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THE DETAILS

If you've completed all the steps in the previous sections, then you're basically done with your custom campaign. This section will help you fill in those small gaps.

Campaign Mission Titles

You can edit the campaign mission titles, along with the titles of the smacker movies that are displayed in the pop-up campaign mission list (when continuing a campaign) in the rez\gluHist.tbl file. If you "skip" levels, you can just make a line blank (but leave the <0> that ends the line) so that mission is no longer selectable). You can tailor even more of the text by reading my TBL Editing article.

Now, to edit the actual campaign titles and episode numbers (i.e., Protoss Episode IV, Terran Episode V, etc.), you have to know a little bit about hex editing. It is a little tricky, but not very difficult. See my hex editing tutorial if you're having trouble.

  1. Extract rez\gluexpcmpgn.bin from the Install.exe.
     
  2. Open it up in a hex editor and go to the end of the file. In the ASCII, you should see a resemblance to the campaign titles and such (actually, this file tells how to format that entire menu screen).
     
  3. Now, ignore the ASCII that looks like the paths to some MPQ files (the smacker icons, actually). There are three strings that you will want to edit:

    Offset 0562 [length - 20 bytes/characters]
    z<04>Z<01>erg<0A><02>Episode VI<01>

    Offset 05C9 [length - 23 bytes/characters]
    p<04>P<01>rotoss<0A><02>Episode IV<01>

    Offset 0633 [length - 21 bytes/characters]
    t<04>T<01>erran<0A><02>Episode V<01>

    What I have done is shown the ASCII that is located at that offset with the hex bytes in brackets that don't show up as ASCII.
     
  4. The first lowercase letter in each string is the hot-key that you press to access that option. Make sure it doesn't conflict with any other hot-keys on that menu. <04> changes the text color to bright green, usually to denote the hot-key. <01> changes the text color to the darker green (it turns light green when selected). <0A> is just a carriage return (new line). <02> changes the text color to Blizzard light blue. And the rest is just text. I won't explain it here, but hex-byte values 01 to 07 actually will give you several different colors of text (just like making colored text in map strings). Experiment if you want.
     
  5. Now to edit the strings, you must be careful. You may NOT exceed the length that they currently are (because, if you do, you will over write some other important information). Also, be sure you are OVER WRITING and not inserting your new text. Also, it is required that the first byte/character be the hot-key assignment (in lowercase). Whether you highlight it in your title is up to you. You probably will have to play around with adding spaces here and there to get it aligned properly in Starcraft.

That was quick, but I think comprehensive enough to allow you to edit that text without too much fuss. If you get the jist of it, you might also be able to figure out how to edit the other text on that menu (which is in the same spot). However, remember that the only way to get Starcraft to read your custom rez\gluexpcmpgn.bin file is if you use Stardraft. It won't work in a custom MPQ (it will be ignored).

Campaign Selection Graphics

These are a little easier to edit, as they are just normal smacker movies. You can find them in Broodat.mpq:

  • glue\Expcampaign\disk.smk - the circular purple disk that rotates under the three characters.
  • glue\Expcampaign\XProt.smk - the Protoss selection graphic (Artanis).
  • glue\Expcampaign\XProtOn.smk - the graphic that is overlayed on the previous when you highlight it.
  • glue\Expcampaign\XTerr.smk - the Terran selection graphic (Stukov).
  • glue\Expcampaign\XTerrOn.smk - the graphic that is overlayed on the previous when you highlight it.
  • glue\Expcampaign\XZerg.smk - the Zerg selection graphic (Kerrigan).
  • glue\Expcampaign\XZergOn.smk - the graphic that is overlayed on the previous when you highlight it.

Again, I don't have many tips for editing smackers since that's not my area of expertise, but here are a few:

  • You must use the same palette as the original. (Or, more specifically, you must use the same palette that the background splash screen uses)
     
  • Black is transparent (invisible).
     
  • You can not import with a Custom mpq. You must use Stardraft or emulate mpq directories in your Starcraft folder.

Stardraft CWAD vs. Custom MPQ

The two main methods of distribution. I'm not going to tell you that either one is better than the other, because that really depends on what you are doing and what you need replaced. I'll just give you a quick run-down of the pluses and minuses of both:

Stardraft

  • Can replace smackers.
  • Can replace Install.exe *.bin files.
  • Does not require a modified exe (over 1 mb) to run. But a SECWAD is still 500 kb.
  • Easy to make.
  • Sometimes will corrupt (and crash when playing) portraits and in-game sounds.
  • Can not replace music.
  • Can not replace in-campaign sounds.
  • Sometimes will slow down game.

Custom MPQ

  • Can replace music.
  • Can replace in-campaign sounds.
  • More "professional" if distributed with a modified exe.
  • Less chance of file corruption.
  • No game slow down.
  • Can not replace smackers.
  • Can not replace Install.exe *.bin files.
  • Can be a pain-in-the-@$$ to make (and modify).

Of course you can always employ both if you really need to. Just remember though, if you are not distributing your mpq as the default patch_rt and have a custom exe to run it, the Stardraft SECWAD will not be able to patch your custom exe unless the player edits their Starcraft registry to look for it instead of the default Starcraft.exe.

Also, don't forget that you can always emulate mpq directories in the Starcraft folder to replace any smacker and any non-CD sounds.

Distribution Issues

One problem you definitely will not want to over look is that you will not be able to distribute a campaign like this in standard zip format (at least not to the average 56k modem). Because you are essentially putting everything into either a CWAD or, more likely, a custom MPQ, you are basically only going to have a couple files (each of which is huge). So, you might want to invest in some Winrar decompiler programs or the like.

I think I have covered everything. O.K., there are a few tid-bits I left out on purpose, but I can't give everything away can I? =) But really, this is more than enough to occupy someone for a while, and gives a much, much more authentic and professional feel than a normal scm/scx linked campaign. Plus, its just cool. =)

DI (aka MAGNUS99)
August 1, 1999