Question to CA about ingame Editors

[MastodontfilmsMats]

Hi, I hope a CA staff member reads this, but there should be more than just their staff who knows.
My question is;
Are there more editors ingame than just the battle editor or tools like the sprite generator?
I've downloaded the WHTW mod to RTW 1.5, and at the end of the command line (at least I think it's the command line) of the shortcut in the mod to RomeTW.exe it says:
-enable_editor -show_err
In the mod i found a battle editor in the options menu. But it didn't work in the WHTW mod, it resulted in a CTD. So I created a new shortcut which I put in a folder that I called 'Editation' in the Rome - Total War folder. At the end of what I think is the command line of the shortcut I added:
-enable_editor -show_err
And when I used that shortcut the same battle editor appeared in the options menu of the game. But this time it worked.
In this thread, https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=44180, JeromeGrasdyke explained how to access the Sprite Generator you used.
So, are there more tools or editors that you can access by adding stuff to the command line?

Thank you. :nice:

[HouseOfHam]

If you look at the BI exe in a hex editor, and search for something like show_err, you will see a whole bunch of other supported parameters:

GameSpy parameters: Must include
gs_chat_name <-- Optional. Sets your nickname, as it will appear in GameSpy chat. Use if you want it to be something other than gs_profilenick. For example, -gs_chat_name="HouseOfHam"
gs_group_room <-- ??? Optional. Sample use: -gs_group_room="GROUPID"
gs_game_password <-- Brings up the game password menu in RTW
gs_namespaceid <-- ??? Optional. Sample use: -gs_namespaceid="1"
gs_password <-- -Sample use: -gs_password="PLAYERPW". Ignored when used with -gs_lan
gs_uniquenick <-- ??? Optional. Sample use: -gs_uniquenick="GPNAME"
gs_profilenick <-- Nickname of your Gamespy profile. Sample use: -gs_profilenick="FarmerJoe".
gs_email <-- Sample use: -gs_email="PLAYEREMAIL"
gs_lan <-- Brings up the LAN menu in RTW. For example, to host a LAN game use: -gs_profilenick="FarmerJoe" -gs_lan -gs_host
gs_host <-- Brings up the Gamespy host menu in RTW
gs_join <-- Brings up the Gamespy join menu in RTW. Sample use: -gs_join="SERVER_IP"

gs_email, gs_profilenick and gs_password are used for authentication when connecting to GameSpy.

Combining them on the target line:

host template: -gs_host -gs_group_room="GROUPID" -gs_chat_name="PLAYERNAME" -gs_email="PLAYEREMAIL" -gs_profilenick="#PLAYERNAME#" -gs_uniquenick="#GPNAME#" -gs_password="#PLAYERPW#" -gs_namespaceid="1"

For example, to host a game on GameSpy, you'd use something like: -gs_host -gs_chat_name="HouseOfHam" -gs_email="my_gs_email@us.gov" -gs_profilenick="my_gs_nick" -gs_password="my_gs_password"

join template: -gs_join=#SERVERIP# -gs_group_room="#GROUPID#" -gs_chat_name="#PLAYERNAME#"[$SERVERPW$ -gs_game_password="#SERVERPW#"] -gs_email="#PLAYEREMAIL#" -gs_profilenick="#PLAYERNAME#" -gs_uniquenick="#GPNAME#" -gs_password="#PLAYERPW#" -gs_namespaceid="1"


sprite_script <-- sprite generator
show_err <-- This one is commonly known. It basically shows scripting errors of all sorts.
no_exit_error <-- possibly, tells the game not to abort on errors???
movie_cam <-- movie cam mode. Sample use: -movie_cam:capture_video or -movie_cam:capture_audio -- AFAIK, this only works in v1.2 and earlier
fbc
enter_battles
ai <-- have AI control player faction. Strategy map only. All battles are auto-resolved.
unlock_campaign

