Changes In WW 1.2 Upgrade

According to the Modmaker's Guide, here's all the changes in the 1.2 patch that have anything to do with modding.¹

Source: Modmaker's Guide to the Galaxy
Weird Worlds mod tutorial: v1.2 changes
Last updated 11/26/2006

With the v1.2 upgrade to Weird Worlds, many new things will be available to modders, while at the same time the game should remain backward compatible with earlier mods. This tutorial covers some of the changes that may affect modders. I will also update the other tutorials where things have changed.

Table of Contents

1. Backward Compatibility
2. New Weapons
3. Command Line Options
4. New Data Files

1. Backward Compatibility

As already mentioned, v1.2 should be perfectly compatible with any mod made for Weird Worlds v1.11. This has two main consequences:
1. Old mods can be played with no changes.
2. The new content added in v1.2 does NOT automatically appear in an old mod.

If you are a mod maker and wish to add the v1.2 content into your mod, you need to add the following entries into the game.ini file:

PLANETS - add this to the PLANETS block:
hope_ravaged

HULLS - add these to the end of the HULLS block (just before the END line):
url_car
rav_frg
rav_crv
rav_hed
rav_ftr
(The significance of adding them to the end is that adding them to the beginning would affect the ship icons on a previously existing high score list)

ITEMS - add these to the ITEMS block:
fb_url_car
fb_rav_head
fb_rav_trooper
wp_kawangiblow
wp_ravgluw
wp_ravprot1
wp_ravprot2
(The next two are optional, if you wish to enable new player weapons.. More on that later)
wp_projgluw
wp_projprot

RACES - add this to the end of the RACES block:
ravian

QUESTS - add this after tutorial, and before gameover:
brood2
remove this if it's on your list:
brood
(Note that the location of brood2 and other mainquests like damocles and kawangi within the block is important to make quest-specific gameover messages work properly)

EFFECTS - add this new block to the game.ini:
EFFECTS
effects_ravian
END
(Note that you can use this method to add new effects files of your own too!)

These changes to game.ini should be all you need in order to make the new content (Urluquai carrier, Bug Invasion quest) appear in your mod.

2. New Weapons

The "bug" weapons by default aren't available to the player. However, they can be easily modified to allow this and we've included working files you can use. In gamedata/items you will find these two files:
wp_projprot (Proton Blaster)
wp_projgluw (Gluon Web Gun)

Copy these files to your mod's gamedata/items folder. Remove the "nogen" flag from each item so they will randomly appear in the game. You will need to supply your own portrait graphics and write better descriptions, as well as tweak their prices & damages for game balance.

The Proton Blaster is a medium-range projectile weapon that can be used for point defense. (You should probably lower the damage to 400 like it is on the bug-specific versions)

The Gluon Web Gun fires a tangled mass of gluon strands that envelop the target ship and pull apart its hull plating.

3. New Command Line Options

These will hopefully make it easier for modders to test and debug their work. The best way to use these (in Windows) is to make a shortcut, go to its properties and add these to the command line:
-skiplauncher (goes directly into game, use with the -game option to launch a mod)
-verbose (enables debug text, saved into stdout.txt)

4. New Data Files

A few new files have been added as more "hardcoded" numbers and strings have been made user-modifiable. If your mod doesn't include one of these, the default one will be loaded. You only need to copy one of these files into your mod if you intend to change the data within.

numbers.ini
This file contains a list of numeric properties that can now be changed in a mod.
combat_max_nebula 140 - Number of nebula sprites on combat map
combat_max_entities 1024 - Maximum number of ships + projectiles + beams
combat_max_particles 1024 - Maximum number of particles
combat_max_triangles 4096 - Max triangles rendered (should be twice the sum of above)
combat_max_trilists 64 - Max textures used for particles, projectiles and beams
combat_safetime 1000 - How long a ship must wait without damage before escaping
combat_mapsize 2560 - Size of combat map in meters
world_max_bgstar 1024 - Number of background stars
world_max_rarestar 6 - Number of "rare" stars on starmap
world_min_stardist 64 - Minimum distance between two star systems (64 = 1parsec)
world_hole_expdist 56 - How close to a black hole you need to be to find it
world_hole_suckdist 48 - How close to a black hole to be sucked in
world_hole_remdist 32 - Distance from black hole where nebula is removed
world_max_fleet 32 - Maximum number of fleets in the game
world_max_ship 256 - Maximum number of ships in the game
world_max_particles 512 - Max number of particles (e.g. nova fx) on starmap
world_nebula_szbright 72 - Size of bright/exterior part of nebula node rendering
world_nebula_szdark 56 - Size of dark/interior part of nebula node
game_mainquest_freq 5 - How often a mainquest occurs (one out of N games)
game_hyperdrive_time 60 - How long to recharge a hyperdrive
game_teleport_time 500 - How long between teleports in combat
game_fold_distance 128 - How far you can fold space (64 = 1parsec)
game_fold_time 7 - How long you must wait between space folding

strings.ini
This contains a variety of text strings used by the user interface and parts of the game not defined in any other .ini file. Of note are the color entries in the end of the file, which control the color scheme of the user interface.

Footnotes

1. Note that this full-duplication of the original modmaker's guide document is only a temporary inclusion here. My right to use it is dubious. The original doesn't claim any specific rights, but it's not like I've got express permission to use it, either. So, don't be surprised if this page goes away at some point. If the folks at Digital Eel, complain, I'll take this down ASAP.