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FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS:
BRIDGE
COMMANDER SECTION
STARFLEET
COMMAND 1 & 2 SECTION
STARFLEET
COMMAND 3 SECTION
KLINGON ACADEMY
SECTION
NOTE: Armada & Homeworld
FAQ categories have not yet been created.
STARFLEET COMMAND QUESTIONS:
1. How do I get these new ships to work
with Starfleet Command?
2. I've installed the mod just like the
readme file told me to, why doesn't it work? When I try
to use the ship, the game starts but no ship is shown and
SFC crashes!
3.
When
I put a ship made for SFC I into my copy of SFC II, it works
fine but it's really DARK compared to the other models.
How do I fix this problem?
4. How do I make my own mods, and what
tools do I need to do so?
5.
When I change the shiplist file, it works fine in single
player skirmishes, but the ship is damaged and about to
explode the second I start a mission in a campaign. Why?
ANSWERS:
ANSWER 1: How
do I get these new ships to work with Starfleet Command?
So
you don't know anything at all about installing new ships
into Starfleet Command, eh? Let's start from the beginning...
In the STARFLEET COMMAND
game folder, there is an ASSETS
subfolder. Furthermore, there are 2 subfolders within this
ASSETS folder of note
when you are trying to install a mod file... the MODELS
folder, and the SPECS
folder:
In
the models folder are more subfolders - one for each of
the ships, planets, and space objects seen in the game.
As
you can see in the above picture, I have added alot of ships
to my copy of Starfleet Command!
Mod file folders contain the following file types: (Let's
use the saber class for an example)
All
you really need for the ship to work is the "mod"
and "pcx" files (sometimes "bmp" files
are used instead of "pcx" files)
Now you know enough background info to install your new
ship model! Simply follow this proceedure:
-------------------------
To install a mod:
1. Download the ship and unzip it. Put all the files that
were in the zip file into one folder and name that folder
appropriately.
2. Place this folder containing the mod inside the Starfleet
Command/Assets/Models folder
3. Modify the sfbspc13.txt
file to point to this new model (NOTE: in SFC II this file
has been renamed to Shiplist.txt
!!)
------------------------
Now I know what you're saying... "Wait a minute, Cleeve...
what's this sfbspc13.txt
(or Shiplist.txt in
SFC II) file business about?"
Remember the SPECS folder
we mentioned before?
In the SPECS folder
there is a file called sfbspc13.txt
(or Shiplist.txt in
SFC II). This file is really important... it's what Starfleet
Command reads to find out what ships are available to be
played, what the ship stats are, and what models (or MOD
files) to use for each ship.
First, you should know that if you mess up the sfbspc13.txt
(or Shiplist.txt in SFC II) file, starfleet command won't work. It's important
to make a copy of the "sfbspc13.txt" file and rename it "sfbspc13_ORIGINAL.txt".
(In SFC II, make a copy of the "Shiplist.txt" file and rename it "Shiplist_ORIGINAL.txt".
) This is so that you have a backup in case something screws
up. And it's easy to screw it up.
Now that we have a backup, however, we can
safely edit the sfbspc13.txt file to point a ship at the
new model.
This is where the "shipedit" program comes in.
Go to our tools page and download
the shipedit program - there are separate versions for SFC
and SFC volume II, so make sure you download the right one.
Once installed, run the program and open the sfbspc13.txt
(or Shiplist.txt in
SFC II) file with it.
All
you have to do now is choose the race and ship you want
to change, and at the bottom center of the screen there
will be a "geometry" field. Click the browse button
beside this field and navigate to your new model's folder
in the Starfleet Command/Assets/Models directory. Enter this folder and click on the model's "mod" file!
Save the sfbspc13.txt
(Shiplist.txt in SFC
II) file with the shipedit program and you're done!
Now you can play the game, select the ship class you changed,
and enjoy yourself.
Just remember that if you play a multiplayer game, SFC will
warn everyone at the start of a game that someone's specs
file is modified. This feature is there to warn you about
cheaters, but unfortunately it is also triggered if you've
changed a ship's mod file. When playing multiplayer, it's
good to rename your new sfcspc13.txt file to something like "MODDED_sfcspc13.txt", then rename the original
sfcspc13.txt file back to "sfcspc13.txt". It's
a pain in the butt, but I don't know of a better way.
Also note that is IS possible to add completely new ships
to the sfbspc13.txt
(Shiplist.txt in SFC
II) file, instead of pointing existing ships at new models.
Read the instructions that come with the shipedit utility
to see how to edit ship specs and add completely new ships.
