Glad to hear things worked out!
Engy wrote:Before this point I didn't even know how to recognize a "successful" compile, since my failed attempts still "looked" successful. (No error messages.)
I'm not sure how you were compiling, you were using Command Prompt right? Anyway..
Engy wrote: possibly it was due to my installing in the default C:\DeusEx (vs. my previous C:\games\DeusEx)
Yeah, one thing every modder should do is to have a default path, makes it alot easier.
Engy wrote:"The file '..\DeusEx\Inc\DeusExClasses.h' needs to be updated. Do you want to overwrite the existing version? (Y/N):"
That's the part that required headers AFAIK. But if you can simply compile without doing this, then all is fine I guess.
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Engy wrote:1) In the SDK, I see a "Compile All Scripts" option. What is this for? The SDK itself has no obvious use for it, since changes to Classes seem to be saved with the "Save" button to the bottom right.
I'm not sure as I've not really tried compiling with SDK.. the fact that I think SDK for coding is probably buggy, but I've heard that it should work. You edit the code through SDK, or even make a new class, then simply compile and save. If you don't save and forgot to compile.. I think your progress can be lost if you quit SDK.. not sure though, but yeah the thing I heard is that you can code through SDK, which by the way I don't recommend.
Engy wrote:2) In my various reading, I've seem warnings several times that "there are good reasons to use the SDK instead of compiling scripts, compiling is something one should avoid". In my case, I've got less choice in the matter, since I can't make ScriptedPawn changes without compiling. What are the dangers of compiling? Am I screwing up my game by compiling, and should I just give up modding ScriptedPawn and stick to changing other Classes, in favor of having a stable game?
I'm not sure where you were reading this.. it could be UT99 articles.. anyhow you shouldn't worry about compiling at all.. infact the only thing I can think is going wrong is that you are changing the file, but not it's package name.. this would mean that if you use it for
'multiplayer', people will have mismatch since it's contents (headers and GUID stuff) would be different than the original. That's why at UT99 articles they'll probably tell you not to recompile existing packages. But this applies to multiplayer-only, so you shouldn't worry. You're making a singleplayer modification right?
Engy wrote:3) I see that I can change properties in the SDK. Are these also saved in a text file someplace? (Assuming I go the compiling route.) This isn't a feature I really need (SDK is ok), but it would be handy.
You mean Default Properties when you right-click an object inside SDK? These are saved per map.. like for example in your map you have put a class 'WeaponPistol', you can adjust different variables and save the map.. whenever the map gets loaded those settings will be used for that specific 'WeaponPistol' you placed on the map. There is no compiling needed here.
Engy wrote:4) If I mod my DeusEx.u file, primarily changing only stats of things (not adding new types of objects), is it safe to use saved games pre-dating the changes? I did some minor changes today, and noticed I was able to load up the save, but I don't know if it's a ticking bomb?
DeusEx.u only has code, so if you modify any of the files in it, it doesn't matter since it's loading the stuff from the package, not the save-games. If, for example you think of modifying a package which contains textures or so.. just keep in mind not to delete them.. you need all the previous stuff like classes, textures etc to be there, don't delete anything. You can obviously add custom content/new classes as well, but deleting is a problem.