How to duplicate (replace) a game asset

We try here to duplicate a game asset like for example the vegetal Fern.
(You can replace it by maintaining the same original game name)

If we look in the game folder directory the Fern folder it’s located in this absolute game path :

[Program Files (x86)]\Steam\steamapps\common\Ancient Cities\Ancient\Data\Ancient\Entity\Local\Vegetal\Fern

We start by replicating the relative path in our new Mod, named by example ‘PurpleFern’

To do so we start creating the ‘PurpleFern’ directory inside our [Documents]\Uncasual Games\Ancient Cities\Mod\ folder

Inside this directory we create the same relative folder tree that contains the Fern :
Ancient\Entity\Local\Vegetal\
and we paste a copy of the ‘Fern’ directory renamed as ‘PurpleFern’

We need to put in the Mod’s root folder an Index.art and Thumbnail.jpg file like any other Mod.

We are going to change the fern color from green to purple, to change this we need to edit the C.tga file inside the ‘PurpleFern’ new mod directory coming from the original game ‘Fern’.

You can simple edit the C.tga with any graphics program like the free ‘Gimp’ and balance the color channels a bit to get a purple texture like this.

C

The we can customize our newer fern variation editing some settings in the existing Index.art file in the same folder. We need to use the free Notepad++ editor that supports our text file format.

The we can change by example the parameter ‘CountLimit’ from 8192 to 4096 halving the number of possible PurpleFerns and change also the ‘Density’ parameter from 500 to 250 to make it more scarce and rare.

Now restart the game to activate the new mod and create a new game that now includes your new and rare purple fern.

This is the mod with all the files, you need to decompress inside [Documents]\Uncasual Games\Ancient Cities\Mod\ folder

PurpleFern.zip (509.5 KB)

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How to modify a game asset’s properties
Con’t from “How to duplicate (replace) a game asset”

If you wanted to mod the properties of fish, you would need a copy of this file:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Ancient Cities\Ancient\Data\Ancient\Entity\Local\Resource\Fish\index.art

Here you can modify the calories that are in each fish or adjust the decay:

Entity/Resource:
{
Name:“Entity”
State:“Enabled”
Weight:“1”
Decay:“0.05”
Type:“‘~/Entity/Local/Resource/Type/List/Food/List/Seafood/Entity’”
Constitution:“1”
FoodCalorie:“1500”
FoodType:“Animal”

This file will let you modify the generation of fish:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Ancient Cities\Ancient\Data\Ancient\Entity\Local\Resource\Fish\Flock\Flock.art

As you can see below, one entry is for fish in the river and one is for fish in the sea. Here you can modify the Density and CountLimit, which will affect the generation of fish.

Entity/Flock:
{
Name:“River”
State:“Enabled”
CountLimit:“512”
LocationMedium:“WaterSurface”
LocationDeep:“0.25,1.5”
LocationSlope:“0”
StorageElevation:“0”
StorageResource:“…/…/Entity”
StorageCount:“18”
HistoryRangeYear:“-10000,2000”
Density:“7500”
HeightRange:“0,0,12000,13000”
ProductionDuration:“6”

Entity/Flock:
{
Name:“Sea”
State:“Enabled”
CountLimit:“512”
LocationMedium:“WaterSurface”
LocationDeep:“0.5,1.6”
LocationSlope:“0”
LocationSea:“true”
StorageElevation:“0”
StorageResource:“…/…/Entity”
StorageCount:“36”
HistoryRangeYear:“-10000,2000”
Density:“2000”
HeightRange:“8000,8000,10000,10000”
ProductionDuration:“12”

Here is an explanation of the CountLimit and Density parameters used in a similar context:

Here is another explanation of CountLimit:

Many different resources can be modified in this fashion, they can be found here in the resources folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Ancient Cities\Ancient\Data\Ancient\Entity\Local\Resource

Some food properties for mushrooms and berries can be found in here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Ancient Cities\Ancient\Data\Ancient\Entity\Local\Vegetal