirm that the Reasearch Capital if set to 100 ONLY doubles the output of the planet it is built on (as it should!) - not the research output for the entire empire.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
You're welcome. :)

I should have been more clear about the Tech Capital, like the other Capitals, it only affects the planet it is built on, as you say.

I'll post more as I come across more issues. And hopefully most of these can be cleared up in the next patch.
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
Thanks H5O!

I can confirm, v. 1.03 does not correct any of these errors.

I have made the changes myself using Notepad, and recommend others do so as well...it only takes a few minutes.

If we make these changes ourselves, will our games still be permissible on the MV? Or are these considered unauthorized hacks/"cheats" of the data files?

(I hope not, because they all seem to actually be in the spirit of the game rather than not, i.e., the intent is to get these items to function as designed, not subvert the process).

Thx.

~SDC~
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
You're welcome.

I don't know what effect making these changes will have on your Metaverse legality. As you point out, I only listed things that appear to be bugs. My changes restore the intent of the files.

As far as the Metaverse goes, its a big unknown. It would depend on how sophisticated Stardock's mod-screener is. Would a 90% jump in efficiency for the Tech Capital be flagged? Unknown at this time.

Sorry I don't have a definitive answer for you, maybe someone else knows?

~SDC~
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
Thanks once again for this info. And since I've never been able to send a score to the metaverse, I could care less about flags.

I'd REALLY be suprised if restoring the effect of the Tech Capital to it's original intent would trigger a red flag of any sort..but who knows? :notsure:
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
Can't find the bonusevents file! I only have the core file plus the bonus pack, still waiting for CD to arrive in Australia. How can I tell if the bonus pack installed properly? (Other than SDC saying it is?) :notsure:

~SDC~
Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top
This is outstanding information I sure hope Stardock notices your excellent work and possibly include your wonderful event writer with the game when it is done being beta tested. Unless of course they already have one in the works. The UI and the program in general has been done very well. I will compliment you once more for your program and efforts. On behalf of the entire community we all thank you. :CONGRAT:

Now if you could only provide some help thinking up ideas for creating these events. LOL :)
Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
Found one..i'll use Hawaii's format:

FILE: \Data\coreevents.event
ISSUE: The Earthworms event doesn't degrade the planet quality when choosing the good option.
REMEDY: I think this is a bug because I couldn't get it to work on other events either..

Just to be sure maybe someone can test this event too..



Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top
Nephrinn, you are correct. The Earthworms event is broken as regards the "good" choice.

M
Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top
#9

Eugene,

Bonusevents.event should be in your Data file (Strategy First/Galactic Civilizations/Data on a standard install path).

If it is not, I recommend you re-install the bonus pack from SDC.

~SDC~
Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top
Yes, Nephrinn and Malleus are correct.

It seems that you can not adversely affect Planet Quality via a Colonial event. I've tried negative PQ's for Good, Neutral, Evil, and none of it works.

One tiny quibble, this thread was meant to be a list of things that a player using Notepad can fix themselves. This PQ thing does not fall into this category. I've added it to my "Stardock: Have you seen this?" thread.

Thanks for pointing this out!

~SDC~
Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top
Ok, I've made note about the pq planet event problems
Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top
All of the text file things, yes. As of 1.03.

I'm not sure if negative PQ Colonial events are working properly now, I'll have to check.

~SDC~
Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top
I can confirm that Colonial events that assign a negative PQ penalty still do not work.

And you still can't have a positive Good effect or a negative Evil effect.

~SDC~
Reply #19 from Stardock Forums Top
What?! You are ALWAYS penalised for being good, and ALWAYS rewarded for being evil? Doesn't this seem wrong to anyone?

I find the moral stance here to be dubious. Is this a bug? Or was it intended by the programmers? Does this relate to a specific, PQ effect - or to all of them? Or have I misunderstood your point?

Cheers,
Stofsk
Reply #20 from Stardock Forums Top
No, you did not misunderstand.

Currently GalCiv locks you into a negative value for GoodValue, a positive value for EvilValue, and NeutralValue can be either.

I wish they'd change this, but there's been no word yet.

The PQ thing is a little different, that's a separate bug. The negative PQ for GoodValue should work but it does not, making the 'Worms' event look a lot scarier than it actually is.

~SDC~
Reply #21 from Stardock Forums Top

You can also have a zero value for being Good. I'll have to check on it not letting you have a positive value, though.

I've fixed the PQ penalty bug.  There was code in there that wasn't letting a PQ bonus drop below zero. 

Reply #22 from Stardock Forums Top
You can also have a zero value for being Good. I'll have to check on it not letting you have a positive value, though. I've fixed the PQ penalty bug. There was code in there that wasn't letting a PQ bonus drop below zero.
End of quote


True, GoodValue must be less than or equal to zero. EvilValue must be greater than or equal to zero. If you can change this that would be fantastic!

PQ Penalty bug, haven't tested it in 1.05 yet, will do tonight. Thanks for the update!

~SDC~
Reply #23 from Stardock Forums Top
I couldn't get it to work in 1.05, it's possible you meant you've fixed it recently, in which case we'll see the fix in the X-Pack.

Thanks!!!

~SDC~
Reply #24 from Stardock Forums Top
Hawaii - hello. I've just started using your Writer tool and it's awesome! I've had oodles of fun customizing events and other things. Thanks for making it, and making it available for all to use!

Regarding the GoodValue/Neutral/EvilValue "bug", the way I see it, the purpose of morality in the game is to see if you're willing to sacrifice benefits for making a moral choice. Doing the "right thing" for a tradeoff of a benefit is, I think, a good idea. If, when I customize an event, I want an event to just happen, without moral implications (eg. Do I want a Research Bonus, Soldiering Bonus, or Morale Bonus), then I just leave the Moral-value as Nothing or Neutral.

So, to summarize, I don't really see it as a bug, per se.
~SDC~
[Message Edited]
Reply #25 from Stardock Forums Top
So, to summarize, I don't really see it as a bug, per se.
End of quote


You are absolutely 100% correct. In my zeal to get it changed, I have mis-labelled it.

It is a design decision I disagree with, not a bug.

I agree that within the context of the original game design, the decision to make GoodValue/NeutralValue/EvilValue behave the way they do makes perfect sense.

However, modding is about shaking things up. Limiting the Values in this way limits our options as modders, this is what I would like to see changed. Removing these restrictions still allows the game to perform the way Stardock intends for 'stock' installations, while giving us the freedom to pursue other options. It's a win-win.

And I'm glad you are getting use out of the Writer. :)




~SDC~
[Message Edited]