sw <-- sounds only, no graphics
ne <-- faster alt-tab switching, w/o reloading (window mode? doesn't change screen resolution)
ae <-- something to do with After-Effects? Probably totally off the mark
no_tnl <-- disables the Transform and Lighting feature where available. Quote from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/T/TnL.html: "TnL or T&L, short for Transform and Lighting it refers to a hardware feature found on some graphics cards. TnL is separate engines on the GPU that enable extremely high polygon count scenes. With TnL technology some or all of the 3-D information normally processed by the computer processor is processed by the GPU. Transform performance determines how complex objects can be and how many can appear in a scene without sacrificing frame rate. Lighting techniques add to a scene's realism by changing the appearance of objects based on light sources."
nm <-- no-movies mode
na <-- no audio
force_default_hz - something with sound?
blank_ui_caches
report_missing_images
validate_models
util <-- (Must supply options for utility mode): Use it as util:option. The possible options are sound, animdb, encrypt, unit_models.
fpex <-- Probably used to log exceptions
fperr <-- Probably used to log errors
fplog <-- Probably specifies filename for the log, as in C/C++ FILE *fplog = fopen("my.log", "w+"); Usage: ??? Probably used for logging output from certain console commands
enable_editor
disr
bookmark (limited to 256 chars)
mod <-- Run with modifications from an auxiliary folder. For example, -mod:RTR
multirun <-- probably lets you start multiple copies of RTW
battle <-- Loads a battle, to use it, type battle:[battle_name]
strat <-- Loads a campaign directly. Sample use -strat:sons_of_mars -- Campaign name is the name of the folder in world/maps/campaign/. If no campaign name is specified, loads the default campaign (imperial_campaign in vanilla). Use -ai:barbarian_invasion with BI. If non-existent campaign name is specified, CTD with no error
battle_ed <-- Brings up the battle editor on startup. To edit an existing battle, -battle_ed:battle_name, for example -battle_ed:Trebia
output_con_cmds <-- looks like this should create documentation/console_commands.txt ... but it doesn't
sp
engine
custom
engine_shadow
rtm <-- The only thing I can think of is that it might somehow be related to Requirements Traceability Matrix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traceability_matrix), a tool used to analyze the relationship of two documents
strat_ed <-- According to Gotthard at twc, doesn't work in the release version as it references files/folders that are not included
all
playable
faction
on
info
speed
save
daytime

Don't know what they all do. Feel free to experiment and post your results here. :)

ps: Some of the command descriptions were stolen from http://rtw.heavengames.com/rtw/mods/tutorials/2005/03/26/command_line_options/index.shtml

[MastodontfilmsMats]

uuuhh... that's a long list:snore:
Think I'll just test those that sound interesting and skip the others.

But thanks, really great :2thumbsup:

[Flying Pig]

unloack_campaign..does that unloack the scipio and caesar campaigns mentioned in the files, or something else. My vanilla has, er, died...

[MastodontfilmsMats]

I tested:
enter_battles
unlock_campaign
validate_models
unit_models
animdb
default_campaign
battle
strat
battle_ed
strat_ed
But I'm disapointed, I didn't notice anything different, except that battle_ed started the battle editor on startup, but when you exited you couldn't find under the options menu, so enable_editor is better. And strat started a Julii Campaign and battle closed on startup.
It would be great if someone knew what they are supposed to do or what they're used for.

[HouseOfHam]

I imagine some of them need their own parameters, like the -mod:

Try -battle:Badon_Hill

[MastodontfilmsMats]

I don't have BI, just 1.5, but I guess Badon Hill is a historical battle. So I tried with -battle:Trasimene but it still was the same.

[Thor the Bassist]

The strat_ed was originally intended by CA but never finished. It seems much of the code in the exe that isn't in the core game is defunct, disabled or incomplete. There are many things such as the strat_ed that were intended to be released but in the end CA streamed the project to minimise cost and get the game on the market.

[HouseOfHam]

I'm going to do a bit more testing and update the first post as I find out more.

[Thor the Bassist]

Hopefully you can find out something. CA's silence on this subject is annoying. For a while its been clear they wont release any more updates and yet they wont tell us whats already in the versions we have. Its a difficult job because I dont believe there's any way to tell the syntax without being wizard enough to read the code straight off.

[MastodontfilmsMats]

Thank you HouseOfHam ~:)
Really appreciated.