HPL3/Launch Configuration

When a mod is launched, some initialization occurs and the game is configured before the mod shows up. This article explains how to configure the startup of a mod.

Launch Configuration File

In order to make the mod launch, we need to list some configurations and settings that affect the initialization of the mod. All of the configurations are listed inside a single XML file, called main_init.cfg. The file should be located inside the config folder of the mod. When launching a mod, either via debug mode or via the game, the mod will first read the data from this file.

Minimal Configuration

These are the minimal settings that should be inside a main_init.cfg file:

<Directories  
	MainSaveFolder = "Save Folder Name"
	GameLanguageFolder = "config/lang/"
/>

<Variables
	GameName = "Mod Name"
/>

<StartMap 
	File = "map_name.hpm" 
	Folder = "maps/" 
	Pos = "PlayerStartArea_1" 
/>

Extended Configuration

These are the full settings that can be inside a main_init.cfg file in order to apply further customization:

<ConfigFiles 
	Resources = "resources.cfg" 
	Materials = "materials.cfg"
	SoundData = "sounddata.cfg"
	
	DefaultBaseLanguage = "base_english.lang"
	DefaultGameLanguage = "english.lang"
	
	Modules = "config/Modules.cfg"
	EntityTypes = "config/EntityTypes.cfg"
	Effects = "config/Effects.cfg"
	PlayerStates = "config/PlayerStates.cfg"
/>

<Directories  
	MainSaveFolder = "Main"
	
	BaseLanguageFolder = "config/"		
	GameLanguageFolder = "config/lang_main/"
/>

<Variables
	GameName = "Mod Name"
/>

<MainMenu
  File="main_menu.hpm"  
  Folder="maps/"
  Pos=""
/>

<StartMap 
	File = "map_name.hpm" 
	Folder = "maps/" 
	Pos = "PlayerStartArea_1" 
/>

it is recommended to not change most of the settings, and only edit things that should really be customized for your mod, such as mod name, save folder name, etc.

Attributes

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ConfigFiles

Attribute	Description
Resources	Points to the resources configuration file.
Materials	Points to the material configuration file.
SoundData	Points to the sound data configuration file.
DefaultBaseLanguage	Points to the default base language file.
DefaultGameLanguage	Points to the default game language file.
Modules	Points to the modules file.
EntityTypes	Points to entity types configuration file.
Effects	Points to the effects configuration file.
PlayerStates	Points to the player states configuration file.

Directories

Attribute	Description
MainSaveFolder	The name of the folder which the save files will be placed into.
BaseLanguageFolder	The name of the folder where base_english.lang is located at.
GameLanguageFolder	The name of the folder where english.lang is located at.

Variables

Attribute	Description
GameName	The name of the mod. Will appear at the title of the game and at the task bar.

StartMap

Attribute	Description
File	The name of the map file + file extension (.hpm).
Folder	The name of the map folder.
Pos	The primary start position of the map.