If you've been following the forums today, you'll know that it's now possible to play as ANY race in the game - with a minor modification.
This doesn't mean the race actually has any decent buildings or ships to build though!
Screenshot below for proof. Spoiler tagged to prevent thread distortion.
Spoiler: show
If you want to mod your game, follow these steps:
- Open your Supremacy folder.
- Open the Resources folder.
- Open the Data folder.
- Find the Civilizations.xml file. I will be the first file in the list if the folder is alphabetised.
- Open this file. If your computer doesn't recognise the xml file type (An error message will appear if this happens) then tell it to open the file in Notepad. For simplicity, you might want to make this permanent if it gives you the option to do so.
- Press Ctrl+F to open the Find dialogue box. Type the name of the minor race you want to play as in the box, eg. Breen or Tholian, and press enter.
- The find box will take you to where it says "Breen" or "Tholian" or whatever name you entered. Scroll down a few lines until you can see the whole entry for the minor race. The entry ends with a </civilization> tag. For simplicity, this is what the Breen entry looks like. I've hilighted the entire Breen section:
- Within the selected area, look for where it says the following:
Code:
<CivilizationType>ExpandingPower</CivilizationType>
- Change the ExpandingPower section to instead say Empire. Do not remove the tags around it! The line entry will now look like this:
Code:
<CivilizationType>Empire</CivilizationType>
- And the entire Breen entry will now look like this:
Code:
<Civilization Key="BREEN">
<Race>BREEN</Race>
<ShortName>Breen</ShortName>
<LongName>Breen</LongName>
<DiplomacyReport>The Breen have advanced weapons, so we must be extremely cautious. It will take a great diplomatic effort if we are to have any productive dealings with them.</DiplomacyReport>
<HomeSystemName>Breen</HomeSystemName>
<Color>White</Color>
<HomeQuadrant>Alpha</HomeQuadrant>
<CivilizationType>Empire</CivilizationType>
<TechCurve>Sophisticated</TechCurve>
</Civilization>
<Race>BREEN</Race>
<ShortName>Breen</ShortName>
<LongName>Breen</LongName>
<DiplomacyReport>The Breen have advanced weapons, so we must be extremely cautious. It will take a great diplomatic effort if we are to have any productive dealings with them.</DiplomacyReport>
<HomeSystemName>Breen</HomeSystemName>
<Color>White</Color>
<HomeQuadrant>Alpha</HomeQuadrant>
<CivilizationType>Empire</CivilizationType>
<TechCurve>Sophisticated</TechCurve>
</Civilization>
- Next, copy the ENTIRE entry for the minor race (Select it, then press Ctrl + C to copy), then DELETE the entry.
- Scroll back to the top of the file, where the entries for the existing five Empires are - Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Cardassians, and the Dominion.
- After the entry for the last Empire, paste in the entry for your new Empire (Press Ctrl + V) to paste. The entries for Empires MUST be located all together at the top of the file. Your file will now look a bit like this:Code:<Civilization Key="DOMINION">
<Race>JEMHADAR</Race>
<ShortName>Dominion</ShortName>
<LongName>Dominion</LongName>
<DiplomacyReport>The Founders, also known as "Changelings" to the outside world, see themselves as the legitimate power that will bring the chaotic Universe to order and control it with themselves at the top of their new hierarchical system. For this purpose, the Founders routinely genetically re-engineer races to perform particular roles within their Dominion. These races include the mighty Jem'Hadar, perfect soldiers who are controlled by psychotropically addictive drugs that only the Founders know how to make; and the Vorta, the "face and voice" of the Founders, their Diplomats, and the race that permits the Jem'Hadar access to Ketracel White supplies in exchange for their loyalty. The Dominion regularly use their superior genetic manipulation techniques to "improve" all the races under their control, and this policy has allowed the Dominion to make astonishing achievements in many areas, including construction, mining, and energy production. The many races under the Dominion now worship the Founders as near-mythical gods, although the Founders themselves rarely leave the homeworld. The shapeshifting abilities of the Founders are very useful in gathering intelligence and performing acts of sabotage, whilst the excellent Jem'Hadar ships and troops carry their will to the far reaches of the Galaxy.</DiplomacyReport>
<HomeSystemName>Omarion</HomeSystemName>
<Color>DarkMagenta</Color>
<HomeQuadrant>Gamma</HomeQuadrant>
<CivilizationType>Empire</CivilizationType>
<TechCurve>Supreme</TechCurve>
</Civilization>
<Civilization Key="BREEN">
<Race>BREEN</Race>
<ShortName>Breen</ShortName>
<LongName>Breen</LongName>
<DiplomacyReport>The Breen have advanced weapons, so we must be extremely cautious. It will take a great diplomatic effort if we are to have any productive dealings with them.</DiplomacyReport>
<HomeSystemName>Breen</HomeSystemName>
<Color>White</Color>
<HomeQuadrant>Alpha</HomeQuadrant>
<CivilizationType>ExpandingPower</CivilizationType>
<TechCurve>Sophisticated</TechCurve>
</Civilization>
<Civilization Key="ACAMARIANS">
<Race>ACAMARIANS</Race>
<ShortName>Acamarians</ShortName>
<LongName>Acamarians</LongName>
<DiplomacyReport>The Acamarians wish to preserve their social structure. We must take steps to ensure that they can.</DiplomacyReport>
<HomeSystemName>Acamar</HomeSystemName>
<Color>White</Color>
<HomeQuadrant>Alpha</HomeQuadrant>
<CivilizationType>DevelopingPower</CivilizationType>
<TechCurve>Developed</TechCurve>
</Civilization>- Save the changes and close your file.
- Load the game.
- When you get to the menu screen, the game will likely tell you that a game update is available. This is NOT true! The game incorrectly identifies modified files as outdated ones. Do NOT allow the game to perform an update.
- To turn the updater off, click on Options, then the Updater tab. Turn off the setting to check for updates.
- The Breen (Or whatever minor race you edited) are now a playable Empire!
