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Heroes Community > Heroes 5 - Modders Workshop > Thread: Modding for Dummies (guide)
Thread: Modding for Dummies (guide) This thread is 2 pages long: 1 2 · NEXT»
EliteKill
EliteKill

Promising

The Starless
posted January 22, 2007 05:47 PM bonus applied.
Edited by EliteKill at 17:49, 22 Jan 2007.

Modding for Dummies (guide)

Table of Contents

1 Introduction
1.1 What is a mod?
1.2 How do I install/uninstall a mod?
1.3 What programs do I need and where do I get them?

2 Data Modding
2.1 Where is my Heroes5/data folder?
2.2 What files should I change?
2.3 I changed the file, but when I play nothing is different!

3 Modifying Creatures
3.1 Where are the creature stats stored?
3.2 How do I change the creature's stats?
3.3 How do I change the creature's cost?
3.4 Other stuff you can change.

4 Modifying Texts
4.1 How do I change the creature name?
4.2 How do I change the hero name?
4.3 How do I change the creature description?
4.4 How do I change the hero biography?

5 Adding Abilities/Spells to Creatures
5.1 How do I add abilities to creatures?
-5.1.1 How do I add an ability to a creature that doesn't have any?
5.2 How do I add mana to creatures?
5.3 How do I add the "Caster" ability in the Abilities Description?

6 Animations
6.1 When I give a creature a spell and try it in the game the animation is broken. What to do?
6.2 How do I make my own animation?

7 .pak Files
7.1 What should I put in the .pak files?
7.2 What should I post on the forums?

8 Texture Modding*
8.1 Where are the Texture files?
8.2 Why is the image all messed up?

9 FAQ*
9.1 General Questions
9.2 Data Modding Questions
9.3 Texture Modding Questions

*In Progress

[size=24]NOTE: BEFORE STARTING, MAKE A BACKUP OF EVERYTHING!!![/size]

[size=18]1 Introduction[/size]

1.1 What is a Mod?

A mod is a file that changes the game. People make mods because they want to improve the game, ad stuff to the game, or balance the game.

1.2 How do I Install/Uninstall a Mod?

To install a mod, just take the .pak file and insert it in your Heroes5/data folder. To uninstall a mod, just delete the .pak file from the folder.

1.3 What programs do I need and where do I get them?

You need the following programs (those are the ones I use):

Notepad: You get it with windows XP

Audacity: Audacity (This is only for changing auduio files)

WinRAR: WinRAR

Please do not post yet!!!
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How to Mod Heroes V

WoG Monster Making Guide

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EliteKill
EliteKill

Promising

The Starless
posted January 22, 2007 05:51 PM
Edited by EliteKill at 17:58, 22 Jan 2007.

[size=18]2 Data Modding[/size]

2.1 Where is my Heroes5/data folder?

Your Heroes5/data folder is in your game directory.

2.2 What files should I change?

You should extract your data.pak folder and text.pak folders. The changes are made in these files.

2.3 I changed the file, but when I play nothing is different!

If the folders are not in a .pak file, than put the folders you changed in your Heroes5/data folder.

[size=18]3 Modifying Creatures[/size]

3.1 Where are the creature stats stored?

The creature stats are stored in GameMechanics\Creature\Creatures\*Town*\*Creature*.xdb. XDB files can be opened using Notepad.
NOTE: TO CHANGE SOMETHING, FIRST SELECT ALL FOLDERS, RIGHT CLICK AND SELECT PROPERTIES, AND UNCHECK THE "READ ONLY" OPTION.

3.2How do I change the creature's stats?

Go to its .xbd file (see 3.1) and change it.
EXAMPLE: We want to change the Titan's stats. We go to GameMechanics\Creature\Creatures\Academy\Titan.xdb and look for the part  with the stats. It should look like this:

Quote:
<AttackSkill>30</AttackSkill>
<DefenceSkill>30</DefenceSkill>
<Shots>10</Shots>
<MinDamage>40</MinDamage>
<MaxDamage>80</MaxDamage>
<Speed>6</Speed>
<Initiative>10</Initiative>
<Flying>false</Flying>
<Health>190</Health>


We can change the Attack of Titans by changing the 30 in <AttackSkill>30</AttackSkill> to any other number. Same goes with every other part except the <Flying>false</Flying> one. In this one, we can change the "false" to "true" and then the titan will fly (just like dragons).

