How to create your own planet [SWGEmu][In Progress]

Valkyra

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Please note that this guide is intended for SWGEmu Pre-OR server architecture, further research will be required by myself to tweak this guide upon the release of the OR.



Guide to the Galaxy
A primer on making your own planet in SWG
By: Valkyra


I. Introduction

Hello, and welcome to my guide, future planet designers. This guide is to help one distinguish what you need in order to start creating your own planets in game.

What you will need:
- A SWGEmu server
- SWGEmu itself installed
- TRE explorer
- Photoshop w/ DDS Plugin
- Sytner's World Editor [See Section II for more information]


II. Sytner's World Editor

What is it? Well, essentially a SWGEmu developer under the name Sytner has spent a few years documenting, reversing, and general overviewing the TRN filetype used by SWG, he has created his own tool (in C#) that serves as a GUI to editing the terrain. You may find more information on his Photobucket.

At the time of this guide, his tool is not available to the public. He isn't sure if it will be SWGEmu developer-only or not, but it's his choice to decide upon. So for now, you will only be able to edit non-terrain related content (sky gradient, POIs, etc). I'll revise this section as more information becomes available.

III. Getting Started

The rest of this guide coming soon!
 

geralex

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Welcome, and when will the continuation of Guide and the ability to create planets?

I plan to set Event to test new military transport and facilities for what he wanted to use a separate zone. Would help assist in creating a new territory for the client?
 

duffstone

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Valkyra, I'm sure you can do much better, but here's what I ended up with in my efforts. I didn't want to pollute the forums with an inferior post so I figured I'd dump it here, and let you decide since they're related. :p

This is a crappy attempt at a guide, it's mostly just running notes and it leaves out a few convenience details that will simplify it a tad. BUT, I'm afraid Vlada might nix all our modd work on the SWGEMU forums so I wanted it here as well so I'd have it. :)

anyway, here's what I posted on SWGEMU:
From what I can gather, and I'll edit once I know for sure so that google will pick it up in the future.

1 You have to have a snapshot image for your planet, even if you delete all but one object. (this is what I did). /snapshot/taanab.iff
1a. Take the Yavin4 snapshot, browse through the nodes until you find outpost_starport something... there will be two (maybe three but I didn't bother with the imperial one).
1b. You want to keep those two nodes AND their child folders. Everything else can be deleted with ctrl+del. just hold the button down and let it rip.
1c. You will need to set their x y z locations BUT you really can't do that until you get zoned into the planet and find some flat space to work with.
2 Even though there's a taanab.iff environment file (in datatables/environment) in a .tre file, it doesn't work. you have to make your own. again you just need one environment group to work, but the one in the .tre doesn't work.
2a. this seems to be a bit fickle. the first time it didn't work, but the 2nd time it did. I'm thinking that some .tga or .dds files were missing on my first attempt but are working fine on the 2nd. either way you need one group of 5 rows for each weather stage. Look at the other environment files to get the feel for a new one. Or TRY the taanab file and if you get that magenta sky then try copying another environment file instead.
3 it appears that you need a client region as well /datatables/clientregion/taanab.iff. Just copy an existing and remove all but one region. I copied lok.
3.a the clientregion file basically sets up your no-build npc_city regions. take an existing, copy it, and change it however you like.
3.b once you've zoned into your world you can find nice flat space and save those coords. go back to your clientregion file and use those coords as your new NPC city area's.
4 make sure you put the files in the same file structure that exists in the .tre files on both the client & server (although the server might not need them all)
5 server side you need to edit your planet_manager.lua to include a section for taanab, even if there's nothing in it. There's also some LUA files you can change to allow for player structures and the like.
5.a make sure to add "taanab" to your city_manager.lua file so you an build cities there.
5.b in your bin/scripts/objects folder locate your structure deeds and make sure you add "taanab" to all the ones you want to be placed there. teadious work but if you want a house on taanab you have to edit the deed script.
6 make sure you remove the -- from taanab in the config.lua file

couple of new notes. This is still a trial and error process for me and I've done it three times in total now. a real PITA. You really need flat land to add things like starports and structures. the best place for these is in the snapshot file, but you CAN add some through the planet_manager.lua file. However, some items you might try to add through the planet manager script will crash the client. trial and error will get you some nice decor but it's limited.

