15-10-2019, 12:01 PM
This is only a quick update but I won't be able to explain it in a tweet so I'm posting it here...
As I explained in my last post, so far the main method I've been using for saving levels created by the editor is in a custom format (.ard) which just contains the modified files. When you "install" one of these files, its contents are extracted to the game directory and a single file is imported into the target level archive which points it towards those modified files, rather than the original files inside the archive. One reason for doing it this way is to minimise the size of custom levels and make switching between them pretty much instant, but it also means that you are able to include stuff (crates, enemies etc) in your mods without breaking the levels that stuff came from.
There are a few issues with this process though. For one, it requires the use of either the level editor itself or the updated level selector that will be released alongside it in order to play custom levels, which should be fine if you're making and playing lots of levels but might be annoying if you just want to try one. There's also the fact that, as far as I can tell after much experimentation, there's no way to load files from outside the archives in the console versions of these games. Since all the level combination stuff has relied on the use of external files, that has meant that the level editing available for the console games (which at this point is the only option for CTR) has been much more limited.
HOWEVER, even though I said I was taking a break from the editor for a while, curiosity got the better of me and using the little free time I've had over the last few days I've looked a little more into the format of the archive files and finally figured out how to properly add extra files into them in a way that means they can actually be read by the game. This means that I should be able to include an option for you to export your custom level as a completely standalone level archive (.pak), including everything you've imported from other levels, for either PC or console versions of NST and also for CTRNF, without any reliance on external files or the need to install patches or anything. That also means that if I come up with any custom levels that I think are actually interesting enough to share before I've released the stuff needed to work with .ard files, I'll still be able to upload them in a format you can use. I haven't quite figured out the best way to implement custom level names etc using this new method, because those are stored somewhere else and are normally part of the patching process, but I'll work something out.
There's also a tons of other crazy modding this probably opens the door to but I'm gonna try not to get too distracted by all that before the editor's done.
As I explained in my last post, so far the main method I've been using for saving levels created by the editor is in a custom format (.ard) which just contains the modified files. When you "install" one of these files, its contents are extracted to the game directory and a single file is imported into the target level archive which points it towards those modified files, rather than the original files inside the archive. One reason for doing it this way is to minimise the size of custom levels and make switching between them pretty much instant, but it also means that you are able to include stuff (crates, enemies etc) in your mods without breaking the levels that stuff came from.
There are a few issues with this process though. For one, it requires the use of either the level editor itself or the updated level selector that will be released alongside it in order to play custom levels, which should be fine if you're making and playing lots of levels but might be annoying if you just want to try one. There's also the fact that, as far as I can tell after much experimentation, there's no way to load files from outside the archives in the console versions of these games. Since all the level combination stuff has relied on the use of external files, that has meant that the level editing available for the console games (which at this point is the only option for CTR) has been much more limited.
HOWEVER, even though I said I was taking a break from the editor for a while, curiosity got the better of me and using the little free time I've had over the last few days I've looked a little more into the format of the archive files and finally figured out how to properly add extra files into them in a way that means they can actually be read by the game. This means that I should be able to include an option for you to export your custom level as a completely standalone level archive (.pak), including everything you've imported from other levels, for either PC or console versions of NST and also for CTRNF, without any reliance on external files or the need to install patches or anything. That also means that if I come up with any custom levels that I think are actually interesting enough to share before I've released the stuff needed to work with .ard files, I'll still be able to upload them in a format you can use. I haven't quite figured out the best way to implement custom level names etc using this new method, because those are stored somewhere else and are normally part of the patching process, but I'll work something out.
There's also a tons of other crazy modding this probably opens the door to but I'm gonna try not to get too distracted by all that before the editor's done.