making dml via exports

[66ee31a22f110TheHEX]

i need general help understanding this process of converting my gamesys and mission file edits into dml. if someone would engage in a live chat with me for a couple minutes it would be a huge help. im looking at these export functions in the editor.

i have attempted to export a listing as text and as dml and i notice that they look different inside but im wondering if they are both usable a dml?

which export option should i use for this task?

can i use this same process for exporting my changes from a particular map's gamesys options? such as individual instances of midwives that i have changed non inheritable properties on such as projectile speed.

if i export the parent midwife, will it also export all of the individual midwives under it?

can i cut and paste all of my exported dml's into one single dml and have it contain all of the changes ive made to the gamesys and in addition each individual map's edits?

idk if im asking the best questions or.. if someone wants to just run down the basic procedure for what im attempting... so i edited many things in the main gamesys and also im making edits to the monsters in each map. so instead of having the gamesys file and the mis files, i wish to simply export all of my changes to dml so it can be used with any mods. should i just find each section ive changed, export it, and then cut and paste everything ive exported into one single dml file? or do i make one dml file for each file ive exported from? for example one for gamesys and then one for each mis edited. must i export each specific monsters file or can i just export the parent which includes all of those monsters for each map?

[66ee31a22f33bvoodoo47]

generally speaking, you would use export single as dml, and that would export all dmlable props of the selected archetype (and just that archetype alone) into a dml file. you would then clean it up (meaning, having it include only your changes, as you want to avoid duplication as much as possible. also watch out for exported links and metaprops, very easy to duplicate them if you are not paying attention).

once you collect all the changes you made, you put them into a single dmls, and that's your gamesys mod right there. thorough real game testing is highly recommended.

the process is similar with the map edits, but you will have to construct the dmls manually, no export function for the concretes. not too difficult, you can grab the code snippets from wherever (ex. type dump_props_full into the Shocked command window and hit enter, then see proplist.txt in the SS2 root) and modify them accordingly. one dml per map here, and each concrete object will have to be targeted by the map dml separately (that is why many mods use scripting to deploy props onto the concretes at map start - targeting each concrete object is a pain in the neck).

[66ee31a22f430TheHEX]

i set my mod to top priority and ensured that the pistols setting is correct but everytime i spawn it its broken. its set to 100 condition in gamesys..

[66ee31a22f525TheHEX]

what is export single for? i notice its different than the dml export. but i cant tell whats what. is everything inside the dml export but some things are missing from the text? or the text is just in the wrong format or wrong format+missing things

[66ee31a22f662voodoo47]

now would be the time to share the dml, so I could check it and tell you what went wrong instead of having to guess what could have gone wrong. if using other mods too, list your mod loadout, as they may be interfering (example if you have the Pistol Hybrid active, then yes, if you summon a pistol, it will be broken).

also have you read this?

[66ee31a22f794TheHEX]

ok yea that must be it. i am running pistol hybrid. i dont understand why its overwriting my pistol setting since my mod is top prio in list though.

i saved that dml webpage for later reading, havent read it yet. im not ready to do the dml yet because the mod is still not working correctly

[66ee31a22f8cevoodoo47]

top priority doesn't mean the other mods will not apply their changes, it just means the one on top will apply its changes last.

yes, it doesn't work properly, hence, share what you have and explain what you are trying to do, so we can investigate properly. unless you enjoy trial and error, if that's the case, then knock yourself out.

[66ee31a22f9b0TheHEX]

can i just delete the redundant stuff under each monster so the game will refer to the parent listings settings instead?

[66ee31a22faeevoodoo47]

not quite sure what do you mean, but generally yes, you want to avoid redundancy, meaning, props that already are assigned being reloaded for no good reason. //aha, I probably know what you mean - yes you can, IF you are sure this will not break anything. not all props are inheritable, meaning some have to be replicated on each archetype. don't fix something that ain't broke..

so for example, if your mod changes the amount of hitpoints on the normal assassin and the red assassin, then the dml should modify just those two values, and nothing else, so no reload of the AI model prop for example.

[66ee31a22fbebTheHEX]

like all the guns in the world have their own set of kickback settings and i changed the recoil so now i would need to change it for every single gun laying on the ground so i want to just delete the kickback instead so it refers to the master guns recoil settings?

[66ee31a22fd31ZylonBane]

Dude what? All the guns in the world DON'T have their own kickback settings.

The only guns that do have it, have it accidentally. SCP cleaned all that up years ago.

[66ee31a22fe44voodoo47]

but to answer the question, yes, if a concrete has those props, they can (or rather, have to) be removed so the gun would inherit the now modified props from the archetype.

this can be done via a mission dml targeting the affected concretes, or you can use some scripting in the gamesys dml to automate the process.