I've never done this personally, so I can't help you there.
;)
Good luck,
- Cleeve
ANSWER
2: I've
installed the mod just like the readme file told me to,
why doesn't it work? When I try to use the ship, the game
starts but no ship is shown and it crashes?
Well, there are 2 reasons why this may be happening:
- The first, and most probable, is that there has been a
small mistake in the sfbspc13.txt file.
If there is a typo, or the path to the model isn't typed
exactly right, SFC does not comprendez senior. No model
will be shown. Sometimes the readme files attached to mods
are not 100% right, so MAKE SURE the mod file has the same
name you recorded in the sfbspc13.txt file, and that the
path to the mod is recorded correctly as well.
When putting mods into your copy of SFC or SFC II, do them
one at a time and test each one, otherwise when you run
a test scenario it might be the OTHER ship that's crashing
the game and you'll never know...
- I have heard that custom ships do not work in software
mode, that is, you need a 3D card and to run SFC in 3D Hardware
Accelerated mode to use them... otherwise the game will
crash. I haven't tried this myself, but if you've double
checked your sfbspc13.txt file and you're sure it's AOK,
and you're running in software mode, this might be your
problem.
Solution; buy a 3D card! You won't regret it...
ANSWER 3: When
I put a ship made for SFC I into my copy of SFC II, it works
fine but it's really DARK compared to the other models.
How do I fix this problem?
-
Well, the reason it's dark is because SFC II has a neat
feature called "Illumination mapping" which gives the ships
lights. This feature wasn't in SFC 1, so any ships you've
taken from SFC and put into SFC II will not have illumination
maps and be real dark. Illumination maps have to be added
by the original modder, so you can't add them yourself.
Custom
mods with illumination maps won't be possible until Taldren
releases a 3D max plugin that will allow these to be created
by the modders, and this hasn't been released yet...
In the meantime, there is something you can do! You can
increase the "ambientlighting" setting in your sfc.cfg file.
This will increase the lighting on all the models. Unfortunately,
it will lessen the illumination effect on the SFC II models,
but it's a temporary compromise.
***UPDATE*** Taldren has released the 3D MAX plugin for
3dsMAX 3. Some of the ships posted at the StarYards now
have working Illumination maps. These ships are indicated
by the green 'INCLUDED' field
ANSWER 4: How do I make my own mods, and what tools do I
need to do so?
Well, that really depends on what kind of mods you want
to make.
There are basically 3 kinds:
a) Texture mods
b) Modified Ship Mods (modifying
an existing ship)
c) New Ship Mods (100% ground up
brand spanking-new ship)
here's a little info on each kind of mod:
A) Texture mods
It is quite possible to modify the textures on existing
SFC models. This can range anywhere from changing a ship's
NCC number on it's hull, to making it look like a newer
or different version of the same ship, to making like it's
been converted by another race (i.e. the borg).
This is the simplest type of mod. All you require to modify
textures is an image editing program that can handle image
files in the PCX format. (or the BMP format for sfc II,
although if an image editing program can handle PCX files
there's a 99% chance it'll handle BMP files as well.)
I use Adobe Photoshop... it is the difinitive professional
image editing program. Unfortunately, it is terribly expensive...
around $600.00 US. It's worth it though, and if you've got
the money and want to be a professional designer, this is
the way to go. You can find it here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/main.html#
Unfortunately, while Adobe Photoshop DOES have a trial download
version available, it's pretty much useless as it will not
save files.
The #1 alternative to Adobe Photoshop is Jasc Paintshop
Pro. It is an excellent image editing program and will do
almost all of the stuff Photoshop will do. The operative
difference is that it costs $100.00 US. Plus, there is a
fully-functional 30 day trial version! You can find it here: http://www.jasc.com/product.asp?pf_id=001
As far as using the software, that's beyong the scope of
this FAQ, although if you search around the web you'll find
some excellent image editing tutorials.
In any case, to edit a ship's textures, just look in the
Starfleet Command/Assets/models folder for the subfolder
that contains the ship you want to edit. In that subfolder
are the ship's textures. Make copies of the originals (you'll
need them someday) , and edit the textures however you like.
Make sure they have the same name and are in place of the
originals in the model's subfolder when you're done modifying
them, otherwise the game won't see them!
When you run SFC the next time, the modified textures will
be on your ship! It's that simple.
B) Modified Ship Mods (modifying an existing ship)
This is the next step up from Texture mods. Modifying a
ship to look like a different ship involves extracting the
3D model of an existing MOD and molding it into what you
want it to look like.
