How-To: Edit Start Screen

[Bezimeni]

Hi everyone,
I asked earlier here how to edit start (main menu) screen and someone said to me that it's impossible since it's hardcoded. Good news is it's not! I wanted to adjust this screen for my mod and remove the tabs that cover the soldier illustrations on the right and to look more similar to start screen in original CoH OF.

First extract fe_mm_01.screen from data/art/ui/screen to your mod folder. This is the main file you'll want to edit. Also
you can use RelicCoH.English.ucs to find parts you want to edit. I strongly suggest that you use Notepad++ and set language to lua since it will make your job much easier. Collapse the segments you want to remove and delete them. Tip: Save and check in-game often to see if changes worked and what was affected.

You can also move elements around the screen by editing their positions (coordinates range from 0 to 1, see picture below for reference):



Play around a bit to get the right appearance. Background images and movie are referenced in fe_movies.screen if you want to change them. That's it, this is how you can edit all game screens.

EDIT:

Detailed step by step guide how to get OF-like start screen

First we'll want to deleted unnecessary campaign tabs shown below:



Use find tool to find "continue_campaign_6" line in .screen file an then collapse lines involving campaign 6, 5 and 4 like shown below and delete them :





Press find "continue_campaign_6" again and delete all lines involving campaign 6,5 and 4 further below in the file.




Now go ingame and your screen should look like this:



Tip: If you game crashes this means you have deleted too much or haven't deleted some of the lines I mentioned and the engine is now looking for non-existing lines in file.

As you can see we still have lock signs left behind. To get read of them find the "locked_campaign" lines related to campaign 6,5 and 4 colapse them just before "type_button" or "art guide" lines and delete them all:




Next you'll want to remove operations buttons and lock too. Find and delete lines related to Operations button and lock which are shown below.




Go in-game and your screen should look something like this now:



We can see we still have Operations background tab left behind and also that all the buttons are on opposite side of the screen. First take care of Operation back tab - these back tabs are called nav_bars in this file.

Here is the list of nav_bars (since they're not arranged by logical order):

1 - campaign
2 - operations
3 - skirmish
4 - options
5 - exit
6 - tutorial
7 - multiplayer


So find and delete Nav_bar_2 for operations (note: nav bar 7 for multiplayer is shown below):




Next add:
"flipVertical = true,
flipHorizontal = true,"
line to all other nav tabs just after "type = Graphic" line like shown below except for nav_tab 1 to make them look like Campaign background bar.



Go in-game and your should lok like this now:



After that change the positions of nav_bars like shown below:



and your screen should now look like this in-game:



You can see that your text still hasn't moved so go and change their position coordinates like this:



You also may have noticed that exit back tab doesn't look like the rest at the end of the screen so you'll need to change it's size and positions again to make it look more like original (without the need to tamper with actual picture file):



We're almost done, go in-game and you should see this:



As you can see the text that appears when hovering over tabs isn't synch with our current screen layout so you'll need to fix it by changing following parameters with the file:



That's all folks! You've done it! I hope this guide has been helpful to you.

At the end for all of you who just want the damn file without learning how to make it, here you go:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RGQME036

Enjoy your new less obtrusive main screen for updated versions of CoH-OP.

[salecivija]

hmmm....tnx pobratime

[Kapp'n]

Moving to how to's

[sgt.davis]

I was just looking for this!! I played around ALOT in many .screen files but olny one for the skirmish game setup actually did something I tried editing like 3 or 4 .screens to try to get the Main Menu changed, thanks man!!

[Jaffar]

@ Bezimeni

If you're still looking for a solution to locking campaigns on the menu here it is. Granted this is not perfect - it doesn't really lock the campaigns it just makes them inaccessible. It won't give the "key entry" or the "campaign unavailable" dialogs if you click them like a real locked campaign does.

To make the campaigns inaccessible but not fully hide the list it's a two phase process:

SHOW THE LOCKS
DISABLE THE CAMPAIGNS

Details for the first are here, you'll have to translate into the required actions for disabling the campaigns:

SHOW THE LOCKS:

1. Find all these lines in the menu file:

name = "locked_campaign_3",

2. For campaign you want locked change the line to:

name = "_locked_campaign_3",

Renaming the control prevents the system from hiding it if the campaign is not really locked.

3. Do the same for these lines on those same campaigns:

nameID = "Padlock",

4. Find all these lines:

texture = "art\\ui\\textures\\textures_fe\\fe_lock_campaign",

5. Below each will be a section like this:

                            states =  
                            {
                                "Normal",
                                "Disabled",
                                "Active",
                            },

6. Change it to this:

                            states =  
                            {
                                "Normal",
                                "Disabled",
                                "Active",
                                "Hover",
                            },

Adding hover tells it to show the same image even if the mouse is over it.

