[READ FIRST] FAQ for CUSTOMIZATION & SCENARIO

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  1. Hummel-o-War

    Hummel-o-War Administrator Staff Member Community Manager

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    Welcome to our FAQ for MULTIPLAYER & PLAYFIELD Customization!

    This is Work-in-Progress..so topcis will be added over time!

    TABLE OF CONTENTS
    - Global Tips incl. editing .yaml........................ GoTo
    - POI Customization: Global Rules ................... GoTo
    - Create a Scenario .. ..........................................GoTo
    - Map Discovery Distance ................................. GoTo
    - AVOID/NEAR spawn for POIs/Deposits ....... GoTo
    - Regenerate POIs...............................................GoTo
    - Customize Instances (Settings)........................GoTo
    - Customize New Game Start .............................GoTo
    - Customize Item Parameters/Public Config......GoTo

    = New Customization Options =

    - Use "AllowCV: false" in any playfield.yaml to deny spawning or landing of CVs on this planet!
    - Added possibility to tag all neutral POIs so that they have white HUD marker (new yaml property: MapMarker)
    - Max Prefab Size Class: not limiting any more and setting 0 in dedicated.yaml as 'no limit'


    GLOBAL NOTE on working / changing files in the installation folders:
    -
    Everything you change OUTSIDE of the folder ..\SAVES will be reverted to default with each new update.
    - So if you change the starting behavior in \Content\playfiles, this will be overwritten with each update.
    - As a workaround, make your changes and save the file on a different location. If an update happens, just copy your file back.
    - IMPORTANT: check changelog IF there are changes made to the playfield files = terrain additions like plants or NPCs, new POIs etc; these indicate you might want to add your changes to the NEW file, and NOT overwrite it with your previous file as the terrain update my include bugfixes/changes to improve the terrain/game!

    Tip: Save your custom playfield.yamls in a SCENARIO! This will not be overwritten and you can start your scenario at any time. Of course you need to maintain your playfields if those get updates with a patch.
     
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    Last edited: Jan 30, 2018
  2. Hummel-o-War

    Hummel-o-War Administrator Staff Member Community Manager

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    = GLOBAL TIP: Editing .yaml files =

    1. Get yourself the notepad++ editor
    2. Start the editor
    3. Go to VIEW > Non Printable Symbols

    4. Check "Show all"

    This is utmost important, because a wrong space, breakline or tab at the wrong place will break the file and result in a Continue-or-Quit error!



    = GLOBAL TIPS =


    - All Playfields can be found here: ..\Steam\steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Playfields

    - To learn which playfield belongs to which planet/orbit, check the SECTORS.YAML in this folder: ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Sectors

    - An example of all settings for each playfield can be found in the EXAMPLEPLANET and EXAMPLESPACE folders!

    - How do i get to know the often-used "Blueprint Name" of a POI? > Start a creative game, open the libary and filter for the Prefabs. The list shows the blueprint-groupname of a blueprint in the last column.

    - Double-Click on a blueprint to reveal more options
     
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    Last edited: Jun 6, 2017
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  3. Hummel-o-War

    Hummel-o-War Administrator Staff Member Community Manager

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    = POI CUSTOMIZATION : GLOBAL RULES =

    1. Each playfield.yaml has an order in which the POIs are placed from the POI list by the algorythm: It is processed from TOP to BOTTOM of the list! See the EXAMPLEPLANET or EXPAMPLESPACE files!

    - Randomly spawned POIS are listed in the line "POIS > Random" (For Survival)
    - Fixed-position spawned POIS are listed below in the Line "POIS > Fixed" (For Creative)*

    *The fixed position can also be used in Survival (f.ex for Scenarios). See Table of Contents for more Info.

    2. Each playfield has, depending on the seed and the overall terrain map, limited "space" where to place POIs. So it might happen hat the algorythm can not place a POI that is on the lower end of the list on a planet with only small islands.

