Editing the Data

One of the deepest areas of modding found in Flashpoint Campaigns is the ability to crack open the codex of ones and zeros (and many other alpha-numeric values) to mod or add data to the game. By editing data, you can do everything from changing the range of a tank gun to adding entire new nations or time periods to the game engine. The ability to edit the data files places a lot of firepower at your command to build the game you want to play or even have others play.

The Hell of Spreadsheet Editing

Data editing is some powerful stuff when done right. You can make new content that others can use. You can also crash the game in a heartbeat as well with an errant comma (something we have done a few times ourselves). Being this deep into the numbers takes more thought and care than any other editing/modding you can do in the game. Changes here can affect how the rest of the game plays. That impacts others who may use your work to make scenarios, analyze data, or create variants of your data files.

Save Early, Save Often, and Have Backups

As much as it has probably been said three or four times already, save! Anytime you get through a major section or add new data make sure to save it. It is also a good idea to have backups of original files and save versions of files as you go so you can revert if something blows up or gets lost or overwritten. Have several backups for the game info and code on hard drives, portables, and memory sticks. Paranoid? Yes, but safe from most disasters.

Words of Wisdom…

Before editing a user data file, we recommend you make a copy of the data file you intend to edit and then rename it so that you do not lose the original. You will find that the original OTS data file to be most helpful in locating examples of things you want to do and in trouble shooting problems that come up.

Before, during, or after altering a data file, you can tailor the looks to fit your force or informational display needs. You can change the name, color, graphics like the flag. Feel free to experiment as you like.