7. Find all these lines:

texture = "art\\ui\\textures\\textures_fe\\fe_lock_campaign_hover",

8. Remove the hover entry from its states list. This stops the default hover action.

DISABLE THE CAMPAIGN BUTTONS:

1. Change the states of the background image AND text for the Select Mission and Continue buttons so they don't highlight when moused over.

2. Disable the mouse actions on the Select Mission button and the Campaign image.

a. You can do this for the campaign image by searching for all lines that include:

_icon

b. Move up in the file until you find the associated section for that icon that's labeled like this:

HitArea = { 
... (a bunch of coordinates here)
}

c. Delete that whole HitArea section. This prevents mouse clicks on the image from doing anything.

d. Repeat the above for any images that you don't want to be clicked.

That's about it. Again, it's not perfect because it doesn't tell the user why they are disabled but it works.

[I_am_a_Spoon]

Hey guys. No idea whether or not you'll be able to help me, but I just can't find the file that stores the main screen campaign name UCS references (ie, "Invasion of Normandy", "Causeway", Liberation of Caen", etc).

They aren't in any .screen file, which is weird, because I can change headers like "Multiplayer", "Skirmish" and "Options".

[Jaffar]

713501 Battle for Normandy
713506 Invasion of Caen
713514 Operation Market Garden
713545 Causeway
713548 Falaise Pocket
713555 Start Tiger Ace Campaign

Search for:

name = "btn_campaignName_5",

There are 1 through 6 (1 being Normandy and 6 being Tiger)

The name ID's are in a section like this right above each button section:

type = "Button",
text = "$713548",

[I_am_a_Spoon]

Those references don't actually have any bearing on the main menu. I've already tried changing them.

[Jagdpanther]

What would you change? The numbers and their content you can find in "Engine\Locale\English\RelicCoH.English.ucs".

@Jaffar: Nice work, to lock the campaign stuff.

[I_am_a_Spoon]

Well, I'd need to reassign the UCS references, as I want to change the campaign names without editing the Relic UCS file.

[Jagdpanther]

Correct, because the type of the reference is even defined, so you can't only type in a text instead of the reference number. It is working like in the rgd ui_ext.

[I_am_a_Spoon]

The problem is though that I can't find the string numbers that I need to change.

I mean, I've found the actual lines of text in the RelicCoH UCS document, but I don't know which .rgd file links to them, (ie, the file I need to extract and edit).

[Jaffar]

as I want to change the campaign names without editing the Relic UCS file.

You need to create a new USC file associated with your mod, add new ID's to it for your new campaign names, then change the ID references in the screen to use your ID numbers. You'll also need to find the tooltip entries and change them too.

It works, my mod is setup that way.

----------

See my other post. They aren't in any RGD files - do the searches I reccommended in the main menu screen that this thread is about: fe_mm_01.screen

[I_am_a_Spoon]

I already have an established UCS file, and have already changed the references in the fe_mm_01.screen file. Here's an example:

type = "Button",
text = "$19040506",
name = "btn_campaignName_5",

I've also changed the tooltip text as well, but it doesn't work.

[Jagdpanther]

Yepp, as Jaffar says, do edit only a mod related ucs file, because editing Relics ucs can also screw up your normal CoH.

but I don't know which .rgd file links to them

Nearly each rgd links to them, but only via the reference number. That's the hint, why you can use any number only one time, either in Relics ucs or in your own. Take a llook into the ui_info part of any rgd. You will see a "screen_name", a "help_text" and a "extra_text" there, which is represented by a reference number and a reference type "CoH UCS Ref". This type is implicit in the screenfiles.

text = "$19040506",

What is the assigned text in your ucs file?

[Jaffar]

Are you sure you're running your mod and not VCOH?

----------

ok, I just did a quick check and a simple change like your example doesn't work for me either. There must be something else I'm forgetting - its been a while since I changed my menu. I'll look at my logs when I get home later and will let you know.

[Jagdpanther]

Yepp I have checked it too. You must check the whole Group 5. The order inside is very confusing.

[Jaffar]

Found it. The campaign files override those particular sections of the main menu.

Extract the three .camp files from:

\Data\scenarios\sp\

Change the ID's in there. Sorry for the confusion, forgot all about that part. I do remember I struggled with it for a while.

