Greetings.


The game is great, everything is wonderful about it. The custom faction editor is much better than the one back in II... But one thing kept stabbing me - I was not able to import a custom video for the races.

Back in GalCiv 2, I used to have a bunch of custom models imported into scenes, and compiled into .bik format. However, over at III, things are different.



To cut to the chase, I managed to find an possible alternative to all of you who desire to have videos in the race to race interface.




1. First of all, you will require a new folder in the Mods folder, in C:\Users(Documents and Settings)\DeviceName\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv3\Mods

Name it however you like, but just to understand what are we doing, I will place a name for the folder and use it as a reference for the things I will write down in the next sentences...

You can name it whatever you like, I will use my own mod, because I am unable to start from scratch (partially because GalCiv tends to screw it all up, so I am leaving it as it is)

My mods name is Saiac.


Okay, now that we have that beloved folder, inside you should have all of the following - Campaigns, Core, Game ParticleScriptDefs and Text. You will not need all of them, but it is a good precaution to have them, just in case.

First, if you are met, or have picked around it, you would know that GalCiv's main directory is somewhat similar to the Saiac directory I have here. If not, take a little research just so you could know what you are transferring.

2. First of all, the very first thing you should patch through is your race logo and avatar. The reason is because it is the easiest thing to do, and because it is impossible to fail.

After finishing your masterpieces, place them in the Factions folder, in C's GALCIV DIRECTORY, NOT THE MAIN ONE. The RACE LOGO goes into Logos, and the Avatar (or Portrait) in the Portraits.

After you have done that, you can boot up GalCiv and find both of your creatons in the in game faction creator.


*At this point, I would advise creating that custom faction, just so it would be saved in the faction list, and for the future editing purposes. I will explain the reason later on.


Now that we influenced the game a bit, it is time for a bit more challenging part.


Again, start researching that main directory. If some of you know what to do, just skip to the 4. part. 

3. You are inside the main directory of GalCiv. Looking through the folders, you find yourself in the Data folder, just to fall inside the Game folder. This is where all the magic happens. This is where you will take the things that will put your custom faction into life, and import the custom video in the game. You will take FactionDefs, FactionMoviesDefs, and optionally FactionMusicDefs. Take them in the same directory you have in the My Games\GalCiv 3\Mods folder, inside the Game folder.


Now, in my case, I will add the _Saiac.xml suffix to all of the three .xml's. So the name should look like FactionDefs_Saiac and so on.

Inside, you will get lost in a bunch of code. Take only ONE of the factions, and everything else should be removed. For instance, take the Terran faction list, leave it intact, and everything remove anything below it.

*If you are unknown to programming and coding, and frankly, I am unsure there are a lot of you out there who would search for this kind of thing if you were, try tracking down Notepad++. The reason is because it will highlight everything, and make it much easier for you to do the following thing.

See those </Faction> and </FactionList>?

They work like brackets for each of the factions. You must leave two </Faction> tags that surround one faction data, and leave the bottom  </FactionList>. 
 


Inside the FactionsDefs_Saiac, I will change the to my liking. This is where your dream of creating a superpowered and flawless faction can come true.

Though, I must not one thing. It seems that it can only work as a Major race, because when I change it to a Minor, so I could add the video in the in game editor, but it does not show up. And I am still unknown on how to edit a custom major race, because I can't find the source I can start from, and .faction does not show up, unless I made it in the game itself.


Alright so close down Faction Defs, and switch to FactionMoviesDefs. This is the most important part, because like it or not, this will connect the video to the game, and all the happy, angry, neutral etc, will just wait for you to stick them to a faction. When you open it, you will get lost in the code one more time. Do the same as you did in the previous .xml, only notice the different names. You must save two </FactionMovieDefs> around one data, and that last </FactionMovieDefsList> at the bottom. Oh yeah, and just in case if you made a mistake, do not touch the top part of the code.

Anyway, here comes the part where we get our video in.


For this you will require RAD Video Tools.

Stardock said that this one will not support the .bk2 files, but I used it and through this process I made it to work. 


After downloading that tool, find your video, and bink it, but save it as a .bk2, just by renaming it in the export to window.

I only used one video, for the sake of simplicity. Take the videos and place them your mod folder, in my case Saiac, and in the Movies section. Create a folder with the faction name (again, in my case that is Saiac), and paste it in there. There should be a .bk2 file for each of the given expressions - angry, happy, idle, neutralidle etc... If you have not listened to me, listen to me again and go research that main directory, it will make things easier.


Now, back to the FactionMoviesDefs_Saiac.xml.

Inside you will already have the 'Suffixes' that are required to be imported correctly. Again, with the Terrans being on the top, just remove the ter prefix and add the one you gave for your faction (mine was saiac_neutralidle.bk2, saiac_angryidle.bk2 etc...).


After you wrap that up, you can apply the similar technique with the FactionMusicDefs. This one is not important to our cause right now.



4. Okay, finally we passed this boring part.



Now, you can boot up GalCiv3. You may notice something strange. In the faction list window, You can see the backgrounds for the each race, but not their animated foregrounds. But after going in the custom faction we created earlier, and clicking the video button for the foreground, you will notice that our video is inside the game, without the default leaders.

*If you have the Snathi DLC, you will also have him in the video tab.


Actually, that little thing made me think. The game only registers the mod videos. And if I disable mods in the settings, the defaullt .bk2's are back, but without my video.

Then, I came to an idea. I took the entire Movies, Gfx and Game folder from the MAIN directory of GalCiv3, and pasted it in the mod directory (Saiac).

This was the main reason of renaming the .xml's in the first place.


Now, when you start the game, you will notice the leaders in their respective .bk2's, and you will also see the custom made video. It works in the game, and it will work for any other custom video you add.


I am afraid that I only made this work for me, and I would probably be unable to help you if you still can't get that video in the game. I honestly did this all by instict and luck, so do not blame me if you break something or be forced to reinstall.


 * By the way, as for the Terran adviser in the FactionDefs_yourmodname, take the two bk2's from the main directory and place them alongside your custom videos. Or just overwrite them with something else, but take that something else and place it alongside the custom videos.


** Also, the FactionDefs_yourmodname might cause crash upon building map stage, the simplest solution is just deleting it. That .xml was not tied to the custom in game faction anyway.

 I will post a video of the end product, just as proof that I was not forging any stupidity.