the travel system isn't as intuitive as I would like, but it's also REALLY simple. first the planet_manager.lua file just lists destinations and weather they accept incoming and/or interplanetary travel. this just sets the available landing points and where to zone your character into. in your .tre files there's a travel.iff file that's a grid that's easily editable. it gives you your fairs and what planets can be traveled to. 0 = no travel, > 0 gives you your fair to that point. In order to add taanab you have to add a column for taanab (or another planet name) and set it's fairs. But tre-explorer doesn't allow you to add a column that I could find. I had to HEX edit another table iff with the correct number of columns and hack it in. took a while but I finally figured out what most of the bits meant and was able to properly size & edit the file from HEX. then I opened it up in tre-explorer and added the $$ values to the file. Again, if there's another, better way, to add a column to an IFF file then fantastic use that. I couldn't find a way so I took another datatable with 14 columns and hacked it in a HEX editor to suit my needs. Lastly you need a travel terminal and a ticket collector. these can be added through the planet_manager.lua file. They just work by default as long as your IFF & LUA files are correct.

One more new thing that got left out. You need your new planet to have a valid CRC so the client and core can do things like add waypoints, do missions, quests, etc... you can do this by editing the /misc/planet_crc_string_table.iff file. There's a neet little CRCTool on modsource.com if you fish around. using the tool you simply add a new CRC string to the file, repack your .tre file and you're good to go.

Editing the Client Travel and planetary GUI are more involved and won't make it into this post as such. I still need to -redo- my work to make sure even I understand what I did before I post a guide on it.

-Duff
 

swgvetorg

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Great work Duffstone!

Duff can you zone in to Taanab when you make the edits? you made more progress then I have have, still poking around getting use to the various server files. And also very glad to see you here working hard on figuring this out. good work man, can't wait to see your second guide.
 

duffstone

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I have a fully functioning taanab, same as any other planet. Travel, missions, themepark styled quests, resources, housing, cities, etc... I even set up so each map quadrant has it's own unique spawn area's for each of the major adventure planets. dant is ne, dath is se, endor sw, yavin nw (or something like that. plus tons of dark jedi padawans, knights, and masters spawning all over the place. it's not a fun place to be for an unarmed artisan. :)

I also have a smaller map that I called Kessel. If you look through the existing .trn files you'll come across one that has a crater in the middle, and is only 3000 x 3000 (it's small). Perfect for a remake of kessel if I could just figure out how to get it textured.
 

Timbab

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Textures is done by boundaries in the .trn. You should read the patent about .trn's that was linked in the .planets thread, over at the SWGEmu development forum.

Boundaries > shader > flora.

You either need a tool to make it easy or painstakingly hex edit based on ingame coordinates.
 

duffstone

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yeah, it will have to wait until someone builds a tool. if it's that complicated then I have no business wasting my time on something that's already well understood (if not really hard to do), when there's so much more to document that hasn't been yet.

No more secrets!!!
 

swgvetorg

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Duff....taanab failed me, no luck, but I applied your guide to get cinco city, got it fleshed out, it is working well. Still having trouble getting the sun and stars to stop spinning like i'm drunk. you ever find a way to adjust time of day and get the cycles to be normal? is it a setting in the TRN or a configuration file for the planet?

Also got the snapshots loading buildings and they're on overhead map in green but nothing shows in person? seems like a problem with cell ID or maybe POB file. also when I load the planet associated with the snapshot originally and load cinco city it has mobs spawn :) but anyways I find out the solution to the spinning sky and the invisible buildings or maybe get a hint or help if anyone maybe has got a fix for it, it would be appreciated.
 

