Using the SDK and General RO Modding Info!!!

[[TW]Ramm-Jaeger]

I wanted to give a brief overview of getting the SDK, and how it is run, as well as provide some tips for new modders.

Getting the SDK
1) In the Steam UI, select the tools tab
2) Right click on Red Orchestra SDK Beta and click Install

Launching the SDK for the first time - This part is no longer true
The very first time you launch the SDK you must launch the game from within the Steam UI by double clicking the RedOrchestra SDK Beta icon under the Tools tab. This will extract the SDK and all of the Ostfront content from the Steam cache. This will take a LONG time as about 2 gigs of info has to be extracted. It might look like it has stopped responding, but let it run for a a while and eventually the editor will launch after everything is extracted. You only need to launch from within the Steam UI the very first time you launch the SDK, and after any updates to the SDK (to extract any new content).

Launching the SDK after the first time

Launching the Editor
After the first time you launch the SDK, you can now start the editor directly from ROEd.exe (which will be much quicker than re-extracting the content every time). You can also create a shortcut for ROEd.exe on your desktop, etc.

Launching the compiler
After the SDK has been launched at least once, you can launch the code compilation tools (UCC.exe) in the standard way either with a batch file or using an Unrealscript editor such as Wotgreal or UDE.

General RO Modding Info

Modding for Red Orchestra:Ostfront is very similar to modding for UT2004. Most UT2004 modding documentation carries over to Ostfront. Here are a couple of good places to start:

http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/PublicModResource
http://wiki.beyondunreal.com/wiki/

The UDE UnrealScript IDE that we use (And I highly recommend) can be downloaded here:
http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/UDEDownload

A couple of things to note:

- UMODs will not (theoretically) work with RO:Ostfront.
- When modding RO, use the Steam\SteamApps\<myusername>\red orchestra folder just as you would have used the UT2004 folder when looking at any UT2004 modding documentation. For example, in UT2004 you would have put a total conversion mod in the UT2004\MyMod folder, in Ostfront you would put it in the Steam\SteamApps\<myusername>\red orchestra\MyMod folder.
- If you are making a mod that is anything more than a small mutator, PLEASE use the proper mod architecture which entails putting your mod in its own folder. Documentation for this can be found here:
http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/ImprovedModSupport

• Any reference to UT2004.exe in the above documentation (such as launching a total conversion mod) should be replaced with a shortcut to steam such as this "C:\Program Files\Steam\steam.exe" -applaunch 1200
• Any reference to Unrealed.exe should be replaced with ROEd.exe.
• Ucc.exe has not changed name or functionality.

[[TW]DrGuppy]

I love how it says "Lauch game as soon as it's ready" for the SDK download. Funny but true, it is a game for some!

[Varsity]

Oh thank god. It's only 762MB with RO installed. I thought Steam automatically deducted the disk space for content you already had?

[Helmut_AUT]

I'm not quite clear on this...how are mods re-distributed?

Don't they need to be incorporated into the .gcf files, or does that mean RO (and mods) can now be run extracted from within the Steam directory? That in itself would be a large help to people experiencing long load times.

[Amerikaner]

Originally Posted by Varsity

Oh thank god. It's only 762MB with RO installed. I thought Steam automatically deducted the disk space for content you already had?

No, its 762mb and when you launch it, it copies all of RO's files over I believe. Its 2+gb.

Edit: What exactly happens when you launch from Steam? I forgot to launch just the RO.exe and now my hardrive is all fragmented.

[[TW]Ramm-Jaeger]

Originally Posted by Helmut_AUT

I'm not quite clear on this...how are mods re-distributed?

Don't they need to be incorporated into the .gcf files, or does that mean RO (and mods) can now be run extracted from within the Steam directory? That in itself would be a large help to people experiencing long load times.

Mods won't be in the GCF files, they are distributed like UT2004 mods, with the exception stated above that you use a shortcut that launches steam with the proper command line parameters instead of launcing UT2004.exe with special commandline parameters.

Example:
Use this -
"C:\Program Files\Steam\steam.exe" -applaunch 1200 -mod=MyMod

Instead of something like this -
"C:\UT2004\System\UT2004.exe" -mod=MyMod

And no, having the SDK does NOT mean you can extract all content and run standard RO outside of Steam. The extracted content is just a duplicated set of content which is used by the Editor and mod tools, not by the game itself. So to summarize, mods have thier content outside of the Steam cache, but the original game content remains within the Steam cache (just like HL2 mods).

[jh1990]

I moved Roed.exe to desktop and when i try to use the shortcut itsayd core.dll not found so i dont know what to do.

[UncleDrax]

I'd also like to point out that there is a IRC Channel for modding on GameSurge #romodding
(this is seperate from RO-LevelDesign, and is more for general mod/code/etc talk not related to Level Design ..

Originally Posted by jh1990

I moved Roed.exe to desktop and when i try to use the shortcut itsayd core.dll not found so i dont know what to do.

Try putting ROEd.exe back and create a shortcut to it on your desktop instead :]

[[TW]Ramm-Jaeger]

Originally Posted by jh1990

I moved Roed.exe to desktop and when i try to use the shortcut itsayd core.dll not found so i dont know what to do.

You can't move ROEd.exe, you need to create a shortcut to it.

[Avenger]

Originally Posted by [RO]Ramm-Jaeger

The UDE UnrealScript IDE that we use (And I highly recommend) can be downloaded here:
http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/UDEDownload

A couple of things to note:

- UMODs will not (theoretically) work with RO:Ostfront.

UDE comes in a zip file as a UT4MOD. How can I extract it without having UT2004 loaded on my system?

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by Avenger

UDE comes in a zip file as a UT4MOD. How can I extract it without having UT2004 loaded on my system?

I would also like to know about this. I associated the ut4mod file to the setup.exe in the system directory with "install %1" param at the end of the association. Yet it still complains about not being able to find the UT source directory? Is it possible to get UDE to work with RO?

[Felix Ostheim]

I read up a little on UT engine skinning as I still haven't figured out how to get them in the game, but I found something about a program called UPaint.exe which made life easy and made allt he necessary files to get the skin to work like .upl or something...does RO need these seperate files for custom texture .UTX files to work? Is UPaint.exe available for use in RO?

[Ike]

Upaint is a free download, dude.

[Felix Ostheim]

Well could you point me to it because all I can find is the patch

[ExoCet-NAW]

here is a link to Upaint.

http://www.angelfire.com/ex2/upaint/