Unbound XML Files Modding

[IsamuKondera]

Heyho!

 

After this tutorial you should be able to mod every xml file located in the "unbound" folder.

With 0.5.5.0 WG decided to get rid of double intepretation of Actionscript which resulted in beeing unable to change certain aspects of those XML files.

 

An Example:
 

<bind name="instance" value="'NationFlagsBig'; {_width: '300px', _height: '184px', _alpha: 0.8, shipCountry: (shipInfo.nameIDS == 'IDS_PJSB707') ? 'ArpeggioHaruna' : shipInfo.flagName }"/>

This Expression would no longer execute due to the implementation of a new if expression for shipCountry because those expressions got precompiled in USSExpressions.swf for speed improvments.

In other words: Changing something won't do anything.

 

WG developed a new Toolkit though which allowes to mod those expressions again.

 

How to Install the Toolkit

 

1. You need to download the following archives:

 

• FlexSDK.zip (In the Folder FlexSDK)
• xml2as.zip (in the latest version, as of making this tutorial: 0.7.2 => xml2as_0.7.2.zip )

 

You can find all necessary files here

 

2. I created a folder which is called ModDev where I will extract both Archives to.

3. Afterwards open the FlexSDK.zip archive and drag and drop the "FlexSDK" folder into the previous created folder which I called ModDev. You can close the Archive again.

4. In ModDev create a folder called xml2as, open the xml2as.zip Archive and drag and drop the content into the xmls2as Folder.

 

You have Installed the Toolkit now.

 

How to use the Toolkit

 

Go into the xml2as Folder and rename the xml2as.bat file to "backup.bat" or similar.

Create a dublicate and rename the dublicate into any name. The File has to end with only one .bat though. Like:

• dock.bat
• flag_edit.bat
• etc.

 

Explanation: bat files are nothing else then pre created commands for the command line interface on windows. Double clicking it will perform the commands written in those files.

 

Now we need to set it up for usage.

The default bat file looks like this:

"./dist/xml2as.exe" -i dock.xml -n MySuperMod -f "C:/FlexSDK"
pause

 

We have 2 commands written in this file. The first one will create a new swf file meanwhile the second command will let us give a chance to see if it was successful or not. Always keep "pause" in the file!

To successfully use this toolkit we need to edit the first command and it's parameters.

There are 3 parameters in total which we need to adjust:

 

-i          Names to xml files.

Every XML file mentioned in this parameter will get it's expressions pushed into the new swf file. In case you edited 3 files you can add all of them like this:

This Example will combine 3 xml file edits into one SWF.

-i dock.xml game_menu.xml crew_file.xml

 

-n         Name of the generated swf file

The Name of the newly generated swf file which needs to be added in.

This Example will create a SWF File called FirstMod

-f FirstMod

 

-f          FlexSDK location

The Absolute Path to the FlexSDK Folder

This Example has the FlexSDK Folder located in the ModDev Folder on the X drive.

-f "X:/ModDev/FlexSDK"

 

After Editing everything in the bat file is finished an ready to go.

 

An Example of how it should look like with all above examples combined

"./dist/xml2as.exe" -i dock.xml game_menu.xml crew_file.xml -n FirstMod -f "X:/ModDev/FlexSDK"
pause

 

Before start using the bat file we have to copy over all mentioned xml files into the xml2as folder.

Afterwards we can generate the new SWF File via double click on the *****.bat file.

 

In case of success you will see a FirstMod.swf file located in your xml2as folder. (FirstMod might be named diffrently depending on your choice)

 

How to use generated swf files

Open up your current WoWs Installation. Go to your current version folder located in res_mods, in case it isn't created yet create a folder called gui.

Open this folder and create a new folder called flash.

In the folder flash create a new file called  USSExpressionsLoader.xml

 

Open it and insert the following content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<data>
	<expressions_files>
		<file path="FirstMod.swf"/>
		<file path="USSExpressions.swf" /> <!-- DO NOT REMOVE / НЕ УДАЛЯТЬ -->
	</expressions_files>
</data>

Now the Work is nearly done. The last thing to do is checking if all uncluded unbound xml files are located in the unbound folder in gui.

This method doesn't eliminate the need to change the original xml files via a mod.

 

 

Some Tipps n Tricks

Always have your SWF Files before the USSExpressions.swf file in the USSExpressionsLoader.xml file!

Avoid dublicates in your xml files. It might not work always.

[MegaDommagam]

On 3/9/2018 at 5:06 AM, IsamuKondera said:

How to Install the Toolkit

 

1. You need to download the following archives:

 

• FlexSDK.zip (In the Folder FlexSDK)
• xml2as.zip (in the latest version, as of making this tutorial: 0.7.2 => xml2as_0.7.2.zip )

 

You can find all necessary files here

Hi! Is this still alive? The download link is broken.

[IsamuKondera]

On 12/7/2018 at 6:18 PM, MegaDommagam said:

Hi! Is this still alive? The download link is broken.

 

Check out posts from MedvedevTD. He is repsonsible for this and you will find up2date versions there.