Difference between revisions of "EPD/Usage"

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(→‎Basic Workflow (fixed playfields))
(→‎Basic Workflow (fixed playfields))
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#: Not because EPD could crash, but if you change too many things at once and have made some mistake(s), the game will crash on load (Continue or Quit Error), and then it's very hard to find out what you did wrong.
 
#: Not because EPD could crash, but if you change too many things at once and have made some mistake(s), the game will crash on load (Continue or Quit Error), and then it's very hard to find out what you did wrong.
 
#: So it's always best to have many backups, especially if you're new to playfield editing. Otherwise creating playfields can become frustrating real fast.
 
#: So it's always best to have many backups, especially if you're new to playfield editing. Otherwise creating playfields can become frustrating real fast.
 +
#Time for a first test:
 +
#*Start Empyrion
 +
#*On the main menu, open the game's console
 +
#*enter <strong>loadplayfield MyNewPlayfield</strong> or whatever you named your playfield template folder and hit enter.
 +
#*Now the game should load your playfield.
 +
#*This is only a test of the playfield's charateristica and a quick test, if all the major things work. So you won't see any POIs, creatures, resources and such yet. This test is just for terrain, decoration, grass, sky and effects.
  
 
==Enhanced Worflow (dynamic/static and SSG)==
 
==Enhanced Worflow (dynamic/static and SSG)==

Revision as of 07:06, 2 August 2018

Usage

Download

Installation

First Start

On your first start after downloading and extracting EPD, it will ask you to select the folder 'Empyrion.exe' (or 'EmpyrionDedicated.exe', if you are running EPD on the dedicated server).

After doing that, EPD will try to import all necessary data from the game folders to EPD's database.

The GUI

→ Main article: EPD GUI

Opening And Editing Playfields

There are several ways to open an existing playfield:

Folder Tree
On the left side of the main window there is a folder tree of the game's main path, This will show all the folders and subfolders that are containing any yaml files.
Drag And Drop
You can simply drag and drop a playfield from your explorer window onto the main surface of EPD. It will automatically open the playfield.
Using The Menu/Toolbar
On top of EPD's main window there is a menu and a toolbar.

Basic Workflow (fixed playfields)

This workflow is based on copying existing items and editing them, that way mistakes can be reduced to a minimum. Once you're experienced enough, you can start from scratch too, of course.

  1. Copy an existing fixed Scenario like Akua-Omicron. (Folder /content/scenarios)
  2. Copy an existing playfield template folder that comes closest to the one you want to create, e.g. TemperateStarter.
  3. Copy it to a new folder, let's call it MyNewPlayfield
  4. Start EPD
  5. On the left you'll find the playfield tree. Expand tree to /Playfields/MyNewPlayfield/
    You should find three playfields in there:
    • playfield_debug.yaml
    • playfield_dynamic.yaml
    • playfield_static.yaml
  6. The TemperateStarter playfield that we copied our new playfield from, is a random playfield for use with the SSG. But you can convert it into a fixed playfield. And that's what we're going to do first.
  7. Open playfield_debug.yaml by double clicking on it. EPD will warn you that you haven't saved and you're about to rest the currently loaded playfield. That's ok, click ok.
  8. Now, your user interface should look something like this:
    Click to enlarge

  9. Now you can edit the playfield to your liking.
  10. When you hover over a text label of a property, you often will find additional information regarding the useable values (limits) and what this field and it's values do.
  11. EPD creates a backup on every save. You'll find it right after saving left in your playfield tree. They are stored in the format: EPDBackup_<YYYY-MM-DD>_<hhmmss>.yaml
    Click to enlarge

  12. Make sure that you save regularly!
    Not because EPD could crash, but if you change too many things at once and have made some mistake(s), the game will crash on load (Continue or Quit Error), and then it's very hard to find out what you did wrong.
    So it's always best to have many backups, especially if you're new to playfield editing. Otherwise creating playfields can become frustrating real fast.
  13. Time for a first test:
    • Start Empyrion
    • On the main menu, open the game's console
    • enter loadplayfield MyNewPlayfield or whatever you named your playfield template folder and hit enter.
    • Now the game should load your playfield.
    • This is only a test of the playfield's charateristica and a quick test, if all the major things work. So you won't see any POIs, creatures, resources and such yet. This test is just for terrain, decoration, grass, sky and effects.

Enhanced Worflow (dynamic/static and SSG)

Creating New Playfields From Scratch

Working with EPD and the SSG (Solar System Generator)

Tips and Tricks

Troubleshooting

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