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RimWorld => Releases => Mods => Outdated => Topic started by: dburgdorf on February 22, 2017, 01:01:16 PM

Title: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on February 22, 2017, 01:01:16 PM
These are my alpha 16 mods. (For a17 mods, check this thread (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=32192.0).)

The list:

Basic Bridges (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg332316#msg332316) - 5/18/17 - build bridges, piers and boardwalks, and fish from them

Editable Backstories (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg317704#msg317704) - 4/23/17 - freely edit and add pawn backstories

Editable Backstories Lite (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg322778#msg322778) - 4/15/17 - add backstories, but no editing of default set

Fertile Fields (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=29473.0) - 4/23/17 - soil improvement & terraforming

Fertile Fields + FishIndustry + [sd] Bridges (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314031#msg314031) - 4/16/17 - compatibility patch

Fewer Ruins (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg319912#msg319912) - 4/23/17 - reduce the number of old walls and buildings on brand new maps

Rascally Rabbits (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=29729.0) - 2/20/17 - rabbits, carrots, stew & events

Rascally Rabbits + A Dog Said (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314030#msg314030) - 2/20/17 - compatibility patch

Rainbeau Flambe - Storyteller (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314029#msg314029) - 2/20/17 - new storyteller, of course

Smooth Stone Walls (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314888#msg314888) - 4/23/17 - smooth rough stone walls as well as rough stone floors

Wild Cultivation (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314032#msg314032) - 4/23/17 - cultivate wild plants & find cultivated plants in the wild


If you're a modpack maker and want to include any of these mods in your pack, or if you're a modder and want to use them as the basis of derivative mods, please feel free to do so. I ask only that you let me know about it.

If you have any (helpful) suggestions for improvement, please let me know!
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on February 22, 2017, 01:02:40 PM
(http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/94977083358637201/52F7F76CE0D481134F0EF4E6F2E9F48D34DBBB9D/?interpolation=lanczos-none&output-format=jpeg&output-quality=95&fit=inside%7C637:358&composite-to%3D%2A%2C%2A%7C637%3A358&background-color=black)

Last update: 2/20/2017

This mod adds a new storyteller, Rainbeau Flambe.

Rain shares Randy's love of the unpredictable, but tempers that love with a bit of Cassandra's storytelling flair. Still, he'll send big threats nearly as often as small ones. After all, he has to keep his cat, Sabre, amused. He also likes to have a slightly larger cast of characters to work with than Cassandra does, and so will subtly encourage you to have more colonists.

In addition to the storyteller, and in honor of my own long-standing tendency to get distracted with new projects and never actually finish old ones, the mod also adds an event, "Distraction." (The event is available to all storytellers, not just to Rain.) A random colonist will become distracted and forget what he or she was working on. A new job will be started, but if the colonist was in the middle of crafting, doctoring, or the like, any progress will be lost. "Distraction" is based on the "Amnesia" event in Ilawz's "More Events and Incidents" mod.

-- Rainbeau Flambe (dburgdorf) - the modder, not the storyteller ;)


Steam Workshop Link (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=849685685)

Dropbox Link (https://www.dropbox.com/s/t3lcj6xqa94s2tf/Rainbeau%20Flambe%20-%20Storyteller.zip?dl=0)

Compatibility:

"Rainbeau Flambe - Storyteller" adds a new storyteller and incident, but doesn't change any existing things, so it should be compatible with pretty much any other mod, and you should be able to add it to an existing saved game without trouble. You should also be able to safely remove it from a game in progress, at least so long as Rain's not the currently active storyteller.

Acknowledgement:

The image of Rainbeau Flambe was created with HeroMachine 3, and then edited in Photoshop.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on February 22, 2017, 01:03:20 PM
(http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/94977083358628780/D8B6496192EB85CC9B086E7DD19A0BCAEB1CBF81/?interpolation=lanczos-none&output-format=jpeg&output-quality=95&fit=inside%7C637:358&composite-to%3D%2A%2C%2A%7C637%3A358&background-color=black)

Last update: 2/20/2017

This mod enables "A Dog Said" animal surgery for the rabbits added in the "Rascally Rabbits" mod. Yes, it even allows you to patch up Caerbannog bunnies. It should be loaded after both "A Dog Said" and "Rascally Rabbits." And it should go without saying, that if you're not actually using both "A Dog Said" and "Rascally Rabbits," then you have no need for this mod.

Steam Workshop Link (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=849735766)

Dropbox Link (https://www.dropbox.com/s/219qe4olpowinn1/Rainbeau%27s%20Rascally%20Rabbits%20-%20ADS%20Patch.zip?dl=0)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on February 22, 2017, 01:04:13 PM
(http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/94977083358580771/856B7B1DC4BBD67C72EDB527E47EEDB917B231F6/?interpolation=lanczos-none&output-format=jpeg&output-quality=95&fit=inside%7C637:358&composite-to%3D%2A%2C%2A%7C637%3A358&background-color=black)

Last update: 4/16/2017

This is a patch mod designed to allow Sulusdacor's "[sd] Bridges," Rikiki's "FishIndustry," and my own "Fertile Fields" to play nicely together. It makes no difference in what order those three mods are loaded, though of course this patch must be loaded after all of them.

What it does, specifically, is:

+ Moves all piers and bridge components to a new "Bridges" architect tab.

+ Removes terraforming research and options from "[sd] Bridges" in favor of the more extensive options available in "Fertile Fields."

Since this removes the custom terrain tiles introduced in "[sd] Bridges," by the way, it also removes the major incompatibility between that mod and "FishIndustry."

+ Ensures that foundation bases, pontoon bridges and the "on mud" version of fishing piers can be built (and can only be built) on the intended terrain types.

Both "[sd] Bridges" and "FishIndustry" use the Undefined terrain affordance as a filter to determine where certain things can be built. Unfortunately, "Fertile Fields" adds that affordance to a number of additional terrain types, so without this fix, you could for example build pontoon bridges across grassy plains, which would just be silly. As well, "Fertile Fields" puts a third type of water tile on the map, which the other mods don't recognize by default.

- Rainbeau Flambe (dburgdorf)


Steam Workshop Link (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=858018824)

Dropbox Link (https://www.dropbox.com/s/tw5lvanlnpegste/Fertile%20Fields%20%2B%20FishIndustry%20%2B%20%5Bsd%5D%20Bridges.zip?dl=0)

Compatibility:

This patch is designed to make a few mods which alter vanilla terrain definitions play nicely together. If you try to use it alongside still other mods that alter those vanilla definitions, well, all bets are off.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on February 22, 2017, 01:04:59 PM
(http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/94977083358598657/CB6018474F7DB008814720F88ADB3CD5B1DD53BD/?interpolation=lanczos-none&output-format=jpeg&output-quality=95&fit=inside%7C637:358&composite-to%3D%2A%2C%2A%7C637%3A358&background-color=black)

Last update: 4/23/2017

Blur the lines between wild and cultivated plants! "Wild Cultivation" allows you to cultivate a variety of plants formerly found only in the wild, and adds wild generation of most of the plants that previously could only be cultivated.

Plants which can now be found naturally include corn, haygrass and smokeleaf (most commonly, but not exclusively, found in arid shrubland biomes), daylilies, hops and strawberries (most easily found in boreal forests), psychoid plants (least uncommon in deserts), cotton, potatoes and roses (most readily discovered in temperate forests), and healroot and rice (most easily obtained from tropical rainforests).

The ability to find these plants in the wild provides a few extra resource options in the early game, and also allows those using the "Seeds Please!" mod a chance to obtain seeds for plants they might otherwise not be able to grow.

"Wild Cultivation" also allows you to cultivate cacti (both pincushion and saguaro), agave, astragalus, and grass, all of which could formerly only be found in the wild.

You can also now create growing zones on any terrain that's not completely infertile. This doesn't allow you to grow plants on ground that's not fertile enough to support them, of course. The change is primarily intended to allow you to create growing zones on sand for cacti.

Finally, "Wild Cultivation" adds one new type of flower, the geranium. Geraniums are functionally identical to daylilies, and in fact the geranium graphic is simply a recolored version of the daylily graphic. I just wanted a purple flower in the game, to add a bit more variety to garden colors.

- Rainbeau Flambe (dburgdorf)


Steam Workshop Link (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=868884041)

Dropbox Link (https://www.dropbox.com/s/y843ywb90f4oh48/Rainbeau%27s%20Wild%20Cultivation.zip?dl=0)

Cultivated Plant Notes:

Agave grows more slowly and has a lower yield than in vanilla, to prevent it becoming a "superplant" when cultivated. It also takes a bit more work to sow and to harvest than most other plants, though it doesn't take as much work to harvest as it does in vanilla.

Saguaro cacti grow slower than in vanilla, in order to put their wood production capabitility on a par with other trees.

Compatibility:

"Wild Cultivation" changes vanilla plant definitions, and so will conflict with other mods that do the same. Generally speaking, though, any such conflicts shouldn't be game-breaking. You should be able to add "Wild Cultivation" to an existing saved game without trouble, but removing the mod from a game in progress might (but probably won't) cause problems.

Special note regarding "Vegetable Garden": "Wild Cultivation" and "Vegetable Garden" are fully compatible. Just make sure that "Vegetable Garden" loads first. "Wild Cultivation" will check to see if "Vegetable Garden" is installed, and if it is, will make minor modifications to its own plant definitions to ensure that everything behaves as "Vegetable Garden" expects.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: SpaceDorf on February 22, 2017, 01:27:36 PM
The non-steam option is coming, right ?
Because I really want this Wild Cultivation Mod :)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on February 22, 2017, 01:48:04 PM
Quote from: SpaceDorf on February 22, 2017, 01:27:36 PM
The non-steam option is coming, right ?
Because I really want this Wild Cultivation Mod :)

Yeah, I'll add Dropbox links this evening, after I get home. I'm at work right now, and I don't have access to the files to upload them to Dropbox from here.  ;)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on February 22, 2017, 10:13:37 PM
Dropbox links have been added for the mods in this thread, for those who don't use Steam Workshop.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: SpaceDorf on February 23, 2017, 05:44:53 AM
Thank you very much.

Thats another three for the list :)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on February 25, 2017, 03:02:50 PM
Fertile Fields + FishIndustry + [sd] Bridges (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314031#msg314031) compatibility patch has been updated with a few minor tweaks to keep up with the changes in "Fertile Fields."
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on February 25, 2017, 11:18:47 PM
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/94981890672686235/7D0B179479306E9C54207AFFB9FE48C0C90D4AEF/?interpolation=lanczos-none&output-format=jpeg&output-quality=95&fit=inside%7C637:358&composite-to%3D%2A%2C%2A%7C637%3A358&background-color=black)

Last update: 4/23/2017

"Smooth Stone Walls" allows you to smooth natural stone walls, just as you can smooth natural stone floors, thanks to a new option in the "Structure" tab of the architect menu. This allows you to have real walls in the rooms in your mountain hideaway, without needing to mine out rock and then immediately replace it with a wall built from scratch. Smoothing a section of stone wall takes four times as long as smoothing a section of floor, as there's more work involved. (And because it seems about right for balance purposes.) Smoothed stone walls are slightly more durable than stone walls constructed of blocks. When deconstructed, smooth stone walls don't yield blocks, but instead have a chance to drop stone chunks, just as if you'd mined them.

Smoothed stone walls are, as you'd expect, smooth. They don't have the graphic patterning that constructed (block) walls have. The two wall types blend into each other quite nicely, but still, some players prefer to have all their walls look exactly the same. If you're one of them, you can have your pawns "etch" the smoothed stone walls, to give them a pattern that matches the brick pattern in constructed walls. Alternatively, you can have a pawn with artistic skill do decorative etching, in which case some of your wall tiles, in addition to a brick pattern, will end up randomly decorated with pictures.

