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What is modding?
Modding is short for modifying. It can mean either creating or adding a modification ('mod') to Emperor (or indeed any other game). Modding will usually change the properties of units, add some, remove some, make new houses, remove old ones... the list is endless. The only thing that can't be done is changing the basic engine that runs the game itself. Mods can't fix the harvester control bug, nor can mods add a new ability to a unit that has not been used before on any unit in the original game. So no Stealth Generators for Emperor.
RFH and RFD Files
These are the compression files in which Emperor stores things. You will need to download DuneEx from Fed2k (made by Scorpio9a) to open these files if you're making a mod. However, even if you are just installing a mod, you should understand these principles: Emperor searches for its files in preset folders - it looks for Rules.txt in the Emperor\DATA\Model\ folder. If it can't find it there, it will look for the RFH/RFD file with the name Model in the Emperor\DATA\ folder - and it will accept the model file with the highest number as the most up-to-date file. Since many of its files are in RFH/RFDs, you can place a new, altered Rules.ini in the folder Emperor\DATA\Model\, and the game will use this file instead of those in its archives. Using this principle, we can add lots of files to folders like Emperor\DATA\3ddata\textures\, and Emperor will use these (note that you may have to create these folders yourself). Be careful: within RFH/RFD files, some files can have path names - like ATLogo.tga has the path \textures\ - you must use this path when adding files, hence Emperor\DATA\3ddata\textures\ATLogo.tga. Concerning the format of the RFH/RFD files, you may be wondering why they are two files. Well, Emperor looks at the RFH file as an index of the RFD file with the same name - the RFH file tells Emperor what each file in the RFD is called, and where in the file it starts. You must open the RFH file with DuneEx; this will automatically open both files.
Bag Files
Bag files are a little different. You should use Bag Tool (again, found at Fed2k) to use these files; DuneEx will open the files, but will not save them. Bag tools work differently to RFH/RFD files. They are simply huge files made of smaller files placed end to end. You cannot use folders instead of bag files; you must place each file into the bag manually - hence, it is a good idea to back up your bag in case you make an error; original bag files can be found on the Install disc. For example, if installing music for a mod, there is no way to automatically add music to the Music.bag file; instructions should be available on how to do this manually. If not, here are some for you.
To Add music to Skirmishes
Example: I want to add "bounce.mp3" to the Atreides Skirmish music
1. Use the Bag tool to add "bounce.mp3" to Emperor\DATA\MUSIC\music.bag
2. Add the following to CommonMusic.txt in the same directory:
[Atreides13]
Group = Atreides HD
Data = bounce
Title = BouncyTune
Phase = 0
NB: you will need to change the Data to the filename, etc.
3. Run Emperor in Skirmish.
Example: I want to add "bounce.mp3" to All Houses' Skirmish music
1. Use the Bag tool or RFH editor to add "bounce.mp3" to Emperor\DATA\MUSIC\music.bag
2. Add the following to CommonMusic.txt in the same directory:
[Generic1a]
Group = Atreides HD
Data = bounce
Title = BouncyTuneA
Phase = 0
[Generic1h]
Group = Harkonnen HD
Data = bounce
Title = BouncyTuneH
Phase = 0
[Generic1o]
Group = Ordos HD
Data = bounce
Title = BouncyTuneO
Phase = 0
NB: you will need to change the Data to the filename, etc.
3. Run Emperor in Skirmish.
To Add music to Campaigns
Example: I want to add "bounce.mp3" to the Atreides Skirmish music, so that it will be played from mission 5 onwards.
1. Use the Bag tool or RFH editor to add "bounce.mp3" to Emperor\DATA\MUSIC\music.bag
2. Add the following to the end of AtreidesMusic.txt in the same directory:
[SectionDefaults]
Group = Atreides HD
[Atreides13]
Group = Atreides HD
Data = bounce
Title = BouncyTune
Phase = 5
NB: you will need to change the Data to the filename, and Phase to the mission at which the mp3 will be first played.
3. Run Emperor in Campaign.
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