Rise of Legends - All Modding Guides & Tools Pack file

Rise of Legends - All Modding, Scenario, Map and Script Editing Guides & Tools Pack - info

This file contains as many modding, scenario and map guides, tutorials, documentations, guides, tools, info lists, etc as could be collected for modding the game Rise of Legends.
It will be updated if it is missing any relevant files and when new info and tools are created.

This file was originally posted here.

Description

This modding guide pack contains 31 main files that include an info file (this file you are reading).

This modding guides pack is meant to help both old and new players of Rise of Legends with modding the game.

The total size is about 40 MB zipped and 140 MB unzipped.

The 5 official modding guides by Big Huge Games are featured twice as: BHG Rol Modding - All 5 Guides Pack by BHG which contains all 5 guides in one folder, and as 5 separate individual files for your convenience.

The rest of the modding guides have been made by players of the game. These files have various authors - credit and thanks goes to the following authors and people who have helped along the way: Big Huge Games,
PCDania, Elrich and Terikel of Heavengames, Moddb.com, Motter, Archaeopterix, Cyrillic, Evolved, Ishnox, Storm Legion, Agamemnus, Luigi and Ryder. If there is any author or mod guide missing, post a message with
info and/or links to the file(s) and this file will be updated.

Currently missing is the Hero Modding guide by Evolved which can be found described in the forum here, but the link for the download is broken.

Also included is the Modpack.exe needed to extract certain files for modding. It is included both unzipped and in an extracted folder as some players have had problems with the exe file.

Rise of Legends didn't get an expansion and full modding support after its release so players were left on their own to try to mod what they could by working with the game in its current state.

In 2010 and 2013 Motter released 3 mods (Motter's Expansion, All Heroes, and New Nations) which contributed a lot to the game's replayability and opened up more possibilities with modding the game.
So as it is Rise of Legends is moddable and maps, scenarios and mods can be made with the current state of the game.

In 2014 Rise of Nations got a Steam re-release so it may be possible that in the future Rise of Legends will get a re-release with full modding capability with the Steam Workshop.
Send your support and ideas for a Rise of Legends Extended Edition on steam here

In 2016 Ryder released the ROL BIG Extractor program which allows for extracting/import of BIG files for editing/modding and exporting back into the game.
After 10 years of limited modding we now have much more modding capability than ever before, so more detailed mods and a Rise of Nations 2 Total Conversion mod for Rise of Legends can now be created.

Instructions for the All Modding, Scenario, Map and Script Editing Guides & Tools Pack
1. Use any unzip or extracting program to extract the folder to any location you wish. All of the guides are already contained inside so you will only need to extract this main download once.

2. Be sure to make a "System Restore" point on your computer before installing any new programs, games, mods, etc so you can revert back to it in case of any problems. Take note of what files were installed in what locations as not all Readme files are informative or complete.

3. Also make sure to make a backup copy of any folders and/or files that you edit, mod and replace. You can also re-install the game if all else fails, and if you have issues with patching the game properly see the patching info here in section #9 Tech Support and Patch Instructions

4. Some of the text files are in various formats such as Notepad txt, Microsoft doc, etc. Some of these files may not load or format properly as not everyone has the required or complete full version of programs to open certain file formats.

A solution to this is to use Microsoft Wordpad for most of the files and for the longer and formatted files you can download open source word programs such as Open Office and Libre Office which can open and edit files used by various programs such as most Microsoft word programs.

Creating and uploading text files using open source programs can help various players to use the files if they don't own a full program or have some other errors. If you wish you can donate to or purchase certain open source programs if you find they work well for you.

ROL BIG Archiver Readme and Instructions by Ryder
RoL BIG Archiver
Version 1.0.2016.0528

Download the program here

(The RoL BIG Archiver program is also included in this download.)

An application to export and import files inside of BIG archives for the Rise of Legends game.

See the file "Rise of Legends - Extracted BIG Files Contents List" for a list of the extracted files before and after you use ROL BIG Archiver.

Contents

1 Requirements
2 Installation
3 Editor Information
4 Support
5 Changelog
6 Credits
7 Links

1 Requirements

For the ROL BIG Archiver program:

Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 10
.NET Framework 4.5

For modding ROL files:

- B1 Archiver, 7Zip, etc to zip and unzip project files
- 3DSMax and SpeedTree for 3D modelling
- Adobe Photoshop, Gimp, etc for image editing
- XML Copy Editor, Hex Workshop, Notepad, Wordpad, Notepad++, etc for XML and text editing
- Audacity, Wave Editor, Adobe Audition, etc for sound and music editing
- Check the ods, pdf or html file "Rise of Legends - List of All Game Files & Programs Used For Modding"
for a complete list of Rise of Legends file types and programs used for modding
You can also view this file online here

2 Installation

- Extract everything from the zip file
- Open ROL BIG Archiver.exe
- Enjoy!

3 Editor Information

An application to export and import files inside of BIG archives for the Rise of Legends game.

