Can anyone get me started with making a custom faction?

[Euclidian Geometry]

So I got an idea while on the FAF Discord: Hey, I want to make a meme faction. Crazy, right? But I really need to be pointed in the right direction, and if possible, linked to a guide.

[PsychoBoB]

Like the nomads?.
If you want to contribute in terms of a new faction then support the guys of the nomads.

[Euclidian Geometry]

Yes, like The Nomads, except it will just be a joke mod.

[Uveso]

Hello Euclidian Geometry,

i guess there is no guide to make a new faction.

Thinks you need to do for a new faction:

1. decide if you want to make the new faction for the FAF game, SupCom Forged Alliance or the steam/vanilla game.
Your mod will only run on a specific supreme commander version, because you need to change basic game files.

2. Time. If you can't spend at least 1 hour a day for the next half/full year then forget it.

3. Make at least 80% of the units for the new faction. (thats only my personal opinion)
Minimum requiement is a land, air, sea and quantum factory with at least one buildable unit.
You will need many help to make the programmcode for a new faction, so you should show that you have done at least the unit models.

4. Rewrite some of the original game files to include the new faction.
To make a new faction you need to hook into original gamefiles to modify the gamelobby, unitmanager etc.
This can't be made with a normal mod. You must use .scd files.

5. Many player are playing with or against the AI.
So we need also some AI scripting to get the new units work.

6. Get player to test / balance your new faction.

7. If your mod is "Perfect", then we could talk about implementing this new faction to the FAF-maingame
If you make a stand alone mod with .scd files, then you maybe need to fix your mod after every FAF update.
(Because of the modified game files)

Also a good start to see how much work a new faction is, take a look inte the "Nomads" forum.
viewforum.php?f=14

Greetings, Uveso.

[Euclidian Geometry]

I get that, but is there a specific file or location in the game where factions are stored? Is it in one file?

[Uveso]

No sorry, there are not in one file.

I just made a fast search for faction related programminglines that need a modification if you add a new faction.

These files must be modified:

aibrain.lua
defaultunits.lua
Effectutilities.lua
factions.lua
GameColors.lua
Platoon.lua
ScrenarioFramework.lua
ScrenarioPlatoonAI.lua
SimCallback.lua
SimObjectives.lua
aibuildstructures.lua
hotbuild.lua
options.lua
FactoryBuildManager.lua
ScenarioUtilities.lua
Score.lua
Unit.lua
skins.lua
createunitfilter.lua
score.lua (same name like above, but other directory!)
avatars.lua
gamemain.lua
tooltips.lua
lobby.lua
UnitAnalyzer.lua
UnitManager.lua
10 AI-Builder.lua files
17 AI-Template.lua files

[Euclidian Geometry]

And I myself have never made a mod myself. Do you copy these into a new folder, edit all of them, and put them in a zip file? Or do you have to use a FAF packaging tool?

[biass]

please attempt to google your answer before waiting for replies: http://supcom.wikia.com/wiki/Unit_Creation

You'll need to be able to do this before you bother editing the core game files to add in your own playable race, this will include some competency at 3d modelling and also some minor ability to understand LUA code, good luck

[Uveso]

@Euclidian Geometry:

there are different ways to do this.

Easy but destructive:
Go to your gamedirectory and search for the lua.scd file:
E:\Games\Supreme Commander - Forged Alliance 1.5.3603\gamedata\lua.scd
Rename the file from lua.scd to lua.zip and unpack the archive.
Now you can search and edit any game lua file inside the ardhive.
Repack the zip, rename it back to .scd and you can test/play your modded game.

Hooking:
Same as above, but your files will be in a directory named "hook".
Those files can overwrite functions from the original game, without editing/destroying the mainfiles.

The smart way:
The whole FAF programm code can be found on gidHub:
https://github.com/FAForever/fa
You can fork a copy of the programmcode, and edit it in your own github space.
And you can play your github version directly with a simple init file for supcom.
(But you need to update and patch your forked copy every time when we are realeasing a new FAF version! Have this in mind!)

Best of it, in case your mod is "perfect" (whatever this means) we can implement this into the FAF version with a single click.

@biass:
Thanks for the link! I knew i forgot something