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[zilpin]

Here's my current tested list.
Verified = and I've played the modified map long enough to feel comfortable that it won't create any long term problems.
Experimental = appears to be working, with no side effects, but hasn't been used long enough to be considered stable.
Bugged = known to cause bugs.
Unstable = technically works, but in practice is very difficult and usually causes problems
Unknown = not tested at all.

These all refer to adding tags using sync.

Verified:
Workshops
Reactions
Materials (all)
Items (all)
Plants

Experimental:
Words
Languages

Bugged:
(none)

Unstable:
Body Templates
Creatures

Unknown:
Material Templates
Entities (civilisations)


Of course, adding stone types or plant types doesn't make them magically appear all over the world.  Adding stone types is only useful if you have a reaction which creates them.  Don't know if add plants might show up in the wild for the correct biome (haven't seen it yet).

Creatures can be added fine, though they won't exist in populations or ever show up.
Body templates are tricky, since all the creatures already existing in the game will expect a particular structure to exist for the body.  Basically, anything which would crash a game from editing the raws can still crash the game.

If a new material template is added, and used by a new material, that should be OK, but untested.

[Symbiode]

I just wanted to comment on how awesome this tool is, I played with it a bit when you first posted about it and loved what it could do. This is going to save me a ton of time when the new adventure stuff comes out and I mod some more reactions, it was a pain having to regen 4,000 times trying to test the reactions and get them just right. Thank you for making thing and making it available!

[Artanis00]

Interesting thing I just noticed: when you switch a layer with sand (e.g.: sandy clay loam for red sand) you will get bags of sandy clay loam in caravans. I assume this is because the game tracks which layers in sites are sand, so when you swap the two, the game starts putting the new layer material in bags (and existing bags would probably switch as well).

[Halnoth]

Interesting thing I just noticed: when you switch a layer with sand (e.g.: sandy clay loam for red sand) you will get bags of sandy clay loam in caravans. I assume this is because the game tracks which layers in sites are sand, so when you swap the two, the game starts putting the new layer material in bags (and existing bags would probably switch as well).

This also happens when you simply add the sand token to all of the soil layers, before gen of course. I do that so I don't have to take hours to find the perfect site. The side effect is you get merchants bringing bags of peat and so forth.

[Artanis00]

Interesting thing I just noticed: when you switch a layer with sand (e.g.: sandy clay loam for red sand) you will get bags of sandy clay loam in caravans. I assume this is because the game tracks which layers in sites are sand, so when you swap the two, the game starts putting the new layer material in bags (and existing bags would probably switch as well).

This also happens when you simply add the sand token to all of the soil layers, before gen of course. I do that so I don't have to take hours to find the perfect site. The side effect is you get merchants bringing bags of peat and so forth.

The difference is that in that situation, both types are collectible on site and usable for glassmaking, while in the case of swapping the two types the non-sand type is useless for everythi--oh hey, a cheap bag.

[zilpin]

Primary intent of the tool at this point is the 'sync' command.

Unregulated export/import will cause all kinds of craziness, but on rare occasion may be useful.
Particularly for editing Demons, Forgotten Beasts, and Titans.

[Altaree]

any hope for a .18 version?

[zilpin]

any hope for a .18 version?

It does work with .18

[Voldine]

So, how about a basic guide for those of us that have never done this before? Other than how to open the editor.

You know, like what the heck we're supposed to do? What commands work, basic options, syntax?

Kinda hard to 'tinker' with something when there's absolutely no documentation on how you access the stuff to tinker with it.

Would make so much more sense to include at least a basic tutorial on HOW TO USE YOUR PROGRAM in the thread that allows us to download it.

[Symbiode]

The instructions for use are clearly stated in the first post. If you cannot determine how to use this with the information given, this tool is not for you.

[Voldine]

The instructions for use are clearly stated in the first post. If you cannot determine how to use this with the information given, this tool is not for you.

