Hey guys, I'd really like to get into the modding scene of PA, but I don't know where to start in terms of editing files for values, adding units, creating new units models and implementing them in the game(through server mods, atm.). Can anyone help?
The UI is written in JavaScript. The unit data is stored in json. Look at my Sig for a tutorial on json. You should Google basic JavaScript tutorials to figure out how to mod the ui.
There isn't much in the way of tutorials for modding. The best we have are some reference guides, and existing mods. Reference guides If you've never programmed, follow a basic tutorial on javascript (so you can do basic things and follow what other mods are doing) Knockout is a heavily used javascript library it may make sense to get used to, depending on what you want to mod: http://knockoutjs.com/ Look at the code of existing mods that do similar things to what you want to do, to learn how to do them (mods are installed, at least for me on windows, here: '%APPDATA%\..\Local\Uber Entertainment\Planetary Annihilation\mods') I may write some guides in the future, 'my first mod' sort of things, but they will probably not be around for a while.
and then just ask if you get confused. Everyone here is happy to help so you'll get your answer in no time.
I'll be sure to look into that as well. Are there any reference guides or tutorials for properly creating a unit to be implemented in game?
Not that I know of. Just try and figure out how to read json(All the json in PA is minified, so copy and paste the files in to a json formated online so you can read it).
Adding a new unit instead of just modifying an existing one should be possible, no one's done it publicly afaik. When someone makes such a mod, you'll be able to see what new files they needed to add, and what existing files they needed to modify.
When I build my very first UI mods I did this tutorial, it was also my first look at JS: http://learn.knockoutjs.com/ Very helpful if you have programming knowledge already and just want to quickly understand how the UI with JS and Knockout works.
Actually someone has done it publicly, someone's re balance mod, and I just finished adding in a custom unit... I'd be happy to work up a quick visual/audio tutorial for quite a few things. PA's coding is very, very, simple and easy to understand. You could even get into it with next to no experience.
I would recommend Mozilla's JavaScript, HTML, and CSS tutorials and documentation. Here is a link to them. Also documentation in this sub forum. Beta Mod Changes Coming up soon... Server Mods! PA Modding Reference Guides, Applications & Tools How to be a good citizen in JavaScript Etc. Just to name a few resources. Edit: w3c has some really nice HTML and CSS verifiers which would help with debugging. Also here is two JavaScript code quality tools to help with debugging as well as for your sanity. jslint.com - "Describes problems in code with an approximate location within the source." jshint.com - "Helps to detect errors and potential problems in code."
