Given that the previous games have all supported modding (Most relevantly, Endless Space), and this section exists, can we get any kind of information on what we're looking at for modding?

What we'll we have access to?

The previous Endless Space allowed to access most of the written code, and numbers. This allowed us to tweak gameplay, or add to pre-existing lists, but ultimately was very limiting in other areas. Notably, anything to do with the videos, or UI, couldn't be modified without getting crazy.

How will we be modding?

Again, last time around, it was through opening up and adjusting XMLs. While this is fairly straight-forward, it is time-consuming, prone to errors and limiting. An SDK would be appreciated, even just in basic form. Dawn of War used XML modifications back in the day, but there was an SDK out with it that showed where the links in the XMLs went, and alerted you to errors.

Are updates going to overwrite mods?

I won't speak on behalf of others, but for me, this is what killed my enthusiasm. When a mod affected a certain value, and an update affected that value differently, the update generally took precedence. This meant that each update caused a litany of errors and crashes that needed fixing before resuming progress. Any way to make mods take priority over updated values this time around?

As long as an SDK is not Windows-only, I'm happy.

Assuming we get one. Bare in mind the previous games didn't.

Heck at this point I'm more curious to know what we even can mod.

C34H32N4O4Fe wrote:

As long as an SDK is not Windows-only, I'm happy.

Yeah

Romeo wrote:

Assuming we get one. Bare in mind the previous games didn't.

Heck at this point I'm more curious to know what we even can mod.

As long as we can mod in our own factions with unique art and starship designs I'm good.

I never even attempted to mod Endless Legend, but I know with Endless Space, what killed my modding desires was constantly having to redo my work after each update. Still, would love to know what we're looking at for ES2 so I can start planning.

A strong modding community is one of the best things there is for a game's longevity, and I really hope that ES2 can improve greatly on both ES and EL. Those methods had significant power (compared to similar titles like DWU, galciv, civ, stardrive) but damn they were annoying and cumbersome as hell. I can make GC3 ship components or starbase modules in 10 seconds, but equipment in EL is more of a 5-minute job. 

I would immensely enjoy being able to mod with the ease that I can GC3, while still being able to make huge fundamental changes. 

Same thing with Dawn of War would be aces in my eyes. Want to make a squad? You can ping off a basic numbers change (IE, Guardsmen in to Conscripts) in about five minutes. Want to do something bespoke and amazing? You can go as in depth as you want.

Going by the menu shown in previews there's Steam Workshop support so I'd suspect the game is much more open.

That's great news! Even if it's still just XML Edits, I'll be happy if there's a basic program to help guide what those edits do (Such as the Mod Kit for Dawn of War).

Hello guys,

We will do everything we can to have steam workshop at release. You should expect to be able to mod at least all gameplay elements in the game at release as well. 

ships modding may not be ready by then. 

cheers

ST

SpaceTroll wrote:

Hello guys,

We will do everything we can to have steam workshop at release. You should expect to be able to mod at least all gameplay elements in the game at release as well. 

ships modding may not be ready by then. 

cheers

ST

Really appreciate the reply, thanks SpaceTroll!

Can't wait to finish work and get my claws in to the game.

And of course integrating new custom factions with their own ships, quests and unique abilities.