How To: Modifying Existing Star System Map, Orbital View and Missions - HelmMemoryCore/Mechwarrior-4-ModdingTools GitHub Wiki

Overview

If you are wanting to modify the vanilla Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries experience, it's actually not too difficult to do so. It's going to require a bit of running around the props.mw4 and texture.mw4 files.

Recommended Software Needed:

• MW4eXtractor.exe
  • Required for extracting the raw contents of props.mw4 and texture.mw4.
  • Found in this Repository, can pull it down either using git or Downloading as a Zip File.
  • https://github.com/HelmMemoryCore/Mechwarrior-4-ModdingTools/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
• Visual Studio Code
  • Used for looking at Script files.
  • https://code.visualstudio.com/
• Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition or latest version / edition
  • Used for looking at and modifying the strings in your base Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries install at "..\Mechwarrior4_Mercenaries\ScriptStrings_MERCS.dll"
  • https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/
• Super Hex Editor
  • Not required, but helpful for looking at the Hexidecimal files
  • https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/super-hex-editor/9NNT3NJHSF16?hl=en-us&gl=us

Important Files / Scripts

• props.mw4\13633_starsystem.script
  • Star System - Script
• props.mw4\13570_campaignscreen.script
  • Orbital View - Script

Need to write up

if ( equal$( szMsnBtn_Title, "Halloran V - Escort" ) )
{
  oMissionButton[i].szExtText     = "Halloran V - Tech Convoy"
}
else
{
  oMissionButton[i].szExtText     = szMsnBtn_Title
}

Star System Map Changes

Orbital View Changes

If you go to props.mw4\missions and open up a mission (like eaton01_mercalley\eaton01_mercalley.instance{campaigninterfaceplug}campaigns\8788_klhndcampaign) using Super Hex Editor you will see a hexidecimal file like this:

Notice the strings that you see in plain-text:

• CL_Eaton_01.tga
• MB_eaton_01.tga
• CM_eaton_MM_01.tga
• Content\Audio\VO\Eaton\MI1\PostMission_Cas.wav
• Content\Audio|VO\Eaton\MI1\PreMission_Cas.wav

The Wav files refer to the Pre-Mission and Post-Mission briefing Castle gives you.

If you go to "...props.mw4\mercsshellscripts\graphics", that is where you will find the .tga files referenced in this hexadecimal file.

CL_Eaton_01.tga refers to the yellow line that points to the location on the planet that you will be dropping to (not super important).

MB_Eaton_01.tga refers to the clickable Mission Circle Icon with a small preview of the map you will be dropping on:

The last one is found in "..\textures.mw4\textures\hud"

CM_eaton_mm_01.tga is the clean Mission Briefing map right before you launch the mission

Not sure if this is relevant, but I checked a couple of these files, and the fourth hexadecimal from the right are basically the same for all of these files.

• CL_Eaton_01.tga and MB_eaton_01.tga both have 0F as the hexadecimal
• CM_eaton_MM_01.tga both have 12 as the hexadecimal
• PostMission_Cas.wav has 2E
• PreMission_Cas.wav has 2D

Orbital View Changes - Summary

• If we change MB_Eaton_01.tga or another .tga file equivalent, this means we can swap out the preview Orbital View image before we get into the Mission Briefing screen.
• The CL_Eaton_01.tga or another .tga file equivalent are basically not relevant for changes. They are completely optional.

Mission Changes

Under Construction.