Resources

Editing Resources

Editing the resources available in your game is the easiest thing to do about editing game data. Locate the d13_resource.data file inside your "data" directory and open it in the text editor of your choice.

Array Entries
All data files consist of a list of entries represented by a huge, multidimensional array. You should be acquainted to editing arrays in PHP and may not break the array structure. So keep an eye on all the commas, brackets and so on. As a word of warning: You should NOT add new entries while your game is active and running as it will break the game. Always create as many entries as you might need BEFORE opening up your gameworld. If required, you can add padded entries so you have some room to work with later. Finally, I would strongly recommend to limit yourself to an entry count in the lower hundreds per faction, per object type in the game (as a rule of thumb a maximum of about 200 units per faction, 200 techs per faction, 200 buildings per faction and so on).

Resource Structure
The structure for the resource array is the game for each resource in the game and all fields must be present. If you forget a field, it will break your game.

ID
The unique ID of your resource represented as an Integer. This value is not visible to the player and is used to get the name and description of a resource from the language file. In addition, the ID acts as a unique identifier to locate the resource throughout the code. No duplicate entries.

Image
This is the file name + the suffix of an image inside your templates/images/resources directory. Image size should be at least 24 pix and is scaled down by the engine if you use larger images. PNGs are recommended but you can also use JPGs and/or GIFs - each one features drawbacks and advantages. Duplicate entries possible.

Active
A boolean value that must be stated using TRUE or FALSE. By using this fields value you can de-activate a resource and hide it from all players. This allows you to add padding to your resources list in order to expand it when you update your game. You can also remove resources that way for balancing reasons. Note that the resource is still there and affects everything related to the engine, it is just not visible to any player.

Priority
This field allows you to sort your resources displayed on the screen. Resources are shown in the town screen from left to right, beginning with lowest priority number to the highest. Other lists sort resources the same way. This is just an optical thing.

Type
A string value that can either be "dynamic" or "static". Dynamic resources act like currencies (gold, mana etc.) found in most games: Players can gain them, store a limited amount of them and spend them in order to buy something. Static resources on the other hand act like a measure or gauge (like energy in oGame or the population limit in Warcraft): It cannot be increased or modified, neither does it get depleted. It is recommended to use mostly "dynamic" resources.

Visible
A boolean value that is either TRUE or FALSE. This only affects the resource list in the town view. If your game features many resources, you can hide some and show only the most important ones to the players. Note that if you set visible to false, the resource will still be visible in other lists (like the inventory of a building and so on). This is just an optical thing.

Storage
This is the basic storage capability of a players town. The value you enter here, is the maximum resource value a player can store without any additional building or technology. It is also the starting value for each resource. it has been decided to make all these storage values equal among all factions. You can vary them by creating storage buildings with different capabilities to make factions storage the various resources at different efficiency.

Limited
A boolean value that is either TRUE or FALSE. When set to true, only a limited amount of this
resource can be stored. Players require special storage buildings in order to increase resource
storage, or excess amounts of this resource are lost. When set to false, an unlimited amount of
this resource can be stored by any player at any time.

Carryable (not implemented yet)
A boolean value that is either TRUE or FALSE. When you raid an opponents town, your surviving troops will carry a certain amount of resources home. Only resources with carrayble set to true can be carried that way. This allows you to have some resources that can not be stolen from other players at all.

Rarity (not implemented yet)
A numeric integer value that represents the rarity of the resource. In the future you will be able to find random loot. The rarer a resource is, the more seldom it is found when acquiring random loot. To be explained later in detail.

Using Resources the creative Way
Get creative with resources! There is way more to do with this object type than just Gold, Mana, Deuterium (whatever). It should be noted that resources are also required in order to attack your opponents, move your town, create a new town (without conquering one), resources can furthermore be used as input for buildings and so on. Many games will only feature a handful of resources, but you can go crazy with them and create dozens if you desire.