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What Does It Take to Mod, and Will My Comp Handle It?

By Tharios on February 23, 2009 12:53:16 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Tharios

Join Date 02/2008
+2

I've seen all the modding going on, and there are plenty of conversions that are getting my interest.  There are some games though that I think are being left out.  I've been thinking about taking a shot at them myself, but while I'm computer savvy, I am not necessarily computer literate.  I like tech...but I'm no tech-head.  So...I'll need all advice in "Cap'n Dummy talk."

So, these are my questions...what's really involved in modding, what programs do I need, making the models, altering parameters, etc...and will my computer be able to handle those programs and the work without lagging and crashing like the previous presidential administration?

My computer's specs are as follows:

MS Win XP Professional v2002 w/ SP3, Intel Pentium 4 3.00GHz, 1.00GB RAM, 26.1 GB free HDD space, Nvidia GEFORCE 6200 256 MB memory, 130 Mbps internet connection.

Those are the basics, if there are other relevant specs that would help to know, let me know and I'll try to find out what I can.

Also...are there no mods, for the latest version of Sins?  I've seen posts and replies elsewhere that people want to downgrade back to 1.05 because they miss the Mods.

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Reply #1
ice27828
Join Date 12/2008
+33
February 23, 2009 1:08:24 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

That should be enough to mod

What Program to use to model: I don't know of any

What program to use to edit entity files: I know there is a program on the forums that will allow you to edit entity files and save as entity files

What program to create graphics: I would imigine Photoshop or something like it

Sound: could use existing sound or record some of your own, Audacity is one of the best

I like your subtle comment on bush

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Reply #2
StCobalt
Join Date 02/2008
+21
February 23, 2009 6:52:56 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

well modeling is a diffrent story, the general moding od sins is all text base so if you can run notepad you can mod. as far as texturing goes, photoshop and gimp are a little more demanding.

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Reply #3
Annatar11
Join Date 11/2006
+527
February 23, 2009 6:58:44 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Also...are there no mods, for the latest version of Sins? I've seen posts and replies elsewhere that people want to downgrade back to 1.05 because they miss the Mods.

Most mods work with 1.1 and its little kids (1.11-1.14). As far as I know, the only mod that hasn't been updated yet is 7 Deadly Sins?

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Reply #4
doberman211
Join Date 11/2008
+1
February 23, 2009 3:02:34 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

What about SoaGE (starwars) and homeworld mods. i want those two and 7DS.

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Reply #5
Tharios
Join Date 02/2008
+2
February 23, 2009 4:59:22 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Well, it's good to know all that at least.

I assume by photoshop people mean adobe photoshop?

I think I need to reiterate how little I actually know.  I know windows, I know how to type, I know some file types, and I know how to use paint and similar tools.  I'm also pretty good about figuring things out...once I have a reference point for understanding what it is they actually do.  That's it...I don't know what the names of programs are, or what they do, or how many different kinds there are.  lol

I may not get into modeling, but it's not inconcievable.  There are how-tos on modding elsewhere, but I've never been confident in those, so opinions on whether they're actually usefull would be helpful too.

Thanks so far though everyone.

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Reply #6
Annatar11
Join Date 11/2006
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February 23, 2009 5:27:35 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Well, in the Sins mod tools download there's a basic tutorial (sins_modset.pdf) that explains the mod structure for Sins, how to set it up, and walks you through editing a few files so you can see how that works. Everything is modified with Notepad (or Notepad++ if you're one of the cool people ), and the tutorial will give you a decent starting point to start experimenting.

For modeling, the game's models were designed with Softimage XSI, and it takes custom models in XSI as well. There is a free (but slightly limited) version available to use (http://www.softimage.com/products/modtool/). The company's goal was basically to provide a tool for people to mod games. So it's got everything you need for that, it's just missing some commercial features that you wouldn't need to worry about anyway. There are video tutorials for it on that page, as well, and there's another tutorial in the Sins mod tools that walks you through setting up an XSI model for import into Sins.

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Reply #7
Tharios
Join Date 02/2008
+2
February 24, 2009 2:35:18 AM from Sins of a Solar Empire Forums Sins of a Solar Empire Forums

Now THAT was extremely helpful.  Here you go Annatar, have a karma.

Thank you.

Everyone still feel free to give pointers and stuff.  If I start modding, I'll make a thread about my project and I'll post a link to it here...assuming I get comfortable with the task.

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