Mod help?

BandarLover · #1 March 14th, 2007, 10:02 PM

O.K. This may have been asked before, but I'm relatively new to the forum (Though not to the game franchise) Checking out and playing the different mods that have been made has gotten me itching to make one of my own. However, I haven't even a clue where to begin. I checked the Mod Tools and Tutorial thread, but there seem to be more tools for maps than anything else. Not to mention no tutorial to speak of. And when I say tutorial, I mean step by step, do this and that kind of thing. I'm totally comp. illiterate. All I use PC's for is gaming, surfing the net and (hopefully soon) uploading music.

So now my question. What exactly do I need to get this moding thing going? All I know for sure is a Paint program. And something to read .dm files. And has anyone written a step by step guide on what to do? I've read the modding document in the Dominions CD but it made my eyes glaze over and gave me a splitting headache and then I woke up on the floor naked.

Can anyone help a wannabe modder?

Sombre · #2 March 14th, 2007, 10:50 PM

This is what I use:

Paint Shop Pro for graphical editing.
Notepad for editing .dm files.

That's it. Seriously.

The first step to making your first mod is to have a skim throug the modding manual found in the docs folder in the dom3 install to see what's possible. Then start with a totally blank .dm file and fill in the bare minimum that you need to make the mod show up - the stuff right at the start of the modding manual. Then look at nation modding and select a nation which already exists in the game - change the name and the descriptions. Don't clear anything from the nation yet - this is just for practice.

Since you're working with a pre-existing nation you at least know that the mod is going to work and be playable - you can keep adding stuff in and eventually you can change a few bits of 'code' to make an entirely new nation. I suggest just making one or two new units which use sprites already in the game, maybe even stats already in the game (#copyspr and #copystats commands) just with some minor changes to their stats,... and then add them to the lineup of your 'replacement' nation's recruit screen,...

To be honest I think it's best to just stick to the mod manual as a reference, don't use any new graphics at first and look at what people have done in other .dm files to work out what you should be doing. Don't bee too ambitious until you know how to make weapons, armor, sites, monsters,.. maybe even spells. There's a lot you can do just by mixing and matching units already in the game. For example you could make a very simple mod with a big impact by making a new nation and giving it a recruiting lineup of all the heavy cavalry found in different vanilla nations.

Wish · #3 March 14th, 2007, 11:04 PM

i use open office for editing text, but I also use paintshop pro for graphics.

for instance the sphinx's in my small mod were basically abunch of photos i GISed put together.

Edi · #4 March 15th, 2007, 02:06 AM

I use Crimson Editor for text files (or the .dm files). A very powerful text editor for that sort of purpose, so much better than Notepad that I haven't used Notepad for years. Also allows you to keep severl files open in separate tabs at the same time.

For graphics that you might want to make, Paint, GIMP, PAintshop and other image processing programs, depending on what you want to do and how many features you need.

That, and reading the mod manual AND reading mod files somebody has already created (e.g. Juzza's Tarent mod, the Complete Balance mod or any other) to give you an idea of how to do it.

If you can use a text editor and know how to read instructions, you can mod the game. And you can always ask for more help here.

paradoxharbinger · #5 March 15th, 2007, 02:23 AM

i second crimson editor, though i still find uses for notepad

Sombre · #6 March 15th, 2007, 02:28 AM

I find it difficult to see how a text editor with more features than notepad is actually beneficial for editing .dm files. They are incredibly simple.

But hey, use whatever. It's just raw text editing after all.

Edi · #7 March 15th, 2007, 02:54 AM

Sombre, things like "find and replace", "find", changing case for words, lines etc. I've done a crapload of map editing and reading mods and so forth and the last thing I want is having no tools to quicken the process.

If you want an accurate comparison:

A 600 MHz Celeron with a Matrox G200 graphics card and 392 MB memory
A Core 2 Duo E6600 with Nvidia 7900GT graphics card and 2 GB memory

Both of those can run Dominions 3, but do you REALLY want to pick the first option if the second is available? Because Crimson Editor is nearly that much more powerful than Notepad. I'll take the steel knife and let others chip away with their flint-bladed stone age tools if they are so inclined. But I'm never going back to Notepad.

If you want to see what I'm talking about, download and install Crimson Editor and try it. Then tell me what you think. The program is freeware for personal use, so it'll not cost you anything. I've noticed you do a LOT of modding, so you could probably find use for some of the additional features. You don't absolutely NEED them, but they make things easier.

Sombre · #8 March 15th, 2007, 04:03 AM

Notepad has find and replace.

You can say it's much more powerful, but then Microsoft Word is also much more powerful than notepad - it doesn't mean it's any help modding .dm files,.. which is the only thing I use notepad for.

There are certain modding tools which would be very helpful and I'd like to see. For instance a prog that output a mod-ready version of a unit from the vanilla database. It would make changing the equipment of units that much easier. Or a full blown unit editor where you input fields, browse for pictures etc.

paradoxharbinger · #9 March 15th, 2007, 04:39 AM

a unit editor would be really sweet, even if it lacked a database of the in-game units and just allowed for creating new ones.

BandarLover · #10 March 15th, 2007, 08:53 AM

Very nice.

It's nice to know I just need stuff that's already on my comp. I'll prolly toy around with some of the things Sombre first posted. And I will check out the other programs as well.

I know it has been suggested that I not worry about custom graphics at first, but eventually I would like to. How do most of you modders go about this? Do you import graphics into your paint program or make them from scratch? Can you simply edit and add to some units already in game?

Thank you guys very much for the help. Who knows, I may just see this through and (hopefully) have something up here for others to check out.