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| Thread: Good practices: mod is .h5u, map is .h5m (or Where to place my mod?) | |
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sfidanza
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted November 05, 2007 01:24 AM |
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Edited by sfidanza at 17:19, 06 Dec 2007.
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Good practices: mod is .h5u, map is .h5m (or Where to place my mod?)
This is general info, and will be added to AoH modding page, but I thought at least we, modders, should be on the same page. 
ToE introduced the UserMODs/ folder, where mod files should be placed with the .h5u extension. This way, they can be separated from maps, placed in the Maps/ folder with the .h5m extension.
The 1.6 patch added the same thing in H5 original. You can create the UserMODs/ folder and put .h5u files in there. 
I assume the same will be done in 2.2.
What's different between a map and a mod? Personally, I would say that a .h5m file should only add a map to play, without affecting other maps.
When working on mods, you can also place the files directly in the data/ folder. This way, you don't need to repack the mod with every change. Of course, once your mod is ready for release, you should package it.
The first way we used to package mods was with a .pak extension, placed in data/ (right now, it's still what's suggested on AoH modding page, I really have to change that!!). This should not be done anymore, as it mixes mods with game files, which is never a good idea.
So, the baseline is, for 3.0 and 1.6:
- mods should have a .h5u extension and be placed in UserMODs/
- maps should have a .h5m extension and be placed in Maps/
Until 2.2 is released and works the same way, HoF players will just have to rename .h5u files and place them in Maps/ instead.
The same is true for players still using older game versions.
 Could anyone check if the .h5m technique worked in 1.0 already? If not, when did it start to work?
Edit: it seems since 1.3 and the release of the Map Editor.
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Edit: To be complete, here are all the possibilities to have modded files taken into account by the game, 3.0 or 1.6, ("archive" always means a ZIP archive renamed with the specific extension):
* .h5u archive in UserMODs/
* .h5m archive in Maps/
* .h5c archive in Campaigns/
* .h5p archive in DuelPresets/
* .pak archive in data/
* raw files in data/ (not archived but with the correct folder structure)
This could be investigated more, but as far as I know, any method gives the same result.
Quick FAQ:
- What is the format of the archive?
The archive is always a ZIP archive (any compression method should work). It will NOT work with a RAR archive.
- When I download a mod, I get a .zip file, with folders inside
You're using IE, which automatically renames files (without asking - thanks IE!). Just rename the file back to .h5u.
- When I download a mod, I get a file with no extension, and it doesn't work
You're using IE, and Windows is hiding .zip extensions from you. This setting is the default Windows configuration, and certainly one of the most stupidest setting regarding security... Anyway, change the setting to view file extensions, and refer to the previous question.
- How are conflicts solved (multiple copies of the same file)?
The basic rule is to compare the files' modified date. The game uses the latest one.
This means that if the latest patch includes files from the mod you're trying to use, you'll need to update the dates of the modded files so that they are used again. You can use a date changing tool to do this.
- It still doesn't work!
Some files don't let themselves overwrite. I've usually seen it with .dds files (textures), but not only. The trick then is that the game always uses a .(Texture).xdb file that references the actual .dds file. This .xdb file can be overwritten: give your new .dds another unused name, and point the .(Texture).xdb to the new file.
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Sneps
Hired Hero
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posted November 05, 2007 05:03 PM |
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if you place the .h5u files in the UserMODs folder, they're not working in the map editor at all.
if you rename them to .h5m files and put them to the Maps folder, they're working in the map editor.
because of this reason, i'll not make .h5u mods until a patch solved this issue.
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sfidanza
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted November 05, 2007 11:20 PM |
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You have a point. However, that only concerns mapmakers, and when releasing a mod, I doubt you often target specifically mapmakers.
Or it only impacts you when you are developing your mod/map.
So I don't think it prevents you to release .h5u files to the masses.
Anyone trying to make a map in the editor should be able to rename the file to .h5m and change folder (or he won't be able to figure out the editor anyway...  ).
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antipaladin
Promising
Legendary Hero
of Ooohs and Aaahs
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posted November 19, 2007 11:26 AM |
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how do i make an .h5u file?
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types in obscure english
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Maurice
Hero of Order
Part of the furniture
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posted November 19, 2007 01:37 PM |
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By zipping the files for the mod together and then renaming the resulting .zip file to .h5u instead.
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skullman
Famous Hero
banned
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posted November 19, 2007 03:20 PM |
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how do you create the UserMods file and didn't see that in the text
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sfidanza
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted November 19, 2007 05:30 PM |
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UserMODs (notice the capital letters) is the folder where you place the .h5u files. It already exists after a ToE install. I assume you're asking for H5 1.6: you just create the folder in the usual way, inside your H5 install folder. Make sure to use the exact capitalization.
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Mesciurius
Tavern Dweller
Arcane Apprentice
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posted December 06, 2007 05:10 PM |
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The .h5m technique started working since the implementation of the Map Editor (patch 1.3 ?)
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sfidanza
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted December 09, 2007 01:10 AM |
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