Help!

[nexor]

I hope you guys are going to allow us dumb asses (speaking for myself) to share in your fun once you've done all your moddings, I've been following all your posts, and the more you guys post the more confused i'm getting, and I haven't even attempted any modding yet!!     :D :D :D   (;\

By the time you guys are done with this game not even the devs will recognise it...... :-D

[PZ]

Sounds like you'd like to get into the modding thing, nexor - what assistance do you need?  ;)

[nexor]

Hi PZ, good to chat to you again mate, hope you all are well.....

Never learned how to scratch around in programming or the likes, so a lot of the jargon used by you guys is unknown to me so I have no clue where to start. I would only like to change (mod) a few things.  jump a bit higher so I could get onto ledges from where I can launch my attacks, have all the weapons available from the beginning and alter the power of one or two of the weapons.
I downloaded what I believe is the fc2 modding tool and also the gamemodesconfig.xml file, then I went through all Art's postings but the more I read the more confused I get. He talks about running the modding tool....................????? :D

[PZ]

I'm sure we can get you started - have you installed the modding tools?

Once you do that, we can upload a gamemodesconfig.xml file that you can use to build your patch files.  It really is quite simple once you do it one time.  We can get you started one step at a time.

[nexor]

I have copied the folder to the fc 2 folder, that is all

[PZ]

OK, let's start completely from the start.  Your game needs to be version 1.03 - while someone mentioned that it needs to be the Steam patch, mine seems to w@&k fine even though I do not have the Steam patch installed, just the "regular" patch to 1.03).

Here is the contents of the readme.txt file in the Gibbed tools zip file:

Preferably you should extract this package so it resides in the Far Cry 2 directory under a directory called modding,

ie: Q:\Games\Far Cry 2\modding\README.txt (it's me!)


Run bootstrap.bat to get up and running, this will:
  - Unpack patch.fat/dat into a good location for use,
  - Convert the various entity libraries to viewable formats,
  - Create a basic mod and a batch file to build it (build_patch.bat).


You can then modify the data in mymod directory, and build_patch.bat will build a patch.fat\dat in the modding directory you can then copy to Data_Win32 (be sure to back up the originals somewhere!)

First you'll need to find your FarCry2 program folder.  On my system it is C:\Program files (x86)\Ubisoft\Far Cry 2

Your will be something similar - typically wherever you have your program files located.  Once you have it located, you should unzip the tools into the Far Cry 2 folder.  What makes it easier is that the bootstrap-rev60.zip file already has the folder structure you need.  Simply drag the modding folder from the .zip file into the Far Cry 2 folder.  This is what you should see if you've copied the files from the zip file correctly:

[smg id=3695]

Inside that folder you should see a file called bootstrap.bat - double click it to run the file and it will create the files and folders you need to begin modding.
[smg id=3696]

After the installation has finished, you can navigate to the gamemodes folder as shown below, and you will see gamemodesconfig.xml - this is the file you will change the most.  You can either change the file yourself, or you can use one of the files we have in our downloads section.
[smg id=3697]

After you have changed the gamemodesconfig.xml file to your liking (or have copied one of our gamemodesconfig.xml files into your folder), you then run the build_patch.bat file in the modding folder
[smg id=3698]

...and you'll see the following
[smg id=3699]

Tiy will now notice a patch.dat and patch.fat file in your modding folder - copy these to the Data_Win32 folder overwriting the existing files.  One caution - it is probably a good idea to backup your original patch.dat and patch.fat files just in case you want to revert to your original game.
[smg id=3700]

[nexor]

just had a look at the so called modding tool I downloaded earlier, it's called fc2_modtools.rar, I don't think it's the modding tool you guys talking about..
[smg id=3701]

[PZ]

You're correct - that is not the same tool we've been using.  We'll see if we can host the file here at OWG because I can't seem to find it online any longer.

;)

[nexor]

i've been trying allover to find it as well, is 01:15 here and I should pack up and go to bed, thank you very much for taking the time to help me, take care mate will talk to you again   :-X

[PZ]

No worries - we'll get you fixed up soon  ;)

[mandru]

The only way I'd be able to get into modding is if the game had a preconfigured console set up where settings could be toggled on and off and there was a Restore Defaults Settings option available. *shrugs*

The coding for modding is too far over my head.  I struggle for 45 minutes to remember what I have to do every time I want to post a screenshot here on the forums and that's with the extensive notes I've saved in a text file to walk me through that process step by step.

I'm afraid I've hit the point with my aging memory where I'm forgetting things in BBC coding faster than I can remember and use them.   ::)

Modding is a serious step more difficult than forum coding.  Juggling files, remembering values, adjusting non-toxic variables and trying to put things back where they belong when the game snarls, coughs up blood and causes smoke to vent out the back of you GPU.   ???

So I'm going to enjoy that you guys are having fun with it, OK?  :-D

[nexor]

Don't let my bravado give you the wrong impression, PZ and ART don't know it yet but they gonna sweat blood by the time they got me to the point where I can make my one or two changes to the game    :-D :-D

[Binnatics]

 ^+-+

I'm pretty far from modding myself. I gotta get that first playthrough done first. And then the second, on hard difficulty, and by the time I did that, maybe a third to do new ideas or something :-D
When I'm done with that, I guess FC3 will be in store, so no modding for me in the next urhmm, year I guess ;)

[PZ]

... PZ and ART don't know it yet but they gonna sweat blood by the time they got me to the point where I can make my one or two changes to the game    :-D :-D

^+-+

[Art Blade]

Guys, ^+-+

Alright. First off, I'm surprised. From my end, what I do is:

1) Tools. Tools? Where? Get them. Packed (.rar or .zip and some such)? Unpack. If I can't open them, get a suitable unpacker such as 7zip or winzip or some such. Read readme to see where to install the modding tools or where to copy them to.

2) Read about modding. Which files do they mention? Where are they? Find them. XML or stuff like that? Open and read them, usually any text editor can open them.

3) Use CTRL-F to Find terms they're talking about, like "jumpheight." Find the file where to mod it. Use CTRL-F to find the terms again. Oh, make a backup of the file I'm going to mess with. Just change some values where I think it might be working.

4) Save, start game, see if it worked. If it did, fine, make a backup of the working modded file. Continue modding. If it didn't, well, override the screwed file with a working backup. Read again what they said they did to mod that. Try again.

That is basically what I do. As long as you make and keep backups of files you can't really mess with anything in a way that it kills your PC. Worst case: Game doesn't start at all or freezes the PC. Well, reboot, replace screwed files with backups and.. try again  :-D

In the process of trial and error you'll eventually recognise some terms and values, find interesting stuff and.. you need just a little courage and actually do something to the file. Change a value or three. Rule of thumb: Only change ONE thing at a time, test it, THEN change the next thing. If you change many things and only one of them screwed your game up (or, at least didn't w@&k the way you wanted it to) you'll have a hell of a time finding out what was OK and what wasn't. Therefore.. one change at a time ;)

With all that said, I'm prepared to answer any question and try to get you guys sorted  :-D

[nexor]

Brave words my friend   ::)

[Art Blade]

Don't worry. As long as you make backups first, you cannot really mess up anything really badly  ;)

What do you need to know?

[nexor]

When PZ started to help me we discovered that the modding tool I thought I had wasn't the modding tool you guys are using, so untill I can lay my grubby paws on the propper modding tool there is nothing I can do.

[Art Blade]

Well, you can be helped.. you need the tool "bootstrap" which you can download and read about here :)