[Jagdpanther]

And I have found all involved string references for the Causeway campaign:

Text: $713524 (CONTINUE)
Text: $713540 (SELECT MISSION)
Text: $713545 (Causeway)
Tooltip: $713547 (Start Causeway Campaign)
Tooltip: $713557 (Continue Causeway Campaign)

Hope it helps too.

[I_am_a_Spoon]

Ha!

Thanks guys, it worked, at least for the first three campaigns. Any idea where I might find the others?

I'll recheck the .screen files.

EDIT: Not in any of the .screen files.

----------

Nevermind, found 'em.

For future reference, the last three .camp files are hidden within the three DLC folders (inside the CoH root directory). You have to extract them from the archives.

[Jagdpanther]

Yepp that's a problem for OF only users like me. I didn't have those campaign files only the once for CoH and OF.

[I_am_a_Spoon]

It's only a problem if you want to change the text though, isn't it? Otherwise, everything else is controlled by the fe_mm_01.screen file?

[Jagdpanther]

Try it and you will know it. If you are struggling, then you know, there must be more to fix.

[WangTangManPro]

i wanted to make a start screen whitout any campain buttons but in the end i messed up the whole thing and had no Buttons at all :'(

[Jagdpanther]

LOL - yeah, those screen files are heavy readable for humans. I will make the same thing since a long time, but everyone I go in it, I loose the desire.

[Bezimeni]

Thanks Jaffer, nice work with locks!

[Delstatenthule]

Someone could be amended to start screen? please? do not get it right: (

What I want to erase it all is (all that is circled in red):

[I_am_a_Spoon]

Take a look at the original post by Bezimeni... just weed out the sections that he highlighted and delete them.



Actually, I have a different question... I asked it somewhere else, but didn't manage to get it sorted out.

Would I be able to add a button to the main menu that triggers the credits list when clicked? Or even a custom video?

[Jaffar]

@Delstatenthule

Xmas present for you.

To remove all the campaign buttons and the tutorial button do this:

1) Get yourself a tool like NotePad++
2) Open the Data\art\ui\screen\fe_mm_01.screen file
3) Do a Search/Find/Find all in current document on the word: campaign
4) Go to each found line then look below it for a position section:

                        name = "Continue_Campaign_6_grp",
                        position =  
                        {
                            0.03776,
                            0.86438,
                        },

Add 10 to any position you find. So the above would change to:

                        name = "Continue_Campaign_6_grp",
                        position =  
                        {
                            10.03776,
                            10.86438,
                        },

This doesn't remove the item from the screen but it renders it where it can't be clicked (removing them from the screen all together is a really hard task because you have to make sure you delete entire sections and the file is hard to read and match up end brackets).

4) Save the file and run your mod. Those should all be gone.

5) Repeat the above searching on: tutorial

----------

@I_Am_A_Spoon

I've been meaning to try that myself but haven't gotten to it. Just a flat out guess - but - I was going to try copying the credits button from the Skirmish map screen to this file and just run it and see if it appears and is usable. It depends on how they have it "wired" in the code, if the button knows on its own what to do or not. Long shot but that's what I was going to try. (Of course you may have to adjust its location, the button may end up under one of the lower right main screen options but I haven't measured to see if it would).

[Delstatenthule]

Thanks Jaffar, but # 1 reads like deleting campaigns etc ... Moreover, the pictures came deleted. I can not remove them all?

[Jaffar]

yes, you can but like I said its hard. You have to find each one of those sections - find the starting brace and the matchng ending brace and delete each section. If you do that make a backup copy every time because its not easy - you WILL mess it up, take my word for it.

Not sure what you mean by:

the pictures came deleted

Much easier to just tell them to render outside the area. Be kind to yourself and just do it this way.

[I_am_a_Spoon]

@Jaffar: What exactly would that entail?

[Jaffar]

Similar to the changes above it would be finding all the pieces of the credits button from the Skirmish screen (don't know what file it is off the top of my head) and then copy and pasting them into this screen somewhere (again watching out not to mess up and brackets which is key), then saving and test running.

Provided you have done the copy/pasting without messing up any brackets AND IF they have these files setup so that they are self-acting/containing then the button should show up.

If you see the button that's the first step of proving it will work.

Clicking on it will be the next step.

Again this will all only work if they have this stuff setup so that these screen files are really just configuration files and the real work is done by the named elements. If the engine is hard-coded to expect certain object names only on certain screens then we're sunk and its not possible.

EDIT: And a possible issue I just thought of is that I dno't know if the actual credits that appear are ALSO on that skirmish screen/file or if that's a popup that gets dispayed over it. If its a part of the file then all that would have to be brought over too.

This is all part of why I haven't tried it yet - its not a small task.