    3. If you want to spawn a POI in a relationship to another POI (AVOID/NEAR), you need to place the Child-POI ( which should be moved close to your target-POI ) BELOW the target-POI in the yaml list. If you do it the other way round, the placement has a high chance to fail.

    4. If you wan to use the NEW GAME START with a Starter-POI you need to place THIS POI at the very top of the list of POIs. Otherwise the placemenent might fail or it will not spawn at all (see Rule 1-3)

    5. The DRONE BASE always needs to be at the spot #1 or #2 of your POI list. Otherwise you might run into issues, as non-placement of a Dronebase might technically break your playfield or major functionalities.

    6. You should never set upa a playfield WITHOUT a DRONEBASE for several other reasons as well.

    7. Suggested order:

    a. Wreckage POI (if used)
    b. Dronebase
    c. PatrolVessel Base (if used)
    d. Trading Station (if used)
     
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    Last edited: May 18, 2017
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  4. Hummel-o-War

    Hummel-o-War Administrator Staff Member Community Manager

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    = CREATE A SCENARIO =

    ...is very easy, but you need to follow some rules.

    To start a new scenario, follow this guide.

    1. Go to ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Scenarios
    2. Create a new folder. The name of the folder will be used as the scenario name!
    3. Create the following folders as sub-directories to your tutorial mainfolder
    - Extras
    - Playfields
    - Prefabs
    - Sectors
    - Configuration
    4. Create a sub-folder \PDA below the \EXTRAS folder

    Example: \Content\Scenarios\MyNewScenario\Extras\PDA

    5. Copy the sectors.yaml file from ...\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Sectors to your tutorial \Sectors folder

    NOTE: the sectors.yaml file is the ONLY file you really need in order to start a new scenario. As long as the content of the file is not changed, the game will pull any playfield, POI and Prefab from the default \Content folder! In this context, and with our example, you would just start a standard, default game ;-)

    Please note: changes you make to the default CONTENT\PLAYFIELDS folder (or any folder) outside of your Scenario folder, will be overwritten with each game update. So while you are working on your scenario playfields, custom PDA or other stuff, save them directly to your scenarios folders!

    6. Add a file "description.txt" to the main folder of your scenario. You can add a short text which will be displayed on the GAME START menu on the top-right info box

    7. You can also add a preview picture in the same folder.
    Nameing: preview.jpg
    Size: 1280*720px (max)
    Type: JPG only

    - How to setup -

    Q: How do i set up my own scenario then?
    A: Some examples:

    - If you want to use different names of the planets or orbits, change them in the sectors.yaml
    - If you want to use custom playfield.yamls, you need to a) copy those files into the PLAYFIELDS folder of your scenario AND b) you need to change the references in the sectors.yaml file of your scenario
    - If you want to use custom POIs and Prefabs in your custom playfield.yamls, you need to copy those to the PREFABS folder of your scenario! This is utmost important, because any change you make in the default folders of the game (outside your scenario) will be overwritten with each update!
    - If you want to use the default POIs and Prefabs with your custom playfield.yamls, you do NOT need to copy those over. The game will fetch them from the default folder!
    - Same applies if you just want to use the default playfield.yamls. You do NOT need to copy them over to your scenario folders.
    - If you want to create a custom PDA, same as before: you need to copy the PDA.yaml and PDA.csv to your scenarios \EXTRAS\PDA folder
    - If you want to change the pricing for Traders or create/customize them, you need to move/create the files to your scenarios \CONFIGURATION folder.

    Q: Can i just copy a default savegame in the scenario folder and use it as a scenario?
    A: No, this does NOT work. Uploading to workshop will be blocked.

    Q: Is there a limit how large a scenario can be for uploading to the workshop?
    A: Yes, currently 10MB
     
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    Last edited: Jul 16, 2017
  5. Hummel-o-War

    Hummel-o-War Administrator Staff Member Community Manager

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    = MAP DISCOVERY DISTANCE =

    In 6.0 you can set the discovery distance for which the name-tag of a POI is displayed. This does not make the POI structure "invisible" or "more visible"

    - How to customize -

    1. Open the playfield you want to customize with Notpad++ (or a similar editor).
    2. Find a POI for the regeneration key. Example: Abandoned Mine
    3. Add the colored segments to any POIs "Properties" chapter where you want to have the discovery range changed from the default

    Q: Can i add this also to ore deposits?
    A: Not possible at the moment.
     