Of course, there are limitations. You can take, say, an
Excelsior model and make it look kinda like an Enterprise-E
(Sovreign) class... but you can't take an Excelsior model
and make it look like a Romulan Warbird. The new ship you
create has to have similar components to the original.
Another limitation is that the textures will be mapped the
same way as on the original mod, so if you took the saucer
section of the Excelsior and stretched it to 4 times as
wide as the original, the saucer texture would look all
wierd & stretched on the ship in the game. (That's why
it's important to be able to modify textures as well when
you're making this kind of mod.) You can change how the
textures look, but you can't change how their mapped to
the opject.
If this sounds complicating and isn't making alot of sense
to you, it's because this type of mod requires a background
in 3D modelmaking. This is beyond the scope of this faq,
but if you're lost already and you're serious about modeling
3D starships, you should do some research on the web and
become comfortable with at least the basics of 3D modeling
first.
The tools used for this kind of mod get a little more complex.
(gasp)
First you need the SCME utility. this is a free utility
(written by Bradley Barr from the SFBtoSFC site) and without
it shipbuilding and modifying would be impossible. This
utility can extract a 3d model from an Starfleet Command
MOD file, and can re-integrate the model back into the MOD
file after you've made it look different. You can find the
SCME utility in our tools page.
Secondly, you need a 3D program so you can modify this model.
Because SCME exports the model into the Lightwave 3d format,
Lightwave is the 3D modelling tool of choice. Unfortunately,
if you thought Photoshop was expensive, you're in for a
shock... Lightwave is $2000.00 US. There is no trial version.
Check out the lightwave site here: http://www.newtek.com/
For those of you who don't have $2000.00 lying around, there
is a great little shareware modeller called Milkshape 3D.
Milkshape 3D can import lightwave 3D files, and It comes
at a slightly more reasonable price of $20. (That's 1% of
the cost of Lightwave) Milkshape 3D is shareware, so you
can definitely try it out for free, but if you use it and
don't pay them their $20 I'll come over to your house and
kick your ass. Come on! It's $20! Check them out at: http://www.swissquake.ch/chumbalum-soft/ms3d1x/
Now there are some things to remember when modifying models
extracted from existing MOD files. You CANNOT remove or
add any geometry... even one little vertex... or the modified
lightwave 3D file WILL NOT re-integrate into the MOD file.
The SCME utility will bomb if you try.
Remember the proceedure:
a) First find the subfolder for the model you want to modify
in the Starfleet Command/assets/models folder. Back up the
original MOD file in this folder in case something screws
up!
b) Extract the lightwave 3D model from the MOD file using
the SCME utility
c) Modify the model with lightwave 3D or Milkshape 3D
d) use the SCME utility to re-integrate the modified Lightwave
3D file with the original MOD file.
When this is done, the original MOD file will contain the
model modifications you have made and it should be playable.
You'll probably want to modify the textures to better suit
the new model, but that's your call.
***UPDATE*** Taldren has released the 3D MAX plugin for
3dsMAX 3. If you have 3dsMAX 3, you can now IMPORT, modify,
and then EXPORT MOD files. SCME is not required to modify
SFC II mods. UView and SCME are still required to make and
modify SFC I mods, however, as the plugin does not support
SFC I.
C) New Ship Mods (100% ground up brand spanking-new ship)
Oh boy. This is the big one.
To make a 100% custom ship, you pretty much have to be familiar
with both texturing AND modelling, or be familiar with one
of them and know someone who is familiar with the other
one.
You have to, at the very least, make the model from scratch,
texture it, make sure it is properly scaled to the other
ships, and create a MOD file with the proper shield size;
optionally, you can add weapon hardpoints and damage points,
and an exploding mod.
Since you first have to make a model from scratch, that's
where we'll start. You can use any number of 3D modelling
tools for this job including Lightwave 3D and Milkshape
3D (listed above)... but there's more...
Now, I'm going to mention another great (and expensive)
3D program... 3D Studio Max. This is my personal tool of
choice, both because it is an excellent program and because
it is what I happened to learn to model on. The student
version of 3D studio MAX costs about $1000.00, I don't know
how much the full version is but I think it's around $3000.00.
There is no trial version. Check it out at: http://www2.discreet.com/products/products.html?prod=3dsmax
When you make the model, remember you have the option to
add weapon hardpoints and damage points. These are free-floating
vertices that aren't attached to any polygons. (See the
readme file that comes with the SCME utility for more information
on this option).
