WC Workshop Online

I have just tried out a few things with the SM2.EXE.

When you change the campaign byte to 00 instead of 02, the game has much fewer issues than when working with the savegame trick.

Paladin is called Paladin when moving the mouse over him in the bar and his appearance is also correct.
But I haven't checked ship's behaviour and such...

By the way, I have tried modifying some text as well :)

rules.png


This is instead of "In the distant future, ...".
I have added more text, but all the rest of the intro was without any text. So there seems to be more to it than just changing the text.

Would be great to be able to apply individual credits to your new campaigns :).
Limit is at 700 characters text length.

Edit: the start screen shows "Secret Missions 2" and "Continue Campaign" nonetheless.
 
If the Campaigns are in the EXE and we try to make a WC1 and Sm1 mod to run in the SM2 exe can a selection screen be edited in for all three?
Click to expand...

I don't think it's possible with the stock .exe file.
The modified SM2.EXE would have to hold multiple versions of the same data at the same time.
 
delMar said:
When you change the campaign byte to 00 instead of 02, the game has much fewer issues than when working with the savegame trick.
Click to expand...

Indeed, that has been my experience as well. :) For this reason, I really think the best approach is to change that byte for WC1 and SM1 campaign and edit the resource references for the custom campaigns.

HCl said:
I believe so. I should be able to get you some info on this soon (this weekend, if not before)
Click to expand...

Just to correct myself, i was wrong: I was looking into my notes last night, and the info i have is that the trigger for the cutscenes is on the camp file, although it's not too obvious: whenever you change campaign tree level, a cutscene is triggered based on the old level.

As Shades correctly pointed out, there's not a MIDGAME file for the Win and Lose campaigns. It turns out, these are coded on the EXE as special cases, and are scripted on the EXE itself.
 
HCl said:
As Shades correctly pointed out, there's not a MIDGAME file for the Win and Lose campaigns. It turns out, these are coded on the EXE as special cases, and are scripted on the EXE itself.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have noticed the texts for those scenes.

HCl said:
As Shades correctly pointed out, there's not a MIDGAME file for the Win and Lose campaigns. It turns out, these are coded on the EXE as special cases, and are scripted on the EXE itself.
Click to expand...
Ok, I can experiment a bit with that.
I'll fire some more questions at you once I have done more work on the workshop.

My goal is still to have something usable up and running for all of you until christmas...

Thanks for the great support from all of you.
 
Unfortunately no update before christmas.

Creating a usable user interface is tricky, it takes longer than expected.
I won't have time to work on the workshop for the next two or three days.
But I am confident that I will be able to make a release still in 2013.

Happy holidays to all of you!
 
Update.

Finally, I have deployed a new version.
This one lets you edit cutscenes and series data.

Please be warned: this is so very rudimentary that it's likely to have errors and stuff.
Generating game files should be perfectly working, however.
It's just the editor webapp's UI that sucks :)

First, please sign up.
That's necessary so I can provide you with your private workspace without interfering with the workspaces of others.
This is also very basic.
Just fill some fields and go.

There is no HTTPS, so this is not secure. Please don't use a password you also use elsewhere (you shouldn't do that anyway).
After signing up, you should be transferred to the login screen again.
If your credentials don't work, try again. It may take some seconds for the user-db to update.

If signing up doesn't work, try another username.
If you end up with a username you don't like, we can change it at any time.

Always save your changes with the "Save" button.
Once you're done, hit "generate", download the files into your game folder and go.

Quickest way of testing your changes is to have a savegame.
You may overwrite the files while running the game in dosbox.
The go to the barracks, load the game, go back to the bar (or briefing) and all cutscenes have been reloaded.

Have fun and let me know how it works for you.

PS: in case I did not mention it, the UI sucks.
I will be working on this, I just thought new features were more important than a fancy UI.
 
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Nice Work delMar! So is this using the SM2 exe?

Also, the site requires a cookie to be put on your machine, for those who keep them turned off like myself.
 
Thanks, Shades.

So is this using the SM2 exe?
Click to expand...
No, so far, it is only resource files generation.
All parameters you can change so far do not require any change in the exe file.

Also, the site requires a cookie to be put on your machine
Click to expand...
Thanks for reminding me. I will address that soon.
The cookie would allow you to visit the workshop without having to login every time.
Of course, you're perfectly free to not make use of this.

By the way: the site does not and will not use any tracking, analyzing, etc.
So there's no reading other cookies or google analytics or whatsoever.
My intention is not to earn money but to finally allow the community to create mods (and maybe TCs?) for Origin FX games.
Running the workshop is cheaper than smoking cigarettes would be.
So instead of starting to smoke, I started the workshop :)
It's also a tribute all those of you who have spent countless hours with decyphering the resource files without being able (be it because of time, skill or motivation constraints) to create a UI.