Then point me to a single place that actually has info on how to use this for its intended purpose? Point me to a single place where it tells you how to use it to actually access the raw data? Perhaps point out a place on this forum where there is a tutorial on how to access and modify the raw data with this tool?

No, instead you're snarky and instantly assume that I didn't read the first post despite being clear in my post that I was able to open the utility, but there's no info on how to proceed from there anywhere.

[Symbiode]

Sorry about that, your post seemed a little rude and demanding with the caps, rubbed me the wrong way. If you run the tool via a command prompt with the export option as shown in the initial post, it will create a large text file that contains the complete raws for that save. You can then edit this file and apply it back to the save with the import command line flag. If you want more information about how to modify the raws, magmawiki has a great molding section that explains the tags and options available.

[zilpin]

There is no step-by-step guide, none planned, none intended.  dfWorldTinker's use is self evident to the scarred, !burned!, maimed, mutated, battle-hardened wretches called "DF modders".

When I get world.dat documentation, you get documentation.  Until then, I will be preoccupied with reverse-engineering world.save file.

This is a low-level, direct edit of your savegame.  No training wheels.  It is really targeted at people who have a pretty solid foundation for modding DF, understand DF's file system structure, and already understand how to tinker raws with DF's settings, data files, etc, but want the ability to tinker without genning a new world.  It lets you slice at your save with a scalpel or hack at it with a Battle Axe, as you like.


Based on Voldine's first post, I'll assume his intended purpose is to mod the raws to add something (workshop? material?), then sync them into an existing embark.
First of all, make sure that DF savegame compression is turned off.  If it was not, you will have to change the setting, open the embark, resave.  If you don't know what «init.txt» is, then go research it in the forums and on MagmaWiki.

Then, edit the raws of the savegame.  Not the DF raws, the savegame raws.  There is no validation.  If you make a mistake, only DF can tell you.  Tersely.  The DF world save file stores the object tags of entries in the raw file, but does not store the entire contents of the raws.  DFWorldTinker lets you get around this limitation, by injecting new tags into the world save file, so that DF will load their full data from the savegame raws which corresponds to the savegame.  If this is sounds like the gnomish gibberish, consult MagmaWiki.

Run dfworldtinker from the DF folder.  The interactive menu is simple; enter the region folder's name or number, then the «sync» command, then follow instructions.

Status will scroll by the screen, showing any new tags that were added.  Once a tag is added to a savegame, it is impractical to ever remove it.  The game world file will automatically be backed up (name given by the program), so that you can manually restore.  Keep in mind that any bugs introduced by editing the raw files will naturally require restoring those independently.


In short, this is a Hole Hawg style tool.

_{(excerpt from IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE COMMAND LINE)}

[Inari]

I'm annoyed by the fact that goblin corpses (probably) never rot down to bones anymore, and am looking for a way to overcome this.

It's been suggested to me that modifying Dwarven ethics to allow consumption of the corpses of sentient beings will allow them to be butchered, and it's been further suggested that I might be able to use World Tinker to enable me to make the mod mid-game, without the need to generate a fresh world.

I'm stumped as to how to do this.  I can follow the above instructions as to how to add a tag, but I'm unsure how to modify one, or even if that's possible.  My attempts so far have either failed to produce the intended results, or caused the game to crash.

Can anyone help?

[Sphalerite]

I am fairly certain you cannot do that with this program.  I haven't used it myself, but I've been doing my own research into editing the DF save game files.  Procedurally generated creatures (forgotten beasts, demons, titans, bogeymen, etc) are stored in the safe file as plaintext.  Certain information which applies to the entire game such as reactions, materials, symbols, tissues, and other such stuff, is also stored as plaintext in a fairly easily editable form.  Civilization ethics information is not.  Civilizations are created when the world is created, and that is the only time their ethics tags are loaded from the raw files.  After that they are stored in a highly complex form whose format I am still far from deciphering, and which probably can't be changed without a very thorough understanding of the format of that part of the file.