Please Add me on Steam I would like help with making planets

Discussion in 'Planets & Playfields' started by Captian_CornBall, Jul 30, 2018.

  1. Captian_CornBall

    Captian_CornBall Ensign

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    Ive used SSG, it stopped working, I get a bunch of errors when ever I do anything

    the playfield editor is confusing and crashes the game,

    I just want four starter planets and a few planets I can fly to, ive been trying for four days and I get No wheree
     
    #1
  2. Captian_CornBall

    Captian_CornBall Ensign

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    sorry about the triple posts having internet issues
     
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  3. jmcburn

    jmcburn Rear Admiral

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    Creating playfields is not as easy as you might think. Especially for beginners. :)

    In the beginning I would suggest copying existing playfields and making just little adjustments one at a time and always testing those changes immediately in the game to make sure you didn't break something.

    If you already have multiple errors in your playfield, it's almost impossible to find them all.

    Maybe upload a playfield you created/edited here. Make sure you zip the whole playfield folder.

    First of all. What type of playfield did you edit?

    There's the playfield.yaml for fixed playfields and the playfield_dynamic/playfield_static for working with the SSG and used in random games.
    You should decide first, which type you want to create.

    For a start I personally would suggest getting comfortable with the normal playfield.yaml first, as you only have one file to worry about.

    * copy an existing playfield that matches the type of your desired playfield to a new name in the content/playfields folder e.g. MyPlayfield
    * edit to your liking using EPD or Notepad++. In the beginning only small changes one at a time!
    * quick tests of terrain and deco are best tested with runnning loadplayfield MyPlayfield from the game's console. But this will not load any resoureces, POIs, creatures, ... It's just a test of terrain and deco.
    * If you like, how the terrain looks, then copy the Akua-Omicron Scenario and rename the folder to your liking e.g. MyScenario.
    * copy the MyPlayfield folder from content/playfields to your newly created scenario content/scenarios/MyScenario/playfields
    * from now on edit this file
    * copy an entry in the sectors.yaml (e.g. Akua and change the name and the template Name to MyPlayfield.

    upload_2018-7-30_6-53-57.png

    upload_2018-7-30_6-55-34.png

    * Test you scenario. You playfield should now show up, if you choose your scenario and switch planets.
    * Always test immediately after you make any changes. Only small changes at a time.
    * EPD will create backups on every save. So make sure to save regularely, so that you can go back to a working version without losing too much time/changes.

    Hope this helps a little. It can be frustrating sometimes, but don't lose patience. :)

    /jmc
     
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  4. Captian_CornBall

    Captian_CornBall Ensign

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    as for EPD, I Copied and Renamed a Scenario, (Default Creative) There are Three Files (static, Dyanimic, and Debug). there is no Playfield.yaml. and when I edided playfield.static(it was closest to what I was editing) it crashed the game. I really wish thee was some sort of manual for it.
     
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  5. SilvRav

    SilvRav Moderator

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    no worries, have removed the other two
     
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  6. jmcburn

    jmcburn Rear Admiral

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    Ok, editing the static in EPD won't really work. It will open, but when you save it, it will also fill in all the (missing) properties of the main playfield.yaml. So from the moment on you saved the file, it's not a _static file anymore, but a playfield.yaml with a lot of empty properties. That's why your game crashes, as it's expecting a static file instead.

    The main UI in EPD is only for editing playfield.yaml and playfield_debug. But if you copied the default Creative Scenario, you need to edit dynamic and static,as this is a random scenario like the main game. Playfield_debug is unused there and just for debugging, as the name says.

    The problem is that playfield.yaml, playfield_dynamic and playfield_static.yaml partially share the same information.
    - E.g. Biomes from main playfield.yaml will also be used in palyfield_dynamic.yaml.
    - Playfield_static just consists of some existing properties of main palyfield.yaml. So the _static can always be exported from main yaml (or the debug).

    So i had to find a way where all three playfield types stay in sync, when editing. Otherwise you always would have to change 3 playfields instead of one.
    So the basis in editing playfields in EPD should always be the main playfield.yaml, so that changes stay consistent in all thre playfield types. The advantage of this is that it makes using the same playfield template folder possible for fixed and also for random scenarios. The game will choose either dynmic/static or main playfield.yaml based on your scenario setup.

    So in your case you could open the playfield_debug and when you are finished, save the playfield_debug as playfield.yaml. Then you also can export the static from there (EPD Menu->File->export static).
    The dynamic file can be opened in EPD (double click left in the tree) then the playfield_debug (or the playfield.yaml, whatever is found in the folder) will be opened in EPDs Main UI and at the same time the dynamic playfield editor will start and open the dynamic file. There you can edit the dynamic and save.

    But the easier way for a beginner would still be copying Akua-Omicron, as it is a fixed scenario, where you don't have to care about the dynamic and static files. This workflow is way more straightforward than working with dynamic and static files.

    Well, started a Wiki for EPD last weekend, but no information in there yet. That one will have to grow with time, as there are so many infos and workflows.

    /jmc
     
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