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    Last edited: May 18, 2017
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  6. Hummel-o-War

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    = PLACE POI/DEPOSITS CLOSE TO OTHER POIS or AVOID =

    6.0 has added the possibility to place certain POIs or Ore Deposits in the vicinity of other POIs...or avoid exactly that.

    - How to customize -

    1. Open the playfield you want to customize with Notpad++ (or a similar editor).
    2. Find a POI for the regeneration key. Example: Abandoned Mine
    3. Add the colored segments to any POI you want to have in a relationship with another POI (or avoid)

    Q: Which settings can i use?
    A1. For placing a POI with another POI there are two relationships
    1. AVOID
    2. NEAR
    Use the blueprint-group name in [ ] + give a distance in meters.
    You can also add more than one POI for NEAR and AVOID like [DroneBaseAkua, Wreckage]

    A2. For placing an ore deposit theres is only a single setting (no AVOID)
    For Ore deposits, use the name in " " and seperate with a comma if you want to add more. You can give a relative estimated range ( "1-2") of how many deposits you want to see or an absolute ("1").

    The deposit-placement algorythm will try to follow this (but sometimes it might not succeed due to other rules set in the same yaml).
     
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    Last edited: May 18, 2017
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  7. Hummel-o-War

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    = REGENERATE POIS =

    Q: Is regeneration an optional or mandatory setting?
    A: Optional. You can customize it for each POI and for each playfield individually. The the playfield.yaml in the "EXAMPLEPLAYFIELD" folder!

    Q: Does this work for everyhting or just POIs?
    A1: Just for POIs that are spawned game-side (planet and orbit)
    A2: It does not work for player-spawned structures and it does not work for the Asteroids in Space.

    - How to customize -

    1. Open the playfield you want to customize with Notpad++ (or a similar editor).
    2. Find a POI for the regeneration key. Example: Abandoned Mine
    3. Add the colored "Properties" key segment to any POI you want to allow to regenerate

    Q: How is the regeneration triggered?
    A: The regeneration timer kicks in as soon as a player touched the destroyed POI "the last time".
    (What means, flying in godmode or godmode invisible will not necessarily trigger the counter!)

    Q: Can i stay in the POI until it is regenerated?
    A: No. If you or any other player stays inside a POI, the regeneration timer will not start. You need to leave the building and have some distance in between (~200m)

    Q: Can i still capture a POI when it is set to regenerate?
    A: No. The regeneration will overwrite all of your changes

    Q: Does the regeneration work for ALL POIs in space and on a planet?
    A: Basically YES. If it does not, please report in our bug-thread!!

    Q: Regeneration also works for Singleplayer?!
    A: It is deactivated by default. But you can re-enable it of course!

    Q: Does this work for Resource-Asteroids (Voxel Asteroids) in Space?
    A: Yes, just use the same parameters with just one difference: Instead of touching the Asteroid, you need to remove a resource block.

    Important note: DO NOT USE regenerate with POIs that are "burried" (Like Crashed Ship, Talos, etc) as terrain will be indestructible for Regeneration-tagged locations!
     
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    Last edited: Jun 6, 2017
  8. Hummel-o-War

    Hummel-o-War Administrator Staff Member Community Manager

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    = CUSTOMIZE INSTANCE =

    Q: How do i create an instance in the first place?
    A: Go to .../CONTENT/PLAYFIELDS and..
    1. Copy a playfield folder and rename (example: MyInstance)
    2. Add the Instance to the sectors.yaml. Example:
    Note:
    - You can rename "Instance Orbit" and "Instance Planet" to anything you like
    - If your instance is a planet, you need to add an orbit
    - If your instance is an orbit, you do NOT need to add a planet!