- Rainbeau Flambe (dburgdorf)


Steam Workshop Link (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=872482948)

Dropbox Link (https://www.dropbox.com/s/ofudy338nh0kynr/Rainbeau%27s%20Smooth%20Stone%20Walls.zip?dl=0)

Known Issues:

When you smooth a wall, as far as the program code is concerned, you're actually deleting the rough wall from the tile and replacing it with a smooth wall. So for a split second, there is no wall present. The same thing happens when etching a smoothed wall. This means, for example, that if the wall in question is a critical support, the roof above it will collapse. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about this behavior. So plan accordingly, and put up temporary roof supports as necessary to avoid pawn death or dismemberment during the smoothing process.

Wall Graphics:

The mod makes minor alterations to the default wall graphics, in order to allow walls and rock of the same stone type to blend into each other seamlessly.

Compatibility:

"Smooth Stone Walls" adds a new capability, but doesn't change any existing things, so it should be compatible with pretty much any other mod, unless that mod also modifies the "Structure" architect tab. You should be able to add it to an existing saved game without trouble. Removing it from a game in progress, however, will make the game unplayable if you have any smoothed or etched walls in your base.

Mods which allow items to be built on walls without first deconstructing those walls may or may not recognize non-vanilla walls, so you may find that some items which can be built directly on top of vanilla walls can't be built on smoothed walls. Obviously, you can work around the problem by deconstructing the wall where you want to place the item. There really isn't much I can do about it, as it depends upon how the other mods are coded, and in any event, I consider it a very minor issue.

"Smooth Stone Walls" is fully compatible with stone types added by other mods, meaning that you'll be able to smooth walls of non-vanilla stone types as easily as you can those of vanilla stone types.

Credits:

Most of the images used for wall art came from the flaticon.com Web site.

The mod utilizes Pardeike's "Harmony Patch Library." (No additional download is required, as the library is included with the mod.)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on March 05, 2017, 09:45:17 PM
Smooth Stone Walls (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314888#msg314888) has been updated:

- Allowed for compatibility with non-vanilla walls from the "Minerals and Materials" and "Kura's Extra Minerals" mods.

- Smoothing stone walls now requires Stonecutting research, to prevent free access to bricks in tribal start games.

- Smoothed walls now automatically belong to your faction and don't need to be claimed.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: SpaceDorf on March 07, 2017, 06:42:30 AM
Now make an Engraving mod :)
I want pictures of my Colonists eating Cheese.



Sorry. I am hyped about the smooth walls .. can I put power lines in them ?
Thats the main reason I build walls underground.

Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on March 07, 2017, 08:06:14 AM
Quote from: SpaceDorf on March 07, 2017, 06:42:30 AMNow make an Engraving mod :) I want pictures of my Colonists eating Cheese. Sorry. I am hyped about the smooth walls .. can I put power lines in them ? Thats the main reason I build walls underground.

Yes, the smoothed walls are in all ways identical to stone walls you build from scratch, so they allow power conduits.

As to engraved walls.... Several people on Steam have made similar comments, but never having played Dwarf Fortress, I have to admit, I'm not quite sure what specifically is being requested. I should probably go check it out. ;)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: SpaceDorf on March 07, 2017, 08:34:40 AM
The dorf in your name could have fooled me.

There is a engraving labor in DF thats used to smooth floors, walls, engrave walls and engrave stone slabs for grave ( could be stonecrafting )

The same as the Artwork in RW, DF takes from the History of the Fort and the world itself.
Also Dwarfs like to engrave stuff the like and dislike.
Spiders, Bats, Cheese, Plump Helmets and so on ..

Since Cheesemaker is a pretty useless job in DF, most of them get assigned to hauling, smoothing and other thankless jobs.
When those Cheesemaker become legendary in their job and are allowed to create art in your fortress it happens that they engrave stuff they like .. Cheese.
Big Cheese, themselves eating Cheese, others eating Cheese, Spiders and Cheese,
Sausage, Bacon, Spam and Cheese .. you get the Idea :)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on March 07, 2017, 11:32:28 AM
Quote from: SpaceDorf on March 07, 2017, 08:34:40 AMThe dorf in your name could have fooled me.

I've been Darryl Burgdorf for over 50 years, so long before Dwarf Fortress existed. ;)

Quote from: SpaceDorf on March 07, 2017, 08:34:40 AMThere is a engraving labor in DF.... When those Cheesemaker become legendary in their job... they engrave stuff they like .. Cheese....

That sounds insanely amusing.  :D

Quote from: SpaceDorf on March 07, 2017, 08:34:40 AMSausage, Bacon, Spam and Cheese....

Can I have the sausage, bacon, spam and cheese with extra spam but without sausage, bacon and cheese?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on March 10, 2017, 10:39:23 AM
(http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/94978630677364376/0C3FB5D7CB5FE5E104581C4A7EAF68197A3102D6/?interpolation=lanczos-none&output-format=jpeg&output-quality=95&fit=inside%7C637:358&composite-to%3D%2A%2C%2A%7C637%3A358&background-color=black)

Last update: 4/23/2017

Are you tired of running into characters in your game with horribly overpowered or just plain silly backstories? Are you frustrated by the number of colonists you have to feed who aren't willing to work to earn their keep because their backgrounds prevent them from doing manual labor? Does it annoy you when you find a backstory you like with the "Prepare Carefully" mod, only to notice that the gender pronouns or even the pawn's name don't change to fit your character? Do you just hate not being able to do anything about typos that you spot in backstories?

Well, fret no more! Your worries are over!

"Editable Backstories" replaces RimWorld's default backstories with a completely editable set of backstories contained in convenient XML files. Yes, that's right. It doesn't just add editable backstories to the vanilla database. It completely replaces that database.

You can use the mod "straight out of the box," so to speak, as I've included a set of "cleaned up" basic backstories which will be used if all you do is just install and run the mod. None of them are unreasonably powerful or, in my opinion, lore-breaking, none have hard-coded pronouns or names, and only a handful disable manual labor, though some include forced "lazy" or "slow" traits.

But the real point of "Editable Backstories," of course, is that it allows you to edit and add stories yourself. In the "XML Raw Data" folder within the mod's directory, you'll find files containing the full collection of backstories from the vanilla game. In the "Documentation" folder, you'll find detailed instructions to help you put together your own "perfect" backstory collection.

As I already noted, the mod removes all vanilla backstories from the game, so no pawn bios will ever again include material that you don't have the option to edit. This means that you won't meet any of the "pirate king" characters, those characters created by RimWorld Kickstarter backers, whose childhood and adulthood stories are linked. However, "Editable Backstories" allows you to create your own linked stories, so if you happen to like a particular "pirate king" pawn, you can easily add him or her back into your world, complete with any edits or fixes you deem appropriate.

Additionally, while it doesn't remove any potential pawn names from the game, "Editable Backstories" does let you to add as many new names (first names, surnames, nicknames, and/or full names) to your game as you desire.

- Rainbeau Flambe (dburgdorf)


Steam Workshop Link (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=880383692)

Dropbox Link (https://www.dropbox.com/s/uu28zopqrmqkdf0/Rainbeau%27s%20Editable%20Backstories.zip?dl=0)

Compatibility:

"Editable Backstories" requires a new game. If you try to add it to (or remove it from) a game in progress, every pawn in the world will end up with new randomly-assigned backstories.

The mod is compatible with both "EdB Prepare Carefully" and "Verify Start."

It should also be fully compatible with any mods that utilize Erdelf's "Humanoid Alien Framework."

Special Note:

I completely understand why backstories aren't editable by default. And I mean absolutely no disrespect to those who backed RimWorld on Kickstarter back in 2013 and got their stories written into the game as a result. But at the same time, I'm a modder. Changing things I don't like about the game is what I do. And the fact that backstories can't be edited, even though I understand it, is something that I don't like.

Credits:

Some of the C# code in "Editable Backstories" derives from code in "Humanoid Alien Framework," which as I understand it in turn was based upon code from the "Community Core Library" mod.

The mod utilizes Pardeike's "Harmony Patch Library." (No additional download is required, as the library is included with the mod.)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: Derp on March 10, 2017, 12:43:39 PM
Quote from: dburgdorf on March 10, 2017, 10:39:23 AM
Are you tired of running into characters in your game with horribly overpowered or just plain silly backstories?
I don't know how to thank you enough.  May I never see another galaxy-famous pop star who was bored of the wealth and fame and decided to become a space pirate and explore the galaxy with her most loyal fans ever again.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on March 10, 2017, 09:28:24 PM
Smooth Stone Walls (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314888#msg314888) has been updated again:

- Non-vanilla wall compatibility no longer requires separate dll files.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: AngleWyrm on March 10, 2017, 10:29:40 PM
Quote from: dburgdorf on March 10, 2017, 10:39:23 AM
Special Note:

I completely understand why backstories aren't editable by default. And I mean absolutely no disrespect to those who backed RimWorld on Kickstarter back in 2013 and got their stories written into the game as a result. But at the same time, I'm a modder. Changing things I don't like about the game is what I do. And the fact that backstories can't be edited, even though I understand it, is something that I don't like.

Bravo on taking a stand for what you believe in  :D
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: Cataphract on March 11, 2017, 12:56:43 AM
Thank you so much! I've been holding off from playing A16 in any large degree because I couldn't put in the backstories I made for the older versions... thanks so so much!
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: AngleWyrm on March 11, 2017, 08:21:16 AM
The Leadership & Teaching (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=29847.0) mod creates a set of four characters: Scientist, Botanist, Warrior and Carpenter. Each of these leader types has three key skills that they can teach, if they are at least level 8+ in those skills.

This seems like a perfect fit for Editable Backstories, creating a set of four backstories that offer skill bonuses and requirements in the three skills they can teach. It would do wonders for working with the pair of mods Prepare Carefully and Leadership & Teaching.

I tried adding new backstories, and the first one worked like a charm. But then I went on to add the full set of four and the result was none showed up in the backstory dialogs in Prepare Carefully. I assume that there's something I'm not taking into acccount. Here's what I appended to the general peeps population:
<REB_Code.BackstoryDef>
<defName>GeneralW01</defName>
<Slot>Adulthood</Slot>
<Title>Leader in botany</Title>
<TitleShort>Botanist</TitleShort>
<BaseDesc>NAME is a recognized leader in the field of botany, and HIS peer-reviewed work on genetic updates to haygrass has been published in science journals.</BaseDesc>
<requiredWorkTags>
<li>PlantWork</li>
<li>Animals</li>
<li>Caring</li>
</requiredWorkTags>
<SkillGains>
<li><key>Growing</key><value>5</value></li>
<li><key>Animals</key><value>3</value></li>
<li><key>Medicine</key><value>3</value></li>
<li><key>Shooting</key><value>-1</value></li>
<li><key>Melee</key><value>-1</value></li>
</SkillGains>
<BodyTypeMale>Male</BodyTypeMale>
<BodyTypeFemale>Female</BodyTypeFemale>
<SpawnCategories>
<li>Civil</li>
<li>Raider</li>
<li>Slave</li>
<li>Trader</li>
<li>Traveler</li>
</SpawnCategories>
</REB_Code.BackstoryDef>

<REB_Code.BackstoryDef>
<defName>GeneralW02</defName>
<Slot>Adulthood</Slot>
<Title>Leader in science</Title>
<TitleShort>Scientist</TitleShort>
<BaseDesc>NAME is a recognized leader in general science. HE holds several patents on DNA resequencing in live organisms, and HECAP is traveling to a planet where authorization has been given to run experiments with outbreak potential.<BaseDesc>
<requiredWorkTags>
<li>Intellectual</li>
<li>Animals</li>
<li>Caring</li>
</requiredWorkTags>
<SkillGains>
<li><key>Research</key><value>5</value></li>
<li><key>Animals</key><value>3</value></li>
<li><key>Medicine</key><value>3</value></li>
<li><key>Shooting</key><value>-1</value></li>
<li><key>Melee</key><value>-1</value></li>
</SkillGains>
<BodyTypeMale>Male</BodyTypeMale>
<BodyTypeFemale>Female</BodyTypeFemale>
<SpawnCategories>
<li>Civil</li>
<li>Raider</li>
<li>Slave</li>
<li>Trader</li>
<li>Traveler</li>
</SpawnCategories>
</REB_Code.BackstoryDef>

