I love to mod and i had been doing that for Skyrim and Oblivion, from making houses and all the way to writing books

My head is full of creativity and random humor so what i just need is some time and then i'm set to infinity and beyond!

I was just thinking that if everything mod-able is handled through XML, then even if the Dev team don't manage to get a Mod Tool up and running, there's nothing stopping the mod community itself from creating one... I'm just saying, XML is incredibly easy to work with and modify from a program stand-point, so...



Also, I looked through the ES folder in Steam, and though I found XML for the AI and the Galaxy creator, I couldn't find anything for the factions, or the tech tree, or the upgrades/buildings/ship components/etc. Is there another folder for these somewhere else, or some compressed/bundled flie that needs to be uncompressed to get these?



Perhaps I just haven't found the right thread yet, if so, please show me a link to where I want to go Mr Wizard!

Hi all, first post. Seems like a nice community here, something sorely lacking across the Internet these days. Or maybe I'm just getting older and noticing it more. XD



Anyway, I am quite amazed by the progress of this game given it's still only in alpha stage and we're already discussing mods! In light of this (and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks so) I would ask only one option be included - the option to exceed the 'standard' number of factions permitted in one world, sort of like CivV did. That was my one and only criticism with GalCiv2 - you could max out the number of factions active at any one time (sure, I modded the minor races to practically be majors but they still miss key ingredients like influence etc).



So I would humbly request that, while there might only be 8-or-however-many 'races' (ship designs, tech trees etc), could there please be scope to have more individual 'players' kicking around the campaign map? Or, that that be mod-able into the game? If it's already there, I already love you guys a little more! :P

I would be greatly interested in creating a static galaxy for single player with a unique, evolving storyline that unfolds as you explore the galaxy. Perhaps I could even create such a mod for each race (faction) in the game. That would be absolutely awesome. I would, however, need some help with the project. Anyone who is interested, feel free to reply to this post and we'll talk when modding capabilities are unlocked by the developers.

EvilVictor wrote:
First time I've ever been sold on a game by a forum post from a troll

lol

Hi all,



I have read many questions about modding in Endless Space, so I wanted to update you on the subject. This is rather technical, but I know some of you are



Modding has been a consideration ever since the project was just a few lines of text in a design document. We understand how important it is for our community.



Obviously, a 4X Game offers many modding options, and we have built our game content as some kind of "default "mode. Modding could happen on different parts of the game: galaxy generation, game simulation, economic simulation rules, AI behavior, or even images and 3D models.



Right now, here is where we stand:

Our galaxy generator is an external library, written in C# code. You feed it with an xml definition file (the generation options parameters), the selected settings (which galaxy, how many stars etc), and it produces a big xml file describing the galaxy. This xml file is then used by the game engine to create the universe. Galaxy shapes can also be edited simply to produce new shapes. It is our intent to give you the galaxy generation code so that you can change it as you wish, simply rebuild the library and share it with others.

The game simulation, which runs many variables to describe a galactic empire in all its aspects, it defined and computed by xml files containing our "Descriptor" system. A descriptor system is a data and computation declaration, which can be used for a vast number of purposes : define data (how much food my building produces), filtering (to build this, I need that), and of course operations (additive, multiplicative, etc). Some games allow you to edit content in the form of data parameters, others allow you to rewrite the code entirely. Both approaches have advantages and drawbacks (such as performance and stability), but we think we have met both ends with our descriptor system, which a way to create computational data. Most of the rules for computing the economic simulation is therefors defined in a data file, not hard coded. Of course, we can open more API into the code to expand the possibilities of what descriptors can do (although it is already going to be huge with our initial quantity of faction traits), and we can even consider opening the code in the future.

Modifying this data is one step, but you will want to create new elements. This is possible with this system, which should allow to create elements such as new system improvements, ship modules, heroes, resources, and many more. The only caveat concerns the link to graphical data, as described below.

AI can also be a huge aspect of modding. Right now, we are finishing implementing the last high level code for the AI. The architecture seems to be satisfying, but we have exposed tons of parameters to finely tune the AI during the upcoming months (and we will need your help). I believe these parameters could also be exposed to mod the AI behavior.

Adding new graphical / sound assets is more complex (although not impossible). We are discussing with Unity people (the technology we are using) what is the best way to incorporate new content that is not in the original project. Right now, Unity builds everything in a large asset bundle, so we must find the best way to add/take into account new files or bundles. More info on that soon.

