Topic: Anyone know anything about the .gf and .MCT files???

[mdutr0]

 So my Extremely early era mod is going ok except for one thing:

 When I put in my time-adjusted shiplist and my time.gf file, set to the year 2229 (-34) the game crashes when one attmepts to run a skirmish mission or a campaign....

Any suggestions???

Thanks,

Micah  

[Captain Ron]

Man you asking me to think way back

MCT files are the Campaigns and use these variable to say which one you will play and  loads missions for the particular race you play. So lets pick one apart:

GeneralFederation.mct (pulled from)

(maps that can be used with it, in this case all of them)
EarlyMapName="EarlyMap.mvm"
MidMapName="MiddleMap.mvm"
LateMapName="LateMap.mvm"

(what the game is set for Captain, Admiral etc)
DifficultyLevel=1

(which starting dates, 0=all)
Era=0

(What will start this particular MCT file can use either prestige total or a mission being selected
Prestige= at what Prestige will cause it to start if you set a valve higher than this number to start with then it will not be called ever.
Mission= when this mission is selected from the menu this one will be started
these are also controlled by the variables above as well all conditions must be met for this campaign to start)
TriggerMission="Met_10Patrol"
TriggerPrestige=0

(missions for this campaign to be won, these will be available plus the general missions)
[Missions]
0="Met_1Scout.scr"

GF files are the control variables for the game itself, you will have to much more specific about what you are doing modified here. Sorry if this one seems vauge but it is one of those areas that way to much can be done if not done correctly causes what you stated. Also if you cahnge these settings you can not go back to an old campaign but must start a new one.

[mdutr0]

Basically, I'm trying to make my game start at year 2229 (-34), rather than the year 2263 (0).

To do this, I put 2229 as the base year and made it year 0. Then I adjusted all the "year first available" and "year last available" entries by adding 34 to every value.

Then I set the time.gf file. I made the base year 2229.

Here's the problem:

The original file reads:

[Clock/StartingDate]
BaseYear   = 2263
0         = 0
1         = 10
2         = 20
3         = 40


When I change the base year to 2229 and leave everything else alone, the game works in campaign mode but crashes if you attempt a skirmish battle.

So, I changed the file to read:

[Clock/StartingDate]
BaseYear   = 2229
0         = 0
1         = 44
2         = 54   
3         = 74

This way, the eras would start when they are supposed to, only the early era will be much longer than the others since it starts at 2229. I don't want to change how the timeline runs, I just want to start earlier in it.

But when I run the game in this configuration, I can't seem to do either a campaign or a skirmish - I get a ctd either way...

I would appreciate any advice you can give me...

Thanks,

Micah  

[mdutr0]

 Slight Edit: The campaign mode DOES work with the altered time.gf file, but the skirmish mode still doesn't...

Thanks,

Micah  

[mdutr0]

Edit again: The problem seems to be that the game seems to think that the ships came out ~34 years later than they did....

Do I also need to alter the SFB dates in the shiplist as well???

Thanks,

Micah