<REB_Code.BackstoryDef>
<defName>GeneralW03</defName>
<Slot>Adulthood</Slot>
<Title>Leader in warfare</Title>
<TitleShort>Warrior</TitleShort>
<BaseDesc>NAME has fought HIS way up through the ranks from squad leader to master seargent, and has led several successful missions teaching the local rebels how to conduct raids.<BaseDesc>
<requiredWorkTags>
<li>Violent</li>
<li>Scary</li>
<li>Caring</li>
</requiredWorkTags>
<SkillGains>
<li><key>Shooting</key><value>5</value></li>
<li><key>Melee</key><value>3</value></li>
<li><key>Medicine</key><value>3</value></li>
<li><key>Social</key><value>-2</value></li>
</SkillGains>
<BodyTypeMale>Male</BodyTypeMale>
<BodyTypeFemale>Female</BodyTypeFemale>
<SpawnCategories>
<li>Civil</li>
<li>Raider</li>
<li>Slave</li>
<li>Trader</li>
<li>Traveler</li>
</SpawnCategories>
</REB_Code.BackstoryDef>

<REB_Code.BackstoryDef>
<defName>GeneralW04</defName>
<Slot>Adulthood</Slot>
<Title>Leader in carpentry</Title>
<TitleShort>Carpenter</TitleShort>
<BaseDesc>NAME began HIS career as a construction worker, where HECAP took an interest in design flaws. HECAP went to night school and became an architect to improve upon them.<BaseDesc>
<requiredWorkTags>
<li>Artistic</li>
</requiredWorkTags>
<SkillGains>
<li><key>Construction</key><value>5</value></li>
<li><key>Crafting</key><value>3</value></li>
<li><key>Artistic</key><value>3</value></li>
<li><key>Mining</key><value>-2</value></li>
</SkillGains>
<BodyTypeMale>Male</BodyTypeMale>
<BodyTypeFemale>Female</BodyTypeFemale>
<SpawnCategories>
<li>Civil</li>
<li>Raider</li>
<li>Slave</li>
<li>Trader</li>
<li>Traveler</li>
</SpawnCategories>
</REB_Code.BackstoryDef>


Also: Is it possible to add this kind of thing as a separate patch file, in effect creating the opportunity to make a mod of new backstories? If it is, how do I do it? Tellmetellmetellme  ;D
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: Tammabanana on March 11, 2017, 08:54:04 AM
Quote from: dburgdorf on March 10, 2017, 10:39:23 AM
"Editable Backstories" replaces RimWorld's default backstories with a completely editable set of backstories contained in convenient XML files. (Yes, the mod actually replaces the default set of backstories. It doesn't just add editable duplicates to the existing database.)

The XML files contain all the backstories from the game, plus a few extras. I edited them to remove hardcoded gender pronouns and pawn names, and fixed the occasional typo that happened to come to my attention, but otherwise resisted the impulse to edit or rewrite them.

You are a saint; thank you.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on March 11, 2017, 10:19:23 AM
Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 11, 2017, 08:21:16 AMI tried adding new backstories....

Three of the four stories have XML errors. They don't close their <BaseDesc> tags.  Replace "<BaseDesc>text<BaseDesc>" with "<BaseDesc>text</BaseDesc>" and you should be fine.  ;)

Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 11, 2017, 08:21:16 AMAlso: Is it possible to add this kind of thing as a separate patch file, in effect creating the opportunity to make a mod of new backstories? If it is, how do I do it? Tellmetellmetellme  ;D

I don't think you'd be able to release just an XML file as a mod or patch, but certainly, you could make it available via DropBox. Beyond that, if enough interest develops, I could see about setting up some sort of "central repository" for people to make backstories available, but I have no idea at the moment whether it would be worth the bother to do so.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: AngleWyrm on March 12, 2017, 08:40:12 PM
Quote from: dburgdorf on March 11, 2017, 10:19:23 AM
Three of the four stories have XML errors. They don't close their <BaseDesc> tags.  Replace "<BaseDesc>text<BaseDesc>" with "<BaseDesc>text</BaseDesc>" and you should be fine.  ;)

Thanks!
(https://s6.postimg.org/5mkkf9tjl/Bug_Hunter.png)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: dburgdorf on March 13, 2017, 01:27:16 AM
Editable Backstories (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg317704#msg317704) has been updated:

- It's now possible to create "linked" backstories (sets consisting of a name, a childhood and an adulthood which always appear together).

- The mod is now more usable "out of the box," as I've moved most of the XML files to a side folder to prevent the "badly in need of editing" backstories from loading in the game.

- I've done further editing and cleanup on the XML files which do still load, to make sure that they provide a good base set of backstories.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods
Post by: AngleWyrm on March 13, 2017, 04:48:11 AM
Sweet! Downloading.

And also, the corrected xml addition for Leaders & Teaching mod worked out perfectly:
(https://s6.postimg.org/o56vmn0ep/Leaders.png)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 14, 2017, 09:56:41 AM
I'd like to add some additional filtering options to "Editable Backstories," to help tailor how stories get connected, and I'm looking for input on how best to do it.

It's certainly possible that a pawn whose childhood and adulthood stories are very different can make for an interesting tale. But it seems to end up more often just producing nonsense. I once had a character whose childhood story was that he was a medieval slave who knew nothing but hard work and couldn't read or write, but whose adulthood story was that he was a glitterworld novelist who'd never labored a day in his life. Granted, that specific example could be prevented just by defining the slave childhood story to require manual labor and the novelist adulthood story to disable it, which would prevent them from being linked, but the broader issue remains.

Should I add filtering capabilities at all, and if so, what sort might be most desireable? (Bear in mind that any filtering would depend upon new tags in the backstory definitions, and so would be completely optional. I'm not planning to mandate anything.)

I have a few ideas, but I want to see what y'all think would be useful.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Malachi_Draven on March 14, 2017, 05:38:14 PM
Quick question, if I want to add a name that works for both Male and Female, what do I put in the <Gender> section?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 14, 2017, 06:54:42 PM
Quote from: Malachi_Draven on March 14, 2017, 05:38:14 PM
Quick question, if I want to add a name that works for both Male and Female, what do I put in the <Gender> section?

Uh, yeah. Probably something I should have thought to include in the documentation. ;)

Gender can be defined as <Gender>Male</Gender>, <Gender>Female</Gender> or <Gender>Either</Gender>.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on March 14, 2017, 10:40:46 PM
Quote from: dburgdorf on March 14, 2017, 09:56:41 AM
Should I add filtering capabilities at all, and if so, what sort might be most desireable? (Bear in mind that any filtering would depend upon new tags in the backstory definitions, and so would be completely optional. I'm not planning to mandate anything.)

I have a few ideas, but I want to see what y'all think would be useful.

When using Prepare Carefully to set up my starting colonists I run into some content issues, which this mod is definitely helping address:
In my opinion the Disable Trait feature gets over-used instead of a skill debuff. The interaction of two buffs/debuffs provides the same type of low-resolution bell-curve as the sum of rolling two dice, and the closer the whole set is to a net-zero on each skill the closer the match to that model.

Suggestion: Rarity
When creating a population that forms a heap of common/uncommon/rare, the outer reaches need a lot of variety when compared to the more central normative types. I theorize that the pool of backstory authors will naturally be inclined to generate stories in an inverse to rarity, with lots of Legendary and few Common, which would perfectly fill the need for variety. But it makes equal chance of drawing a pawn from the pool an invalid technique.

Something that could assist in the creation & balance of a population would be the ability to assign a given character backstory a rarity classification {Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary}

And a global adjustable proportion of the population to go with each category, that can be changed according the current set on a player's system.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 15, 2017, 08:55:21 AM
Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 14, 2017, 10:40:46 PMSomething that could assist in the creation & balance of a population would be the ability to assign a given character backstory a rarity classification....

I really like this idea, and it would be very easy to implement. Any backstory without a tag would be considered "common," and would automatically be used if it came up in the random draw. A backstory tagged "uncommon" might only be used half the time it comes up randomly, a story tagged "rare" maybe only one time out of five, and "legendary" one time out of ten. The specific odds of course are off the top of my head, but I think the basic idea is quite sound.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on March 15, 2017, 08:04:14 PM

Adding some detail to the proportions
An initial model could be a normal distribution curve (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution) so that common is the central +/- 1 standard deviation from average, uncommon is the +/- 2 Z bands, rare is +/- 3 sigma from the mean, and legendary is the remainder.

Then the proportions could be tuned according to what's actually available in the set, or unseen outside factors that influence the results seen while playing the game.
(http://moodle2.rockyview.ab.ca/pluginfile.php/63427/mod_book/chapter/24271/m20_2_m4/images/m4/m20_2_m4_050.jpg)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: SpaceDorf on March 19, 2017, 01:30:09 PM
I am trying the Editable Backstories in my new playthrough.
I give you some feedback, as soon as I know more.

Another request for my Sanity would be to add the date of the last update with your mods. So less checking and rechecking and guessing would be involved.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 19, 2017, 02:46:17 PM
Quote from: SpaceDorf on March 19, 2017, 01:30:09 PMAnother request for my Sanity would be to add the date of the last update with your mods. So less checking and rechecking and guessing would be involved.

But... but.... That would actually make sense!  ;)

Yeah, another simple thing I should have thought of myself.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: SpaceDorf on March 19, 2017, 06:28:12 PM
Quote from: dburgdorf on March 19, 2017, 02:46:17 PM

But... but.... That would actually make sense!  ;)
Yeah, another simple thing I should have thought of myself.

Just keep on making great mods.
Being anyoing and pointing out the obvious is my job :-D
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 20, 2017, 01:12:01 AM
(http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/94979365067040002/B716AB0E0B1B3B256DC969FA08CF741D01E6D54D/?interpolation=lanczos-none&output-format=jpeg&output-quality=95&fit=inside%7C637:358&composite-to%3D%2A%2C%2A%7C637%3A358&background-color=black)

Last update: 4/23/2017

"Fewer Ruins" is a tiny little mod that reduces the number of ruins and "ancient shrines" that generate on new maps, possibly, but not necessarily, all the way down to none at all. (The maximum number that can appear on a map is half of vanilla's minimum number.) So you'll no longer find yourself starting the game in an area that looks like it might once have been someone's town square. Additionally, the mod ensures that amongst the ruins that do generate, buildings will be significantly more common than unattached wall segments, and those buildings will be shaped like rooms rather than like hallways.

- Rainbeau Flambe (dburgdorf)


Steam Workshop Link (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=887527541)

Dropbox Link (https://www.dropbox.com/s/h2rodxutngidb8z/Rainbeau%27s%20Fewer%20Ruins.zip?dl=0)

Compatibility:

Since "Fewer Ruins" does nothing but alter initial map generation, adding it to or removing it from a game in progress will have no impact whatsoever. It should be compatible with any other mods except perhaps those that also modify map generation. (For the record, "Fewer Ruins" is compatible with my "Fertile Fields" mod, as the two alter completely different aspects of map generation.)

Credits:

The initial idea for this mod came from Mittsies' "Tweaks" mod, which completely eliminates ruins generation.

The mod utilizes Pardeike's "Harmony Patch Library." (No additional download is required, as the library is included with the mod.)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on March 23, 2017, 12:55:08 PM
I've been playing around with the Editable Backstories mod in LiquidStudio (https://www.liquid-technologies.com/xml-studio) XML editor (free community copy for the price of an email address) and have a schema suggestion.

Here's what the auto-parser came up with when given both adult and child backstory xml files to examine:
(https://s6.postimg.org/6xs02z9ox/backstories.png)

But schemas can do much better as far as both catching and preventing errors. With a good schema the interface will show you what values are valid while you're typing up a backstory, including offering lists of options where appropriate.

