////////////////////////////////
//Ground Control II - Mod SDK //
////////////////////////////////

Nov 12 2004

LEGAL NOTICE:
The Mod SDK application ("The Application") is provided to the User "As Is"
without warranty of any kind. Massive Entertainment shall not be liable to User
for any damages, including but not limited to data loss, loss of goodwill, work
stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any other losses. Massive
Entertainment does not provide any customer service or technical support for
the Application.

These tools are part of the Mod SDK for Ground Control II:
* XEd_Update_0203.exe Update for the map editor
* JuiceMaker.exe The tool for modifying most of the global game data
- GUI's, units etc.
* ShowboxN.exe Imports 3d models and animations for Lightwave
and outputs 3d objects for use in the game
* WinSDF.exe A utility for creating and extracting data
to/from sdf archives
* TC_SdfPacker.wcx A plugin for the Total Commander program that
allows you to operate on .sdf archives. It is still an alpha version, which
does contain bugs.
* SdwEditor A tool for configuring model shadows

These additional files are also included in the Mod SDK for Ground Control II:
* data1008.zip Game data required for producing maps/mods
compliant with version 1.0.0.8 of Ground Control II.

Documentation included in the Mod SDK for Ground Control II:
* Audio SDK.pdf
* GC II Data Format Documentation v.3.pdf
* Parasite Parameter Info.pdf
* Xed manual.pdf
* ShowboxN documentation.pdf
* MRBview readme.txt
* GC2_ModSDK_Readme.txt (this file)
* GUI SDK.pdf

The following previously released tools are unsupported as of this release:
* MRBview.exe

Whatever tool you use, it is very important to remember that all paths must be
relative to the directory containing the game, i.e. they must reside in
subdirectories to the game directory.

This includes other external programs used like Lightwave (working directory
must be set to the game data directory), but also our own tools like the
Showbox.

At Massive we simply map T: to the directory of our choice and then set all
programs to operate on T: by default.

If the paths are not in order, none of the game data will be able to load once
you've modified it, so it is very important to set up correctly from the
start.

To distribute a mod, pack all the game data that you've created/changed into
one .sdf archive and distribute that file.

To start a mod, you need to start the game with -mod xxxxx, which then uses
xxxxx.sdf


//////////////////////////
//Installing the MOD SDK//
//////////////////////////

1. First, make sure you have Ground Control II installed and updated to
version 1.0.0.8.

2. Make sure you have the XEd World Editor installed, it is included with the
game.

3. Run the XEd updater included with the SDK (Xed_Update_0203.exe) to get the
most recent version.

4. Backup your game folder AND/OR any modifications you've created using the
LiteModSDK, as they will be lost when installing the Full Mod SDK.

5. Unzip data1008.zip into your newly created Mod directory. Before doing
this, please see the section on "Using SDF Archives" below.


//////////////////////////////////////////
//Additional notes on using the Mod SDK //
//////////////////////////////////////////

-The two files "unittypes.juice" and "unittypes_advanced.juice" are used for
SINGLEPLAYER an MULTIPLAYER maps respectively and must contain the same units,
but the units are free to differ in which properties they have.
(i.e if "unittypes.juice" contains a unit named "F1_Marine",
"unittypes_advanced.juice" must also contain a "F1_Marine", but they can differ
in any other way. This is a requirement for Xed to be able to work correctly
with the two sets of unit information)

-Using the -mapsfolder commandline argument will tell XEd to create your map in
the "maps" folder instead of the "custom_maps" folder.

-ShowboxN and SdwEditor can now read .sdf archives

-ShowboxN can import both Lightwave and Milkshape3D formats.

-It's good practice to keep notes on every file you modify or add, so that you
know what to put in your mod .sdf archive when you want to distribute your
work.

-If you already have the Lite Mod SDK installed, it will be overwritten with
newer versions of tools and data when needed.


//////////////////////////////
//Regarding Ice/Juice/Fruit //
//////////////////////////////

The game only reads the .ice files. You don't modify the .ice files directly,
you generate .ice files by editing .juice files with the JuiceMaker.

XEd does however read (some of) the .juice files, so in order to get XEd
working correctly with v1.0.0.8 data, you need to have extracted all files
included in the data1008.zip file. The data1008.zip also includes all
.juice/.fruit files needed to regenerate the .ice files used by the game.


///////////////////////
//Using SDF Archives //
//////////////////////

The .sdf archives contain all the orginal game data for Ground Control II and
XEd, including patches.

Use the WinSDF.exe tool or the total commander plugin, provided with the Mod
SDK to access .sdf archives. You can use these tools to unpack specific files
or entire .sdf archives as needed. The WinSDF tool is also used to make your
own .sdf archives. (For mod distribution, etc.)

Q. Why would I wanna mess with this?
A. You don't really need to! It is only necessary if you want to edit any game
assets (models, sounds, etc) used by GC2 and/or XEd.

Please note that YOU NEVER NEED TO EXTRACT ANY of the .juice/.fruit/.ice files,
because they are already included in the "data1008.zip" and the .ice files can
be regenerated using the "data1008.zip" files. (see the "Regarding
Ice/Juice/Fruit" section above)

Q. But I want to! How do I do it?
A. If you want to MODIFY any of the data (other than the .ice stuff mentioned
above, of course) used by the original GC2 game, you must unpack the .sdf
archive(s) containg the game asset(s) you wish to modify, and you must unpack
these archives in chronological order starting with the oldest. This will mean
that the newest files are unpacked last.

If you are looking for a specific file to unpack, always start looking in the
newest sdf archives first, and work your way backwards until you find a version
of it. This is the release order of the .sdf archives, starting with the
oldest:
-gc2data.sdf
-gc2localized.sdf
-gc2movies.sdf
-xed.sdf (included in the original XEd installer, which comes with the
game)
-gc2patch0.sdf
-gc2patch1.sdf
-xedpatch0.sdf (included in the Mod SDK)

Remember, this is only necessary if you want to modify existing gc2 game
assets. This is NOT necessary if you:
-only want to use any or all of the gc2 game assets(sounds, graphics
etc residing in the sdf archives) AS THEY ARE.
-only want to alter .juice/.fruit-files (included with the Mod SDK).

This means that if you are only planning to add new models, sounds, etc., used
together with existing GC2 game assets, you will NOT need to do this.

!!!IMPORTANT!!!
Unpacking the file "data1008.zip" into the newly created copy of the game
folder (see step 4 of the installation process mentioned above), MUST be done
AFTER you unpack any other sdf archives, as the files in "data1008.zip" are
needed for your mod to behave in accordance with the current version of the
game (1.0.0.8)

Please note that even if you only want to create 1.0.0.8 compliant maps, not
entire mods, you must unpack "data1008.zip" as described above.

/MSV Team