    - How to customize -

    1. Open the playfield you want to customize with Notpad++ (or a similar editor).
    2. Find the line with "INSTANCE"
    3. Use the following paramters to adjust the behavior of the instance
    If your copied playfield has not INSTANCE entry, open the playfield.yaml inside the folder "InstanceTaipane" or "ExamplePlanet" and copy "Instance" block to your playfield file!

    PLEASE READ THE TIPS ABOUT HANDLING YAMLS first!
     
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    Last edited: Mar 6, 2018
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  9. Hummel-o-War

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    = CUSTOMIZE NEW GAME START =

    - Setup New Game Start: Starting Parameters and Items -

    1. Find the playfield.yaml for the planet you want to change and open with an editor like Notepad++. The playfields can be found here: ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Playfields
    Example: Akua = folder "temperate" > open the playfield.yaml in this folder to edit Akua
    2. Find the line starting with " FixedPlayerStart:"
    3. Find the code block starting with "- Mode: Survival"
    3.1 For an escape pod start, you'll see the following (Akua)
    3.2 For a base spawn, you'll see the following (Masperon)
    Parameters:
    - SPAWN = defines if EscapePod or Structure
    - STRUCTURE = only used for EscapePod spawn. Add the name of the blueprint group/blueprint name you want to use (you need to add this structure to the POI list. See below)
    - ARMOR: Set the type of player armor: ArmorLight, ArmorMedium, ArmorHeavy
    - ITEMS: Set the items for the 3 difficulty settings.

    Notes regarding ITEMS setup:
    - The difficulty settings are defined by adding the items in ".." and seperate them by a comma like ["Items,For,Easy","Items,For,Medium","Items,For,Hard"]
    - If you only add an item name like "Pistol" only one Pistol will be given. If you want to add an amount use "Itemname:Amount" like "Pistol:10"
    - The NAMES of items you can use here, can be retrieved from the FIRST column of the localization.csv ( ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Extras\localization.csv > import data to excel or open via notepad++)

    - Setup New Game Start: Personal Container content -

    You always (and independent from the Escape Pod/Base spawn items) change the loadout of the personal container of the hideout. This container does NOT adapt to the difficulty level!
    1. In the playfield.yaml, find the code block that starts with "- GroupName: Wreckage"
    2. Check if Playerstart is set to TRUE
    3. Change the loadout in the block "Properties > Value". The setup is similar as the ITEM parameter above, except there is no difficulty level separation possible.
    Note: You can use any POI, even custom made, as a hideout this way! You just need to add the PLAYER SPAWN and the PLAYER CONTAINER blocks (build in creative mode!).

    (Refer to this topic how to add a custom POI to your singleplayer or multiplayer savegame: http://empyrion.gamepedia.com/Create_and_insert_customized_POIs)

    - Setup New game start: disable -

    Q: I completely dislike the new game start and the wreckage POI..can i change this back to the 5.x version?
    A: Of course!
    You just need to put all the starting-content to the FIXED START (description how to add, see above) and then deactivate the code in the playfield.yaml by adding a # in each line of a command that you want to disable:
    - To just disable the wreckage poi spawning feature, add a # to the Playerstart + Properties lines. This way you'll keep the wreckages just as POIs. (lines marked with a red # in the example below)
    - To remove the wreckages alltogether, add a # in front of each line.
     
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  10. Hummel-o-War

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    = CUSTOMIZE ITEM PARAMETERS / Public Config =

    We added a config file that allows you to change all relevant parameters for almost all blocks/items/templates/entities used in the game. For example, you can change the damage value of the minigun etc.

    - The config file can be found here:
    ...\Steam\steamapps\common\Empyrion - Galactic Survival\Content\Configuration\Config_Example.ecf

    - To activate it, rename Config_Example.ecf into Config.ecf.

    > You need to RESTART the game for the changes to take effect!

    Please note: the config currently cannot be included in a scenario, but needs to be placed in the main folder as described above.
     
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