Here's what I came up with:
(https://s6.postimg.org/4qnrf24ep/schema_Proposal.png)

The resulting XML documents have more error proofing than the original; they insist on mandatory fields, don't mind re-ordering where sequence is unimportant, and enforce ranges and values. Example xml entry from this schema (attached as a zip)<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Defs xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="D:\Docs\Prog\Rimworld\BackStories\Schemas\BackStories.xsd">
    <REB_Code.BackstoryDef>
        <descriptor>
            <title>Pet Detective</title>
            <titleShort>Ace</titleShort>
            <description>NAME has found HIS calling rescuing cats from trees.</description>
            <ageGroup>Adulthood</ageGroup>
            <defName>AngleWyrm001</defName>
        </descriptor>
        <jobRequirements>
            <job>Caring</job>
            <job>Animals</job>
        </jobRequirements>
        <skillGains>
            <skill>Animals</skill>
            <bonus>2</bonus>
        </skillGains>
        <developedTraits>
            <trait>Extra Special</trait>
        </developedTraits>
        <EligibleFactions>
            <Faction>Civil</Faction>
            <Faction>Traveler</Faction>
        </EligibleFactions>
        <BodyTypeGlobal>thin</BodyTypeGlobal>
    </REB_Code.BackstoryDef>
</Defs>


[attachment deleted by admin due to age]
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 23, 2017, 01:51:12 PM
AngleWyrm:

I know this may sound ridiculous, but I do all my XML editing in plain old Notepad. I've been doing so for years, and I don't expect to change. I have only the vaguest idea what a "schema" even is. That said, if you want to create a fancy editor for backstories and make it available for others to utilize, you're more than welcome to. But....

Whatever created the example XML file you provided is full of problems. If you try to read that file into the game, you'll get a lot of errors in your log file.

Possible problem: I have no idea where the <descriptor> tag came from, and don't know if its presence would cause any problems or simply be ignored. But it's unnecessary, even if it isn't problematic.

Definite problems: The file shouldn't have a <description> tag. It should be <baseDesc>. Likewise, <ageGroup> should be <Slot>. <jobRequirements> should be <requiredWorkTags>, and the entries within it should be designated by <li> tags, not <job> tags. Your <skill> and <bonus> tags should be <key> and <value> tags, and each set should be within <li> tags. <developedTraits> should be <forcedTraits>, and the traits listed should be defined with <key> and <value> tags (within <li> tags), not <trait> tags. <EligibleFactions> should be <spawnCategories>, and <li> tags, not <Faction> tags, should be defining the entries.

It looks like you've just replaced a lot of tags with new tags with names you've made up, but you can't do that. While those names may make a bit more sense to you, the game won't have the slightest idea what to do with them.

Finally, on a side note, your body type definition is incorrect, as well. "Thin" needs to be capitalized; the game won't recognize "thin" as a valid body type.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 12:26:07 AM
Quote from: dburgdorf on March 23, 2017, 01:51:12 PM
If you want to create a fancy editor for backstories and make it available for others to utilize, you're more than welcome to.



(https://www.liquid-technologies.com/Content/images/products/xml-studio/reflective/xsd-editor.png)LiquidStudio  (https://www.liquid-technologies.com/xml-studio)is a technological leap forward in XML editors, and the interface resembles Eclipse in functionality and information provisions.

QuoteThe game won't have the slightest idea what to do with [different tag names].
How is it then that the tag REB_Code.BackstoryDef appears in the xml?

QuoteOn a side note, your body type definition is incorrect, as well. "Thin" needs to be capitalized
This is the type of data error that should be caught and prevented by a schema and a good editor.

Thanks for your corrections, my appreciation for them will come in the form of an improvement.
(https://s6.postimg.org/673vaxwpd/Adults_to_Authorship.png)If we can agree that there is a set of data tags which form an API between story data and the game, then it is possible to map desirable transforms to something more legible to a backstory author and back again.

The transform can then create expected structure, such as enforcing unique key status, required fields vs optional fields, complete substructures such as key/value pairs and so on. That level of strict compliance to a design pattern then makes it possible for advanced editors to supply options such as enumerations or a list of valid tags as the author is writing.

Thus far I've automatically converted a subset of the fields in the adults data file into something with a degree of structure.



(https://s6.postimg.org/jt4l3hebz/Backstories_authorship.png)It may be possible to use the combination of schemas and data mappings to produce a method for assembling a wide variety of backstory documents into one file consumable by the game.

So I'm going to continue pursuing this with an eye toward making a way for authors to share their sets of backstories as a sort of bookshelf of backstories that can be included in the set.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 24, 2017, 10:28:14 AM
Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 12:26:07 AMLiquidStudio is a technological leap forward in XML editors, and the interface resembles Eclipse in functionality and information provisions.

That's nice, but as I said, for my own purposes, I'm quite happy editing XML files in Notepad. It's quick and simple.

Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 12:26:07 AM
QuoteThe game won't have the slightest idea what to do with [different tag names].
How is it then that the tag REB_Code.BackstoryDef appears in the xml?

I'm honestly not sure what you're getting at, here. That tag is, of course, the tag that defines a particular XML definition as a backstory to be read by the REB mod. Like the other correct tags, it's a tag that the game's code expects and knows what to do with. I wasn't suggesting, obviously, that XML tags simply can't ever be added or changed; my point was that you can't just change XML tags without making corresponding changes in the code. And frankly, I see no particular reason to make any such code changes. The tags in the XML files utilized by REB are the same as the tags in the default backstory files, which simplifies things for those who just want to make minor changes to default backstories.

Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 12:26:07 AM
QuoteOn a side note, your body type definition is incorrect, as well. "Thin" needs to be capitalized
This is the type of data error that should be caught and prevented by a schema and a good editor.

If you load a backstory definitions file into the game which includes a body type defined as "thin" rather than "Thin," you will in fact get an error message in your log file notifying you of the problem. The same is true for other sorts of mistakes which might show up in your XML files. And while some problems are just quietly ignored in the current version of REB, I'm making a few adjustments to try to make sure that those errors get noted in the log file, as well.  I want to try to make sure that users get notified of errors in their files even if they *don't* choose to utilize a third-party editor.  :)

Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 12:26:07 AMThus far I've automatically converted a subset of the fields in the adults data file into something with a degree of structure.

Again, you can't arbitrarily "convert" XML files' structure or tag names into something that you think makes more sense, and expect the game to still be able to read them. If the files' structure and tags aren't what the game expects, you'll simply get errors.

Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 12:26:07 AMSo I'm going to continue pursuing this with an eye toward making a way for authors to share their sets of backstories as a sort of bookshelf of backstories that can be included in the set.

If someone creates a set of backstories they'd like to share, I'd be more than happy to include that set (with full credit to the author, of course) as part of the REB distribution.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Granitecosmos on March 24, 2017, 11:29:01 AM
Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 12:26:07 AM
Quote from: dburgdorf on March 23, 2017, 01:51:12 PM
If you want to create a fancy editor for backstories and make it available for others to utilize, you're more than welcome to.

LiquidStudio  (https://www.liquid-technologies.com/xml-studio)is a technological leap forward in XML editors, and the interface resembles Eclipse in functionality and information provisions...

...so I'm going to continue pursuing this with an eye toward making a way for authors to share their sets of backstories as a sort of bookshelf of backstories that can be included in the set.

If you know oh so much better, how about you make a mod for it yourself? With all the fancy images, thoughts and whatnot, I'm sure you'll be done in no time! Right?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 11:44:18 AM
The purpose of this discussion isn't to solicit opinions on the merits of data mapping, it's to see if there is a willingness to abide by an API so that mods may derive from the xml. Since there has been significant effort to describe the xml as stable/unchangeable, can we assume that we will adhere to that?

Quote from: Granitecosmos on March 24, 2017, 11:29:01 AM
Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 12:26:07 AM
Quote from: dburgdorf on March 23, 2017, 01:51:12 PM
If you want to create a fancy editor for backstories and make it available for others to utilize, you're more than welcome to.
...how about you make a mod for it yourself?


(https://s6.postimg.org/jueiwwg5t/Adults_to_Authorship.png)Now we're getting somewhere.

Data transform completed.

Two questions
  • What is the purpose of the tag Shuffleable, which appears in only one record?
  • What are the valid values for the tag BodyTypeGlobal?
I'm gonna start a [WIP] thread for further work, so as not to intrude on Rainbeau's mod development thread.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 24, 2017, 12:28:43 PM
Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 11:44:18 AM
The purpose of this discussion... [is] to see if there is a willingness to abide by an API so that mods may derive from the xml.

Actually, the purpose of this discussion thread is to discuss my mods, but that point aside, honestly, I'm not even sure what you're trying to get at here. Mods don't "derive" from XML, they read data from XML files. And those XML files are either in the format the mod/game code expects, in which case they'll be read correctly, or they're not, in which case the game will generate errors. It really couldn't be much simpler.

Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 11:44:18 AMData transform completed.

Again, your "data transformation" seems simply to be an arbitrary renaming of tags in the XML files. And as I've said repeatedly, THAT WON'T WORK. If you change the names of the XML tags, the XML file WILL NOT be read correctly.

If you want to use "Editable Backstories" to put backstories in the game, you have to create XML files that define backstories correctly.  Your "data transformed" XML files DO NOT DO THAT.

Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 11:44:18 AMTwo questions.... What is the purpose of the tag Shuffleable, which appears in only one record? What are the valid values for the tag BodyTypeGlobal?

The <Shuffleable> tag determines whether the backstory can be part of randomly-determined backgrounds, or can only appear attached to a specific name. By default, it's true; there's no need for a backstory to even use the tag unless it's being set false.

Valid body types are "Male," "Female", "Fat," "Thin" and "Hulk."

(Yes, I'll be improving the documentation in the next update.)

Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 24, 2017, 11:44:18 AMI'm gonna start a [WIP] thread for further work, so as not to intrude on Rainbeau's mod development thread.

On the one hand, I'm certainly not going to complain if you stop cluttering this thread with long, largely irrelevant messages and oversized graphics. On the other hand, though, I can't help but wonder how questions and misunderstandings about how to correctly create XML data files constitute a "work in progress"....
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: SpaceDorf on March 28, 2017, 09:01:50 AM
Playing Mediator here.

@Rainbeau ..
What Angelwyrm is doing is to scan the XML Data of the Backstories for usable Information. Mapping, in the mathematical sense, it onto a Datastructure  that is more readable for humans and employed by the editor.

This process is generally used to create Interfaces between two systems using a common language. In most cases this will be XML.
The Interface then creates Files or temporary Data Structures for each involved Programm to use.
Most commonly this process is used to migrate Data between different Database Types.

But putting it right .. your mod thread is not the place to discuss the details of this .. but the resulting Tool would be great for everybody. :)

@AngelWyrm ..
This Tool would surely be awesome and quite useful .. but maybe quite the PITA to update if Versions Change to much.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Napple on March 28, 2017, 12:28:29 PM
Editable Backstories is incompatible with the humanoid alien framework and children and pregnancy. it It's replacing the backstories for these to work with completely random ones.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 28, 2017, 12:59:23 PM
Quote from: Napple on March 28, 2017, 12:28:29 PM
Editable Backstories is incompatible with the humanoid alien framework and children and pregnancy. it It's replacing the backstories for these to work with completely random ones.

I'm not familiar with the children mod at all, but I'm aware that there are problems with HAF. Simply editing the HAF backstory files as noted in my documentation worked with HAF 1, but apparently HAF 2 changed a lot more than I'd realized. It's not a mod I actually use, but I plan to look into it further this week and see if I can figure out what's actually going on. It's apparently referencing backstories in a way completely different than the default game does, and so my overriding of the default mechanism isn't working correctly for it.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on March 28, 2017, 06:04:40 PM

(https://s6.postimg.org/d7ejhvb9t/proposal.jpg)I'd like to propose an improvement to the method of storage for story rarity. We can't add new structure to the Rimworld backstory API because the game engine would throw a fit, and so the first draft is to multi-task the most appropriate field.

Well and good so far, but there's a refinement sequence in the construction of information storage and retrieval called Normal Forms, and there are three tiers to it. There's even a 4th theoretical normal form, but it doesn't survive in our world because it requires more processing than it's worth. It's a case of bumping up against the resolution of the universe in which we live, and further polishing doesn't produce more shiny.

