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definition files

Start with the Construction Kit documentation - have a quick read through that ;-). If you're using AB3, you can create a definition file directly within ABCreator. If you're using AB2, you need to use a text editor (such as notepad) to create a text definition file, then compile it as described in the construction kit manual.

If you have more specific questions, feel free to ask!
 
It can be quite daunting, yes.

Take a look at the files people have written for other systems to get ideas, and if you're considering writing for ABv3, wait until 3.1 is released, as the documentation for using the Construction Kit to create data files is vastly improved.
 
Start off by telling us which version of AB you plan to make a datafile for. ABv2 is very different from ABv3 regarding datafile authoring.

Do you have the construction kit for the version of Army Builder you want to develop your files for?
 
The first important question is do you have the Army Builder Construction kit? If the answer is no then you should get this first...It's not currently publicly available so you'll have to email Rob or Colen to get a copy...Or you can wait until AB 3.1 comes out since I think the kit will be available then (not positive so someone should confirm this)...

The ABC kit comes with full documentation (html files) about writing data files...You can also use it to look at other (existing) datafiles from games you play in order to get some ideas...
 
Ok, so you have a compiled definition file (datadef.xyz - where xyz is the extension you've chosen for your game system - and if you open it with notepad is mostly wierd characters) and it's in the data directory under the AB install directory.....

You then just need to start ABCreator and select File->New... and it will ask you to select the name of the system (the one you put in your def file)

Then you can create units, options and items as required.
 
Then you either haven't compiled the definition file, named it correctly or put it in the right directory :-)

We will need a lot more information to be able to help you. Explain exactly what you have done so far - every single step.
 
I've put the textfile mmdef.txt in the data folder, went to the program directory, and did:
abdef data\mmdef.txt data\datadef.mmg
Then there was datadef.mmg in the datadirectory.
 
So when you run ABCreator and select File->New... you can't see MMG in the list (with whatever name you've defined in the file next to it)?

If that's the case, copy your mmdef.txt file here so we can take a look.
 
~Definition file for Mediaeval Magicians
~------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General ~General data
Game=Mediaeval Magicians
MinSize=1
Items=Items
LdrName=Leader
LdrAbbrev=Ldr
Basis=points
Scale=100
Cost=3
Decimal=0
Round=normal
Orient=any
TweakAbbrevs=show
Army=Team
Scenario=Scenario
PtsSingle=Point
PtsPlural=Points
PtsAbbrev=Pts
Publish ~Release details
VersionMajor=1
VersionMinor=0
PatchRequired=none
AuthorName=X-Treme Games
AuthorEmail=-
LockCode=none
Stats ~Details for all stats in the game.
~Abbreviation Width Min Max Dice Sign Decimals Separator Fix
CC | 3 | 0 | 1=- | 10=E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .
Acc | 3 | 0 | 1=- | 10=E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .
Str | 3 | 0 | 1=- | 10=E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .
Tgh | 3 | 0 | 1=- | 10=E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .
Def | 3 | 0 | 1=- | 10=E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .
Att | 3 | 0 | 1=- | 10=E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .
Mrl | 3 | 0 | 1=- | 10=E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .
Amr | 3 | 0 | 1=- | 10=E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .
SAm | 3 | 0 | 1=- | 10=E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .
Mov | 3 | 0 | 1=- | 99 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .
Compositions ~Defining of the groups
Heros | Hero
Teammembers | Team
Followers | Flwr
Summoned | Smnd
Special | Spcl

Units ~Defining of unit types
Hero | her | 0
Independant | idp | 0
Squad | sqd | 0
Squad Leader | ldr | 0
Magician | mag | 0
Follower | fwr | 0

Options ~Optoin categories in sorted order
First ~option always appears first in list
Weapon
Armor
Shield
Mount
Other
Last ~option always appears last in list

conflicts
Amr | 1 | | |
Wpn | 2 | | |
2HW | 1 | | |

tweaks
tweak

sets
items
Enchanted Item | ench | ench | 1 | 1 | her | 0 | 0 | 0
Items | Item | Item | 0 | 1 | her,idp,ldr,mag | 0 | 0 | 0
Spells | spel | spel | 0 | 1 | mag | 0 | 0 | 0
end
 
When you ran abdef, did you get any errors?
When I run abdef with the above (after adding the spaces back in) I get:

ERROR - line #42 - Composition group name exceeds maximum length.
When I fixed that, I also found you've got too many fields defined for your conflict groups - get rid of the last "|" character off each line in the conflicts section.
There's also other errors about data past end of line caused by the extra blank lines...

After I fixed all of that, abdef compiled the file without any errors (you might like to check the output in future ;-) ) and I can now create data files within abcreator.

Enjoy,
Russell.
 
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