Editting Units/tech Tree Issues

[lordpalandus]

Hey everyone, I've been playing OP2 since its release back in the mid-90s. Its on my top ten list of best RTS games I've ever played (1st/2nd slot). No other RTSs out there seem to use the same techniques as OP2 has. Sure things like Alpha Centauri, and Civilization are semi-similiar with the colonies and such, but its not the same. I prefer OP2 above these games for its sheer complexity and randomness. Except for volcanoes, those are predictable

Now on to my actual problem. Since I've been playing it for a long while I've always wanted to change some things... like colonists per building (like how often is a medical facility only run by 1 worker and 1 scientist ; True its a future society with lots of automation.. but ya..)or weapon damage.  

So, I read somewhere on these forums that if you use SheetsReader.exe you can open up the file Sheets.Vol ... well I got SheetsReader.exe but, it doesn't work how I thought it would. It does read the sheets in Sheets.Vol . However, when I read forum posts, it sounded like SheetsReader.exe was supposed to 'extract' the sheets from Sheets.Vol instead of simply reading them in a Read Only format (no editting allowed, or Copy, or Cut, or Paste).

Now, I was wondering is there a workaround to this? I'm sure there is otherwise how would this community as a whole manage to edit things from the Sheets.Vol file. Personally, I don't know why it has to be an .vol extension. Being that .vol files can only be opened by specific specialized programs... whereas most compacted files can be opened with WinRaR/WinZip.

Or another solution that just came to mind, is if someone made a link available for me to download said files that I want to edit. Or send them to my email address.

Any help would be appreciated!

- Lord Palandus

[Hooman]

I've never really used the sheets reader when working with those files. It more of a viewer (reader) than an editor. The files are basically tab delimited text files. You could just open them with notepad, or any other plain text editor to edit them. They need to be extracted before you can work with them. The map editor should be able to do it. There is also the revolver tool (for an uncompressed vol), and another standalone extractor sharing code with the map editor (the source code might be in the SVN). You might even find unpacked files for download off the forum.

I'd say just try using the map editor. I believe there was some limitation to how it extracted though.


Keep in mind that you don't need to repack the files for them to take effect. If you leave the corresponding files in the Outpost2 folder, they will override what's packed in Sheets.vol.
 

[lordpalandus]

What is this Revolver tool you speak of? So.. if they override the Sheets.Vol... what would happen if one deleted the sheets.vol and kept the files within?... proly crash me thinking.

The files aren't in the download section of the site, so anyone could link me the files please?

And the map editor is the editor in the download section right?

[lordpalandus]

Also, maybe just my internet connection, but I keep getting errors trying to download the map editor off the site.

 

[lordpalandus]

Also saw something about a "VOLExtractor.exe" from someone trying to get sounds out of a sounds.vol file.

Would this work as well? And if it might, where could I get it....?

[Hidiot]

You will find the sheets here.

[Sirbomber]

Use notepad to edit the techtree files (multitek.txt, edentek.txt, etc.).

Use Excel (or some other spreadsheet program) to edit the sheeets (buildings.txt, weapons.txt, etc).

[lordpalandus]

Thanks... now I have the sheets.

I've used excel and I noticed that all the columns and rows are not in alignment. (in that, I can't figure out which is the HP and which is the common ore cost ).

Is there anyway to get each item in its proper column?
 

[Sirbomber]

Strange.  If you're in Excel it should be aligned properly...

[Hidiot]

Yes, make sure you're using the sheets that I didn't alter with extra tabs for readability in notepad (did that before I learned about excel working)

[lordpalandus]

Ya... the funny thing is that I noticed a second post by you saying something about uneditted sheets... 30minutes after posting the reply

[lordpalandus]

With editting production rates and ROF... is high value good or bad?

Production Rates example: I want to increase bulldozer 'bulldoze' speed by 50%. Do I double the value shown for production rate or do I halve it?

ROF example: I want to reduce the firing speed of the railgun by 10%. Do I increase the value of reload speed or do I decrease it?
 

[lordpalandus]

I forgot to mention these would be base values... not values changed by research!

[Sirbomber]

Lower values = faster.  Think of them as a multiplier.  Note that a value of zero will probably result in crashy doom.