Calling all modders

[sillytuna]

So I'm starting to think about how to make the new pc version more suited to modding than it currently is.  Unfortunately I'm not familiar with the original scripts and modding options. From what I do know it was quite flexible (I have seen Alex's guide/chat to him).

So, what I'd like to know is what kind of things people like to do in their mods, and what requests they have.

Anyone who has made a mod for the iOS version will have a good idea of what the new one can and can't do.

I'm also wondering about other ways to support modders, such as a better way to share, rate, and play levels or even entire stories, maybe in game or through a website. I'm not sure if apple will allow us to do this on iOS but on PC maybe we can do something in the future if enough people are interested.

I can't promise anything at the moment, and mod support may come through updates, but the more I know now the more we can plan!

[Pilchard123]

http://www.dyson-game.com/smf/index.php?topic=1219.0
http://www.dyson-game.com/smf/index.php?topic=1387.0

That's to name just a few, but perhaps just a little nearer the higher end of them. Most of the stuff annikk did was using stuff that wasn't in originally, though. TBH, I'd be happy with just basic modding support that gets bigger as time goes on.

[Lost Seedling]

Here are some old related threads. Interesting how some of these were later implemented!

http://www.dyson-game.com/smf/index.php?topic=712.0

http://www.dyson-game.com/smf/index.php?topic=1211.0

And of course this monster:

http://www.dyson-game.com/smf/index.php?topic=3.0

It would be nice if there were some centralized source for posting and finding mods. This link http://www.dyson-game.com/smf/index.php?topic=1200.0 was a good start but obviously not sufficiently updated.

[sillytuna]

More suggestions please!

Got vague thoughts about a level editor (in the distant future) and allowing entire level sets at the moment...

Would definitely like to integrate custom levels (finding, downloading, rating) in the app itself.

[Rudolf]

I will have quite a few editor suggestions for you Alex :-D

On a related note, as utterly awesome as the mods have been, people haven't touched visuals of seedlings and other Euflorian life forms and objects that much yet.  I think however that AMAZING things can be created with only a few values and textures exposed.

[Lost Seedling]

..people haven't touched visuals of seedlings and other Euflorian life forms and objects that much yet...

"Yet?". Are you implying that it is currently possible to alter or modify the appearance of these things? If so, I wish I knew how! If not, that would indeed be a very welcome capability for modders in the future.     

[sillytuna]

I don't think you can do that in the original but rudolf will tell me if i'm wrong.

I am working on that code next week though so I can start exposing variables... Main issue is trying to avoid values which crash the app or cause other problems. Some of the code is quite tightly integrated and exposing them may take a lot of related work.

[Rudolf]

I am pretty sure Alex exposed some rendering stuff. He showed me some examples of c
New visuals people can create, but I am not sure how much of that actually made it into the game.
I will check with him.

However, There is a lot that can be exposed I reckon.

[Alex]

I gave people the ability to draw. This did allow people to add their own visuals to what's there already, but you had to know where the thing was that you wanted to draw on, and you couldn't alter the existing graphics. So for instance, annikk.exe created a starfield and various other things. You'd have to keep track of each seedling you wanted to draw over in your own lua code, which isn't sensible. It was good for UIs.

Also these drawing routines were not ported over into the PS3 or iOS versions, as it wasn't deemed necessary and time was short. So they would need to be reimplemented.

I would say a good thing to do would be to allow seedlings or perhaps a more basic game entity class to substitute their render or update functions with a lua function. In this way the modders would have total control over a game entity.

[sillytuna]

Good idea batman. It's like you know this game or something

I had been mulling over the idea of a generic entity which could be handled from lua only tho I think this would have to wait until a future version/sequel rather than the current eufloria hd. I can foresee various issues without some tweaking at the moment. Saves will also be very easy to break with inappropriate scripting.

The list of 'wants' is building

Rudolf, have you designed a sequel yet?

Multiplayer, editor, proper custom user level/campaign system, and modding additions are all on the list!

[Aino]

If you need help, I can help... It seems I got a lot of free time this summer

But... where did you get the source, Alex?
Also, if you can: add a layer rendering system, that things are rendered layer by layer, making overlapping an avail to modders... if that takes too much effort, just add a PreRender function(executed before asteroids & game entities are rendered) and call the current render function PostRender or something. It will work just like the other render, but allows for things like Annikk's starfield and things you would like behind an asteroid to be rendered without consuming tons of CPU power and to be easier to code.

[Lost Seedling]

I would say a good thing to do would be to allow seedlings or perhaps a more basic game entity class to substitute their render or update functions with a lua function. In this way the modders would have total control over a game entity.

I don't know what that means, but I've found using the Draw functions to a certain degree has a crippling effect on framerate. The rendering of "game entities" obviously does not suffer that problem. What you're saying would seem to indicate the opposite of what would be desired- the ability to draw and render/update without the current limitations on game performance caused by the Draw functions. I'm probably misunderstanding your statement, though.

Nevertheless, as beautiful as the game is in it's visual simplicity, I certainly would like to have ways to alter it's appearance and create more varied and stimulating imagery.

[Rudolf]

Rudolf, have you designed a sequel yet?

Multiplayer, editor, proper custom user level/campaign system, and modding additions are all on the list!

Yeah, all the ideas and mechanics that did not make it into the original game. :-D

There were some wacky ones too, like, on taking down an enemy tree the game view would switch to the inside of an asteroid, which consisted of a WHOLE NEW GENERATED LEVEL, where the player would play a game similar to tower defense.
We also talked about the level select screen actually being a galaxy, and clusters of space would get into reach of each other just like asteroids offer a sphere of influence in the levels. So in that case the level progress would be completely non linear.
We also talked about modifiable seedlings, and that players could launch a mother tree into new areas of space, with the seedlings they had modified already, into tough new areas.
Then there was the idea to allow the player to keep on playing after conquering a full level, but rather than conflict based it would be a number of mechanics that mean they could create new seedlings/trees/flower types by recombining and splicing. Evolutionary gardening really.

I can go on for a few pages with other ideas I had?

[Bonobo]

I can go on for a few pages with other ideas I had?

Oh, please do, Rudolf, I find this fascinating, and the more wondrous things you tell, the more we all might want to have them in the sequel, NOW, and for OS X and iOS, too

[Pilchard123]

So are those ones you posted just the wacky ones, or are they ones that didn't get into the original game? Or both, either way.