Valkyra

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swgvetorg said:
Duff....taanab failed me, no luck, but I applied your guide to get cinco city, got it fleshed out, it is working well. Still having trouble getting the sun and stars to stop spinning like i'm drunk. you ever find a way to adjust time of day and get the cycles to be normal? is it a setting in the TRN or a configuration file for the planet?

Also got the snapshots loading buildings and they're on overhead map in green but nothing shows in person? seems like a problem with cell ID or maybe POB file. also when I load the planet associated with the snapshot originally and load cinco city it has mobs spawn :) but anyways I find out the solution to the spinning sky and the invisible buildings or maybe get a hint or help if anyone maybe has got a fix for it, it would be appreciated.
The sky spins like that on Cinco city because of the very short time of day lifecycle setting in the global settings, in the TRN itself.

Also, the OP really needs an update because I wrote this a few years back, I'll see if I can get to updating it with relevant knowledge/tips.
 

swgvetorg

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Valkyra said:
swgvetorg said:
Duff....taanab failed me, no luck, but I applied your guide to get cinco city, got it fleshed out, it is working well. Still having trouble getting the sun and stars to stop spinning like i'm drunk. you ever find a way to adjust time of day and get the cycles to be normal? is it a setting in the TRN or a configuration file for the planet?

Also got the snapshots loading buildings and they're on overhead map in green but nothing shows in person? seems like a problem with cell ID or maybe POB file. also when I load the planet associated with the snapshot originally and load cinco city it has mobs spawn :) but anyways I find out the solution to the spinning sky and the invisible buildings or maybe get a hint or help if anyone maybe has got a fix for it, it would be appreciated.
The sky spins like that on Cinco city because of the very short time of day lifecycle setting in the global settings, in the TRN itself.

Also, the OP really needs an update because I wrote this a few years back, I'll see if I can get to updating it with relevant knowledge/tips.
Thanks for the tip Valkyra. Yeah sound like a hex editing nightmare with the .trn... Will get to work experimenting trying to find the global cycle numerical value to extend the the day/night cycle. That would a boon to those of us still in the learning process until sytners map tool is out. I get cinco cycle running normal,will U/L it here so others can have fun with it.
 

Timbab

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Hex editing the .trn isn't too bad really once you get a feel for it.

To be honest, a lot of people make it seem worse than it actually is. (Especially PSWG, fuck PSWG. Don't listen to their content threads, making it seem like magic what they did)

You'll find the day/night cycle at the bottom of the main chunk at the top of the file. I can't tell you the exact spot right now, because all my edited .trn files got corrupted, ugh.
 

Timbab

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duffstone said:
Need... Trn... Editor.... pppbbbbffftttt.....
Soon, soon.

By the way, water table is in the main chunk too.

Which reminds me, did you planet swap Taanab originally?
 

swgvetorg

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Going to have to shake of the dust on my coding skills make a small app that allows me to change the day/night cycle variables. Would hate to have to hand edit each .trn! gonna get to it, thanks for all the good information, lets keep it rolling.
 

Timbab

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Tbh, if you're just gonna edit the day/night cycle, stick with hex editing.

Creating a small tool will take longer than hex editing all the planets. It's just one float (Pretty sure it was a float).
 

duffstone

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Timbab said:
duffstone said:
Need... Trn... Editor.... pppbbbbffftttt.....
Soon, soon.

By the way, water table is in the main chunk too.

Which reminds me, did you planet swap Taanab originally?
not sure I understand. I originally used the taanab.iff in the data00 .tre file. my last version used the taanab.iff from the final TOC. both are the same near as I can tell. The snapshot was a modified Yavin4 snapshot where I used the two starports, just relocated them. the rest of the nodes were deleted.

-Duff
 

Timbab

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I was just asking, because of the swimming bug you had.

The 'new' .iff, fixes it? As far as I know, the TOC just pulls the data00.tre one, no?
 

duffstone

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Yes it does as I recall. What fixed the problem was wiping and starting over from scratch. :) Not really a detailed approach but I wasn't much worried about that problem. hehe...
 

PikkonMG

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Thank's for all the info here, Taanab has been something I've wanted to try and enable when I get time.
 
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