Maybe I should also comment, why I have decided to create a webapplication:
  1. Desktop applications tend to stop working.
    Some of the early tools don't work natively anymore because 64-bit Windows can't run them.
    Sure, this only happens probably once in 20 years, but still.
  2. Keeping users up to date.
    Every one is able to download the latest version.
    But a web application is always up to date.
  3. Web applications are not restricted to desktops or operating systems.
    So it's really the easiest way of catering every platform.
    And everyone has a browser installed already.
  4. Persistent storage:
    You don't have to care about backing up or syncing your data.
    If you switch from your desktop to your notebook, you can continue working right away.
  5. Ease of use
    Has anyone ever had trouble running a Java application on the desktop? I guess to.
    Has anyone ever had a trouble calling a website? I don't think so. Cookies aside :)
Probably some more. Those have come to my mind first.
I hope that everyone is fine with that decision.

I know, the UI is far from perfect right now.
But once that will be fixed, there won't be a difference (usability wise) to a desktop application.
 
any chance of a user guide in the near future?
Click to expand...

I'll try to create a youtube tutorial soon.

How do I create screen videos with voice over easiest?

For the time being:
Currently, it only makes sense to edit the pre-created Wing Commander campaign, as adding series, missions, etc is not implemented in the UI yet.
I'll take care of this tonight.

Clicking on a Series in the tree to the left opens the according editor, so does clicking on a cutscene.
After you have made your changes, please click the save button.

Adding more screens to the existing cutscenes is already possible. Please make sure you enter some numeric value into the unknown field. Otherwise, saving will fail without notice.
I'll take care of this tonight as well.

If you click "Generate" above the tree, WC1 resource files will be created and a download window will appear.
So far, changes made in the series editor will be written to CAMP.000.
Changes made in the cutscene editors will be written to BRIEFING.000.

So, it's not quite ready for prime-time yet, but playing around with cutscenes should already be possible.
Cutscene commands (eg checking if pilot x is still alive) is also not implemented, but it's on the list.

I think after the most important usability issues I will work on navpoint editors, before starting to implement the cutscene command editor.

Suggestions are certainly welcome.
 
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I tried editing a cutscene and overwriting the Breifing.ooo file (on a copy of the game, not my first one), but it didn't work. Will come back to this in a while once it's a bit clearer.
 
Just a small update (which took two hours nonetheless, unfortunately):
the "new" button is now temporarily removed, as it's not working correctly anyway.
generating files should now be handled better.

so currently, only editing the original wing commander campaign is possible.
creating new campaigns is next on my list.
I won't be able to finish that today, but hopefully tomorrow.
 
Hey just gave it a quick try. I like it, great work! :)

Just a small note / comment: if you click on Download without generating any files first (if you never generated any files before), you simply get an empty Filename / Change Date table. That was a bit puzzling at first... then i noticed the message about clicking on Generate first. Wouldn't it make sense to put the Generate button inside the download tab? At least adding a "no files to download" message instead of presenting an empty table would be nice i think.

Anyway, keep up the good work! Looking forward for the next updates.
 
I've gotten behind in keeping track of this project.
I just want to say a massive 'well done' to you delMar. I'm really excited by this project.
Part of me is a little sad that I never actually completed my own project, but in truth, while I may well have gotten something useable done, just reading the back and forth between you and HCl shows me how massively out of my depth I was by comparison.

I'm just happy that it looks like I'll be able to fly (and create) new campaigns in my favourite WC game of them all in the near future.
I tip my hat to you sir!
 
Thank you very much for that massive tap on the shoulder, gentlemen.
I really appreciate that. Keeps the motivation up high :)

Last update for today (it's midnight over here in the GMT+1 sector):
  • Now displaying a message instead of an empty table if no files have been generated for a project so far
    Will still need to improve that, though
  • Adding new screens to a cutscene should be a little less error prone now.
 
Ok, could you please try again?

After saving a cutscene, a message box should appear. If not, some value is invalid or missing.
To verify that it really worked, close the tab and open the cutscene again.
Your changes should be still visible.

After that, generate and download.

Early alpha, sorry.
 
delMar, I can see where you're going with the drop panels and that will be helpful. They are not populating right now though.

The command line is still confusing. I think I have some minor rudimentary understanding. For example S1M1 debriefing line 2 "cmd:36, param:10" seems to imply go to line 3 or 6 based on Parameter. Which in this case is whether Spirit is alive. But param:10 is not always wingmans status. Soooo I'm still confused. ANY ideas out there how this works?

Also a reset button for each folder would be nice and a way to scrap a current project and start a new one.
I am using your tool to work on the Phonetics dictionary so this would be helpful for me.

A saved game idea. How about making all the pilots inactive until you change a parameter and then they become active?

If someone can make a list of what each facial expression does I'm sure that will be very helpful for delMar. It shouldn't be too difficult just a little tedious.

Keep up the great work!

Sincerely,
Shades
 
Thanks for the feedback, Shades.

I'll try to add something like a "Save as..." function, where you can save the current state under a different name.
I think this will be the quickest way of allowing you to make changes without losing the original state.

Shades2585 said:
They are not populating right now though.
Click to expand...
Do you have a concrete example, where a field is not populated correctly?
I'm not sure if I understand, what you mean exactly (probably my fault due to language constraints).
 
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