Quote from: 1st Normal Form as defined on the wiki
A relation is in first normal form (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_normal_form) if and only if the domain of each attribute contains only atomic (indivisible) values, and the value of each attribute contains only a single value from that domain.

And so we get to see why my OCD is bothering me, domain entanglement :P

Research and development has revealed that although we cannot add new fields, new optional attributes are acceptable. This would separate the two domains of information into distinct parts, and make any future work based on the contents of those pieces of information much easier and less error-prone.

<SpawnCategories rarity="uncommon">
    <li>Civil</li>
    <li>Trader</li>
    <li>Traveler</li>
</SpawnCategories>

PS: If that looks like it would require a lot of edits to a data file, I can remap those changes without data entry.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 28, 2017, 07:11:58 PM
Quote from: AngleWyrm on March 28, 2017, 06:04:40 PMI'd like to propose an improvement to the method of storage for story rarity....

(First, for the benefit of anyone wondering, Angle's referring to a feature that's being added in the "Editable Backstories" update I'll be releasing later this week.)

Your proposed change definitely makes for nicer-looking XML. No question on that point. Unfortunately, though, to have the code read it, I'd have to rewrite rather than simply call the methods that read data from XML files. And that's far more work than I'm willing to do for a minor aesthetic improvement in the XML formatting.  ;)

Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on March 29, 2017, 04:14:36 AM


(https://s6.postimg.org/k4hwlvmc1/reallythough.jpg)XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
   doc.LoadXml(  "<reply success="true">More nodes go here</reply>"  );
   XmlElement root = doc.DocumentElement;

   string s = root.Attributes["success"].Value;



If it seems difficult to grasp the rules of data integrity then the best thing to do is abide by them until the reasons for their existence become apparent. That is what it takes to play beyond the limits of one's own knowledge.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 29, 2017, 09:45:52 AM
AngleWyrm, "spawnCategories" is the one field in the backstory database which allows the addition of arbitrary string content as additional values. And conveniently, its values are already used as filters, anyway. So the new rarity filter will be contained within the <spawnCategories> XML tag, as will the other filter I'll be adding for the next release, and as will any other filters I add in the future.

Just think of <spawnCategories> as a generic filter container, and move along.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Razzoriel on March 30, 2017, 08:21:49 AM
Thank you for this amazing mod, dear sir. I only have one problem with it:

I don't want my colonists to have Pirate King/tribal backstories. How do I proceed about making the backstories' rationale work as vanilla, and only have the editting/adding/removing aspect preserved?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 30, 2017, 10:00:14 AM
Quote from: Razzoriel on March 30, 2017, 08:21:49 AMI don't want my colonists to have Pirate King/tribal backstories. How do I proceed about making the backstories' rationale work as vanilla, and only have the editting/adding/removing aspect preserved?

Tribal backstories shouldn't be a problem at all, as backstories flagged with only the "Tribal" spawn category will show up only on tribal pawns.

As to the Pirate King backstories, note first that unless you specifically recreate them, the "linked" stories -- where a specific name, childhood and adulthood always appear together -- no longer exist when you're using "Editable Backstories." So they won't be showing up as colonists.

Additionally, I'd suggest you simply not include overpowered nonsense like "This pawn is an insanely famous pop idol who decided to become a space pirate with his most loyal fans as his crew" in your database at all.

As to the backstories you do utilize, if there are any that you don't want available for starting colonists, don't give them the "Civil" spawn category tag. This won't stop them from being available if you're using "Prepare Carefully," but it will prevent them from showing up in randomly-generated starting pawns.

Finally, in the update I'll be releasing soon (possibly tomorrow, but more likely on Saturday), it will be possible to define the relative rarity of backstories, so you can have some that simply show up less often than others, no matter what the context.

I realize this doesn't quite address your desire to have things work "as vanilla," but hopefully, it'll give you a better idea what options you have to tailor the way backstories show up in your game.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Razzoriel on March 30, 2017, 10:30:05 AM
Yes, we're on the same page. I've reviewed and editted all 'standard" colonist backstories (including the snowflakes) to become more in-line with the game, and even had some changes to some overpowered vanilla backstories (space janitors) to become less OP.

Completely forgot about the tags, thanks.

Can you make background restrictions based on the pawn's sex?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: BlackSmokeDMax on March 30, 2017, 10:32:31 AM
Besides being "easier" as in you don't have all the micro to do, does this also take less work overall?

What I am asking is if:

(Mining Work) + (Stonecutting Work) + (Construct Wall Work) > (Smooth Wall Work)

Basically, ignoring hauling, is this more, less, or equal in work value to the vanilla process? I'm guessing it is still much less work, just wondering if you've done the math or not?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 30, 2017, 11:00:56 AM
Quote from: Razzoriel on March 30, 2017, 10:30:05 AMCompletely forgot about the tags, thanks.

No problem at all. I'm also improving the documentation, so hopefully, in the future, it'll be harder to forget about stuff like that.  :D

Quote from: Razzoriel on March 30, 2017, 10:30:05 AMCan you make background restrictions based on the pawn's sex?

That's not something I'd thought of, but it should be a simple one-line addition to the code, so, yeah, expect it in the update.  ;)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on March 30, 2017, 11:04:34 AM
Re: "Smooth Stone Walls":

Quote from: BlackSmokeDMax on March 30, 2017, 10:32:31 AM
Basically, ignoring hauling, is this more, less, or equal in work value to the vanilla process? I'm guessing it is still much less work, just wondering if you've done the math or not?

I haven't actually checked all the numbers, but I'd assume the work to smooth a wall is noticeably less than the work to mine, make blocks, and build a wall. 

Which is probably another good argument in favor of having the smoothed walls be a new wall type that doesn't provide blocks when deconstructed.  :D
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 02, 2017, 06:32:35 PM
Kind of a major update to Editable Backstories (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg317704#msg317704):

- Added the ability to define the relative rarity of backstories. (They can now be common, uncommon, rare, or "Legendary.")

- Added the ability to filter backstories by pawn gender.

- Added the ability to define "sets" of backstories, such that stories which belong to a particular set will always and only be attached to other stories in the same set.

- Childhood and adulthood backstories will no longer be combined if one "favors" and the other "disfavors" a particular skill. (A backstory that adds at least 4 points to a skill will be treated as though it requires the relevant work tag for matching purposes, and a backstory that subtracts at least 4 points from a skill will be treated as though it disables the relevant work tag.)

- Fat and Hulk body types now have a (small) chance to show up randomly, just as the Thin body type already did. (This only applies to backstories for which generic "male" or "female" body types have been defined, or for which no body types are defined. Backstories for which "hulk," "thin" or "fat" body types are defined will always use those body types.)

- Added a TraitDefs file with a revised def for the Pyromaniac trait, making it much less common.

- Any errors in backstory or name definitions files caught by the code will now generate messages in the log file. (Previously, a few were silently ignored.)

- The log file also now prints a tally of the number of backstories and names added, so even if errors in the XML aren't caught by the code, you'll be able to tell if something's missing.

- The mod is now compatible with "Humanoid Alien Framework," albeit through an inelegant kludge. I'll try to clean things up in the next release.

- Expanded and improved the default backstory set.

- Greatly expanded the detail in the mod's documentation.

Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Pokk720 on April 02, 2017, 08:03:43 PM
Is there a way to change the rate at which thin body types show up? I've disabled it from every back story yet still half of my colonists show up with it.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 02, 2017, 09:00:25 PM
Quote from: Pokk720 on April 02, 2017, 08:03:43 PM
Is there a way to change the rate at which thin body types show up? I've disabled it from every back story yet still half of my colonists show up with it.

At the moment, no. The body type thing was a change I made sort of on a whim when I started working on this update, then forgot about in the midst of working on other stuff. It doesn't really work as well as I'd hoped it would. If I don't revert it completely, I'll at least make sure that the random body type assignment only applies to backstories with legitimately undefined body types, and not to those with generic "male" or "female" body type definitions, which is what's happening right now. I'll try and get that done tomorrow.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 02, 2017, 11:35:46 PM
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/94980958189186055/5D4B342A35A0DF1889FE42F7E10D7445FA57E810/?interpolation=lanczos-none&output-format=jpeg&output-quality=95&fit=inside%7C637:358&composite-to%3D%2A%2C%2A%7C637%3A358&background-color=black)

Last update: 4/15/2017

"Editable Backstories Lite" is a trimmed-down version of my "Editable Backstories" mod. It allows you to add new backstories and names to your game, but doesn't allow you to edit or delete anything from the default backstory database.

- Rainbeau Flambe (dburgdorf)


Steam Workshop Link (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=897469485)

Dropbox Link (https://www.dropbox.com/s/u13ndj1nzxt946k/Rainbeau%27s%20Editable%20Backstories%20Lite.zip?dl=0)

Compatibility:

"Editable Backstories Lite" can be safely added to a saved game, but if you remove it from a game in progress, every pawn in the world with one of your new backstories will end up with a randomly-assigned backstory to replace it.

So far as I know, it should be compatible with any other mod out there.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on April 03, 2017, 04:13:48 AM

(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/a3/82/79/a38279d7e8954af90429a41b2414d515.jpg)
Quote from: dburgdorf on April 02, 2017, 06:32:35 PM
- Added a TraitDefs file with a revised def for the Pyromaniac trait, making it much less common.

Way to go on a major update!

Can the traitDefs system be used to reveal all the available traits?
And probably harder, can the traits added by enabled mods be gathered into such a set?
If such a file existed, it could become part of a drop-down selection box so that backstory authors could choose a valid trait.

P.S. Added the skills adjustments section to the backstories editor tool (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=31306.msg320813#msg320813)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 03, 2017, 09:36:35 AM
Quote from: AngleWyrm on April 03, 2017, 04:13:48 AMCan the traitDefs system be used to reveal all the available traits?

Traits are all defined in XML files, so they're not hard to locate. Vanilla traits are all listed in the new, improved documentation for "Editable Backstories." If a particular user has other mods that add traits, they can find those traits' names in the XML files of the mods that add them.

As far as your question about automatically adding traits to some master list, I'm sure it's possible, but it'd require reading through a lot of files in subfolders of both the workshop and mods folders, looking for anything that adds traits, and probably cross-referencing the sources of those traits against the mods list file to figure out what's currently active and what's not.  Far simpler, I think, to just let users add any traits manually that they actually want to include in backstory defs.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Pokk720 on April 03, 2017, 11:08:29 AM
Quote from: dburgdorf on April 02, 2017, 09:00:25 PM
Quote from: Pokk720 on April 02, 2017, 08:03:43 PM
Is there a way to change the rate at which thin body types show up? I've disabled it from every back story yet still half of my colonists show up with it.

At the moment, no. The body type thing was a change I made sort of on a whim when I started working on this update, then forgot about in the midst of working on other stuff. It doesn't really work as well as I'd hoped it would. If I don't revert it completely, I'll at least make sure that the random body type assignment only applies to backstories with legitimately undefined body types, and not to those with generic "male" or "female" body type definitions, which is what's happening right now. I'll try and get that done tomorrow.

Cool beans. I had it set up where adult males never got the thin body type, I wanted it to be reserved for women and teenagers but the randomization makes it a little hard for me to differentiate between genders and adults or teens again..
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Dragoon on April 03, 2017, 06:59:27 PM
Thank you so much for the lite/full mod!
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on April 03, 2017, 09:22:00 PM

(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/aa/00/9f/aa009f91e017376dffe2cb4a5f3fb25c.jpg)
Quote from: dburgdorf on April 03, 2017, 09:36:35 AM
Traits are all defined in XML files, so they're not hard to locate.

Searching through the dark and mysterious mods folder for the elusive duck-billed <TraitDef> netted 80 hits in 9 files on my current loadout. Quite a haul.

This may be a task I can accomplish through xsl.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 03, 2017, 11:44:49 PM
Editable Backstories (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg317704#msg317704) and Editable Backstories Lite (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg322778#msg322778) have both been updated.