3.3 How do I change the creature's cost?

In the same file we used in 3.2, press Ctrl+F to open the "Find" window. Type <Cost> and it will go down to a part where you change the cost of a creature. EXAMPLE: We are going to use the titan for every example from now on. The Titan's cost part looks like this:

Quote:
<Cost>
<Wood>0</Wood>
<Ore>0</Ore>
<Mercury>0</Mercury>
<Crystal>0</Crystal>
<Sulfur>0</Sulfur>
<Gem>2</Gem>
<Gold>4700</Gold>
</Cost>


Let's say we want to make the Titan cost 1000 Gold and 5 Wood instead of 4700 Gold and 2 Gems. We need to change the 4700 in the <Gold>4700</Gold> part to 1000, the 2 in the <Gem>2</Gem> to 0, and the 0 in the <Wood>0</Wood> to 5. Now the Titan will cost 1000 Gold and 5 Wood.

3.4 Other stuff you can change.

You can change other stuff than just the stats and cost. EXAMPLE: We want to make the Titan's Weekly Growth 4 instead of 1 and its Elements Fire andd Earth instead of Air and Water. To change the Weekly Growth, we search for a part that looks like this [code]<WeeklyGrowth>1</WeeklyGrowth>[/code] and change the 1 to 4. To change the Elements, we look for this part :
Quote:
<MagicElement>
<First>ELEMENT_AIR</First>
<Second>ELEMENT_WATER</Second>
</MagicElement>

and change the AIR to Fire and the WATER to EARTH. You can also add abilities and spells, but that will be explained in the next section.

4 [size=18]Modifying Texts[/size]

4.1 How do I change the creature name?

The text file for creature names is found in Text\Game\Creatures\*Town*\*Creature*.txt so just change it with notepad, save, and play.

4.2 How do I change the hero name?

Same as 4.1, but the files are found here: Text\Game\Heroes\Persons\*Town*\*Hero*\Name.txt

4.3 How do I change the creature description?

The files are in Text\Game\Creatures\*Town*\*Creature*Description.txt so change, save, and play. To change the Ability Description (not the ability, but what's written when you right click a monster) the files are in Text\Game\Creatures\*Town*\*Creature*Abilities.txt so again, change, save, and play.

4.4 How do I change the hero biography?

You probably got the idea. Files in Text\Game\Heroes\Persons\*Town*\*Hero*\Bio.txt

5 [size=18]Adding Abilities/Spells to Creatures[/size]

5.1 How do I add abilities to creatures?

Go to the creature's xdb file. For the example we are going to give the Titan the Chain Lightning spell. So open the xdb file and search for this part: [code]<KnownSpells>[/code] and under it there is something that looks like this:
Quote:
<Item>
<Spell>SPELL_ABILITY_CALL_LIGHTNING</Spell>
<Mastery>MASTERY_ADVANCED</Mastery>
</Item>

This is the code that gives Titans the Call Lightning ability. Notice that it's called SPELL_ABILITY_CALL_LIGHTNING and that is because it is considered as a spell and needs to be acticated in combat, unlike Life Drain of Rebirth. The abilities that are considered spells are called Spell Abilities, and these are the ones you're going to learn to add/change/remove in this guide.
So now we'll go to the spell directory to look at Chain Lightning, which is found here: GameMechanics\Spell\Combat_Spells\DestructiveMagic\Chain_Lightning_Hit.xdb. For any other spell, use this: GameMechanics\Spell\Combat_Spells\*School*\*Spell*.xdb.
Now open the Chain Lightning xdb file and at the top you should see this:
Quote:
<TableID>SPELL_CHAIN_LIGHTNING</TableID>

This is the ID for the spell. Now back in the Titan file, paste this:
Quote:
<Item>
<Spell>SPELL_CHAIN_LIGHTNING</Spell>
<Mastery>MASTERY_EXPERT</Mastery>
</Item>