[66ee31a22ff96TheHEX]

what about if i delete all of the extra pojectile velocities under "a monster shot" for example i click "a cyborg" then "link: a ninja shot" and delete the velocity. it will inherit the main ninja shot velocity right?

and same thing "ranged combat" for "a monster" ? when i delete ranged combat, it also deletes the velocity which should be effective in killing 2 birds with 1 stone as long as it doesnt BREAK the monsters combat ability.

i tested it and i needed to add ranged combat back onto shotgun hybrid because it was absent, then i was able to delete "a shotgun hyrid: ranged combat.

quetsion. will it inherit stuff from further up the tree than one jump? or it will only inherit one jump up?

[66ee31a230094TheHEX]

i am completely unable to effect a change to the shotgun slug damage. i set it all the way to 100 with no effect. still takes 4 shots to kill melee hybrid... same exact number of standard bullets from pistol. im accessing the slug from both the projectile area, and the shotgun link. makes no sense.

[66ee31a2301bavoodoo47]

see rifled slug (-516) Act React/Sources. will have to do it for all shotgun linked projectiles.

monsters already placed around maps will have to have their linked projectiles edited separately, they already exist so changes on the archetype linked projectile will not affect them.

inheritable props are inherited all the way, number of levels doesn't matter.

[66ee31a230349TheHEX]

i am in physical/weapon/conventional/shotgun/links/projectile/rifled slug/to/rifled slug/sources standard impact. numbers dont change damage for my shotgun. it shows it as the projectile for my shotgun, and for hybrid shotgun.

"will have to do it for all shotgun linked projectiles."

all new shotgun projectiles are created as a regular slug, they dont have their own damage values, actually they dont exist at all. only the monsters have their own slug listings but they dont have damages, they inherit the main monster slug value.

it appears that each "a grunt slug" has inherited the damage from "grunt shotgun slug", because there is only damage under the latter.
but i believe my grunt shotgun slug damage edit worked and the issue is just my shotgun slug thats unresponsive. i went and paused all of the other mods and its still happening. only mods active were scp 3 beta, my scp3 mod on top which all of the other changes have worked on, and alternative start, despawn. just double checked all the values, resaved gamesys, disabled all other mods, started new game, and its still same damage.

[66ee31a2304c7TheHEX]

i deleted all the mods and installed scp5 and changed the slug damage and it was one shotting everything so theres some kind of weird bug going on with my mod and the scp3 that im using to play on because thats what my mod was made on and i never did dml's. so now im trying to move it to scp5 base hopefully by dml. im not sure exactly how to go about it again. i can export dml for all of my gamesys changes and just delete the things in it that i dont want changed, that should be the best way to go about it for the gamesys? the question im trying to ask is, i want to convert my mod from scp3 to scp5 by DML WITHOUT writing any DML because i just cant do it. so i am planning on only exporting dml from the gamesys and also the mis files ONLY. this should be viable for the gamesys changes assuming its compatible with scp5 gamesys... but is this method suitable for the mis changes too? do i just export the mis as dml and then try to find what i changed and just delete everything else? and it will only make those changes to the scp5 base maps?

[66ee31a23061cvoodoo47]

ok, should have mentioned you are doing hard edits, and not dmls, because if you are doing hard edits, ANY dml that exists in your SS2 folder will override the hard edits. if this is what you are doing, you need to rename the misdml folder, and gamesys.dml under patch_ext, that's where the SS2tool fixup dmls (meant for the vanilla game) reside.

either way, let me get this right - have you hard modded SCPb3, and now you are stuck with your work invested in an outdated SCP build? if so, then that was most unwise of you, and there will be a price to pay - no matter what you choose to do, this is going to be a tedious process.

confirm this and then I'll give you my recommendation - if you have decided to do this, then it would be smart to do it right this time.

[66ee31a2307fbTheHEX]

thx.

ok so i made a mod for scp3 a long time ago. i copied the scp3 gamesys and the mis files and was editing them and then use mod manager to supercede scp3. i didnt do dml because i didnt know how etc. and i came back to the game now and was finishing up my mod, and was too lazy to move it to scp5 until this shotgun slug issue and now i am forced to move it. but yea i want to do it in dml if possible so this doesnt happen again thats why im trying to understand it all. i think i should be able to do the gamesys dml fine just by exporting my changes as dml and deleting the extra entries.. but does the mis dml work the same?

"ANY dml that exists in your SS2 folder will override the hard edits. if this is what you are doing, you need to rename the misdml folder, and gamesys.dml under patch_ext, that's where the SS2tool fixup dmls (meant for the vanilla game) reside."

isnt it controlled by the mod manager pause/resume system and prioritization? are you saying even if i use mod manager to pause or deprioritize dml mods, they will still override my gamesys's from various mods?

so yea, moving my old hard modded scp3 mod to dml and to scp5. consisting of mis files and gamesys

[66ee31a230eefvoodoo47]

to make it short, SCPb3 is not supported in the current SS2 environment, whoever tries to use it in any way will have problems. this is standard policy - either you are up to date, or you are on your own.

ok, so, if you are unsure what you have changed in the gamesys, you can export all from the unmodified b3 gamesys, and then from your modified b3 gamesys, and then compare both exports using windiff. that will show you all the changes.