BIG files are similar to zip files in that they contain many files inside of them.
Here is the general workflow:

- Open a BIG archive using the main menu
- Use the archive menu to export all the files inside the archive to a folder
- Make edits to any files, but do not change the folder structure and file names
- In the editor use the archive menu to import all the files from the folder in which you originally exported them
- Save the BIG archive from the file menu

4 Support

Please report any issues or bugs that you may have here: github.com/Ryder25/Rise-of-Legends/issues

5 Changelog

1.0.2016.0528 - First Release

Check petartasev.com/modding/rise-of-nations/big-archiver/ for the latest version
This Readme file will be updated with any updates to the new versions

6 Credits

Ryder25 – For creating the program, contact email
Lucas Conde Pegoraro – For the program icon
famfamfam.com – For the “silk” menu icons

7 Links

- View more game utilties and donate here
- visit rol.heavengames.com for the latest ROL news, a discussion forum and downloads
- Post your Rise of Legends modding questions and projects in the Modifications subforum

Instructions for using Quick BMS with scripts to extract BIG files

1. Download the Quick BMS program here.
The Quick BMS program is also included in this download.

2. The Rise of Legends bms script is included in this download, or you can download it here.
Open the link in a separate page and select File - Save File As a txt file.

3. Install the Quick BMS program and open it, you can read a readme support document here.
Section # "2) Usage" contains detailed instructions on how to use the program.
The Quick BMS readme support document is also included in this download.

4. Select the Rise of Legends bms script file

5. Locate and select the BIG files within the installed Rise of Legends game directory

6. Choose the BIG file or files you want to extract and choose an output location folder for the extracted files

7. Run the script and wait for the files to extract

8. Alternative intructions: You can also manually select the script file, drag and drop it onto a desktop shortcut of Quick BMS to load the script
Then select a BIG file and drag and drop it onto the Quick BMS shortcut as well in order to run the extraction process.

9. You may need to extract the BIG files into a separate game directory folder to compare the extraction results to the original game installation

10. Post any questions and comments about extracting Rise of Legends files here at Heavengames
and at Zenhax here.

11. If you are a programmer we need your advice and skills to work on a ROL User Patch project, please post here.

Known Errors

There are some known errors and limitations with modding Rise of Legends.

The Scenario Editor has been known to freeze and/or crash in various situations such as when some prefabs are selected. Most of the prefabs can be selected and placed without any trouble but it seems a few crash the editor.

One editor bug is you can't delete a script that is already attached to a campaign map that came with the game. You can edit it or just delete all the info if you want to use the map, but it is hard coded to the
map - if you delete it the game will crash.

Another known crash is with individual city districts. In the scenario editor you can place city districts individually on a map without being connected to a city, but once you load this scenario or map the game
freezes and/or crashes for whatever reason. It would be interesting to enable the building of city districts on their own but currently this doesn't seem to work.

You can read about more errors, limitations as well as possible solutions in a future Rise of Legends re-release on Steam here.

Lastly, some errors may be due to any number of reasons, but if you have a more definite cause and solution please post in the Rise of Legends Heavengames.com forums and this download will be updated in the future. For some problems sometimes simply closing the game, restarting the game and/or restarting your computer can work as a quick fix.

Updates to this download:
1 First uploaded on 9/4/2014
2 Updated on 9/19/2014

3 Updated on 12/17/2015

4 Updated on 5/29/2016

5 Updated on 10/10/2017

Feedback

Programmers and modders are needed, please post here.

There is a tech support forum for any issues with the game here

There is an active Rise of Legends downloads area and forum at Heavengames here, which seems to be the last active Rise of Legends forum on the internet.

If you have any questions, problems or solutions please register and post on the Rise of Legends forums and comments at Heavengames.com and Moddb.com and soon possibly at Steam games as well.

List of contents
- BHG Modpack.exe Zipped and Extracted
- BHG ROL Modding - All 5 Guides Pack by BHG
- BHG ROL Modding Guide 1 - Custom Tribe Kit by BHG
- BHG ROL Modding Guide 2 - Cutscene Guide by BHG
- BHG ROL Modding Guide 3 - Mapmaker's Handbook by BHG
- BHG ROL Modding Guide 4 - Multiplayer Map Tutorial by BHG
- BHG ROL Modding Guide 5 - Scripting Kit by BHG
- Hero Modding Guide by Motter
- Quick BMS Extractor Program and rise_of_legends.bms script by Luigi
- ROL BIG Archiver Version 1.0.2016.0528 by Ryder
- Unit Modding Tutorial by Cyrillic
- Unlimited XML Modification by Evolved
- All Modding, Scenario, Map and Script Editing Guides & Tools Pack - Info (this file)
- Becoming A Scripting Legend by Archaeopterix
- Game Modification Guide by Evolved - unfinished
- Guards, Descriptions and Good Stuff - Scenario Modding Tutorial Part 2 by Evolved
- How To Change The Ground On Maps - Scenario Modding Tutorial Part 1 by Evolved
- How To Make Buildings Fly by Ishnox
- Modding and Scenario Design Compiled Questions and Answers by Various Authors
- Overlapping Buildings and Lighting Tricks by Storm Legion
- Quick BMS Readme and Instructions by Luigi
- Rise of Legends - Extracted BIG Files Contents List
- Rise of Legends - List of All Game Files & Programs Used For Modding html, ods and pdf versions
- ROL BIG Archiver Readme and Instructions by Ryder
- ROL Typenames Generated text file by Agamemnus
- ROL Typenames Generator by Agamemnus
- Scenario Design Tips by Evolved
- Scenario Editor Hotkeys List by BHG
- Tale of A Juggernaut - A Few Pointers and A Small Tutorial by Evolved