Update to "Editable Backstories":

- Pawn body types, if not defined in backstories, will now simply default to "male" or "female," rather than being randomized. (Vanilla behavior has been restored.)

Update to "Editable Backstories Lite":

- It is now possible to create linked name-childhood-adulthood sets.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Pokk720 on April 05, 2017, 01:14:26 AM
Just to clarify, you got rid of the randomization entirely? I think it's a good feature, just the rate at which it randomized was too high and it also seemed to heavily favor one body type over the rest. I appreciate this patch, however I would like to see the randomization return again later if you work out a way to make it more customizable or something.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on April 05, 2017, 05:25:37 AM

(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/52/47/91/524791d91d3dd7c74e89c8e0eb78161d.jpg)
Quote from: Pokk720 on April 05, 2017, 01:14:26 AM
Just to clarify, you got rid of the randomization entirely? I think it's a good feature, just the rate at which it randomized...

Personal taste differs between players, and so the best thing we can do is place the ability to make such adjustments in the hands of those who have a wish one way or another. Such is the nature of modding.

It's also useful where demands are made irrespective of audience, which comes up in arguments over censorship and artistic expression, half-baked opinions on copyright and licensing issues, and variants on the theme of my way vs your way.

The mechanism of *.XML files makes it easy to edit values, so that is a great way to provide opportunity to customize the experience. A more expensive way if there's only a small handful of settings is to provide input controls on the Options/Mods menu.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 05, 2017, 08:35:44 AM
Quote from: Pokk720 on April 05, 2017, 01:14:26 AMJust to clarify, you got rid of the randomization entirely?

I'm afraid that's the case.

What I'd done originally was set it so that any background attached to a normal male or female body type would end up randomized. Roughly half stayed at the default, about 40% became thin, and the others became either fat or hulk. But that obviously wasn't optimal, as there are plenty of cases where you might specify a default body because you *want* a default body, and not because you don't care what body type the pawn has.

What I'd planned to do in the update was just set it so that backstories without a body type definition were randomized, but others stayed as they were assigned. The problem I ran into trying to do that, though, is that when I tried to read backstories from XML into the game's actual database without making sure that body types were all defined, my error log got spammed with "no body type defined" messages. And the game imposed defaults, such that when pawns were actually created, there *were* none with undefined body types.

I'll dig further and see if I can come up with a workaround, but for the moment, yeah, the randomized body types are completely gone.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Lethe on April 08, 2017, 09:00:16 PM
So, I marked a wall for smoothing. Then I changed my mind and marked it for mining and I forced a pawn to mine it. A granite chuck appeared in the stone's place. It still had a smoothing icon in it. A pawn came by and smoothed the wall, a granite wall appeared in its place. The was granite chuck still there.

Free wall.

Tried repeating it and it's repeatable. You can mark a wall for both smoothing and mining, if it's mined first and even if there's nothing left in it's spot (completely empty) it doesn't matter and a wall will be magically made in place resulting in a free wall.

Just figured I'd mention it to you. While materials like granite, etc can be plentiful on a lot of maps and exploiting them hardly matters, this could ostensibly work on plasteel and gold, etc which would be a bit more of a worthwhile exploit.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Minnigin on April 08, 2017, 09:11:29 PM
can you smooth a mineral ore though? imma check this now

you cannot smooth anything that isnt stonewall so no you cannot exploit metal ores with this mod
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Lethe on April 08, 2017, 09:29:59 PM
Quote from: Minnigin on April 08, 2017, 09:11:29 PM
can you smooth a mineral ore though? imma check this now

you cannot smooth anything that isnt stonewall so no you cannot exploit metal ores with this mod

Well, looks like I derped in my thinking. For some reason, I thought you could smooth plasteel/gold/steel veins directly into walls without mining them with this mod. Ah well, assuming wrongly happens to us all, I guess.

I'll edit my comment to strike out that last sentence. 
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 08, 2017, 10:19:27 PM
Quote from: Lethe on April 08, 2017, 09:00:16 PMFree wall.

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm working on an update to the mod tonight, anyway, and that should be an easy bug to squash.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 09, 2017, 01:08:41 AM
Smooth Stone Walls (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314888#msg314888) has been updated:

- Smoothed walls are now a distinct wall type, slightly more durable than stone walls constructed with blocks. When deconstructed, smooth stone walls don't yield blocks, but have the same chance as mined stone tiles to drop stone chunks.

- Squashed a bug which yielded "free" granite walls when a tile was set to be both mined and smoothed.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: The13thRonin on April 09, 2017, 05:06:50 AM
Can I use extended backstories to completely remove backstories entirely (blank slate)? I'd like to begin work on an overhaul of the backstory/trait system.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 09, 2017, 08:28:07 AM
Quote from: The13thRonin on April 09, 2017, 05:06:50 AMCan I use extended backstories to completely remove backstories entirely (blank slate)?

Yes, you can. That is, in fact, the key difference between the full and the lite versions of "Editable Backstories." The lite version simply adds to the existing database, while the full version replaces it completely. If you're using the full version, the only backstories which can appear on any pawns in the game are the ones in your XML files.

I will point out, though, that names are a different matter. Both versions of the mod simply add new names to the existing database, as there isn't much need for most players to remove names from the game, and as you really have to have a large set of names to avoid a lot of obvious repetition. But that's certainly something else that could be done if your overhaul would require a set of names tied to a certain region, period or style.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 09, 2017, 06:16:20 PM
Wild Cultivation (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314032#msg314032) has been updated. It's now fully compatible with "Vegetable Garden."
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Rimrue on April 09, 2017, 09:31:10 PM
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I installed the Backstories Lite version and can't figure out how to add backstories to the game. Can you explain how to do it?

Thanks!
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 09, 2017, 10:31:19 PM
Quote from: Rimrue on April 09, 2017, 09:31:10 PM
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I installed the Backstories Lite version and can't figure out how to add backstories to the game. Can you explain how to do it?

Look in the mod's "Defs" folder. You'll find a number of files named "Backstories_<whatever>," which are sample backstory files. You'll also find a file named "Backstory Editing Guidelines," which provides general instructions, and files named "BackstoryDef XML Details" and "NameDef XML Details," which provide more detailed information.  ;)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 10, 2017, 12:40:26 AM
Smooth Stone Walls (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314888#msg314888) has been updated:

- Filled some "gaps" in the smoothed stone wall definition, which will perhaps fix some odd errors that some users have seen.

- Fixed the greyscaling on the smooth stone wall graphics to better match the greyscaling on the block stone wall graphics, so stone walls will "flow" better graphically from constructed to smoothed segments.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 12, 2017, 12:11:13 AM
A minor graphical update to Smooth Stone Walls (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314888#msg314888):

- Improved both the constructed and the smoothed wall graphics so they "flow" well graphically not only into each other, but also into natural rock walls.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Lethe on April 12, 2017, 12:19:31 PM
Okay, silly question probably, but how do I get the new smoothed stone wall texture instead of the vanilla brick ones? The mod has 3 textures now in it --- brick, smoothed and planks. If I go to smooth granite I just get a normal granite brick wall. Any advice on getting the other two textures?

Smoothed floors are so pretty and I can't wait to get some matching walls for them! Very thrilled about the new texture. Perhaps there could be a way to 'smooth' normal brick walls? It'd be purely for aesthetic purposes for existing walls as it's obviously more expensive to make brick walls than smoothing stone, but one couldn't build the new texture smoothed walls out of nowhere as it'd require a spot of stone(?)... Unless, perhaps one could smooth a chunk, such as a chunk of marble, slate etc into a smoothed wall... Perhaps smoothing bricks would take less time than smoothing stone.

Cheers and thanks for the awesome mod. :)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 12, 2017, 01:03:49 PM
Quote from: Lethe on April 12, 2017, 12:19:31 PMOkay, silly question probably, but how do I get the new smoothed stone wall texture instead of the vanilla brick ones? The mod has 3 textures now in it --- brick, smoothed and planks. If I go to smooth granite I just get a normal granite brick wall. Any advice on getting the other two textures?

You shouldn't have to "do" anything. When you create a wall by smoothing rock, the smoothed wall texture should be used, when you build a wall with blocks, the block texture should be used, and when you build a wall with wood, the plank texture should be used. If that's not what you're seeing, I'm not sure what to tell you. I can take a look when I get home from work this evening, but I don't *think* I screwed anything right before releasing the update last night. ;)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Rimrue on April 13, 2017, 04:13:58 AM
Quote from: dburgdorf on April 09, 2017, 10:31:19 PM
Quote from: Rimrue on April 09, 2017, 09:31:10 PM
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I installed the Backstories Lite version and can't figure out how to add backstories to the game. Can you explain how to do it?

Look in the mod's "Defs" folder. You'll find a number of files named "Backstories_<whatever>," which are sample backstory files. You'll also find a file named "Backstory Editing Guidelines," which provides general instructions, and files named "BackstoryDef XML Details" and "NameDef XML Details," which provide more detailed information.  ;)

Thanks!

I've created some more tribal backstories. If anyone is interested, I can share them. :)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 15, 2017, 10:06:54 AM
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/94981890672392547/968F035B0E1A299297AC0CC2F044D0B1F7A41799/?interpolation=lanczos-none&output-format=jpeg&output-quality=95&fit=inside%7C637:358&composite-to%3D%2A%2C%2A%7C637%3A358&background-color=black)

OBSOLETE

"Editable Backstories HAF" was a version of my "Editable Backstories" mod designed for full compatibility with mods that utilize Erdelf's "Humanoid Alien Framework." However, as such compatibility is now part of the base version of the mod, a special version is no longer required.

- Rainbeau Flambe (dburgdorf)

Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 15, 2017, 10:12:58 AM
Editable Backstories (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg317704#msg317704) has been updated:

- Body type definitions in childhood backstories are no longer ignored. (Vanilla behavior, as it turns out, pays them no attention whatsoever.)

- Pawn body type is again randomized when no body type is defined for the pawn's backstory. (And it now works as it should have in the first place!)

- Corrected a few pronoun typos in default backstory files.

- Tweaked the log file messages.

- Split HAF compatibility into a separate mod. (If you're using any "Humanoid Alien Framework" mods, use the HAF-compatible version of "Editable Backstories," and everything will work together "out of the box" with no adjustments needed.)

The new HAF version can be found immediately above this update message. ;)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: sidfu on April 15, 2017, 08:13:10 PM
for those who use redist heat u need to add <li>SmoothedWall</li> to any of the xml that it uses for items that go in walls.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 19, 2017, 10:17:52 PM
Smooth Stone Walls (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314888#msg314888) has been updated:

- Added the ability to "etch" smoothed stone walls to give them the same brick pattern that constructed walls have, if you prefer that all of your wall tiles look the same.

(There are currently no plans to ever allow pawns to etch pictures of cheese into walls.)

- You should now be able to smooth any type of natural stone wall, added by any mod, rather than just those added by specific mods I happen to be aware of.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: SpaceDorf on April 19, 2017, 10:55:55 PM
Quote from: dburgdorf on April 19, 2017, 10:17:52 PM
Smooth Stone Walls (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314888#msg314888) has been updated:
(There are currently no plans to ever allow pawns to etch pictures of cheese into walls.)

Why are you so cruel ?
What about corn ? Or Cowboy Hats ?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 19, 2017, 11:33:04 PM
Quote from: SpaceDorf on April 19, 2017, 10:55:55 PMWhy are you so cruel ?

Because I *can* be.

Muahahahaha!

Seriously, though, I'd absolutely *love* it if it was possible, instead of just saying "thing X uses graphic Y," to say "thing X uses either graphic A, graphic B, or graphic C," with the further ability to assign varied likelihoods.  I think it would be hilarious to have random wall tiles display pictures other than the default brick pattern.  :D

EDIT:

I hate when my brain won't let an idea go.  :P

Long story short, it occurred to me that since etched walls are only ever placed on the map by my own code, there's no reason why I *couldn't* write the code to randomize selection between several walls with different graphics. So while *most* etched wall tiles would have simple brick patterns, some *could* randomly have pictures.