It doesn't really matter what program you make the model
in because it MUST be imported into a texturing program
called "UView" When you're done. UView costs around $700.00
US to buy (ouch). It is an excellent texturing program,
(not a modelling program, though) and as of right now you
MUST use UView to make completely new models. Check out
the UView site at: http://www.cinegraphics.com/
There is a trial version, but it's essentially useless for
our purposes because it does not allow you to save files.
You see, the SCME utility can only create a brand new MOD
file if the lightwave 3D file it is converting contains
special texture info written by UView. There is no way around
this as of right now, but Taldren (the creators of SFC and
SFC II) have promised that a utility will be released in
the future that will allow SFC II format MOD files to be
exported directly from 3D Studio MAX files... therefore
eliminating the need of UView if you happen to have 3D Studio
MAX. Plus, this plugin will allow mods to use the new-for-SFC
II feature of Illumination maps! Until this plugin is released,
however, illumination maps cannot be used in new mods. The
SCME utility does not have this feature.
Complicating, innit?
As far as texturing the models, there are limitations there,
too. You must use 256 by 256 pixel textures, and as few
as possible to reduce the CPU load on SFC. SFC uses textures
in the PCX file format, SFC II can use textures in PCX and
BMP file formats. Reduce the color depth to 8 bit to reduce
the CPU load further, and look at examples of existing textures
to see how it's done.
The wierdest part about textures is that SFC will look for
textures of the same FILENAME used to texture the model,
but in the PCX or BMP format. So if you texture the model
with Targa files, make sure there is an identical PCX file
with the same name in the MOD folder... SFC will ignore
the Targa file. God, that sounds ugly and complex, but I
can't think of a better way to put it.
Now that you've got your completed model, you can make a
MOD file! So you've got a 2 options here, but they both
involve UView.
a) You can create a COMPLETE, TEXTURED model in any program
that UView can import from (UView can import many types
of model formats) and import it into UView, export the Lightwave
3D file, and use the SCME utility to create the new MOD
file
b)
You can create an UN-TEXTURED model in any program that
UView can import from (UView can import many types of model
formats) and import it into UView, texture the model in
UView, export the Lightwave 3D file, and use the SCME utility
to create the new MOD file.
In either case, a or b, you should have a textured Lightwave
file before using the SCME utility. To properly use SCME,
read up on the SCME instructions included in it's zipfile.
Once you've exported the new MOD file from the SCME utility,
but it and the PCX (or BMP) textures in a folder. The mod
file is now ready for use once you have modified the sfcspc13.txt
file as shown in answer number 1 of this FAQ..
Without UView, you have no options at this time. When Taldren
releases the 3D Studio MAX plugin, MAX will be all you need
to make new, illumination mapped models for SFC II.
***UPDATE*** Taldren has released the 3D MAX plugin for
3dsMAX 3. If you have 3dsMAX 3, you can now IMPORT, modify,
and EXPORT .mod files. You can also create brand new .mod
files and break_mods! UView and SCME are not required to
make SFC II mods. UView and SCME are still required to make
and modify SFC I mods, however, as the plugin does not support
SFC I.
5.
When I change the shiplist file, it works fine in single
player skirmishes, but the ship is damaged and about to
explode the second I start a mission in a campaign. Why?
There
are TWO shiplist files... the one in the SFC/assets/specs/
folder is the one you've changed, and that's used for single
player. BUT, the one used for multiplayer is in the SFC/assets/metaassets/
folder.
Copy the modified shiplist into the metaassets folder over
the old one, but back it up first. That should solve your
problem!
KLINGON ACADEMY QUESTIONS:
1. How do I get these new ships to work
with Klingon Academy?
ANSWERS:
ANSWER 1: How
do I get these new ships to work with Klingon Academy?
Based on KA mod installation
document by: George Faught (Hudgepudge)
Edited and revised by Cleeve (www.STARYARDS.com)
Step 1 - Preparing Klingon Academy to accept
new ships
Step 2 - Adding new ships to Klingon Academy
Step 1 - Preparing Klingon Academy to
accept new ships
Before new ships can be added to Klingon Academy,
you must add the folders and files that the Klingon Academy
engine requires to use new ships.
The following folders must be added to the
root of Klingon Academy:
Gfx, Ships, Textures, and scripts.
The following files must be added as well:
The 'Phasertex.dat' file must be added to the root of Klingon
Academy
The 'QBShips.txt' file must be added to the new 'Klingon
Academy/Scripts folder'
To download a zip file that includes these
folders and files, click here!
