There are a few ways, depending on which files are being used. Some people upload the .X model files, some a .shipcfg file along with a .shipclass file or .XML file. In the latter case, the files go into your My Documents\Games\GalCiv2\Ships folder. Then they will be found in the ship builder window, either as a ship that can be upgraded - like the Klingon series of ships - or as jewelry that can be used with Kryo's Hull System Mod.
The .X model files are copied, along with their associated .PNG files, into the C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Gfx\Models folder (assuming the default install location). Then you will have to modify the GC2Types.XML file, which is found in C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\Data\English.
You can open the .XML files with any text editor, like Notepad or Wordpad. I prefer Wordpad because it keep the formatting and makes the file easier to read.
Open the file and do a search for "hull". You will see various tiny, small, medium, large and huge hulls listed. The sections are basically the same, the difference being the names like Hull1, Hull2, Hull3 etc, and the model and thumbnail files used for each. You can copy a section and paste it at the end of the file - before the ending [/GC2] tag - and modify it to point to your new model.
Here is an example using the Shadow Ship from the Babylon 5 series of ships now being uploaded.
[Hull Name="HugeHull3"]
[DisplayName]Battelcrab[/DisplayName]
[Description]The Shadow ship from Babylon 5.[/Description]
[Cost]160[/Cost]
[Size]80[/Size]
[SensorRange]4[/SensorRange]
[HP]48[/HP]
[Model]Battelcrab[/Model]
[Thumbnail]SHADOW-01a[/Thumbnail]
[Speed]1[/Speed]
[Category]Huge[/Category]
[Logistics]6[/Logistics]
[Tech_Requirement]Massive Scale Building[/Tech_Requirement]
[/Hull]
The models should be renamed - Battelcrab.x to S99_Battelcrab.x - like that.
All the .png and the .x model files go into the GFX\Models folder.
Edit the GC2Types.xml file by adding a section at the end for each model.
In the above example, I associated the Shadow ship with a huge hull. This one is called Hull3 because there is already a Hull0, Hull1 and Hull2 for the huge ships. Just rename the section as is appropriate for your particular GC2Types file. The next one I do as huge will be Hull4, and so on.
Then change the names and descriptions, and indicate which model file and thumbnail file to use. All the models usually come with at least one .png file, and some are better for the actual thumbnail - although the artists rarely make a specific thumbnail file for this for some odd reason.
And in the [Model]Battelcrab[/Model] and [Thumbnail]SHADOW-01a[/Thumbnail] you will notice that only the base filename is used - so the file named S99_Battlecrab.x is referred to as only Battlecrab, without the S99_ or the .x extension, and the thumbnail is shadow-01a without the .png extension.
And I had to change one thing before I could paste the above example into this post.
I had to change the < to [ and the > to ], so you will need to make sure they are changed back if you copy and paste this example. It should be clear once you get into the GC2Types file, as to how the syntax is laid out. Using the Edit-Replace function makes it fast and easy.
Easy 'nuf, right?