This gives Titans the ability to cast Chain Lightning. To put other spells use this:
Quote:
<Item>
<Spell>SPELL_*Spell ID*</Spell>
<Mastery>MASTERY_*Mastery*</Mastery>
</Item>

Change the *Spell ID* to the ID that's in the spell xdb file and the *Mastery* to the wanted mastery ( None, Basic, Advanced, Expert), than save and play.
Adding abilities is the same as spells, but IDs are in GameMechanics\Spell\Creature_Abilities\*Town*\*Ability* and the part to put in the creature xdb is:
Quote:
<Item>
<Spell>SPELL_ABILITY_*Ability ID*</Spell>
<Mastery>MASTERY_*Mastery*</Mastery>
</Item>

In *Ability ID* put the ID from the xdb file and in *Mastery* put the mastery. Usually the mastery for abilities is Advanced.

       -5.1.1 How do I add an ability to a creature that doesn't have any?
                 If a creature doesn't have any abilities, than instead of this:
Quote:
<KnownSpells>
<Item>
<Spell>SPELL_*Ability/Spell*</Spell>
<Mastery>MASTERY_*Mastery*</Mastery>
  </Item>
</KnownSpells>

You'll have this:
[code]<KnownSpells/>[/code]
So all you have to do is change this what you have to this:
Quote:
<KnownSpells>
<Item>
<Spell>SPELL_*Ability/Spell*</Spell>
<Mastery>MASTERY_*Mastery*</Mastery>
  </Item>
</KnownSpells>

Remember that you can add more spells/abilities.

NOTE: WHEN ADDING ABILITIES AND/OR SPELLS, REMEMBER THE <Item> IN THE BEGINNING AND </Item> IN THE END OR ELSE THE GAME WON'T WORK!!!

5.2 How do I add mana to creatures?

If you add spells, you also need to add mana so the spells can be cast. For the example, we'll ad 15 mana to our Titans. Open the xdb file and look for this:
Quote:
<SpellPoints>0</SpellPoints>
<SpellPoints1>0</SpellPoints1>
<SpellPoints2>0</SpellPoints2>

Change the 0 in <SpellPoints>0</SpellPoints> to 15. I have no idea what the other teo are for.

5.3 How do I add the "Caster" ability in the Abilities Description?

This is very simple. Go to Text\Game\Creatures\*Town*\*Creature*Abilities.txt and add the word Caster with a space behind it and a period after. Save and play.
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How to Mod Heroes V

WoG Monster Making Guide

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EliteKill
EliteKill

Promising

The Starless
posted January 22, 2007 05:52 PM
Edited by EliteKill at 18:12, 22 Jan 2007.

6 [size=18]Animations[/size]

6.1 When I give a creature a spell and try it in the game the animation is broken. What to do?

This is a common problem. The problem is that when you give a non-caster creature the ability to cast, there is no animation for the casting ability. But there is a way to fix this. In the example we are going to fix it with the Titan, which currently looks like he's a cross. Go to _(AnimSet)\Creatures\Academy\Titan-areana.(AnimSet)xdb which is the Titan's animation xdb file. Between <animations> and </animations> you need to add the animation. Now here we are going to have two options. If you want the Titan to start a ranged attack and then cast the spell, add this:
Quote:
<Item>
<Kind>cast</Kind>
<Anim href="Titan-arena-rangeattack.xdb#xpointer(/BasicSkelAnim)"/>
</Item>

If you want him to do the Call Lightning animation, add this:
Quote:
<Item>
<Kind>cast</Kind>
<Anim href="Titan-arena-specability.xdb#xpointer(/BasicSkelAnim)"/>
</Item>

What we just did is tell the game to do the Call Lightning/range attack animation (the <Anim href="*"/> part) when casting spells (<Kind>cast</Kind>. You can do this to every creature, but use the animations in its own *Creatur*-arena.(AnimSet)xdb file and copy paste the <Anim href="*"/> under the <Kind>cast</Kind>. Remember the <Item> and </Item>.

6.2 How do I make my own animation?

Unfortunatly, I don't know how so sorry.