After you have downloaded the zip file
that includes these folders and files, unzip, and copy the
directories into your 'Klingon Academy' root directory so
you end up with something looking like this:
Also make sure that the Qbships.txt file is
in the 'scripts' folder as it should be. If you've followed
these steps correctly, congratulations! Klingon Academy
is now ready to be enhanced with any ship you choose to
add!
Step 2 - Adding new ships to Klingon
Academy
Before you add the ship, you must download
it. Ship mods can be found at www.STARYARDS.com and www.KLINGONACADEMY.com,
to name a few websites.
Once you've downloaded the ship you want, you can add it
to add it to Klingon academy. This happens in two simple
steps:
2a - Add the ships files and folders to the
appropriate location in the Klingon Academy folder
2b - Add the ship to the QBShips.txt file so it can be selected
in quick battle
2a - Add the ships files and folders
to the appropriate location in the Klingon Academy folder
There are different ways to do step 2a, depending
on which kind of file the author put the ship download in.
Ship downloads come in two formats: .zip and .exe
.exe files are always installation programs.
They are the easiest mod to add in step one because all
you have to do is run the .exe file. In most cases it will
ask you where your Klingon Academy directory is located,
at which time you simply direct it to the root of your Klingon
Academy directory and it installs all of the ship's files
automatically. You can proceed to step 2b.
.zip files are a little more work to set up,
but it's not really complex. They contain all of the ship's
files, compressed and waiting to go.
If the ship you've downloaded has arrived in zip format,
it will unzip to a bunch of files and folders.
Once open, most files are separated into 3 or 4 parts: ships,
gfx, and textures, and a readme.txt file. For example, let's
see what happens when we unzip the 'Akira' class zip file:
Now what we have to do is use a bit of deductive
reasoning to put all of these files where they belong in
the Klingon Academy folder.
First, well start with the easy one. There
is a 'textures' folder here, so we'll move all of the files
in this folder to the 'Klingon Academy/Textures' folder.
These will all be .bmp or .pcx files.
Next, if there is a 'Gfx' file or folder,
do the same thing and move it's contents into the 'Klingon
Academy/Gfx' folder. Most mods don't have Gfx files because
they aren't necessary, but they do add weapons to KA.
If there is a 'Phasertex.dat' file included,
you can add it to the root of your 'Klingon Academy' directory.
Finally, we get to the ship files. The
ships file will usually be the name of the mod (I.E.: Fakr
for the Akira), but sometimes the mod author makes things
easy by putting she ship folder inside a 'Ships' folder
so you can find it.
You take the entire folder and move it into the 'Klingon
Academy/Ships' directory.
Now, with all of the ship's files in their
proper positions, you're ready to add the ship to the QBShips.txt
file!
2b - Add the ship to the QBShips.txt
file so it can be selected in quick battle
Alright. The ship is there, in your Klingon
Academy directory… but you can't fly it yet. Why? You
have to be able to select it to fly it, and you can't select
a ship in quickbattle unless that ship has a listing in
the 'QBShips.txt' file
First, we have to find out the ship's name
entry before we can add it to the QBShips.txt file, otherwise
Klingon Academy won't know which ship you're talking about.
To find out the ship's name entry when you've
installed the ship with an .exe installer program, run the
program. The .exe author will put the 'QBShips.txt' entry
in the notes at the beginning of the snstaller program.
Copy this to the clipboard.
If the ship was in .zip format instead, look
for a 'readme.txt' file in the zip folder. This will usually
contain the ship's 'QBShips.txt' entry. Copy this to the
clipboard. For example:
If you can't find it in the readme or .exe
program, don't worry. It will just take a little longer.
You can go to the 'ships' folder and find the ship's .SHP
file. It contains the ship's name for the QBShips.txt file.
Open the Ship's .SHP file with notepad.
Right on top you'll see: Name, Class, and Race.
You take the Class name add a space then an
equal sign (=), space, and then add the Name in a new notepad
file.
For this example, the final result should
look like this:
F AKIRA MC = MC USS AKIRA
Notice that Name is usually listed first in
the .SHP file, but must be second in the QBShips.txt line.
Copy this to the clipboard. Almost there…
Now, open the 'QBShips.txt' file in the 'Klingon
Academy/Scripts' folder.
Paste the line under the appropriate race section…
this is where it will come up in the ship list when selecting
ships for QuickBattle in KA.
Save the QBShips.txt file over itself.
If all went according to plan, your newly
installed ship will be available in QuickBattle the next
time you fire up Klingon Academy!
Ka'Plah!
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