About SLK's and TXT's, IMPORTANT, READ PLEASE!

Hi, and thanks for reading this! ;)

Okay heres my question:
Can you copy the War3patch.mpq or war3.mpq (forgot witch one has the <Race>AbilityFunction,Strings.txt and AbilityData.SLK) and then choose the origional or copied one to change the <Race>AbilityFunction,Strings.txt and AbilityData.SLK internally so all the modded stuff will show up inside WorldEditor and then it can be changed by switching back to the normal .mpq?
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In sense I mean this (sorry if confusing)
•Copy War3Patch.mpq/war3.mpq
•Choose the copied/original one to mod AbilityData.slk and <Race>AbilityFunction,Strings.txt
•Use modded .mpq and rename other one (the un-modded one) and make sure that Wc3 will use the modded one
•Open up World Editor and then will it have modded skills/spells units?
•After step above this, if it works, map gets saved, HOPEFULLY with the new skills/spells/units in it (NOTE: This can save time for people who don't wanna use MPQ2k, right???)
•Then, switch back to un-modded .mpq and Wa-La, you got the map with all the stuff modded you can't have with MPQ2k and you saved time, now for future modding you can just switch between the modded/un-modded .mpq's... (Somehow, MPQ2k never works when I try and mod normal spells/skills and TRY to turn them into hero spells/skills. But with this, it can automaticaly appear in World Editor under the Hero section and work... right???)

RIGHT??? :abomHUH?:

Thanks, sorry again if confusing... I've been thinking about this for some time. Also sorry if there is an existing post containing this idea, I couldn't wait to browse so... here it is!

-123dead out

Will not work, due to that WE store what changed from the base mpq. MPQ2k is prolly not working because only a few versions of it work with War3. Just use WinMPQ.

Oh well... was worth a try, I would still like some more proof than just one person though, I've allways thought it could work and I'm not swaying in the other direction quite yet... I still think it could work.... but I'm probebly just delaying the inevitable fact: No, it won't work.

Please, post more replies :)

Please post the exact question you have clearly and I'll answer it for you. Not many things that you change will show up in WE. I believe the WE searches locally for new files. By that, I mean creating a "UNITS" folder in your warcraft 3 directory. Then, move your new abilitydata.slk or whatever into that directory. That should modify WE for you.

BTW, download WINMPQ, it's worth it.

Thanks for the reply.

Heres my Question EXACTLY (Well, try to make the most out of it...)

Can I modify an .mpq (The one with AbilityData.slk And <Race>AbilityFunctions,Strings.txt) and use it with WorldEditor to allow the new spells/modded spells to show up? It makes sense that Wc3 would look at the .mpq and read the files I've modded... therefor creating them inside WorldEditor.

They will show up as long as you have the custom MPQ. However, once you kill it, they will go away., and probably cause the map not to work.

If you were going to do that , I'd put it in the patch.mpq with WINMPQ. MAKE A BACKUP FIRST!!! A safer method would be to read my post above by creating a folder named "Units" in you WC3 directory and putting them there. Still not 100% sure if that will work.

Or, for a method that is safe and easy to turn on and off, use sempqs. Even with the public release ver it works fine for your comp only.

Thanks, both of you with sticking with my ideas ! :)

Draco:
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Can you create a folder named SPELLS and World Editor will find the new spells/skills all modded and everything?
Also: This won't mess up my game in any way and can be deleted once I feel my modding is complete? Right?

--I think this can work with the idea above, and it DOES make sense...


knightking:
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Can't the map still work with the old un-modded .mpq in use? I don't understand why it cant... it would be the same as modding a map with MPQ right?

Thanks again ^^ :)

-123dead out

EDIT: I got to go now y'all, please reply and I'll look at it tommarow. Thanks for everything.

1) No, as that is not the directory they normally go in. You have to use the same directory as war3 uses.

2) If the mpq changed nothing about the actual game, you can. However, if you add a custom spell, then five a unit it, without the patched mpq, war3 will load the patch, see that the unit has the spell, but not be able to find out what the spell is anywhere. This can be fixed by putting all of the modded files into the map.

Yup, knightking is right. You MUST use the folder paths that Blizzard uses like...

Units\
Textures\
UI\
etc.


And yes, you can just remove the folder when you are done. However, you must import the files into your map when you are finished ofr it to work for other people. Also, if you are importing abilitydata.slk into your map, you must keep the loading screen exactly how it is when you create a new map. That means NO text or anything new on it. For some reason, that screws up new splells and such.

I assume that you mean MPQDraft. Anyway I'd advise him to use the non release version, which can be downloaded here.

Well, I just got back.
Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty convinced now that it won't work :)

Well, thanks for all your help/ideas/opinions!

Oh, and one last question: How can I turn the Book of the Dead ability into a hero spell? I'm wanting to make it three levels of skill and such; but I can NEVER seem to be able to make them work. Yes, I've changed the AbilityData.slk stuff, to make it look just like all the other spells, but Noooooo... it won't work! Please help, as this is why I thought of .mpq modding ;)

Thanks
-123dead out