Any information? - Endless Space 2

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Romeo

Literary Transformer

Never shift in to reverse without a backup plan.

Romeo

Literary Transformer

9 years ago

Aug 11, 2016, 4:58:58 PM

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?

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TheSeaItIsStillViolent

Finder

Understanding sentience is the key to immortality.

TheSeaItIsStillViolent

Finder

9 years ago

Aug 17, 2016, 9:23:34 AM

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

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Romeo

Literary Transformer

Never shift in to reverse without a backup plan.

Romeo

Literary Transformer

9 years ago

Aug 17, 2016, 3:46:31 PM

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.

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mattelollol

Newcomer

Mathias.Cristianson

mattelollol

Newcomer

9 years ago

Aug 21, 2016, 3:15:19 PM

C34H32N4O4Fe wrote:
As long as an SDK is not Windows-only, I'm happy.

Yeah

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Mulchmeat

Resilient Cosmonaut

Kill me.

Mulchmeat

Resilient Cosmonaut

9 years ago

Aug 22, 2016, 3:15:09 AM

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.

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Zennock

Meat Officer

Do you know that spiders blow up when they explode?

Zennock

Meat Officer

9 years ago

Aug 24, 2016, 10:17:50 AM

Even if there is modding, I'm worried that it might end up like Endless Legends. I'm no expert but the modding scene doesn't seem particularly active.

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Romeo

Literary Transformer

Never shift in to reverse without a backup plan.

Romeo

Literary Transformer

9 years ago

Aug 31, 2016, 5:05:57 PM

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.

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exelsisxax

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exelsisxax

Newcomer

9 years ago

Sep 2, 2016, 8:49:49 PM

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.

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Romeo

Literary Transformer

Never shift in to reverse without a backup plan.

Romeo

Literary Transformer

9 years ago

Sep 12, 2016, 3:40:45 PM

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.

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Mokinokaro

Addict

"The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long."

Mokinokaro

Addict

9 years ago

Sep 15, 2016, 12:58:08 PM

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

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Romeo

Literary Transformer

Never shift in to reverse without a backup plan.

Romeo

Literary Transformer

9 years ago

Sep 23, 2016, 11:26:28 PM

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).

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DEVSpaceTroll

Creative Director

DEVSpaceTroll

Creative Director

9 years ago

Oct 5, 2016, 12:59:02 PM

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

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Romeo

Literary Transformer

Never shift in to reverse without a backup plan.

Romeo

Literary Transformer

9 years ago

Oct 6, 2016, 4:59:06 PM

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.

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Galanthein

Penumbra Academy

Galanthein

Penumbra Academy

9 years ago

Oct 8, 2016, 1:39:20 PM

Hello !

We often find recurring patterns in mod creations for games :

Skins mods : want to play with X-Wings on StarDrive2 ? Easy
Alternate mods : a set of new elements, all using existing assets of game ; objective is to build a specific coherent uniserve on existing game mechanics such as "A Song of Ice and Fire" mod for EuropaUniversalisIV
New content mods : more intersting : give modders access to all informations already presented to the player (without necessarily access to the source code) to allow them to build new original contents. Those mods really extends the game (in a certain limit of course) and allow to build new mechanics and strategies. Factorio allows such modifications, without, as all is plain text, access to an SDK

For ES2, from the games i've already completed, i would say that skin and alternate mods would be a waste : excellent art direction and lores.

As gameplay mechanics are really good for now (even if some of them, like forced truces, are just fun killers), as a modder, i really would like to extend them for new content.

For instance, as political issues are such importants, maybe extend this with more actions for elections (influence of major companies for instance) or implement an education system (basically buildings for wich bonuses and costs would be related to global context and would grow over time)

Updated 9 years ago.

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BlueberryMuffin

Newcomer

BlueberryMuffin

Newcomer

9 years ago

Oct 9, 2016, 8:55:51 AM

@ Galantheim I would still say there is a lot of potential for "Skin/Modell Mods". Adding unique Faction Ships for all Minor Factions for instance, adding more variety to hero ships, changing color schemes or custom paintjobs for hero ships per faction, etc.

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

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