Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 12:27 am Post subject:
[ARES or Not] Replacing Country Tutorial [Newbie Friendly]
Subject description: A much easier to understand tutorial for everyone!
Hello there, and yes its me...again...
Anyway, this is my first tutorial for newbie and other peoples who still wonder how to make a new country that really works in RA2/YR!
Okay, lets get started.
I know most of you know that making or adding a new country cannot be done in RA2/YR.
So instead of TRYING-HARD to make a working one which is impossible(i think), in this tutorial i will explain how to replace a country in RA2/YR with another one.
WARNING!:I expect you know something about modding before you try this.
To replace a country you have to follow these steps:
-> Renaming a country
-> Make and apply your loading screen
-> Make a new special units or etc
-> Make and apply your flag to your country
1. Renaming a country
This is a very easy step. You only need a String Table Editor for this one. So let's load it up.
Open ra2(md).csf and search the string called "Name:Alliance" and change the content to "YOUR COUNTRY NAME".
2.Make and apply your loading screen image
This step requires some more work... You need to be experienced in any picture editing program to make a good-looking loading screen.
But let's get the picture we want to modify first, ok? We shall use the loading screen of France to make our new one, because we don't have to change the map in the upper right corner that way.
Sidenote: If you are making a loading screen for a country that isn't shown on a map provided by Westwood, you have to make your own map based on some map downloaded from the internet.
To get the French loading screen in RA2, open XCC Mixer. Go to ra2.mix -> load.mix. Right click on ls800france.shp.
Select "Copy as PCX". We also have to replace the 640 version, but we will just resize the 800 version.
To get the French loading screen in YR, open XCC Mixer. Go to ra2md.mix -> loadmd.mix.
Right click on ls800france.shp. Select "Copy as PCX".
Open the file you just extracted in your favorite picture editing program.
You may have noticed that the loading screens are different in YR then they are in RA2.
In YR you only have to change the filled country on the map. In RA2 you have to change the filled country, replace the flag and draw a new line from the flag to the new country. I'm not going to explain in detail how to do that because it's different in every program. If you aren't experienced enough to do this, find someone who is.
Ok, you will also notice the picture of the special unit in the upper left corner. It should be the Grand Cannon because we used the French loading screen. Remove it and replace it with a pic of the special unit of your new country.
When you are finished, apply the original palette again.
Save as ls800france 0000.pcx.
If you are working with the RA2 version, resize the image to 640x480 and save it again as ls640france 0000.pcx.
Use XCC Mixer to convert them back to SHP and add them to your ecache(md)xx.mix file.
3. Make a new special units or etc
Sidenote: you can skip this step if you want your new country to use the same special unit.
Make a new unit like you normally would, but add the tag RequiredHouses=Alliance to the unit so only The Netherlands can build this unit. And remove the same tag from the Black Eagle to make it available to all Allied countries.
4. Make and apply your flag to your country
This step is different in RA2 then in YR. In RA2, the flag icons are .pcx files. In YR, the flag icons are .shp files.
RA2: Open XCC Mixer. Open ra2.mix -> local.mix. Right click on japi.pcx and press "Extract". Replace the flag with the one of your new country and save it. Add it to expandxx.mix and you're done.
YR: Open XCC Mixer. Open ra2md.mix -> localmd.mix. Right click on japi.shp and press "Copy as PCX". Replace the flag with the one of your new country and save it as japi 0000.pcx. Convert back to SHP and add to expandmdxx.mix and you're done.
TADA!Now you have your own country with its own special units!
GoodLuck!
PLEASE COMMENT! _________________ Last edited by gamefreak11221 on Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:58 am; edited 1 time in total QUICK_EDIT
IF you're using Ares, you can add a new country. Your tutorial is about replacing another country in the game. ANd you do absolutely nothing that needs Ares.
Not to mention my tutorial isn't that hard to understand. QUICK_EDIT
The game doesn't read SHP flags... at least not to my knowledge it doesn't. _________________ KGR | AT
AZUR
Discord: theastronomer1836
Steam QUICK_EDIT
I use Ares because sometimes when i replace a country with my own the game crashes...but it works with Ares!
Anyway, Yuri's Flag is SHP and in RA2 all of the flags were SHP.
Try to look at the ra2.mix and ra2md.mix
@m7
I didn't mean to say that your tutorial is hard to understand but this is my own version for newbies if they can't make some things works... _________________ Last edited by gamefreak11221 on Tue Apr 05, 2011 4:57 am; edited 1 time in total QUICK_EDIT
If I recall correctly those SHP flags are used by the observer sidebar interface you see if you play as observer in multiplayer games... _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Okay, look. I'm not against being a newbie (everyone was at some point) but you're posting absolute bullshit in your tutorial. You're using Ares which means it's completely and totally possible to create new countries against what your tutorial says. Then you go as far as to spread false information by stating information about the .shp flags despite different tutorials (YR:Arg's replace country tutorial, my own tutorial) telling you to use .pcx format flags. QUICK_EDIT
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[ARES or Not] Replacing Country Tutorial [Newbie Friendly]
