UE2:Using the UT2004 mod system

These basic procedures will show you how the unreal engine works with directories and how to setup your modification so it will use the mod system. This will keep your modification separate from UT2004 and allow you to work with greater ease and effiency on bigger mods. Personally I always use this as it keeps my base directory free from clutter although if you are working on something smaller like a mutator or gametype you may not need to use this. The best use for this is in total conversion situations where you modification will take up alot of room and have many packages.

Basic Setup

For all of the following we will assume your Base Directory is C:\ut2004\

Mod System Directory Structure

Engine Directory Structure - First we'll start with a rundown of the unreal engines directory structure.

your mod being the name of the modification, your mods directory structure would look like this:

C:\ut2004\YourMod\

C:\ut2004\YourMod\System

C:\ut2004\YourMod\Help

C:\ut2004\YourMod\Maps

C:\ut2004\YourMod\Textures

C:\ut2004\YourMod\Sounds

C:\ut2004\YourMod\Music

Running the game using YourMod

The mod system is accessed through the use of -mod= commandline switch

C:\ut2004\ut2004.exe -mod=YourMod

C:\ut2004\unrealed.exe -mod=YourMod

Setting Up Package Folders

Set Up Package Folders - Then we examine how to setup package's so you can compile.

For Unreal Script Classes you will need to first make the package's folder and then the Classes folder. The following eg shows the package folders being YourModPackage:

C:\ut2004\YourMod\YourModPackage\ <– UnrealScript package for your mod

C:\ut2004\YourMod\YourModPackage\Classes <– put you source code here

EXEC Directive

Using the Exec Directive you can also import assets such as sounds and textures into a package file, you do this using both the Exec Directive and the appropriate directories.

C:\ut2004\YourMod\YourModPackage\Models <– put the models you wish to import into the package here

C:\ut2004\YourMod\YourModPackage\Sounds <– put the sounds you wish to import into the package here

C:\ut2004\YourMod\YourModPackage\Textures <– put the textures you wish to import into the package here

The Exec Directive is not only used when you want to import assets with your script into your *.u files it is also useful when working with a large number of assets, it might be alittle overwhelming to do this by hand through unrealed. Now alot of the time unrealed will let you import multiple files at once but sometimes it is much easier done on the command line, it can free up valuable memory that can be used to get the process done quicker without the overhead of the full editor open.

INI Files

UT2k4Mod.Ini - We start to get into how to setup your mod to be accessed from the community panel in UT2004.

This file should be place in the following directory:

C:\ut2004\YourMod

UT2004 Default.ini - This will show you how to setup your mod's default.ini file so you can use it to compile.

This file should be place in the following directory:

C:\ut2004\YourMod\System

DefaultUser.ini - Functions very similarly to UT2004 Default.ini.

This file should be place in the following directory:

C:\ut2004\YourMod\System

LOG Files

Log Warnings

Log File

When running with the -mod= commandline switch .log files will be place in the following directory:

C:\ut2004\YourMod\System

All other secondary log files (such as ucc.log) will still be created in:

C:\ut2004\System

Commandlet's

Commandlets can be very useful to UScripters, providing automated tasks so you dont have to repetativly do things by hand.

Make

Compiling With UCC - Lastly to round things off we take a look at how to compile using ucc.exe

Compiling YourMod

The mod system is accessed through the use of -mod= commandline switch

C:\ut2004\ucc.exe make -mod=YourMod

This will Compile all *.UC files found in your Package directories to:

C:\ut2004\YourMod\System

DumpInt

DumpIntCommandlet - will always create the new .int files in the game's System directory. This is an unfortunate outcome, but changing it would have proven difficult at this time.

INT Files are used for Localization, INT being an acronym for international english.

Dumping an int file for YourModPackage

The mod system is accessed through the use of -mod= commandline switch

C:\ut2004\ucc.exe dumpint -mod=YourMod C:\ut2004\YourMod\System\YourModPackage.u

ExportCache

ExportCacheCommandlet - will create the .ucl files in the first directory found in the CacheRecordPath array. Using the trick above, you can force it to use your directory, but that’s un supported. As a general rule, you will have to hand copy these files in to their proper place. Sorry.

Exporting Cache for YourModPackage

The mod system is accessed through the use of -mod= commandline switch

C:\ut2004\ucc.exe exportcache -v -mod=YourMod C:\ut2004\YourMod\System\YourPackage.u

Custom Characters

You may want to add custom characters or even custom species type to your total conversion, lucky there is a simple way to set it up. Its called the Unreal Player List.

• UPL_File
• Defining_SpeciesTypes
  
  

See Also

• Improved Mod Support
• Making Mods
• Mod Authoring