7 [size=18].pak Files[/size]

7.1 What should I put in the .pak files?

You put everything that you modifyed or used in the modifyed files. Examples: If you just changed the speed of Titans, you will only put the GameMechanics folder, in it only the Creature folder, in it only the Creatures, folder, in it only the Academy folder, and in it only the Titan.xdb file. If you also gave the Titan Chain Lightning and changed the animation, you will do the same things with the Chain_Lightning_Hit.sdb file and the Titan-arena.(AnimSet).xdb file.

7.2 What should I post on the forums?

You should put the .pak file in a .zip folder with a readme file stating that you made it and what it does along with installing instructions.

[size=20]The End[/size]

Well I hope this helped. I'm no that good with modding so if there is something unanswered, confusing, or that I don't know, please tell me.

EliteKill
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WoG Monster Making Guide

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VokialBG
VokialBG


Honorable
Legendary Hero
First in line
posted January 22, 2007 06:02 PM

Quote:
<SpellPoints>0</SpellPoints>
<SpellPoints1>0</SpellPoints1>
<SpellPoints2>0</SpellPoints2>
Change the 0 in <SpellPoints>0</SpellPoints> to 15. I have no idea what the other teo are for.



The "<SpellPoints1>0</SpellPoints1>" line is for "SPELL_ABILITIES" like the Gremlins Repair, if you change the "0" to 100, the gremlins can use the Repair 100 times.
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radar
radar


Responsible
Legendary Hero
Castle/Haven player
posted January 22, 2007 06:17 PM

and spell points 2 is for second ability, gating for example

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alcibiades
alcibiades


Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
posted January 22, 2007 07:24 PM

Excellent - thanx EliteKill!

Sfidanza - wouldn't it be an idea to make a sticky, then, where you collect these contributions and make a table of contents?
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What will happen now?

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sfidanza
sfidanza


Promising
Supreme Hero
posted January 23, 2007 09:02 AM

Thanks EliteKill for posting your guide here as well.

Instead of stickying the thread, I made it into a wiki, as a basis for a collaborative work (I hope you agree with that, otherwise, just tell me):
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com/heroes5/modding_wiki/

Refer to the specific (stickied) thread for more info:
http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=20987

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orbvius
orbvius


Adventuring Hero
Oblivious
posted January 29, 2007 03:42 PM

Wow this is nice.
THis should be stickied.

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Daystar
Daystar


Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
posted March 11, 2007 09:29 PM

How do you do textures?
____________
How exactly is luck a skill?

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alcibiades
alcibiades


Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
posted March 16, 2007 06:58 PM

I have a question for those who know about the graphics stuff:

I have made a funny little MOD where a did some changes on all the Level 7 creatures - mostly HP, but also other details like giving the Titan the Chain Lightning spell.

Now, the problem is that I want the Titan to use the Call Lightning animation when he initializes this spell. I've been browsing through some of the files with the information on Call Lightning etc, but could not quite figure out how to do it. Can somebody give me a how-to guide here?
____________
What will happen now?

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ZombieLord
ZombieLord


Promising
Famous Hero
that wants your brainz...
posted March 16, 2007 07:04 PM
Edited by ZombieLord at 19:22, 16 Mar 2007.

I can't check right now 'cause I don't have Heroes V on this laptop but from my 'changed hero (animation) stuff' I can tell you some things (never tried on creatures)

Go in Characters/Creatures and then find Titan-arena.xdb or something. It should have some references to different animations like:

<Item>cast

Look at other creatures that can cast and find out how the casting animation is named, copy it's data in the Titan's animation xdb and change the path to point to the Titan's Call Lightning animation .xdb file (maybe it's called Titan-arena-specability?)

EDIT:
go to (_AnimSet)/Creatures/Academy/Titan-arena.(AnimSet).xdb

add this thing in the <animations> sequence:
<Item>
<Kind>cast</Kind>
<Anim href="Titan-arena-specability.xdb#xpointer(/BasicSkelAnim)"/>
</Item>

hope it works

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alcibiades
alcibiades


Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
posted March 16, 2007 09:55 PM
Edited by alcibiades at 22:08, 16 Mar 2007.

Ok I found it, it was in the Anim_set folder, but this is deffinitely the file. Refering to the Archmage, I see there's an action called Cast - can I just copy-paste this action to the Titan, so that I add a like <Kind>Cast</Kind>, and then in the <Anim href> I just refer to the Special Ability animation instead of a specific "cast" file?

