Frogboy Frogboy

The Mod tools are like crack

▼

The Mod tools are like crack

from JoeUser Forums

It’s my day off so I’m not working on AI today.  But I have a new, better game anyway. It’s called Elemental modding and it’s taken over my life.

Let me walk you through this so you can see what I mean:

 

 

 

 

So you could imagine scenarios where someone might make a Warlords mod or a Master of Magic mod or what have you with just the included editors and some XML. 

So that’s what I’m playing with today.

126,600 views 73 replies
Reply #51 from Elemental Forums Top

Not that it isn't a useful app, but plugging it for modding a game when backing up the game files isn't actually required? ;)

Reply #52 from Elemental Forums Top

I don't think i've heard the word Ogre used so many times in my life.

TouchTasks - Access tasks with ease on Windows touchscreens.
Reply #53 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Annatar11, reply 51
Not that it isn't a useful app, but plugging it for modding a game when backing up the game files isn't actually required?
True that you could go back to the game default but if you've been working on a mod for ages and it's just gone is a bad thing.  Keepsafe mitigates that.

Reply #54 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 31

What I should say is that LOCAL mods are disabled in MP.  Mods are server based so someone else setting up a MP server can provide all the mods they want. This will evolve over time I imagine.

Will this option get turned on in beta 4  too?

Reply #55 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Zubaz, reply 50

 And by extension, if you mess anything up all you have to do is delete the messed up mod file and it'll happily go back to reading the default.Keepsafe FTW

Nice upsale! :erk:

Reply #56 from Elemental Forums Top

If download size is a concern, maybe it would be worthwhile to have a live indicator of how big the XML has gotten on the screen.  (if it's expensive to create the XML, do it in a background thread and show a spinner while the size is refreshing)  You could even have some sort of "look over here" animation to call attention to it when the XML has gotten too big.

Reply #57 from Elemental Forums Top

Is it possible to derive one unit from another in the XML (like inheritance in OOP)? Like if you want to have a certain part of the settings the same for a group of units with the possibility to change a part of it without having to copy paste it to all the units affected.

Is it possible for two mods to change the same units but different parts of them? Like if you have one mod changing the visuals and one mod rebalancing the stats?

Reply #58 from Elemental Forums Top

Is no one else concerned that the Ogre didn't appear in the Unit designer? What if I want to make different kinds of Ogres? Will each have to be made as a separate unit type?

Reply #59 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 15



Quoting MTCason,
reply 13
This whets my appetite for Elemental all the more.  You'd told us for a long time now that the game would be moddable to fundamental, foundational levels.  And that it would be easy.  But this is FAR beyond what I was expecting in both ease of use and extent to which the game could be modded.  Fantastic!


Yea, personally I tend to get very skeptical about people talking about how moddable their game is.  Then you discover that "moddable" means you have to know some scripting language to do anything, even basic stuff.

To me, moddable should be approachable to most people.  The hard core should still be able to us scripting languages (Python in the case of Elemental but that won't be supported until after release anyway) but you should be able to do a lot without having to write a line of code.

Ouch! I was hoping we could play around with the scripting before release. Is there a specific holdup?

Reply #60 from Demigod Forums Top

Quoting TCores, reply 59

Ouch! I was hoping we could play around with the scripting before release. Is there a specific holdup?

Finishing the game :P 

Reply #61 from Elemental Forums Top

After seeing the apparent ease and elegance of adding a monster unit and associated building I'm impressed.

Are we going to be able to recruit troops from varying race/genotypes or are we restricted to a single faction specific base unit? (i.e: the peasant)

Like the idea of giving an orge a big club is cool, but giving him plate or a giant mace is ace.

Reply #62 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting strager, reply 58
Is no one else concerned that the Ogre didn't appear in the Unit designer? What if I want to make different kinds of Ogres? Will each have to be made as a separate unit type?

I think that we won't be able to equip creatures like these, which is why I've made this suggestion a while ago: Equipping the Beast!

Reply #63 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Wintersong, reply 38



Quoting Darkdoom2,
reply 37
What the hell, the ogre's a like, double as high as their house?

And those walls are so small that they could just step right over them!
So? Adjust the size in the editor.

This was in response to frogboy making them all the buildings so small and the ogre's so insanely huge.

Reply #64 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Darkdoom2, reply 63

This was in response to frogboy making them all the buildings so small and the ogre's so insanely huge.
Precisely. Once we have the editor we can so insane with things and/or fix them as needed, as Frogboy does. Isn't that sweet?\o/

Reply #65 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Darkdoom2, reply 37
What the hell, the ogre's a like, double as high as their house?

And those walls are so small that they could just step right over them!

Quoting Wintersong, reply 38

So? Adjust the size in the editor.

Guys, in the "Options" menu there is one marked "Units Scale" which refers to how big something looks on the map, I.E. how big the creature/unit is shown in relation to everything else on the map. Just turn the option down and the units will be a more "realistic" scale. (Realistic for an Ogre anyway)

Reply #66 from Elemental Forums Top

Ok, I wanna ask this question. I have seen on the game map that forests do not use a fixed tile layout, but the trees are placed randomly which looks great. Modders will want to do that too!

In Civ4, forests and jungles were randomized in this way but the modders could never figure out how to do that, and so you often ended up with some very goofy looking alternative flora tiles with a very strong, artificial tiling effect. Please give us access to random model placement on a tile in some form, even if it's not in the editor.

Reply #67 from Elemental Forums Top

Another observation I have regarding tiles on the beta map is that sometimes they are placed on steep inclines, and it looks bad. You can sometimes help this by making individual buildings with extended 'basements' that go through the ground, or place the whole complex on an area of built up soil or stone that has a 'basement'.

Reply #68 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Zubaz, reply 50

 And by extension, if you mess anything up all you have to do is delete the messed up mod file and it'll happily go back to reading the default.Keepsafe FTW

 

heh! nice plug... though..

Free addon tool for all pre-orders of E:WoM?? :grin:

Reply #69 from Elemental Forums Top

Tools we always wanted... YES!

Reply #70 from Elemental Forums Top

I believe mods should be able to play multiplayer but only if you had the same version etc. like Coh or other games that employ mods.

Reply #71 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Sethfc, reply 71
I believe mods should be able to play multiplayer but only if you had the same version etc. like Coh or other games that employ mods.

Brad said if you setup a custom game you can use mods.

Reply #72 from Elemental Forums Top

That is bad ass.  You should definitely have bone ogre camps in the game.