Wakes mod v0.1 (First game mod) and instructions on modding

[Wakelessrex]

Hello
The game was developed on Unity and as such isnt to terribly hard to mod I have a simple mod here that changes the infantry sprite ratio from 1:40 to 1:20 increases the brigade rows from 2 to 3 and slightly changes the brigade formation settings.

As well I made it so the camera can zoom in a bit more (I made this 1 for the mod but 0 will allow you even more free reign but also some clipping)

I also increased spotting range for all units by 100

So only a few small changes to the tactical combat however there is lots of room for changing both the tactical and strategic side.
You can download the mod here
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vjw94ejoad4egj/Wakes%20mod.rar?dl=0
To install just extract the rar into this file
SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Grand Tactician The Civil War (1861-1865)\Config
the location may vary depending on where you installed the game, it will ask you to overwrite, accept.

I changed two files.
unitprefs.txt and battleprefs.txt
The best way to edit these and other files is with notepad++

So in order to change the sprite ratio in game you will need to open "unitprefs.txt" and go to line 14
the base game has this set to 0.025 which is 1:40 ratio I changed mine to 0.05 and found that it didnt cause too many issues in game, if you go higher it will affect the aesthetics of the game and result in very strange behavior. However I recommend you play with this and other settings to see how combinations work.

You should also look through this file to see if there are other interesting data points to change and then see what happens when you do change them. (the essence of modding)
Its good to record your results with the communitty if you do this.


In the same file starting at line 796 is a group of data points that is particularly pertinent to changing the aesthetics of the units. I played around with 797, 799, and 801 to give what I thought was the best look onscreen for the infantry.

I also changed line 804 to 0.5, you may try changing this line yourself and see how you like the changes.

You should take a look through those files and go exploring in the rest of the game folders to see what you can change and what effect they will have.

NOTE: I have a beast of a computer and even at this early unoptimized stage I can run this fairly easily with 2x sprites, your mileage may very so keep that in mind.

As well these changes are not indicitive of what a future wakes mod would be as I am known for my overhauls and completely re tooling the fundamentals of the system. If I have enough time and desire in the future to do an overhaul it is likely I would have to change every variable in these files to some extent.

leading too!
Its important to realize what youre doing when you change sprite amounts, because youre not actually as far as I can tell adjusting the actual math behind the calculation if you understand my meaning, the individual brigades are tethered to a center point and no matter how large the unit they move and react from this point, this is the same for games such as scourge of war which is why mellee can be so incredibally wonky sometimes, the same thing can happen here and will probably only be enhanced by making units larger (which may be why the units in game were so artificially small currently)

so keep that in mind.

and have fun, I will be making a seperate topic to talk about my thoughts on the game and improvements id like to see.

[Wakelessrex]

https://i.imgur.com/lZhB5PMl.png

[McCabe]

THANK YOU for making this... it really does make a difference!

[TikijoeTots]

Nice, i'll give it a try. Thanks!

[Captcruch]

This post is starting to get very interesting .

I can't wait to see the next screenshots of your discoveries .

[TikijoeTots]

Played a few battles with it, no issues so far. Really makes the battles feel large.

[MadJaguarSkillz]

This is great because the main gripe I have with this game is the battles are faaaaaar too small and underwhelming

[Scotters]

I felt the same way.

[Zipuli]

The reason why larger units is not currently a default is in the performance hit. Actually not due to the sprites themselves, but when firing starts, there will be more smoke as each sprite "fires". Too much smoke will hurt performance, as it's not only visual, but visibility is also effected dynamically. Other point is the amount of "unit platforms" in a single unit (the small square that aligns along terrain).

But this only as a heads up, of course you are free to experiment as much as you want - there is a lot in the prefs that can be tinkered with, but some of these prefs may have some side effects =)

[Davinci]

Originally posted by Zipuli:

But this only as a heads up, of course you are free to experiment as much as you want - there is a lot in the prefs that can be tinkered with, but some of these prefs may have some side effects =)

True, I have already Crashed the Game multiple times, probably a thousand times more to go!

[MadJaguarSkillz]

This has completly changed battles for the better. Thanks dude!

