At 02:41 AM 12/19/2007, you wrote:
Quote:
I agree it would be nice to edit existing stuff. As it is, we can add new skills via the editor - or once a .dat file is created, you can go in and directly edit the file (it's actually XML code, so if you know XML, it's easy enough to play with). The problem is that all the original stuff is apparently stored in .pkg files and impossible to edit.
I'd like to be able to get into them in order to customise some of the stuff that we use in a campaign.
|
You can already do this via the Editor! While you can't modify the core material, you CAN create new material that HL uses in place of the core material. So you can swap out the core material with your own changes.
This is accomplished via the "Replaces Id" field within the Editor. Start by creating a copy of something in the Editor. Then specify the "Replaces Id" as the original thing you copied. HL will replace the original with the new thing you've defined. You can use the same name or a different name, as you deem appropriate.
For example, let's assume you want to change the Fast Reflexes merit to have a maximum of three dots instead of two. Within the Editor, create a new merit as a copy of Fast Reflexes. Assign your own unique id. Change the Maximum Dots to 3. Now look to the far right, just above the various buttons for Bootstraps, Conditions, etc. You'll see a field labeled "Replaced Thing Id". Enter the id of the original Fast Reflexes merit ("mReflexes"). Now save your changes and add your new thing to the data files. Go to the Merits tab and look at Fast Reflexes. You'll see it now has a maximum of 3 dots. Add it and you can increase it up to 3 dots. Voila! You've replaced the core material with your own.
Note that the core material STILL EXISTS. It hasn't been deleted. Instead, your new material masks the core material from the user. But you can still find the core material in the Editor and use it as the basis for creating something new. Similarly, if you decide you want to have both the old and new material available concurrently, just clear the "Replaces Thing Id" field and save your changes. Now both will appear.
In general, the WoD files have been designed so that you should *not* need to edit any XML files directly. You should be able to accomplish everything you need via the Editor. I'm sure there are wonky special cases, but the Editor should let you do 99.5% of all the stuff you'll want to do.
Hope this helps!