then you will have to convert them to proper dmls - no cheap way out of this. so you will have to learn how to read the exports, and convert them into a proper working dml.

example (full export):

Property "Creature: Time Warp"
{
   Protocol Droid (-174): 0.80
   Midwife (-179): 0.75
   Rumbler (-180): 0.88
   Grub (-182): 0.75
   Arachnightmare (-189): 0.65
   SHODAN (-196): 0.50
   Once-Grunts (-396): 1.00
   Training Droid (-4015): 0.80
} // 8 object(s)

say you need to apply the value to Protocol Droid. check proplist.txt, find the value;

ObjProp "TimeWarp"           // type float                     , flags 0x0000 , editor name: "Creature: Time Warp"
{
   "" : float
}

edit it accordingly;

ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "TimeWarp"
{
   "" 0.80
}

or you can use the full export just as a guide - full export tells me I need to modify timewarp on the droid, so find the droid, and export the archetype as single dml;

DML1

// Object Export of "Protocol Droid (-174)"

// Note: Reverse links are not exported. Links, receptrons, stims and metaproperties are exported with '++',
//       which will cause duplicates if the DML is used on an already populated object.


// Shape->Model Name
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "ModelName"
{
   "" "protonew"
}

// Position
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "Position"
{
   "Location" 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
   "Heading" 0
   "Pitch" 0
   "Bank" 0
}

// Motions->ActorTagList
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "MotActorTagList"
{
   "tags" "prodroid"
}

// Creature->Time Warp
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "TimeWarp"
{
   "" 0.80
}

// Game->Damage Model->Hit Points
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "HitPoints"
{
   "" 20
}

// Game->Damage Model->Max Hit Points
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "MAX_HP"
{
   "" 20
}

// Obj->Object name
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "ObjName" = "ProtocolDroid: "A protocol droid.""

// Creature->Creature Type
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "Creature"
{
   "Type" "Humanoid"
}

// AI->AI Core->AI
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "AI"
{
   "Behavior set" "protocol"
}

// AI->AI Core->Vision Joint
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "AI_VisJoint"
{
   "joint" "Head"
}

// AI->Ability Settings->Non-combat: Dmg Response Params
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "AI_NCDmgRsp"
{
   "Wound Threshold" 1
   "Severe Threshold" 10
   "Response Chance (%)" 20
}

// AI->Ability Settings->Idling: Directions
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "AI_IdleDirs"
{
   "Min. facing switch time" 5000
   "Max. facing switch time" 20000
   "Facing 1: direction" -45
   "               weight" 1
   "Facing 2: direction" 0
   "               weight"[1] 2
   "Facing 3: direction" 45
   "               weight"[2] 1
}

// Speech->Voice
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "SpchVoice"
{
   "" "vprotobot"
}

// Schema->Class Tags
+ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "Class Tags"
{
   "1: Tags" "CreatureType ProtoBot"
}

++Link "Protocol Droid" "Protocol Explosion" "Corpse"
{
}

++Link "Protocol Droid" "PD_Part_1" "Flinderize"
{
   "Count" 2
   "Impulse" 12.00
   "Scatter?" TRUE
   "Offset" 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
}

++Link "Protocol Droid" "PD_Part_2" "Flinderize"
{
   "Count" 2
   "Impulse" 8.00
   "Scatter?" TRUE
   "Offset" 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
}

but you only need the timewarp part, so you will end up with this (again);

ObjProp "Protocol Droid" "TimeWarp"
{
   "" 0.80
}

and now you have the proper code snippet. do this with everything, put all the snippets together and there is your gamesys dml.

[66ee31a231025TheHEX]

cant i just export all "archetypes"? changed and just delete any bit that is irrelevant to my mod? and then put all the snippets  together and use that? will it not work because i must necessarily edit the dml exports to work? i exported my shotgun slug and didnt edit it and it is working now as a dml though.

so the export function does not create an immediately automatically usable dml, it still must be edited to be usable?

[66ee31a23111fvoodoo47]

it can, but not always, manual edits are necessary most of the time, because again, you want to avoid needlessly applying the props again and again.

so, now you know what to do, time to roll up the sleeves and start working.

[66ee31a2316c9sarge945]

i need general help understanding this process of converting my gamesys and mission file edits into dml.

Also keep in mind only a limited subset of map edits can be done in pure DML. Adding new objects, changing properties on existing objects, etc, is generally okay. Adding new geometry is not really possible.

If you want your mod to be maximally compatible, it's recommended that you don't make any changes to map geometry or layout, or anything that would require the lighting to be rebuilt.

[66ee31a2317f9voodoo47]

yes, no geometry changes, nothing that need a level relight, and the physics props changes are somewhat limited.

the gamesys dml also probably will have to be adjusted once SCPb6 is out, but this should be easy once the dml actually exists (this is one of the main advantages of dml minimods, easy to update once something else gets updated).