The code's already done. It was easy. Now I just need to come up with a few more alternate wall graphics.

And no, the picture etching's not actually tied to a pawn's artistic skill. I'm not sure how to do that, and I don't really think it's all that important, anyway.

(But yeah. That was my productive evening. Figuring out how to put pictures of cheese on walls in a game.)

Of course, I also need to make sure it'll be easy for those who *don't* want their walls scattered with pictures to have only conventional walls.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: SpaceDorf on April 21, 2017, 02:17:52 AM
Armok bless you.

You just experienced what DF calls a fey mood :-P

*Smooth Stone Walls is a legendary Rimworld Mod.
This mod is of the highest quality. It is made out of xml and is adorned with spikes of c#. On it are pictures of Dwarves eating Cheese.*

(http://dwarffortresswiki.org/images/9/9d/DF_Cheese.jpg)


Don't tell anyone, but I think there may have been a tear of joy, or two ..

For the easy way .. two different designations come to mind ?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 21, 2017, 09:41:40 AM
Quote from: SpaceDorf on April 21, 2017, 02:17:52 AMFor the easy way .. two different designations come to mind ?

That's almost certainly what I'll end up doing. I briefly thought about making it a configuration option of some sort, whether or not the decorative drawings might show up, but that's really more trouble than it's worth, especially given that even those who want the drawings might not want them showing up everywhere. So what I'm figuring is just to have two etching options on the architect menu, one that produces only brick patterning, and another that produces brick patterns interspersed with randomly-chosen artwork.

Now, as to the artwork....

If you happen to have anything to contribute, I wouldn't complain. I need tiny (22x22 pixel) black & white line drawings, or drawings that are at least small enough that reducing them to that size won't blur them beyond recognition. The more pictures I can find, the more variety your walls will have.  ;)


EDIT: It wasn't hard to find a source of line art icons that provided a nice set of "wall art" pictures. If you happen to have something specific you'd like me to use, I'll be happy to add it to the collection, but I'm no longer in dire need of material. :D

Also, I've decided that while basic etching -- that is, etching that simply makes smoothed walls look like constructed walls -- will utilize a pawn's constructing skill, the artistic etching will instead utilize artistic skill. It just makes sense. I'm not going to worry about trying to set up different "quality" walls, but pawns will have to be assigned to do artistic work in order to create wall art, and their skill level in art will effect their speed.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on April 22, 2017, 12:38:20 AM

(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/73/7e/67/737e671e3c59209f43916bafa22f5c88.jpg)The error box on the right always comes up once. (Because Steam is not running. Which is the way I like it.)

This mod (Editable Backstories) makes that message box pop up twice. Of the 127 mods currently installed, disabling/re-enabling this one mod coincides with appearance/absence of the second repetition of that error box.

Mod list attached.
(https://s6.postimg.org/ds5k7tpe9/bug.png)


[attachment deleted by admin due to age]
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 22, 2017, 01:19:36 AM
Quote from: AngleWyrm on April 22, 2017, 12:38:20 AMThe error box on the right always comes up once.

If I was seeing that behavior, I'd be more concerned with fixing the problem that causes the error to pop up in the first place, than with worrying about a particular mod that maybe makes it appear twice instead of just once.

That said, I wouldn't even know where to begin to help you diagnose your Steam issues. Maybe you should check Steam's support pages?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Dr_Zhivago on April 22, 2017, 08:28:47 AM
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=902774116

Wild Cultivation and Editable Backstories are being used here


Edit: I've also found that the agave plant from Wild Cultivation and the mod "Sync Growth" are incompatible. I'm not sure exactly why, but maybe it's something you can look into. The other crop types like corn and smokeleaf are still compatible with Sync Growth.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 22, 2017, 03:57:09 PM
Smooth Stone Walls (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314888#msg314888) has been updated again:

- It is now possible to do either basic or decorative etching. Decorative etching can be done by any pawn assigned to artistic work, and results in some wall tiles being randomly adorned with pictures in addition to the brick pattern. (Pawns with higher artistic skill are more likely to actually produce such art.)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Dr_Zhivago on April 23, 2017, 01:10:37 PM
Quote from: dburgdorf on April 22, 2017, 03:57:09 PM
Smooth Stone Walls (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg314888#msg314888) has been updated again

One suggestion: Allow pawns to remove decorative etches.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: SpaceDorf on April 23, 2017, 01:25:17 PM
Is it possible to include graphics for etchings by myself ?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 23, 2017, 07:14:12 PM
Update Note:

All of my mods which previously utilized detours have been updated to instead utilize the Harmony Patch Library.

This is generally an "invisible" change for users. However, a beneficial side effect of the change is that the base version of Editable Backstories (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg317704#msg317704) is now fully compatible with mods utilizing the "Humanoid Alien Framework." So there's no longer a need for a special version of the mod. Use the base version regardless of whether or not you have aliens in your game. :)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 23, 2017, 07:29:11 PM
Quote from: Dr_Zhivago on April 22, 2017, 08:28:47 AMI've also found that the agave plant from Wild Cultivation and the mod "Sync Growth" are incompatible. I'm not sure exactly why, but maybe it's something you can look into. The other crop types like corn and smokeleaf are still compatible with Sync Growth.

I took a quick look at "Sync Growth," and I honestly don't see anything at all that would cause a conflict between the mods. SG doesn't alter plant definitions at all, instead changing only the code affecting how they grow. Meanwhile, WC doesn't change the code at all, but only alters the XML definitions.

What misbehavior, exactly, are you seeing, and are there any other mods in your game that might be playing a role?

Quote from: Dr_Zhivago on April 23, 2017, 01:10:37 PMOne suggestion: Allow pawns to remove decorative etches.

I can't believe I didn't think of that myself. There should definitely be a way to erase those "cheese" and "beer" pictures once you have a good enough artist in your colony to etch gerbils and tropical islands in their place.  ;)

Quote from: SpaceDorf on April 23, 2017, 01:25:17 PMIs it possible to include graphics for etchings by myself ?

Yes, but it might be a bit labor intensive. You'd need to replace one or more of the wall graphics with walls that have your own designs, and then update the corresponding XML definitions so that the description of the wall you see in game matches the new picture.

Of course, if you have particular pictures you really like, you could always forward them to me, and I can just add them into the next update. ;)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Dr_Zhivago on April 23, 2017, 07:34:27 PM
Quote from: dburgdorf on April 23, 2017, 07:29:11 PM
Quote from: Dr_Zhivago on April 22, 2017, 08:28:47 AMI've also found that the agave plant from Wild Cultivation and the mod "Sync Growth" are incompatible. I'm not sure exactly why, but maybe it's something you can look into. The other crop types like corn and smokeleaf are still compatible with Sync Growth.

I took a quick look at "Sync Growth," and I honestly don't see anything at all that would cause a conflict between the mods. SG doesn't alter plant definitions at all, instead changing only the code affecting how they grow. Meanwhile, WC doesn't change the code at all, but only alters the XML definitions.

What misbehavior, exactly, are you seeing, and are there any other mods in your game that might be playing a role?

Essentially the Agave plants are no longer growing in sync. So they'll grow according to the time you plant them, not using "Sync Growth" functionality. I'm pretty certain it is your mod, because when I edit out the "PlantsNewCultivated_RWC" agave plant changes, the agave plants are back to using the Sync Growth functionality. It's odd though, because your "PlantsNewWild_RWC" edits don't change the Sync Growth behavior.

Edit:
For more info on my collection of mods http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=902774116
and mod load order: https://gist.github.com/DrZhivago1/e1c764e46de33748421e803e624ba53e
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: SpaceDorf on April 24, 2017, 07:17:50 AM
Quote from: dburgdorf on April 23, 2017, 07:29:11 PM

Yes, but it might be a bit labor intensive. You'd need to replace one or more of the wall graphics with walls that have your own designs, and then update the corresponding XML definitions so that the description of the wall you see in game matches the new picture.

Of course, if you have particular pictures you really like, you could always forward them to me, and I can just add them into the next update. ;)


I found the folder.
Next time I have to look more closely befor asking questions :)

And since Beer and Cheese are allready in there I have no further demands :)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 24, 2017, 07:54:52 PM
Quote from: Rimrue on April 13, 2017, 04:13:58 AMI've created some more tribal backstories. If anyone is interested, I can share them. :)

I'm sorry. I was just skimming through the thread to update my "to do" list, and realized I'd missed this comment last week. By all means, if you'd like to share your new backstories, feel free to post them here. I'd be happy to include them with the next update.

(I should probably set up some sort of repository for people to post backstories they write, but I'm not sure what would be the best way to do so.)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: SpaceDorf on April 25, 2017, 03:48:55 AM
Quote from: dburgdorf on April 24, 2017, 07:54:52 PM
(I should probably set up some sort of repository for people to post backstories they write, but I'm not sure what would be the best way to do so.)


GitHub or GoogleDocs

GitHub is Better for advanced Mod Collaboration and publishing,
while with GoogleDocs you could just publish an open Document where everybody could put their backstories in. ( Format and Tutorial included )
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Rimrue on April 25, 2017, 03:49:40 AM
I uploaded them to Dropbox. There are 12 child and 12 adult backstories. They may need some tweaking to balance them better. A few are wholly my own, some are colonist backstories adapted to tribal, and some are "pirate king" stories that have been toned down a bit. Lol

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6hcxyyqh848c7rm/Backstories_Tribal_Adult.xml?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/6hcxyyqh848c7rm/Backstories_Tribal_Adult.xml?dl=0)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3gd0hq6rc52e0yl/Backstories_Tribal_Child.xml?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/3gd0hq6rc52e0yl/Backstories_Tribal_Child.xml?dl=0)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on April 25, 2017, 11:23:48 AM
Quote from: SpaceDorf on April 25, 2017, 03:48:55 AMGitHub or GoogleDocs

OK, I've never actually used either of those myself; my sole familiarity with both is that I've occasionally followed links to things uploaded by others.

GitHub: Ugh. I know I should put my code there, if only so others who are better coders than me -- which is to say, most any other coder -- can easily point out my mistakes and help me improve things. ;) But I tried last week, and frankly couldn't make head nor tail of the process of setting up my IDE (SharpDevelop) to actually upload to and download from a GitHub repository. I'm sure it's not really as difficult as it seemed, but I just got lost in the separate (and typically fairly minimalist) documentation files for the various pieces, all of which apparently need to be independently set up just right before any of them will work together.

But anyway, while it's great for sharing code, would it really be appropriate as a location for users just to upload and download various XML files?

Google Docs: I wouldn't want to force everything into a single document, not least because I wouldn't want to allow users to edit each other's entries. Rather than creating a single file, is it possible to set up a folder into which anyone can be allowed to upload documents for others to access?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on May 08, 2017, 11:34:33 PM
Rimrue, your tribal tales are included in the a17 update of "Editable Backstories" I just uploaded.  ;)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on May 16, 2017, 09:21:09 PM
I hadn't planned to bother with an a16 release for this one, but since there seems to be far more interest than I'd anticipated....

(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/826819711236947197/B4E14DD2ADDF0F5AA345AB73807CF5D3F03789A5/?interpolation=lanczos-none&output-format=jpeg&output-quality=95&fit=inside%7C637:358&composite-to%3D%2A%2C%2A%7C637%3A358&background-color=black)

Last update: 5/18/2017

"Basic Bridges," as the name so subtly suggests, allows you to build bridges. (Well, technically, you could also create piers or even a boardwalk. It's really up to you.) No special research is required. All you need is wood or stone. And a bit of steel for reinforcement if you're building over deep water.

Bridges support light construction, so you can, for example, use a bridge to run a power conduit across a river.

It's also possible to create "fishing spots" on bridges or piers where pawns can relax and catch fish.

- Rainbeau Flambe (dburgdorf)


Steam Workshop Link (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=927280788)

Dropbox Link (https://www.dropbox.com/s/lb8c80mgqx3h6a5/%5Ba16%5D%20Rainbeau%27s%20Basic%20Bridges.zip?dl=0)

Compatibility:

"Basic Bridges" can safely be added to a game in progress, but if you try to remove it from a game in which you've actually built any bridges, you will of course make the map unplayable.

