Hi, had an account on Maplantis so had to make a new one.

First, I have a question to anyone who has used the various mod tools recently, as I have not.

IceCC - Should I extract the latest "Iscript.bin" from StarDat.mpq, and both "Iscript.bin" and "BWIscript.bin" from Broodat.mpq? As I do not want to use out of date files.

DatEdit - I assume that version 1.15 has all the latest DAT files already inside?
AND If I recall, you can input a custom TBL file to make your label picking that much easier.

Firegraft - Does this program also require me to add the latest "DATs" and "RES" files? If I am to make a mod for 1.15?

IceCC is superior to ICE, but if I extract only a few choice entries, does it compile into a workable "Iscript"?

I'll edit this post If I forget something.

Always use the files from the patch_rt.mpq that the mod is intended for 1st, then broodat.mpq, then stardat.mpq in that order. I see a lot of mods that are using broodat.mpq stat_txt.tbls for instance and then are missing replay button strings and the game will crash whenever you hover over one of those buttons. Likewise a modern gluchat.bin will crash a pre 1.13 starcraft in multiplayer because of the minimap preview addition. There are a host of other things that can screw you up as well so stick with the files that correspond to your grafted mod. If it's in patch_rt.mpq, that's the file you should be modifying.

gluck and welcome back.

Ah, yes. The "patch_rt.mpq" file, now I remember.
I just down graded to do a little modding on v1.15, time to read some IceCC and Firegraft tutorials.

well unfortunately there aren't any tutorials for Firegraft, but the program is so user friendly that its a breeze to work with. It also is an open-source like program, meaning that any FGraft mod can be opened and studied. Existing FGraft mods make for the best tutorials! Any of LordA's mods are excellent mods to explore in Firegraft. You will learn a lot from studying how these were built!

IceCC has its own tutorial AND once again just start decompiling others works, such as AofST, BST_Rhino, and Mesk, and this will serve as your best "tutorials".

Have fun.

The iscript.bin file hasn't been changed by Blizzard in a long, long time. You're safe using the included iscript.bin from the latest IceCC release.


1.15d. Careful you don't have 1.15b, which has some bugs that 1.15d remedies.

As far as I know, there haven't been any structural changes to the DAT files in a long time. Only data changes, which modding tends to change anyway. The included DAT files in DatEdit work just fine.

You might also want to check out PoiuyQwert's PyMS, an entire modding suite of programs, one of which includes a Dat editor.


FireGraft is a memory patcher, it doesn't deal directly with any existing Starcraft file type. The 1.15.2 FireGraft does read what version Starcraft is at to determine what EXE Edits to make available, so be sure your SC is patched to the version you'll be modding for.

Many aspects of Starcraft are handled by external referrence files, such as *.dat, *.bin, *.tbl. They allow Blizzard to easily edit parts of Starcraft that might be frequently changed for testing, balance, localization, etc. Other functions, however, are contained within the EXE, which is much harder to dissect and understand since it is compiled code and only Blizzard holds the source code. These functions are often called "hardcoded". Buttons and requirements are one such aspect of Starcraft contained only in the EXE.

Thanks to the pioneering work of StarGraft, MemGraft, and now FireGraft, these and other hardcoded functions are being explored and unlocked. All three of these programs work by editing the Starcraft EXE loaded in memory; thus the term memory patcher. When you start up Starcraft, its data is read from the hard drive and loaded into memory. A memory patcher is capable of altering the Starcraft loaded in memory without tampering with the actual stored code on the hard drive. This is why memory patchers do not deal with any files directly, but also why they are version-dependent.


If you extract multiple entries at the same time, they will all be contained within the same TXT file. I tend to extract one item at a time to keep everything separate and sortable. You could also extract a group of items as one file, then manually cut each item out and paste them into their own file. Either way, just keep yourself organized.

I also like to duplicate any scripts I extract that I'll be editing, and keep all original copies in a separate folder that I can refer to whenever I need to look at or copy any code.

Once you've made your edits to a script and want to see them ingame, you'll compile the TXT file. There are two ways this can happen. When you're first starting and don't have your own iscript.bin file, there is a checkbox that reads "Merge with default iscript.bin". After you specify the filename in the "Save to:" field (manual typing or with Browse) and click Compile, IceCC will use its iscript.bin file along with your new script to generate a new iscript.bin.

The second method is when you use the Add button to add your TXT scripts, you also Add your own Iscript.bin to the list. When you compile, IceCC puts everything together. Just be sure to uncheck the "Merge with default iscript.bin" if using your own iscript!


Not sure how long ago you last looked into modding, but I remember in the days of yore the only way to "downgrade" was a reinstallation/second installation and manual patching. Nowadays, however, we have the gift of not one, but two downgrader programs. One is by Farty, the other by Bajadulce. Farty's SC Downgrader 3 offers most patch versions, and though once used to the interface it's simple to use but its interface might be confusing at first. Bajadulce's BWAI Downgrader is streamlined with only a few key patch versions, and has a compact interface that works with a click of the mouse. Both are able to change your Starcraft installation to the specified version number no matter what version your SC is currently at. It's so silky-smooth awesome, you'll love it!



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Post has been edited 3 time(s), last time on Apr 30 2009, 9:29 pm by Hercanic.

Thanks for that information, cuts some hours off of learning IceCC.

I used the BWdowngrader, great program, clean interface and very, very useful.

I have another question, is it possible to replicate what the Siege Tank does?
Like switching to Seige Mode and back, or is that hard-coded so likely impossible.

If that IS possible, I would probably work on having the ingame Transports actualy "LAND" to drop off troops.
Would this not effectively require an additional unit to take up the "LANDED" unit data vs the flying?

Siege Mode is limited to the Siege Tank, being a tricky web of animation relationships and a fair share of hardcoding. DoA was working on a way to modify Siege Mode for the next release of FireGraft, though no guarantees.

As for landing transports, it's an old idea. You could replace the Siege Tank, or utilize a building and liftoff. Neat thing about using a building is that while airborne it can only drop one unit at a time, but when landed all units can evacuate at once (like a Bunker).

The latest DatEd is 1.5, not 1.15, my friends