Regarding the form that this modding could take, we still are in the progress of defining how it will be delivered and selected by the user. Some games offer a "one mod at a time" selection policy, some others allow you activate more than one at the same time. For the sake of stability and clarity, we will opt for the "one mod at a time" policy, and let the community merge popular mods in one bundle.



Thanks for your time!

SpaceTroll wrote:
Sure if you know any modders that would be interested, they are most welcome, and I am sure the game can only benefit from their early presence.

As you can see from Math post, we take modding very seriously.

First time I've ever been sold on a game by a forum post from a troll

lyravega wrote:
This is great.



As a modder myself, first thing I'd do would be adding a supply system; to cap max amount of CP (ships) you can have on active duty at one time. To balance this out, I'd tweak all ship HP and defenses, leading to longer battles. Inactive ships also take a bit of supply, so you cannot have infinite reserves. As your fleets are much more valuable now, adding a retreat card would complement all of these.



And then I'll try to add system defense forces, ships incapable of travelling to another star, protecting where they've been built. And then some stations maybe... But I think (hope) those will be in the game on release anyway

System defence forces, like.. Weaponized satellites?

Anyhow, I come from a long SoaSE background (was a beta tester, and later an active player), the fact that you're serious about modders is great to hear.

AmpliMath wrote:

The game simulation, which runs many variables to describe a galactic empire in all its aspects, it defined and computed by xml files containing our "Descriptor" system. A descriptor system is a data and computation declaration, which can be used for a vast number of purposes : define data (how much food my building produces), filtering (to build this, I need that), and of course operations (additive, multiplicative, etc). Some games allow you to edit content in the form of data parameters, others allow you to rewrite the code entirely. Both approaches have advantages and drawbacks (such as performance and stability), but we think we have met both ends with our descriptor system, which a way to create computational data. Most of the rules for computing the economic simulation is therefors defined in a data file, not hard coded. Of course, we can open more API into the code to expand the possibilities of what descriptors can do (although it is already going to be huge with our initial quantity of faction traits), and we can even consider opening the code in the future.

Modifying this data is one step, but you will want to create new elements. This is possible with this system, which should allow to create elements such as new system improvements, ship modules, heroes, resources, and many more. The only caveat concerns the link to graphical data, as described below.

This is great.



As a modder myself, first thing I'd do would be adding a supply system; to cap max amount of CP (ships) you can have on active duty at one time. To balance this out, I'd tweak all ship HP and defenses, leading to longer battles. Inactive ships also take a bit of supply, so you cannot have infinite reserves. As your fleets are much more valuable now, adding a retreat card would complement all of these.



And then I'll try to add system defense forces, ships incapable of travelling to another star, protecting where they've been built. And then some stations maybe... But I think (hope) those will be in the game on release anyway

I was thinking the same. I'm a great fan of Star Trek. There was a Star Trek mod for Civilization 4 which I used to play quite a lot, and there were never any copyright issues or anything.

gunnergoz wrote:
Will it eventually be possible modders (not me! but someone talented and savvy) to mod the game into something like the Star Trek universe? Just as a flavor mod, so there is no copyright issue? Can the ships graphics be altered in such mods? This is not a deal breaker for me but the game is so neat as it stands that I had to ask...

Well , as far as i know it is possible to mod with no copyright issues . I must say it's more likely it can be done ( about 95% sure ) thought it takes to redesign whole ship or even whole fleet , but it can be done ^^

Will it eventually be possible modders (not me! but someone talented and savvy) to mod the game into something like the Star Trek universe? Just as a flavor mod, so there is no copyright issue? Can the ships graphics be altered in such mods? This is not a deal breaker for me but the game is so neat as it stands that I had to ask...

What are the chances on scripting language support? Like Lua?

This is good news

Taking a look at the modding capabilities of a game like this is definitely of interest. Thanks for sharing the information. I'll be sure to keep updated!



I modded Civilization 4 quite extensively, and we had to wade through all those massive files of XML opened in good ole NotePad, so I have some experience in XML already. Those were the days

I think that it would be possible. We just need to know how this tech tree is created.

What about research? Will it be possible to create new tech trees or add new tech trees to the existing ones?