EDIT > Stupid server crash, I see now that you posted exactly what I did, so thanx for the help, will leave a note whether it worked when I have time for testing.
____________
What will happen now?

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radar
radar


Responsible
Legendary Hero
Castle/Haven player
posted April 01, 2007 06:20 PM

Quote:
How do you do textures?


textures: thanks, fine. but i am worried about my size in bitmap format


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EliteKill
EliteKill

Promising

The Starless
posted April 02, 2007 11:39 PM

YYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!

A QP!!!!!!! I'm gonna do the other sections as soon as GotP Alphs is released (probably this week)

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Daystar
Daystar


Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
posted April 02, 2007 11:41 PM

Yay!

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wilen
wilen


Hired Hero
posted December 29, 2007 12:58 PM

elitekill can you teach me how to unlock nicolai in single player? thank's my game is homm5 v1.0

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Bloodly
Bloodly


Hired Hero
posted January 31, 2008 07:33 AM

Is it possible to change what creature appears where?

An example: I want the Necropolis Tier 7 to go Bone Dragon/Black Knight/Death Knight.

Or Sylvan Tier One to go Sprite/Dryad/Wolf.

How would you do such a thing?

It's the one thing that's not listed here, and it's one of the things a person might especially want to do.
____________

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Gnoll_Mage
Gnoll_Mage


Responsible
Supreme Hero
posted January 31, 2008 09:19 AM
Edited by Gnoll_Mage at 09:35, 31 Jan 2008.

This guide details swapping the visuals of creatures. You could do that, then edit the stats and texts to match the old creature. OR:

Useful files for a creature:
/GameMechanics/Creature/Creatures -> the root element for each creature
/GameMechanics/CreatureVisual/Creatures -> visual details
/Characters/Creatures -> character files, linking to models and animations
/MapObjects -> details for the adventure map version of the creature

Edit files in the top folder. Open the xdbs up, you should be able to see all the details, and it ought to be reasonably easy to work out what to write into each of the files. Back up the two you want to swap, then copy the right details from each one into the other.

(You could also rename these files i.e. swap the names so that e.g. whenever the game thinks it has a Genie on the map, this is actually linking to the Mage's file, so the Genie looks and acts like a Mage. With this method you would have to go into the MapObjects folder and swap the <creature> tag contents. You might also have to swap the upgrades around too, and then change all <BaseCreature> and <Upgrades> tags (and maybe <PairCreature> too, I'm not sure).)

Basically it's a slightly confusing process. Probably someone else will explain better, I know this post isn't particularly useful.

Edit: oh, just realised you didn't really want to necessarily swap creatures, just bring in some neutrals (or maybe you did want the replaced creatures to become neutral too?) - but the same technique applies, you'd just have to e.g. duplicate the Wolf files that need changing, then change their names and the right bits of data, and update all the links between files so that they all chain together.)
____________

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SirJohn
SirJohn


Adventuring Hero
posted February 18, 2008 02:57 PM

Quote:
i have tried to mod files but i am having trouble. let me explain what  am doing then maybe someone can tell me what im doing wrong. i open the Data file for Tote with winrar, as it will not open with notepad because its "too large". then, because i cant edit and save a file in the actual database, i extract the creature file to desktop or a file for i made for this purpose. then i open it and edit it via notepad. then save the file and put it in usermods. i was the gamemechanics, creature etc and xdb file alltogether in the usermods file but that didnt do anything. so i put just the changed xdb file in usermods and that didnt work. so then  went to "ad files to archive" and changed the file to a pak file and put just that in usermods. it still doesnt work. what am i doing wrong?


I'm having the same problem in TotE.  My mods worked when I replaced files in the data.pak but when I try them in usermods they wont take effect.  I even reinstalled to no avail.  I have a feeling it has something to do with the way I am zipping and unzipping.  I tried the XP default and also winrar to create the zips, then change ext. to h5u.
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VokialBG
VokialBG


Honorable
Legendary Hero
First in line
posted February 18, 2008 09:36 PM

Hey there, post the question in the questions topic.
____________

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