What do we know about modding X-Rebirth?

[LV]

Given how large the modding community is here, for Egosoft to not release modding tools with the release of the game would be a huge slap in the face to the modding community.

I must admit my feelings are close to ob's and apricots here but that is because i have 0 knowledge of the project.

I know through experience that bernd has always been 100% behind 3rd party work which is why i have put so much time and effort in the past into the game behind the scenes.

In x2/TR it was my cheat pack, TC cycrows and tbh they are not there as cheats but dev tools, I would assume whoever is working on rebirth will create one for the same reasons we did and release asap.

Holding things back from the ego modding development end in addition to a "cheat pack" would come across as a touch "my precious" and i'd be surprised if that happened unless there were devs who harboured ill feeling towards the 3rd party community (this i find very improbable)

The established modding community has been built on sharing and working together, holding anything back for the sake of it would not be accepted, therefore any wait would have to be for legitimate reasons

Looking at it rationally i think most of the worries i have are caused by my own feelings here, i'm becoming the old man of scripting, an art soon to be dead in the water and i don't know if this old dog can be bothered to learn new tricks, especially as there are so many young upstarts around filling the gaps before i've even thought of them these days.

I just hope the wheel which is being re-invented works better than the old, soon to be obsolete one does

Interesting times

[s9ilent]

w.r.t Ego releasing modding tools and the like

I did always think that it was a bit odd that that Ego never released any tools. Even the MSCI manual was not from ego.

I just hope that they will release lots of documentation soon after the release (I'd love it before, but I'm sure there are probably constraints preventing this, e.g. financial/time), so information doesn't get "lost" as the game ages.
As in x3, there are still a few things which no body really knows how it works. (e.g. collision avoidance was only "worked out" 2~ months ago, no body knows why inventory works the way it does, why some missile flags work with other flags but not with others - why some don't work at all etc.), and the general understanding from Ego is that no one really knows the answer, as it was produced a long time ago.

[apricotslice]

i don't know if this old dog can be bothered to learn new tricks,

That about sums it up.

I've already proved the MD is hopelessly beyond me. Anything that is based around the same sort of coding design is definitely "new tricks", and I'm way too long in the tooth now for learning them.

[Observe]

While reading this interview (Google translated) I see reference to changes affecting model design worth noting:

For instance there, is no longer a mesh for the entire ship, but many small ones for the individual properties of space cruisers or stations.

I wonder if this means ships and stations can be assembled and changed in-game based on modules/components?

[Targ Collective]

Observe! Necromancy? You should know better.

[Observe]

Observe! Necromancy? You should know better.

If you mean in terms of reviving an old thread, I thought best keeping this one on-subject rather than creating a new one based on a small piece of information.

[Ketraar]

And you did the right thing.

MFG

Ketraar

[Rednoahl]

Observe! Necromancy? You should know better.

If you mean in terms of reviving an old thread, I thought best keeping this one on-subject rather than creating a new one based on a small piece of information.

This thread has been of much more value to me than the ones in the X-universe forum. The main one got so negative I barred myself from posting.

For instance there, is no longer a mesh for the entire ship, but many small ones for the individual properties of space cruisers or stations.

I wonder if this means ships and stations can be assembled and changed in-game based on modules/components?

That's what I think it means, judging by what I've seen. What I'm wondering is if there will be a damage model needed to be done for every bit you create.

[Observe]

What I'm wondering is if there will be a damage model needed to be done for every bit you create.

Interesting idea! If so, I wonder what other kinds of in-game switching model meshes may be possible based on dynamic event triggers (e.g. laser "fire on the bridge") or even programmatically changing meshes?

[AgamemnonArgon]

It will be very interesting to actually go out and purchase the game, and then load it for the first time.
MODDING is not my field, but I will be interested in what form, and how fast the MODs arrive, as I don't wish to fly one ship only.

[apricotslice]

The pre-requisite for mods, is the release of the tools. And its been said that these will not be available with the release of the game. So how long it takes for mods to appear is dependent on when they release the tools.

[Alee Enn]

Forgive my ignorance, modding and scripting are not my field as some of you may know,
but aren't the current custom ships made in a 3D modelling program like Blender and then exported and converted to work in X3TC?

And will this method still be the norm for X:Rebirth?

Is the tool to convert an exported file from a 3D modelling program one of the pre-requisite for mods apricotslice mentioned?

[Litcube]

Well, I think if the community waited for modding tools to be released for the X3 series, we'd still be waiting. Egosoft has never released a single modding tool for any of the X3 games. Everything you see, aside from scripts from the built in MSCI, came from the community itself.

[apricotslice]

Forgive my ignorance, modding and scripting are not my field as some of you may know,
but aren't the current custom ships made in a 3D modelling program like Blender and then exported and converted to work in X3TC?

And will this method still be the norm for X:Rebirth?

Is the tool to convert an exported file from a 3D modelling program one of the pre-requisite for mods apricotslice mentioned?

If anything, thats likely the only part that remains the same. The models will likely use the same tools.

But scripts wont exist. And the equivalent of X3Editor and ModManager wont be released with the game. So adding in new ships wont be possible until they are released.

[apricotslice]

Well, I think if the community waited for modding tools to be released for the X3 series, we'd still be waiting. Egosoft has never released a single modding tool for any of the X3 games. Everything you see, aside from scripts from the built in MSCI, came from the community itself.

I guess that puts the pressure on DS to get his tools updated asap after release.

[Observe]

...aren't the current custom ships made in a 3D modelling program like Blender and then exported and converted to work in X3TC? And will this method still be the norm for X:Rebirth?

It is confirmed Rebirth models are created using 3DS Max - same as previous X-games. This is fortunate because X-game modelers are familiar with that program.

As far as we know, the similarities between Rebirth and X3, stops with the modeling program (3DS Max) and we will need new tools to export from 3DS into a format compatible with Rebirth. That's where new tools will be required.

Regarding scripting, we know Rebirth uses a form of Mission Director (XML). This is fortunate for those of us who are already familiar with X3 Mission Director. New tools will not be required in this case.

Considering game release has been delayed until 2012, I'm hoping this means the necessary modeling tools will be available at time of release or very soon thereafter.

[apricotslice]

I hadnt seen about the delay. We can only hope that is a help.

Personally I hope someone does a version of the cheat pack and has it out on release. At the least.

I've already found I cant program the mission director. Make a few cosmetic alterations, sure. But get it to do anything, not a hope.

I find the whole nested structure a total nightmare. And the way it handles its cues is totally beyond my understanding.

I'm too old for learning a new programming language.

[Gavrushka]

........I'm too old for learning a new programming language.

I can empaphise.... Bring back COBOL and Fortran...

[apricotslice]

........I'm too old for learning a new programming language.

I can empaphise.... Bring back COBOL and Fortran...

What do you mean bring them back ?

I still do cobol maintenance at least once a year.

Getting harder to though. Have to do it in a vista box now, since the program I use doesnt yet have a win7 version.

[Observe]

I've already found I cant program the mission director. Make a few cosmetic alterations, sure. But get it to do anything, not a hope.

Language preference is interesting because some people who hated the old scripting language love Mission Director. Readability of MD has a lot to do with the programmer. Admittedly much of the X3 MD code was extremely poorly constructed - but this doesn't mean it has to be that way.

Personally, I am looking forward to XML-based Mission Director replacing the old M.S.C.I scripting language and I look forward to modeling, modding, and Mission creation for Rebirth.