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Captain of the Wylfen
Powder Monkey
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 Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 9:50 am Post subject: Altering Ships |
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Played this game for several years but never had an account here before. Good to see this place is active. And thank goodness for the trainer. My absolute favourite feature of it is the happy crew toggle. That alone made the game 10x better for me, everything else is just a bonus.
On to the question of modding; has anyone figured out how to delve into the arcana of the game files and change specific things about ships?
For instance; altering the speed, tonnage, and number of guns of a particular ship type to suit the player? I'd like to make a Flag Galleon faster and able to carry more cargo and guns, because it's my favourite type of ship, and I'd like it to be a bit better than a Ship of the Line.
If it's possible I'd love to know how. If not, oh well. Never hurts to ask. |
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Pirate
Helmsman
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| Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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The game Sea Dogs its easy to change all that but this game it probably could be done. There was a mod that changed the war gallons to frigates and I would say you could use the hex strings from that mod without changing the nifs and texts since you wanted to keep them gallons but basically those hex strings make the galleons perform at the level of frigates meaning the flag gallon would be the same as a ship of the line. If anybody knows where that mod can be found please speak up. |
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fleetp
Boatswain
Posts: 3728
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| Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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Welcome to hooked on pirates. 
The PHtrainer has an option for using phantom cannons in battle, I've never used it, so I can't say what it specifically does. In the fleet status section of the trainer there's a section to set minimum ship speed. Again, I've never used it, but it might allow you to set the minimum speed very high.
I looked at a saved game file using the perl save game editor. You can increase the number of cannon on your ship, but I didn;t see anyplace wher you could increase the cargo or ship speed.
I suspect (not sure) that the characteristics of a ship (maximum cargo tonnage, speed, crew capacity, max number of cannon) are hard coded in the pirates!.exe file. If they are , they can be changed using a hex editor. Remember to ALWAYS back up your exe file before making any changes.
One easier possibility of doing what you want is to use the PHtrainer to change your ship into a ship of the line, and then use one of the fpk unpacker tools to extract the nkf and dds files for the ship of the line and the flag galleon nif and dds file. Then rename the ship of the line nif and dds files using the flag galleon equivalent. |
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Captain of the Wylfen
Powder Monkey
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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| fleetp wrote: | Welcome to hooked on pirates.
The PHtrainer has an option for using phantom cannons in battle, I've never used it, so I can't say what it specifically does. In the fleet status section of the trainer there's a section to set minimum ship speed. Again, I've never used it, but it might allow you to set the minimum speed very high.
I looked at a saved game file using the perl save game editor. You can increase the number of cannon on your ship, but I didn;t see anyplace wher you could increase the cargo or ship speed.
I suspect (not sure) that the characteristics of a ship (maximum cargo tonnage, speed, crew capacity, max number of cannon) are hard coded in the pirates!.exe file. If they are , they can be changed using a hex editor. Remember to ALWAYS back up your exe file before making any changes.
One easier possibility of doing what you want is to use the PHtrainer to change your ship into a ship of the line, and then use one of the fpk unpacker tools to extract the nkf and dds files for the ship of the line and the flag galleon nif and dds file. Then rename the ship of the line nif and dds files using the flag galleon equivalent. |
Thanks matey!
The phantom cannon option just makes it so you don't need actual cannons in your inventory (or at least not the exact number for your flagship) and when in combat you'll have the max number of guns your ship can carry. For example if you only have 10 cannons but your ship has a capacity for 24, any time you attack another ship you'll have 24 cannons.
How would one use a hex editor (where do I get a hex editor?) and where could the ships and such be found within the .exe? Forgive me, I'm a wee baby noob when it comes to modding, the most I've done is put in a new flag, and that was just dropping a .dds file into the custom folder.
Wouldn't that change all Ships of the Line into Flag Galleons? That isn't what I'm after. I just want the Flag Galleon to be a bit better in certain ways, starting with more cannons since it is an objectively bigger ship, I think it would take 50 or 60. |
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Captain of the Wylfen
Powder Monkey
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 9:28 pm Post subject: Hex Editor |
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So I found a hex editor and opened pirates!.exe in it. It's all a bunch of gibberish, I can't make heads or tails of it.
https://imgur.com/qqBpk1d
https://imgur.com/3Tb0zHI
If anyone could help, I'd appreciate it. Maybe I'm doing something completely wrong. |
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corsair91
Sailing Master
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Captain of the Wylfen
Powder Monkey
Posts: 17
502 Gold -
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| Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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I don't want the Spanish to use frigates. I want to alter the Flag Galleon so it's comparable to a Ship of the Line, just more guns and tonnage. I don't want to replace or change any models, I want to alter the stats/values for the Flag Galleon. |
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Pirate
Helmsman
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| Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 11:32 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not stupid I heard what you wanted. I didn't ask you to make the galleons into frigates but the hex strings wont change the galleons in to frigates its only if you install the whole mod. It would make them sail like the frigates. It wouldn't be better for cargo . |
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fleetp
Boatswain
Posts: 3728
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| Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 11:50 pm Post subject: |
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You asked "Wouldn't that change all Ships of the Line into Flag Galleons? That isn't what I'm after. I just want the Flag Galleon to be a bit better in certain ways, starting with more cannons since it is an objectively bigger ship, I think it would take 50 or 60."
Good question. but it's not something you need to worry about. Ships of the Line are extremely rare in the game. Some people have finished several games without seeing ONE, let alone capturing one.
For additional information on how to make the game generate a ship of the line, there are several threads in the "Life at Sea"section
http://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=15
You also said "I don't want to replace or change any models, I want to alter the stats/values for the Flag Galleon."
Finding the correct nif file (model) and dds file (texture) for the ship of the line in the fpk files will not be an easy task.
IF (and it's a big if) altering the stats for a flag galleon can be done, it would involve using a hex editor on the exe file. I have no idea where in the exe file specific ship information is, or what you would need to change.
Our member Pirate has done some work in exploring the exe file. He might be willing to assist. |
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Pirate
Helmsman
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| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2020 12:04 am Post subject: |
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the Spanish frigate mod works like this it replaces both the ship nifs or in other words it changes the galleons into frigates. You don't want that so don't replace that part. Every ship in the executable has hex values. The frigate mod has the strings to make the galleons sail like the frigates. Yo might want that part. |
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themodelcitizen
Gunner
Posts: 864
14646 Gold -
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 9:00 am Post subject: |
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One thing the game always seemed to be lacking is an escort/follow feature. It seems like it's in the code anyway, as ships can have their own AI escort, so theoretically you should be able to just right click or something and follow certain ships from a respectful distance without having to lower/raise your sails to keep the speed down.
I realize governors/mayors etc will stay with you if you're close enough, allowing you to try and whip them around and avoid enemies, always fun |
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corsair91
Sailing Master
Posts: 8201
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 11:27 am Post subject: |
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Added some Parksbanyon Threads links to my prevous post in this Thread
modifying the mailrunner into an Interceptor class info
(more cannons)
Last edited by corsair91 on Mon Aug 30, 2021 4:46 am; edited 2 times in total |
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parksbanyon
Gunner
Posts: 565
13127 Gold -
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| Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 4:58 pm Post subject: interceptor |
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Find out when I made the interceptor. during that same time jlangsdo and dogcigar where combing thru the exe data figuring out what does what. also during the time AdamMilt was onboard. |
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corsair91
Sailing Master
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