A base modding tutorial

[alphadog]

Before you start, you need a seperate install of disco which you will edit. You do not want to go online with the installation you are going to change. In order to do this, just copy your Discovery 4.86 folder to somewhere else, and rename it to 'discodev' so you won't be confused in the future.

Requirements:
- Basic knowledge of the file layout of Freelancer (Just browse through your Freelancer folder, open some files here and there. The structure is logical, but it's good to know what can be found where.)
- Knowledge of how to run a local server (This is needed for testing purposes. It usually consists of just clicking flserver.exe, but this tutorial won't cover any problems with it)
- Freelancer Explorer (2.0.6.23). This is the program you will use to do the actual modding. It's old and a little inconvenient at times, but it is the best we got.
- HardCMP (1.0.0.23) Not required, but useful to preview station module models (as well as any CMP files you can find)

We start with opening Freelancer Explorer.

After you click yes, you will be asked to locate your freelancer folder. Select your newly created discodev folder. Do NOT select your original discovery install!
NOTE: If you have Freelancer Mod Manager installed, you can only select folders from the FLMM directory. Either deinstall FLMM, or put your discodev folder in the FLMM directory.

The next screen should look like this:

If it doesn't, you probably selected the wrong folder. What you see here is a map of sirius, and the connections between all systems. If you hover the mouse over one of the system you will see the infocard for that system on the right side of the screen.

For this tutorial, we are going to edit San Diego Border Station, California. To edit a system, and the bases in it, right click on California and select the 'edit' option

This will open the sytem edit window, which looks like this. In this screen you can see all bases, planets, weapon platforms and any other objects you can find in space. This tutorial will only cover the modding of a base, but Freelancer Explorer can edit or create entire systems.

San Diego is located in the south-west of the system, so zoom in a little so you get a clear overview. Zooming can be done with the scroll wheel on your mouse. (Scroll down to zoom in, instead of the usual scrolling up). Right click on the base to enter its menu. If nothing happens on a right click, you need to zoom in further.

We want to use the 'edit base layout' option, but that is currently greyed out. This is because the base consists of only the dockable part of the base. In order to edit the layout, we need to add a module first. All module files are located in discodev\DATA\SOLAR\ , with the most common Sirian ones located in discodev\DATA\SOLAR\MISC. You can use HardCMP to preview all models in those folders. For this example, we will use the dsy_habitat_pods.

To add this module, first click 'Other Objects' from the left menu. You first need to place it somewhere in space before you can define this object. To do this, click somewhere near the base. It doesn't matter where, just somewhere close to the base. After you did this, you will get the following screen:

We don't want to name this object, because it's just an addon to San Diego. We don't want to give it any rotation yet either, we can do this later on when needed. Select your desired module (dsy_habitat_pods in this case) and tick the 'Use nearest base as parent' checkbox.

When you click ok, you should be able to right click on San Diego, and select the 'edit base layout' option. This will bring up the actual base edit window.

In this screen, we see the skeleton base model (the Dockable base model), and the module we just placed in the map. The functionality in this screen is quite basic, but enough to put together a nice and even complex station models.

With the buttons on the lower side of the screen, the 'View XZ XY and YZ' buttons, you can view your station from 3 different viewpoints. In each view, you can move the object in only 2 directions, and rotate it. This means that if you put the object in the correct position in all 3 views, the object is in the right place in 3D space as well.

To move around in this view, click the 'PAN VIEW' button on the right first. Now you can drag the view with your mouse and zoom in with the scroll wheel.

In order to move an object, first click the 'MOVE' button on the right. When you got this selected, you can drag the red wireframed model with the mouse. I reommend you use the mouse to put it as close as possible where you want, and then put it in its final position step by step using the keyboard arrow keys.

Most models have some parts of the model where it's supposed to be attached to other stations. Ofcourse, you can put the model wherever you want it, but for this example we'll just attach the habitat pods to the bottom airlock of the station.

Unfortunately, there is no 3D preview mode to check what you've done so far. Exit Freelancer Explorer by clicking OK, then ADD, and finally under File->ApplyChanges. In order to see if you didn't make any mistakes, start up a local server using the flserver.exe from your discodev/EXE folder. Then launch Freelancer.exe from that same folder, and go check out your new station!

Thoroughly check all connections you made, see if everything fits correctly and if there are no weird overlaps. This is easy to check with simple modifications, but it is very important to make sure everything is in the correct place, certainly for more complex stations.

If you want to add more modules, just repeat the above steps. You can add multiple modules before you go to the 'edit base layout' screen. You can select them all independently.

Beware, station modding is a lot of fun, and it can suck up a lot of time to get all the details right! I am not responsible for any failed courses or breakups.

Finally, I'd like to show my first completed project. Sarcelles Shipping Facility. It got me hooked on station modding and it was a -very- good learning experience. You will be able to fly around this beauty in update4!

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All possible if you follow this tutorial. Questions can be posted below!