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Moddable Flexibility

Recreate MoM with a MOD?

By ChongLi on July 15, 2009 2:32:45 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

ChongLi

Join Date 07/2009
+4

I'm a huge MoM fan and have been waiting years for a true sequel, which judging by the things I have read, may never happen.

Elemental, from what I now know, has been described as "inspired by MoM, yet very different" and also as "highly moddable". What I am wondering is if it will be moddable enough for the fans to recreate a near-perfect MoM clone (obviously with new graphics, sound, AI etc).

So, will it?  All of the spells, units, races, resources and special rules.  If it is moddable enough to do this, I will be a very happy camper.  It's also a very smart idea because Stardock cannot be held legally responsible for mods created by the users, so there will be no risk of liability.

If so, I not only will buy Elemental (and encourage all my friends to do so) but I will also spearhead the mod project to recreate MoM.

Please, help me out here.  

39 Replies
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Reply #26
Awac A
Join Date 03/2003
+2
July 16, 2009 3:50:53 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Its always nice if games can be modded. If it comes with a powerfull enough API anything should be possible.

Might be a motivation to learn Python.

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Reply #27
Scoutdog
Join Date 07/2008
+193
July 16, 2009 4:19:42 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Same here. I have tried and failed to teach myself Python, BASIC, and C++ over the past few years....

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Reply #28
GW Swicord
Join Date 10/2003
+159
July 16, 2009 4:43:46 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting ChongLi,
reply 24
I like the idea of creating items, MoM style.  I do not like the idea of creating spells.  I've seen many instances of the former done right and executed extremely well.  I have never seen the latter done so well.

I think it really comes down to complexity.  Items are simple, predictable and can be broken down into discrete categories based on use.  Spells are far more complex, unpredictable and varied and attempting to give them the same treatment as items leads to a boring, generic spell system (a la Elder Scrolls series).

I would have responded to Scott's earlier post about the item editor maybe being external if I could have put my objection as well as this. If Elemental is to be a 'good' child of MoM, it really should have an in-game item creator based on a spell system that can't be modified during a given game.

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Reply #29
KellenDunk
Join Date 10/2008
+15
July 16, 2009 6:52:57 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Scoutdog,
reply 2
Same here. I have tried and failed to teach myself Python, BASIC, and C++ over the past few years....

Once you learn to think like a programmer it becomes much easier to understand any languages.

Might I inquire your methods for trying to teach yourself?

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Reply #30
Scoutdog
Join Date 07/2008
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July 16, 2009 7:00:52 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Might I ingquire your methods for trying to teach yourself?
Books my parents get me for Christmas when they don't want to buy game consoles.

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Reply #31
GW Swicord
Join Date 10/2003
+159
July 16, 2009 7:22:34 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Scoutdog,
reply 5
... Books my parents get me for Christmas when they don't want to buy game consoles.

That's your parents trying to teach you, which is not at all a bad thing, but would pale in comparison to you taking charge of your own education. If the books they gave you piqued your interest but didn't teach you enough, why didn't you try to find better books?

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Reply #32
Scoutdog
Join Date 07/2008
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July 16, 2009 7:46:40 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

I did. None of them were able to hold my interest for very long, and eventually the hobby became too expensive to continue. Picked up the attempt a few times, but was too busy with school, life, gaming, etc. to make much headway. I imagine if I was really committed to it, I would have learned by now . My parents got me the original books after I expressed an interest.

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Reply #33
KellenDunk
Join Date 10/2008
+15
July 16, 2009 7:48:26 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Quoting Scoutdog,
reply 5
Might I ingquire your methods for trying to teach yourself?Books my parents get me for Christmas when they don't want to buy game consoles.

Oh, are you a kid?

My high school offered many programming courses.  The two intro-to programming courses used visual basic the AP C++ course was worthwile...

 

 

 

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Reply #34
Scoutdog
Join Date 07/2008
+193
July 16, 2009 9:28:04 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

I'm 15, and my high school has one mid-level CS course, which I am taking this year now that all the required courses are out of the way. I started trying to learn when I was maybe 10 or so, though...

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Reply #35
ChongLi
Join Date 07/2009
+4
July 16, 2009 9:50:48 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

eventually the hobby became too expensive to continue.

You ought to check out some open source projects and tools.  There is a ton of information on the internet that'll teach you programming.  The first language I learned was C.  You can download gcc (the gnu compiler collection) which is free software and includes a C compiler among many other things.

For simple things, you can literally write a main function and a few lines of code in a text file with the extension .c and then run gcc on it to create a program.

Like others have said, once you realize how to think like a programmer, you can learn any programming language. Programming languages are far simpler to learn than natural languages, due to a lack of ambiguity, dialects, customs or neologisms.

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Reply #36
Windisch
Join Date 02/2006
+5
July 17, 2009 7:59:19 AM from Stardock Forums Stardock Forums

One of the ways I like to learn is to take a program that I understand what its function is (login, print file contents, etc).  Then look at the source code.  If the programmer used good comments, it can help you understand some pieces of the programming language a little easier.

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Reply #37
Awac A
Join Date 03/2003
+2
July 18, 2009 1:12:33 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Well start with a easy language like Java or C# . Dont even attempt to learn C/C++ by yourself unless your extremly dedicated.

If you decide on java i suggest
http://www.amazon.com/Objects-First-Java-Practical-Introduction/dp/0136060862/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247936259&sr=8-1

I used it at my first year of my engineering education. It uses a development enviorment called BlueJ which is nice to learn the basics of the language and dont get buggled down in details of some development enviorment like Eclipse/Netbeans/JBuilder etc.

C# your stuck with Visual Studio which is exceptionaly good but again its not nice for beginners who need to focus on the programming and not working the tool to write the code.
Also be realistic. If you expect to be coding crysis two years from now then forget learning to code. You first need to learn the syntax of the language and general programming princeples. That takes maybe a year. Then you need to learn to program up against a API and learn that API. When you shift language or domain(programming console apps vs Windows apps f.ex.) often you have to use a different API and you have to learn it from scratch.

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Reply #38
Scoutdog
Join Date 07/2008
+193
July 18, 2009 1:59:17 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Indeed. Thanks for all the help! Currently, I am bogged down in non-code modding of GC2, but once Metroid: Seeds Of The Species Wars is done, I will most likely look into trying again.

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Reply #39
ChongLi
Join Date 07/2009
+4
July 23, 2009 7:30:34 PM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

Standard C is easier to learn than any of its descendents (C#/C++/ObjC) since you don't need to worry about object oriented programming.

If I were you, I wouldn't touch C#.  Proprietary microsoft nonsense will not help you for anything related to game development/modding.

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