FAQ entry

Keywords: All, efile,

What are the requirements of adding a new Efile to the OpenGen repository?

1. The most important thing is that your Efile should be a new Efile, with a unique name. If your Efile is a fork of another Efile, you should ask a permission from the original (or the latest known) Efile maker(s). If the Efile is long time abandoned, and you can’t contact with the original designer(s), and the original deisgner(s) didn’t explicetly forbid making derivatives, then you are allowed to create your own fork, but you should give the credit for the original designer(s) in the Efile description / readme files.
2. The second thing is every new Efile should have at least one finished campaign or a PBEM scenario to be released. There is no restriction on this campaign, it can be an openized / updated / converted campaign or a completely new one. It can be short, long, PG2 format or OG format, it can use 0.91 or 2.0 (or later) AI, just as you wish.
3. The third requirement is fitting for all file standards of OpenGen:
   1. The file structure of your Efile (See the detailed explanation on Luis’ site):

      The root folder of your Efile should be named EFILE_THE_UNIQUE_NAME_YOU_CHOSE. It should / can contain these folders and files (folders are written in capitals):

      • MAP: map pictures. It’s optional, used for the unreleased files only. The finished maps should be added to the main MAP folder (see this thread on OG Forums).
      • OPENDAT: graphic files of the nations used in your Efile: flags, medals, portraits, roundels and the splash screen of your Efile. It’s mandatory.
      • OPENGUI: custom user interface files (buttons, pop-up panels, cursors, tileset, etc.) It’s optional.
      • README: all readme files about the Efile and campaigns. It’s optional.
      • SCENARIO: where your campaigns and scenarios are stored. It’s mandatory.
      • SFX: sound effects (move, attack, die) of the units. It’s optional, used for the unreleased files only. The finished effects should be added to the main SFX folder (see this thread on OG Forums).
      • SMACK: custom videos for your scenarios and campaigns. It’s optional.
      • SOUND: custom music for your scenarios and campaigns. It’s optional.
      • TEXT-XY: translation of your Efile, campaigns or scenarios. XY refers to the ISO code of the selected language. It’s optional.
      • USERSCEN: former place of the standalone scenarios. It’s deprecated, use the SCENARIO folder instead.
      • colors.txt: optional file to change the default UI colors.
      • efile.txt (small case is important!): mandatory description file containing the most important information about your Efile (efile.xml used in the past is also acceptable), see the details.
      • equip.cfg: customized global $variables affecting the entire Efile (unless overwritten by campaign.cfg), it’s optional.
      • EquipIcons.dat: optional icons used alongside the default OpenIcons.dat (it can have a custom EquipIcons.csv description file).
      • equip.txt2: alternate names of the units used in the Efile, it’s optional (made by Suite, if custom unit names are used).
      • equip.txt: names of the units used in the Efile, it’s mandatory (made by Suite automatically).
      • equip.xeqp: the equipment file itself, it’s mandatory (made by Suite automatically).
      • fronts.txt: fronts and factions definitions for all or selected nations, it’s optional.
      • names.txt: possible names of the leaders for each nations, it’s optional (though recommended).
      • nations.txt: names of the sides and nations (countries), it’s mandatory. The number of nations in this file and the size of the Opendat images should be proportional.
      • OpenGen.xfmt: name of the customized font to use for the Efile, it’s optional.
      • OpenIconsLoc.dat: optional icons used instead of the default OpenIcons.data (it can have a custom OpenIconsLoc.csv description file).
      • strings_efile.txt: customized labels (terrain, movement, class, target, etc.) of the Efile, it’s optional.
      • TerrainEx.txt: customized terrain and movement cost table, it’s optional.
      • weather.txt: customized weather and climate zones table, it’s optional.
   2. The file format standards:
      • graphics: 24-bit (true color) PNG files without alpha channel (except the special *.cur cursor files);
      • sounds: 128-bit MP3;
      • texts: WIN-1252 (Latin-1) or WIN-1250 (Latin-2) encoded files having CR+LF end of line characters;
      • videos: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (MP4);
4. The fourth requirement is writing am intro (briefing) description files for all campaigns in the SCENARIO folder containing these data:
   • title of the campaign
   • author(s) of the campaign, if the campaign is a conversion or update, original author should be mentioned too;
   • version number of the campaign, should be updated when the campaign is updated;
   • main nation of the campaign;
   • number of the scenarios: the “longest path” / “total number of scenarios” is the preferred format, if only one number is given, it should be the total number of xscn
   • license (optional): the terms of use of the campaign, if it's not given, the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 is applied.
5. When everything is done and Efile makers are ready to release their own Efiles or the updates, they have to send it to the OG team member responsible for updating the OpenGen repository. Currently (in 2019) this OG team member is lvjtn (email: lvjtn9 }at{ gmail }dot{ com ). The Efile will be checked (not the content just the file structure, format, and specification standards) before releasing.