This mod may conflict with other mods that alter vanilla water tiles. It is compatible with my "Fertile Fields" mod, but you'll want to make sure that "Fertile Fields" loads last.

Credits:

The code in "Basic Bridges" borrows a bit from Sulusdacor's "[sd] Bridges" mod. And obviously, the mods are very similar on a conceptual level. I just decided that I wanted a simpler bridges mod, that would be fully compatible with my "Fertile Fields" mod.

As well, the ability to fish from bridges draws both conceptually and specifically from Rikiki's "FishIndustry," though what I've done here is far less elaborate than what's he's done in that mod.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on May 17, 2017, 11:11:11 PM
A thank you for the [A16] version of bridges

Editable Backstories {filterset1, filterset2, ...}
Consider the scenario where a client list includes a phone number field. If they are pre-assigned, such as {home, work, cell} then they become inflexible. What if a record needs a forth phone number? What if space is allocated for a bunch of unused phone numbers? This problem has come up enough times that it has been studied to the point of solution.

Fields that are repeated within a record are candidates for their own separate table. So in the client list example phone numbers are stored in a separate structure. In this way there are exactly the right number of phone numbers for every client's needs, no more and no less.

<phoneNumbers>
    <phoneNumber clientID="JohnDoe">123-4567</phoneNumber>
    <phoneNumber clientID="JohnDoe">123-0000</phoneNumber>
    <phoneNumber clientID="JaneDoe">123-9999</phoneNumber>
</phoneNumbers>

If we replace 'clientID' with a backstory defName, then any number of filter entries can apply.

Here's what a separate data structure could look like within a record

<filters>
    <filter>medieval</filter>
    <filter>pirate</filter>
</filters>
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Gohihioh on May 18, 2017, 07:17:51 AM
So I have a visual bug with Basic Bridges on alpha 16.
I have Fertile Fields and I made sure I load Fertile Fields after it (I even tried loading it before just to see the difference and there was  no difference).
I don't have any other mod that alters water tiles.

I used to use sd Bridges but I would prefer to use Basic Bridges although the visual thing really bothers me and I'm not sure how to make it work.

Here is screenshot
(http://i.imgur.com/Ht1NmsL.jpg)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on May 18, 2017, 09:34:55 AM
Quote from: AngleWyrm on May 17, 2017, 11:11:11 PMEditable Backstories....

Please, as I asked you the other day on my a17 thread, take your rants about the game's database design to one of the forum's "suggestions" threads. THEY DO NOT BELONG ON MY MOD THREADS. Even if I agreed with you that the current database design is desperately in need of fixing -- which I don't, as things are working fine, even if not "optimally" -- there isn't a damned thing I can do about it, as I'm not in a position to alter the game's base coding.

Quote from: Gohihioh on May 18, 2017, 07:17:51 AM
So I have a visual bug with Basic Bridges on alpha 16.

Ugh. I'm not sure how I missed the fact that bridge pieces weren't connecting visually. I know exactly why it's happening. I just copied over the bridge "atlas" graphic from the a17 version, forgetting that the "atlas" graphics are sized a bit differently in a17 than they were in a16. I should be able to get that fixed this evening.

I'll probably also make sure it works properly with all three water types in "Fertile Fields." I wasn't going to bother with that, but since I'll be mucking with it anyway.... :D
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Gohihioh on May 18, 2017, 10:32:07 AM
Quote from: dburgdorf on May 18, 2017, 09:34:55 AM
I should be able to get that fixed this evening.

I'll probably also make sure it works properly with all three water types in "Fertile Fields." I wasn't going to bother with that, but since I'll be mucking with it anyway.... :D

Awesome :) thanks for quick respond. I really enjoy your work.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: AngleWyrm on May 18, 2017, 11:39:39 AM
Quote from: dburgdorf on May 18, 2017, 09:34:55 AM
take your rants about the game's database design to one of the forum's "suggestions" threads.
THEY DO NOT BELONG ON MY MOD THREADS...
I'm not in a position to alter the game's base coding.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on May 18, 2017, 12:20:39 PM
Quote from: AngleWyrm on May 18, 2017, 11:39:39 AMThey violate the 1st normal form of information structure, namely making one field serve two purposes

As I've already explained to you in prior incarnations of this conversation, in order to add new backstory filter options, I had to adapt the only "filter" tag available within backstory XML files. I really couldn't care less that you don't like the fact that the "SpawnCategories" tag now serves as a general filter tag rather than as a specific one. And even if I did care, it wouldn't matter, as there's no other option. I can't just arbitrarily add new tags to XML defs. I have to work with the tags that the game recognizes.

"Editable Backstories" adds a few new options to backstory definition, WITHIN THE CONSTRAINTS SET BY THE STRUCTURE OF THE BACKSTORY DEFINITION FILES. So, once again, and hopefully for the final time, if you have complaints or criticisms of that structure, I'll ask you to voice them on a "suggestions" thread, where your comments might be seen by someone who can do something to change the structure, and not on my mods' threads.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on May 18, 2017, 08:52:43 PM
Basic Bridges (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=30749.msg332316#msg332316) has been updated to fix some graphics glitches.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Goldenpotatoes on May 19, 2017, 12:50:55 PM
So apparently smoothed/etched walls can be sold by bulk traders.
(http://i.imgur.com/xaoZYA3.png)

This seems like a bug, considering they only weigh 1 kg.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on May 19, 2017, 02:05:25 PM
Quote from: Goldenpotatoes on May 19, 2017, 12:50:55 PMSo apparently smoothed/etched walls can be sold by bulk traders.

Oooh Kaaay....

Yeah, obviously, that's not intended to happen. Not sure *how* it's happening, since the walls are based off of base wall code, and base walls can't be bought or sold....

I'll definitely look into it.

And on a side note, I love your cartoon.  :D
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: DariusWolfe on May 19, 2017, 02:56:39 PM
A couple things with smoothed walls:

First, a question; Should artistically etched walls give beauty? I have a crappy little artist who I've been having etch some walls, and it seems to fail more often than not (I get a basic etched wall) but I have two segments with pieces of art (a beer, and some cheese) but there's no beauty score. Is it because my artist isn't that good, or is it just a visible decoration for my own eyes?

Second: Probably to do with one of the recent A17 fixes for accessing corners, but when I smooth walls on a room, it leaves the corners unsmoothed, and apparently these unsmoothed corners still count as -2 beauty when you use the room inspector. I'm not sure if there's anything you can do about it, but it's a smidge aggravating.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on May 19, 2017, 04:04:19 PM
Quote from: DariusWolfe on May 19, 2017, 02:56:39 PM
Should artistically etched walls give beauty?

Decorative walls do have a beauty modifier, but in the case of poor-quality art (like beer and cheese pics) on basic walls (as opposed, for example, to marble walls), the modifier may not be enough to actually bump up the final beauty score. It's certainly something I can look at again, though, especially since it's possible that changes from a16 to a17 have affected the way the final totals are calculated.

As to the corners, yeah, I'm aware of the problem, but haven't had a chance yet to see if there's anything I can do about it. (I'm guessing there won't be, but I'll still take a look.)
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Lethe on May 30, 2017, 10:33:37 PM
Quote from: dburgdorf on May 19, 2017, 02:05:25 PM
Quote from: Goldenpotatoes on May 19, 2017, 12:50:55 PMSo apparently smoothed/etched walls can be sold by bulk traders.

Oooh Kaaay....

Yeah, obviously, that's not intended to happen. Not sure *how* it's happening, since the walls are based off of base wall code, and base walls can't be bought or sold....

I'll definitely look into it.

And on a side note, I love your cartoon.  :D

If you ever figure out what that bug is, would you care to inform us sometime about it? I'm quite fascinated with such aberrant behavior. It's a bit of a learning opportunity. :)

I wanted to thank you for the bridges!!! They look so pretty <3 I'm very happy to use them in my colonies~

I also wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your replies on certain things in here. :D While certain things are clearly frustrating for you to deal with, I assure you your replies are quite wonderful to read. I'm afraid I laugh quite a bit over it at your expense. [I'm a bit of a sadist.] Hopefully you're no longer bothered with off topic complaints anymore. :)

Cheers! :D
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on May 31, 2017, 12:10:59 AM
Quote from: Lethe on May 30, 2017, 10:33:37 PMIf you ever figure out what that bug is, would you care to inform us sometime about it?

Not sure when (or if) I'll actually bother digging into it. Simple specifically defining walls as non-tradeable presumably solved the problem, though they should have been defined that way by default.

Quote from: Lethe on May 30, 2017, 10:33:37 PMI wanted to thank you for the bridges!!!

You are more than welcome.

Quote from: Lethe on May 30, 2017, 10:33:37 PMI also wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your replies on certain things in here. :D

I figure at age 53 I've earned the right to be a curmudgeon at least occasionally. I try to be polite online; honestly, I do. But sometimes my frustration and/or my sarcastic tendencies get the better of me. :D
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Lethe on June 01, 2017, 05:59:56 PM
Quote from: dburgdorf on May 31, 2017, 12:10:59 AM
Not sure when (or if) I'll actually bother digging into it. Simple specifically defining walls as non-tradeable presumably solved the problem, though they should have been defined that way by default.

I figure at age 53 I've earned the right to be a curmudgeon at least occasionally. I try to be polite online; honestly, I do. But sometimes my frustration and/or my sarcastic tendencies get the better of me. :D

Ah, I didn't realize you fixed the bug already! I didn't see it mentioned. If it's already fixed ignore my request then x"D I thought you were going to have to figure out why it was acting like that in order to fix it. I forgot that's not always the case. Gotta love those times when it ends up like this: "Not sure why this is doing that, but this fixes it soooo problem solved! :/"

Oh, you are polite! Nary a word of place. It's just easy to read the emotion's off of your posts. I suppose some of us are gifted with the rare ability of understanding the obvious more than others. :l

By the way, I'm pretty sure we got rid of age privileges. The appropriate defense nowadays is that you were born that way; as in the immortal words of Lady Gaga, "ooh, there ain't no other way, baby, I was born this way." Otherwise us self entitled millennials wouldn't have a good excuse anymore. ;p

Cheers! I'll be cheering for those sarcastic tendencies to get the better of you. ;D
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on June 01, 2017, 07:14:33 PM
Quote from: Lethe on June 01, 2017, 05:59:56 PMAh, I didn't realize you fixed the bug already!

Just to clarify, it's been fixed in the a17 version. I'm no longer updating my a16 mods, though, so it remains possible in a16 for traders to sell etched walls. Consider them oversized novelty items. :D
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Sp4m on June 13, 2017, 12:04:47 AM
Hello! This seems like a big, incredibly broad topic'd thread for me to ask a support question, so please let me know if there's a better place to ask...

I want to use Editable Backstories as a basis for my mod, and I'd also like to have some custom art/equipment to go along with my backstories.
For example, If a character has a backstory that says they're a king, I'd love to spawn them with a crown. This crown doesn't need to be craftable by normal means.

Is this something I can do within the XML available to Editable backstories, or will I have to learn some C#?
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: dburgdorf on June 13, 2017, 12:30:52 AM
Quote from: Sp4m on June 13, 2017, 12:04:47 AMI'd also like to have some custom art/equipment to go along with my backstories.

Yeah, I'm afraid you're looking at a need for actual coding here. You couldn't do it just in XML, as there's nothing in the game's existing logic to allow accessories, hairstyles, clothing, etc., to be tied to backstories.
Title: Re: [A16] Rainbeau's Other Mods - Editable Backstories, Smooth Stone Walls, and More
Post by: Sp4m on June 13, 2017, 04:20:50 PM
Thanks for making that clear! This saves me a lot of time.

And just to be certain... Is there a way to associate any of those resources with a particular Name? (There's a separate Names file that associates names with backstories)...

In my case, I have specific 'hero' names, first and last, associated with a specific hero characters with fixed traits, delivered via fixed backstories.