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[edit] Welcome to the STL Editor wiki page for Star Trek Legacy
The STL Editor is a mod tool for Star Trek Legacy. The Editor was created pro bono by developers at Bethesda Game Studios. We created this wiki to serve the Legacy modding community. Please contribute and help expand the Editor documentation. If you are a programmer, we've included the full source for the Editor so that it can continue to be improved.
[edit] General Information
With this collection of tools, players should now be able to create their own custom missions. Users must have some knowledge of programming languages and how they work. Missions are composed of three types of files: rule(.drl), script(.dsl), and map(.sol). To create these files, users will first have to write their rules and scripts in the Legacy scripting language, then users will use the parsing tools to compile their scripts into .dsl and .drl files. Users can then use the Legacy map editor and link those .drl and .dsl files to the map. Afterwards users will need to edit the legacymissons.xml file to include their new custom mission. Additionally, a open-source front-end tool (LegacyMissionEditor.exe) has been developed that should aid in editing necessary information spread across multiple files.
[edit] Getting Started
-Manual Compilation:
In order to compile a mission, you will need a compiler capable of creating Win32 DLLs. A free and easy solution is to install Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition, available here (http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualc/). You must install the Windows Platform SDK to allow Visual C++ Express to create native Win32 applications (and DLLs). Follow the instructions here: (http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualc/usingpsdk/) (don't worry about the fact that the SDK download page calls it the Windows Server 2003 R2 Platform SDK... it isn't specific to that OS). You will also need access to an installed version of the game with the Map Editor enabled. Follow the instructions here to enable Legacy’s built-in map editor: (http://www.legacymods.com/modders/blogs/index.php/ChessMess/2006/12/08/how_to_turn_on_the_legacy_map_editor). Also, you will want to enable the ‘All Missions’ button from the Campaign menu so that you can select your custom mission from a list of all available missions. Follow the instructions here: (http://www.legacymods.com/modders/blogs/index.php/ChessMess/2006/12/13/enabling_all_missions_menu_item).
-Front-end assisted compilation.
If the user has Visual Studio 2005 installed, the Mission Editor is capable of building the .dsl and .drl files for a mission from a single menu item. The tool accomplishes this by invoking Visual Studio's command-line compiler and making use of the current Legacy installation. The Mission Editor is really intended to help take away the grunt work of having to make sure your objectives file, for example, is compatible with your labels file, organizes the data, lets you edit stuff in place, and packages your work up in a shareable format. See the tool's documentation for further details.
