Arsenal Zero vs. DatEdit (Solved! ...Unsatisfactorally.)

[Thalraxal]

So, nobody knows about ArrZero versus DatEdit? I'll probably just go ahead and try it out, if there's no resolution. I admit, my main hesitancy is related to how easy things are made with DatEdit and how complicated an entirely text-base system of .dat-editing sounds...But, meh. I've already picked up a fair deal of iscript, going back and learning to text-edit .dat files with ArrZero can't be that hard.

I'm a big fan of ArsenalZERO, mostly because I like to be able to change what sound sets units use (a feature not present in Arsenal 3, not too sure about DatEdit though, I haven't tried it).  Also, when you want to change one unit into another, A0's ability to copy-paste is rather handy.

I'm pretty sure that SC still won't read any new entries you make in units.dat with A0, but I haven't tried it myself.

[Kaoru]

So, nobody knows about ArrZero versus DatEdit? I'll probably just go ahead and try it out, if there's no resolution. I admit, my main hesitancy is related to how easy things are made with DatEdit and how complicated an entirely text-base system of .dat-editing sounds...But, meh. I've already picked up a fair deal of iscript, going back and learning to text-edit .dat files with ArrZero can't be that hard.

I'm a big fan of ArsenalZERO, mostly because I like to be able to change what sound sets units use (a feature not present in Arsenal 3, not too sure about DatEdit though, I haven't tried it).  Also, when you want to change one unit into another, A0's ability to copy-paste is rather handy.

I'm pretty sure that SC still won't read any new entries you make in units.dat with A0, but I haven't tried it myself.

Soundsets can be altered under the 'Sound' tab of Units in DatEdit, and there's also a copy-paste function that takes everything from AI behavior to Staredit ticks and copies it over, along with everything else you'd expect. The only limitation I've seen with the sound-editing has to do with the fact that any unit that was once a 'building' doesn't have 'Ready', 'Yes', or 'Annoyed' responses. Or rather, you can't choose them. You can still define a path in the 'What' responses that includes them, they just probably won't be in order.

Anyhow, thanks for the information. I'll just do some testing of my own - I'm almost sure that, no, SC won't accept any new Units.dat entries, but there are plenty of unused ones I can utilize. I'm much more concerned about weapons.dat, orders.dat, and other-such-.dat entries, and I'll just test those on my own! Thanks for the info.

[Kaoru]

Well...I have the results.
Arsenal Zero does allow you to add entries to .dat files. If you alter the format-files, it'll even recompile them properly - and programs such as DatEdit can read the new entries. (They cannot write to them, however, so you have to be very sure that all of your text-based pointers are in place.) However...

I was unaware that the size-checksum applied for all of the .dat files. Apparently, it does. Everything from flingy.dat to images.dat and beyond, apparently, is governed by a limiter checksum that runs whenever the file is called on. (I'm sure this is news to nobody.)
So adding so much as one entry will cause SC to reject the .dat file, when it comes time to load it. At first, I thought this was only with images.dat - because any new entries in that go beyond the three-digit range.

But further testing proved that all of the graphics .dats (And presumably all of the other .dats, too) are governed by that limit. So...frick. The only thing I can think of is trying to modify the actual Starcraft .exe to change the checksums, but I'm not sure how to go about doing that. (And even less sure if that's actually legal - I'm pretty sure there's something in the end-user license agreement prohibiting cracking and modification of the .exe.)

Man, I'm just...I'm just bummed. Everything seemed to be going so well. I figured out how to properly modify the .azf files to accept new entries, everything synced up, .datedit and even SCMDraft were accepting the new entries without a problem...and then I go to boot up SC and it just...mmmph.

Er, what's this about SC 1.10, though? Does it not include that checksum? So far, all the work on the mod/campaign has been for 1.15, and I'd be loathe to lose Firegraft (Especially since Memgraft offers such reduced functionality, compared to it) but...Damn, man, I might just have to move down if I can't figure out a way around this. Frick.

EDIT: Meh. On second thought, I'm totally overreacting. There's still plenty I can do without actually adding any entries to the .dat files. I'll just have to change my plans, and use well the spare resources in the .dat files that I do have. (And cut out a few custom spells, but, considering I've barely even started on all of this, that's no big loss.)