[MadJaguarSkillz]

Originally posted by Zipuli:

The reason why larger units is not currently a default is in the performance hit. Actually not due to the sprites themselves, but when firing starts, there will be more smoke as each sprite "fires". Too much smoke will hurt performance, as it's not only visual, but visibility is also effected dynamically. Other point is the amount of "unit platforms" in a single unit (the small square that aligns along terrain).

But this only as a heads up, of course you are free to experiment as much as you want - there is a lot in the prefs that can be tinkered with, but some of these prefs may have some side effects =)

The game is great, there just need to be larger battles, the campaign map is unreal then you zoom into the small battles and it really kills the mood and scope of the game. sorry if I sound like I am moaning but it really is the only current downside of the game. Thanks for all your hard work

[Spartan]

So how would I change it back to two ranks instead of 3?

[Davinci]

Originally posted by 38NC.K Pvt. Tad Pearson:

So how would I change it back to two ranks instead of 3?

Open the [ Config ] \ [ unitprefs ] and search for a line that looks like this one below,
############################################################ Moving Data and Unit Structure ##############################################################
Number of sprites on one regiment block on side x - only for Infantry & Cavalry
3
Number of sprites on one regiment block on side z - only for Infantry & Cavalry
3

Just Change both of those threes to a two ( i.e. numeric value )

Save the file, and you should be good to go, I tested this yesterday, so I think its right.

[Spartan]

How do I reset the zoom? Zooming in too close shows the dead body sprites floating in the air. I hope the devs clean up the sprites and give them a smoother better design

[Tanaka]

Originally posted by Wakelessrex:

Hello
The game was developed on Unity and as such isnt to terribly hard to mod I have a simple mod here that changes the infantry sprite ratio from 1:40 to 1:20 increases the brigade rows from 2 to 3 and slightly changes the brigade formation settings.

As well I made it so the camera can zoom in a bit more (I made this 1 for the mod but 0 will allow you even more free reign but also some clipping)

I also increased spotting range for all units by 100

So only a few small changes to the tactical combat however there is lots of room for changing both the tactical and strategic side.
You can download the mod here
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vjw94ejoad4egj/Wakes%20mod.rar?dl=0
To install just extract the rar into this file
SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Grand Tactician The Civil War (1861-1865)\Config
the location may vary depending on where you installed the game, it will ask you to overwrite, accept.

I changed two files.
unitprefs.txt and battleprefs.txt
The best way to edit these and other files is with notepad++

So in order to change the sprite ratio in game you will need to open "unitprefs.txt" and go to line 14
the base game has this set to 0.025 which is 1:40 ratio I changed mine to 1:05 and found that it didnt cause too many issues in game, if you go higher it will affect the aesthetics of the game and result in very strange behavior. However I recommend you play with this and other settings to see how combinations work.

You should also look through this file to see if there are other interesting data points to change and then see what happens when you do change them. (the essence of modding)
Its good to record your results with the communitty if you do this.


In the same file starting at line 796 is a group of data points that is particularly pertinent to changing the aesthetics of the units. I played around with 797, 789, and 801 to give what I thought was the best look onscreen for the infantry.

You should take a look through those files and go exploring in the rest of the game folders to see what you can change and what effect they will have.

NOTE: I have a beast of a computer and even at this early unoptimized stage I can run this fairly easily with 2x sprites, your mileage may very so keep that in mind.

As well these changes are not indicitive of what a future wakes mod would be as I am known for my overhauls and completely re tooling the fundamentals of the system. If I have enough time and desire in the future to do an overhaul it is likely I would have to change every variable in these files to some extent.

leading too!
Its important to realize what youre doing when you change sprite amounts, because youre not actually as far as I can tell adjusting the actual math behind the calculation if you understand my meaning, the individual brigades are tethered to a center point and no matter how large the unit they move and react from this point, this is the same for games such as scourge of war which is why mellee can be so incredibally wonky sometimes, the same thing can happen here and will probably only be enhanced by making units larger (which may be why the units in game were so artificially small currently)

so keep that in mind.

and have fun, I will be making a seperate topic to talk about my thoughts on the game and improvements id like to see.

Thanks for this and the tips!