Mod help?

[Sombre]

I often use graphics from the game as a template,.. but I don't use a time consuming and precise method to extract them, so I only get one sprite (from the unit recruitment screen, enlarged by about 120% width, 140% height) and it's blurry due to enlargement, has some other graphical glitches etc. I then go about a process of chopping bits off, sharpening it up, changing colours and adding bits. I sometimes use graphics from other sources too, but recently (with Ulm Reborn for instance) it's been my own work on top of a Dom3 recruitment screenshot template.

[Psientist]

Bandarlover:
Here's my suggestion. Don't even start with a nation - start even simpler by just modding a couple of items, monsters, or spells. I started with a new pretender!

Don't restrict your modded monsters/items/spells by nation. Don't worry about graphics - use the #copyspr to copy graphics from an existing unit (check out the various Units View maps to get the numbers).

Play and tweak.

That way, you can have a simple mod up and running in a few minutes. Then you can start building around a theme and get more ambitious.

[BandarLover]

I certainly plan on starting slow to get my feet wet. The last thing I want to do is jump right in and drown (which looks easy to do after attempting to read the mod file in the Dom 3 CD). As for ambitous, well the idea I have is certainly that. In fact, I'm not even sure it feasible but I wanna try at least.

If more questions or problems pop up I'll certainly post here again. You guys are fast and willing with the advise and I appreciate it.

[Foodstamp]

I have another suggestion for modding entire nations. When I first started working on my nation (Haida Gwaii), I opened a Dominions 2 nation mod called Ashikaga Shogunate and basically copied the structure of this mod by Potatoman while making my mod.

The way Potatoman formatted that mod is similar to what order the modding command sections are listed in the Dom3 modding pdf. So I was able to just follow along with his mod opened side by side with mine and know exactly what commands I needed to use to make units, weapons and the nation specific functions.

Without using an existing mod as a reference, it would have been a nightmare to try to structure the mod with any semblance of order. The modding commands for Dom3 are alot more varied and complex, so once I was finished with the core part of the mod which is similar to dom2, I just plugged in areas for starting magic sites, spells and other new features where I felt appropriate.

So my final format looks like this:

1. Mod Info
2. Weapons/Armor
3. Units
4. Commanders
5. Summons
6. National Heroes
7. Pretenders
8. Existing Pretenders
9. Spells
10. Magic Sites
11. Nation

I hope maybe some of this information is help with your ambitious project.

[paradoxharbinger]

i've decided to create that unit editor. it's actually pretty far along already, thanks to the wonders of visual c#. i'll start a separate thread for those who are interested

[BandarLover]

O.K. I said starting out that I would be asking a lot of stupid questions and here is the first.

Been toying with modding. Taking the suggestion to copy another DM file and change some small things in it, which I am doing.

Uhmm...I can't save it as a DM file though. Notepad only saves it as a txt and won't let me manually save it as a .DM

What am I doing wrong?

[Ballbarian]

You should be able to select "Save As" from the "File" menu and change the three letter file extension from the dialog manually. The "Save As Type" field will still be text, but that's ok, it is still a text file, you just want to change the extension.

An alternative is to go ahead and save it with the txt extension, then rename the file manually by right clicking on the file and selecting "rename" from the pop up menu. Again, the goal is to change ".txt" to ".dm".

[Gandalf Parker]

You are right. Notepad has gotten abit too "user friendly" in trying to keep you from making mistakes. You can rename it to just .dm after you save it, and tell MS "yes I really really want to". After that the save should allow to the same file name with no problem.

In some ways I find WordPad to be less obnoxious if you have a machine that doesnt bog down with the very slight extra abilities of it.

[paradoxharbinger]

quick note, the unit maker has been released, the link is in my sig

[BandarLover]

*heavy sigh* I'm simply not getting this and I know it's cause I'm doing something wrong. GRR!

Let me break it down:

I'm taking Sombre's advise and copying the Haida Gwaii dm. Instead of copying over it, I'm trying to use it as a template, giving me 2 Haida dms. I save the one I am doing to name of new nation, add new description, etc. Just to see if I can get it to appear in my mod preferences so I know if I'm on the right track. Save as "newnation.dm". Still says it is a text file, which I suppose is fine, it's just that everyone else's shows up as DM file. Nothing in my mod preferences when I launch game. I've also created a new folder in my mods titled the new nation, and just copy/pasted Haida's tga's into it.

I've tried what Ballbarian and Gandalf suggested as well, with the same results. So where have I gone wrong? I'm just trying to get it to show up in the mods and can't get it to work.

Paradox: I've not yet downloaded your unit maker yet,just waiting until I get this sorted out I guess. Interesting side note (or not), I've recently discovered an Irish rock band called Paradox that I quite enjoy. They sound kinda Silverchair-ish. Very grungey.

Oh yes, almost forgot, I've also tried creating a new game, thinking perhaps the mod pref still thinks Haidais my mod, but it's not in the nations list there either. Just in case someone suggests trying that. Guess I'm being preemptive.