Tutorial:
Creating a mod with the SunEdit 2K Mod Maker wizard.

Overview
The Purpose of this tutorial is to teach you how to make a mod (modification for Tiberian Sun), using the Mod Maker Wizard in SunEdit 2K.

Tutorial
These tutorials build upon each other, so things learnt in tutorial one will not be repeated in later tutorials. Therefore, I still suggest you read this, even if you know how to do it.

To build a mod you need some files! The minimum you need is the Rules.INI, however this is just the tip of the iceberg, you can include new graphics, sounds even music. Some of the most common files can be found in the file list.

To open the Mod Maker, in SunEdit 2K click on the File menu and then the Export option. You will then see the Mod Maker wizard menu option there, click on it.

The buttons along the bottom of the window are as follows...

File List

The first screen of the mod maker wizard asks you for the files you want to put into the mod. On this first section you have a few buttons...

Each file can be checked or unchecked. If they are checked, then those files will be saved into the MIX file when the mod is applied. (A Mix file is a file that is understood by Tiberian Sun that contains all the files you want to override). If a file is not checked, it will get saved into the S2M but will not be saved into the MIX file.

Special Information for including graphics and sounds. If you want to add new graphics and/or sounds  you will need to tell the wizard which MIX file to add them to. If the mix file is left as "default" then the file types below will be automatically be added to the indicated MIX file, without you needing to do anything. .AUD (TS Sound Files), these will automatically be saved into Sounds.MIX. .SHP (TS Sprites), these will automatically be saved into ecache10.mix. Anything else will go into expand10.mix. If you want to override this default action, select the file (or files) that you want to set and right click a highlighted file. A popup menu will be displayed (shown below), where you can set the name of the Mix file manually.

Once you have added all the files you want, click the next button.

Mod Documentation

In future versions of SunEdit 2K, you will be able to add comments against all the units, structures, weapons, projectiles and warheads in the game, along with the ability to add version information. From this SE2K will be able to automatically generate the documentation for the mod. However, currently you are only able to specify a file to use as the documentation. This can be any type of file, e.g. Word file, Text File, Web page, help file, etc..). In the mod manager, this file will be available to the user to view.

Output Options

With the mod maker wizard, you can choose what output file type you want it to make. This can be MIX file or S2M. Mix files are great for simple mods, but if you want to make use of the SunEdit 2K Mod Manager, you need to save the output as S2M. If S2M is selected you can then specify extra settings exclusive to that format. For more information on those settings, see the section below "SunEdit 2K .S2M File Format Options"

Additional to output type, you also have two more options. You can optionally ZIP the output file, creating a industry standard ZIP file, along with a comment. This comment is embedded into the zip, programs like WinZip 8 will actually display this comment as a tool tip when the mouse pointer hovers over the zip file. In addition to the zip file, you can create a self extracting ZIP. This is especially good where people may not have access to a Unzip tool. There are a few extra options with this format, these can be set here.

Once you have finished making your decision, click on the Finish button. You will now be asked for the output location and your mod will be built. Upon a successful build, you will be given the chance to save the setup for your mod, thus saving you the hassle of typing it all in again.

As the S2M file features built-in compression, there is no need to zip your S2M file. It will  result in only a slightly smaller file.

Note: 

SunEdit 2K .S2M File Format Options

The S2M file format has several benefits over other mod formats. The main advantages are...

• Built In Compression

• Customable Image Optimisation

• Restrictions on what the user can and cannot see in the SunEdit 2K Mod Manager.

• Security, It makes it a lot harder for someone to steal your ideas from your mod, because of the compression used on the file, it makes the contents of the mod impossible to read through a text or hex editor.

When the S2M option is checked, you will be able to open the S2M file options window. from here you can set a number of options, which are detailed below.

Allow user to edit file in SE2K
  If checked, the user will be able to import the mod into SunEdit 2K. This feature is not currently implemented in SE2K, but it's in the options so you can configure your mods to either support this feature or not.

Allow preview of maps
  If checked, the user will be able to preview any maps you include. Again, this feature is not currently implemented in the SunEdit 2K Mod Manager, but it's in the options so you can configure your mods to either support this feature or not.

Allow preview of contents
  If checked, the user will be able to see the files that are included in the mod. You might want to leave this unchecked, so the user of the mod doesn't know what's been added or changed.

Convert PCX to JPG
  If checked, any PCX files in the mod will be converted into Jpg format when the mod is generated. This is because the size of a graphic in PCX and JPG format is vastly different. For example, the load600c PCX file is 1.23Mb. In JPG form this ranges from 340kb (Best Quality) to 106k (Medium Quality). As you can see, this can vastly reduce the download size of a mod, making it more appealing to end users.
You can also control the quality of the conversion & see an example of the quality loss associated with each setting.

Include URL for mod's homepage
  If checked, you can specify the homepage for the mod, this is then accessible from the Mod Manager.

Use CPS Direct
  If checked, allows you to make use of the CPS Direct Technology that is built into SunEdit 2K and the Mod Manager. This allows the user to download the latest information & news straight from a location of your choice. You can enter the location of the data file here. For more information on the CPS Direct service, please read the CPS Direct tutorial.

When you are happy with the settings, click the OK button to return to the Mod Maker Wizard.

What next ?

Ok, if you have made a MIX file you need to give it a name that Tiberian Sun will look for. This has to begin with 'Expand', have a number between 00 and 99 and have the extension of .MIX. For example, Expand02.mix, Expand10.mix. However, possible expansion packs (like Firestorm, which uses Expand01.mix) could use these names. I suggest you stick to numbers above 10.

If you have made a S2M file, there is nothing more to do, except upload it to your website! (Or submit it to the Childs Play Software Download Central, so we can include it in our download section).

Warning!! - Info about S2M Files and Internet browsers!! By default, internet explorer will download S2M files first and then ask the user what they want to do with the file (open/save etc..). While this may be ok for small files, for big files, it makes the browser look like the site has stopped downloading. Netscape navigator is even worse!! - That downloads the file into the browser window. The way to get around this problem is to use the self extracting file option. This tags the ZIP file onto the end of the self extractor program file, which means that the user doesn't need WinZip or any other unzipper. It also has the benefit of automatically installing the mod into SunEdit 2K Mod Manager, if it's installed.

That's it! Congratulations, you just made your first mod for Tiberian Sun. See how easy that was?