Difference between revisions of "User:Languard"

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m (cleaning up my module removal article)
(started my help page prototype)
 
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While waiting for some official word on using tablets, I decided to share the settings that I am using.
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== Dragon Age Modding Terms ==
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* Level - A Level is an art asset, a static shell.  Whether interior or exterior, a Level file is never directly experienced by the player, and must have a 'Post Local' operation done to it for it to be usable by Areas.
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* Area - An Area is where the player actually adventures.  When you create an area you must specify a layout which is a Level that has been posted to the database.
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* Map - A map refers to the overland map with the clickable icons.  This is the travel screen in the main campaign.
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* Module - A module is a container of sorts.  In order for a player to play your custom content, you must assign it to a module.  Modules can be 'Add-Ins' which expand existing modules, including the main campaign, or they can be campaigns that are completely separate from the main one.
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Not sure where to put this, but confusion on terminology is cropping up a lot on the forums.
  
 
== Wacom Settings ==
 
== Wacom Settings ==
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== Settings Editor ==
 
== Settings Editor ==
After being directed to the DefaultSettings.xml file, I can see all sorts of possibilities regarding the customization of hotkeys.  Currently in the planning stages.
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After being directed to the DefaultSettings.xml file, I can see all sorts of possibilities regarding the customization of hotkeys.  I can read in the xml file, working on parsing the commands.
 
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== Removing Modules ==
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This is a copy/paste from my blog.  I'll get this cleaned up for a Wiki article later.
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Deleting a Module from the Toolset
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Setup:
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I created a module called Meep with a unique id of rcfMeep, added in one area with a waypoint, configured the starting area/waypoint info, and exported it with dependencies.  And now to strip it out.
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Step 1: Removing it from the game
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* Navigate to My Documents\Bioware\AddIns
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* Delete the folder called rcfMeep
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* Done
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Removing from the game is fairly easy.  The toolset?  Not so much.  The reason for this is that the information is stored in the SQL Database.  Now if you just want to remove the module from the Manage Modules list, that is easy.
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* Open Sql Server Management Studio Express.  I'm not sure if the default installtion installs this or not.  If not, it can be downloaded from Microsoft.
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* Connect to the BWDATOOLSET server, assuming that you kept the default options.
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* Expand Databases
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* Expand bw_dragonage_content
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* Expand Tables
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* Right click and select open on the dbo.Modules table
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* This will bring up an excell-like window.  Find your module, right-click on the row, and select delete.  Say ok to the confirmation.
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* Module is now PERMANENTLY removed.  Absolutely no way of recovering it.
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Now, this isn't a good idea.  Why?  Because depending on the size of the Module, you just orphaned a bunch of resources.  Areas, placables, conversations, they all get placed into the database.  And once you remove the module ID, you just lost your ability to remove these resources.  Now do keep in mind that 95% of this junk is just text, so it hardly takes up any room.  It's not really a major issue.  At this time I would not recommend trying to hand-remove a module, it would be messy.  If I can somehow find the time, I'll write a utility to clean out a module from the database.
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== Help Page Prototype ==
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[[User:Languard/Sandbox|Sandbox]]

Latest revision as of 16:06, 10 January 2010

Dragon Age Modding Terms

  • Level - A Level is an art asset, a static shell. Whether interior or exterior, a Level file is never directly experienced by the player, and must have a 'Post Local' operation done to it for it to be usable by Areas.
  • Area - An Area is where the player actually adventures. When you create an area you must specify a layout which is a Level that has been posted to the database.
  • Map - A map refers to the overland map with the clickable icons. This is the travel screen in the main campaign.
  • Module - A module is a container of sorts. In order for a player to play your custom content, you must assign it to a module. Modules can be 'Add-Ins' which expand existing modules, including the main campaign, or they can be campaigns that are completely separate from the main one.

Not sure where to put this, but confusion on terminology is cropping up a lot on the forums.

Wacom Settings

Pen:

  • Nib is Click
  • Eraser is Right Click
  • Thumb button (not sure what the official name is) is Middle Click
  • All other pen options are default

Mapping: I use dual monitors, so I have the pad mapped to one monitor only.

Function Keys: I have an Intuos3 tablet, so I have 4 functions keys on the left and right. For the moment I'm ignoring the right-hand side. I'm sure I'll come up with things later. The functions on the left are -

  • Ctrl (default)
  • = (increase brush size)
  • - (decrease brush size)
  • Pan/Scroll (default)

I'm right handed, so I have the tablet to the right and keyboard to the left. I mostly keep my left hand on WASD, and use a combination of that plus the pen plus the thumb button to move around. Much easier than it sounds. When adjusting the brush sizes, I just left the pen out of sensor range and then click on the appropriate function button. So far this has been working well.

Settings Editor

After being directed to the DefaultSettings.xml file, I can see all sorts of possibilities regarding the customization of hotkeys. I can read in the xml file, working on parsing the commands.

Help Page Prototype

Sandbox