Hey all; For Pa i actually want to try out modding myself, but I have zero experience XD. Basically i would like some advice from the more experienced modders in this community, which there seems to be many. Such things as what programs i may need, what tutorials on the internet are worthwhile reading, and what games are good to practice on. And anything else u think id need to know. Any and all advice is welcome. Edit for some questions asked: I am a first year student(well just finished first year) in a comp sci major in college, so i have some basic knowledge in java. As for the kind of modding i want to do; i would like to be able to make some new units, change the stats of current units(stuff like speed)and planets tho the planets part will likely be easy with what i hear about the planet generator. Im definitely open to learning new languages bec the more experience the better i say, so feel free to point out tutorials u recomend(ill check out khan academy later today simon). Also im not wealthy so free programs are best or relatively cheap onesXD.
First off, I am not a modder, sorry (although I do know the some of the basics of programming) Second off, do you not have any experience with coding, scripting or general programming at all? If not, I recommend the Khan Academy tutorials on computer science. I have found them to be a very good introduction to get you mind around the very basics of what coding actually is, as well as the basic logic surrounding making programs and such. If you are past this initial phase then I am afraid that I cannot help you
Given Uber haven't revealed any of the details pertaining to modding yet it's kind of hard to suggest what you'll need both in terms of tools and knowledge. It's also highly dependent on exactly what you want to mod, if you just want a cosmetic mod that changes the look of things then you'll need either Gimp/Photoshop and maybe a 3D modeling program, if you want to mod the UI then you'll need Gimp/Photoshop again and also some HTML5 knowledge, and if you want to mod the gameplay then you'll need programming experience and probably knowledge of whatever language(s) Uber are using to expose things to modders.
Modding is kinda a learn as you go thing, but it is a very good way to get introduced into computer architecture, modelmaking, creative design, and pretty much every thing that makes up a game aside from actually *making* a game. But to prepare, you should learn the basics of high-level scripting languages (I recommend checking out examples of Java Python and Lua, and trying to make something cool and interesting with those), as well as some 3d design package. XSI Mod Tools, Blender and (if you are filthy stinking rich) 3ds Max or Maya are popular ones. I personally like Blender. You will also need an image editing software, and I must say, Photoshop is really the only way to go for anything but basic cartoony textures. But PA has basic, cartoony textures, so Paint.net or some other free quasi-Photoshop alternative would be a good way to go. Another thing that is really, really desired (but not necessarily required) is sound design; I hear FruityLoops Studio is good for that, but I am not very experienced with any of that stuff. But ultimately, you need to have direction. You need to know what you're going to do, how you're going to do it, and whether or not you have the motivation to do it. Everything else is a secondary concern if you know, in your heart, you *want* to make something awesome.
I'd recommend learning the foundations in at least one language (preferably Python, C++, or Java, in that order), then just trying to modify existing code, and then to actually make an actual mod. I could have been said to have started modding when i edited my first raw(properties file of sorts) in Dwarf Fortress. In fact, if you like that game or some othen 'open' game, you should start by manually editing your saves and files, even if they don't use a formal programming language.
A unit editor would be amazing but something more feasible like a blueprint editor, as seen here, would be great too. Such tools aren't much use to seasoned modders but I wouldn't underestimate their value to the community. Blizzard has created adroit modding/mapping tools for novices with its RTS for a long time and ultimately brought us tower defense, dota and a lot of other user generated content.
This. What kind of modding does matter. If you are going for creating unit models, textures and etc then you need 3d modelling, animation and texturing skills. If you are making mods that modify the engine or gameplay aspect (such as adding a campaign for example) then you will need programming skills. If you are doing both, then both are required. My modding days started back in Tibsun downloading the Rules.ini and playing around with them (no real coding required). Next up was HaloCE which required Modeling and texturing (but not so much animation for what I was doing) and scripting. Playing around with software languages can help, as well as scripting languages. Best thing I ever made in Java was a Naïve Bayes Classifier, for an assignment, that was more accurate then the original, but less efficient. So it was good for small amounts of data be terribad for large data structures.
I tend to use Gimp for textures, and Blender for modeling, both are free and nearly on par with top end commercial software, however blender may not support the model formats Uber are using, we will have to wait and see exactly what modelling programs can export models for PA, but it may be worth playing around in it anyway as it can take a long while to get used to using it. You probably aren't going to need much programming experience for new units and planets, your knowledge of Java will probably let you muddle through everything you want to do OK, but it doesn't hurt to keep up with the programming .
Gui mods will be in webkit or html? something like that, I can't remember right now but I'd brush up on that if you wanna mess with the gui. I think I'll probably be tinkering in that realm. As well as making an AA mod for the commanders if they don't come with it. it was really easy to do in supcomm and I don't really know coding that well. we'll see about how easy it is with PA but I have high hopes. I think mike pointed me to a tutorial by Exavier Macbeth about modding supcom, I'd give that a look though I can't find the post about it, idk if it got deleted or something but I have the file if you can't find it, lemme know and I'll throw it up on dropbox.
I've got a CS degree as well, most of my courses were in C, and I had one in assembly. However, I use far more java and C# in my professional career. Personally, I'd rather be taught useful languages than something nearly obsolete in practical applications. Higher-level languages were created for a reason. As hardware has advanced, speed of development trumps low-level performance. A relatively easy-to-learn-and-use language like Java is a far better introduction than C, and especially Assembly (not sure about Python; never used it myself). While those languages certainly still have a place, they really aren't vital to a freshman CompSci student, and I'd argue, aren't even applicable to a Bachelor's. Yeah, I spent a lot of time bitching about this during my college years... and I hated Assembly with a passion. Oh, and kromius, good luck!
I know what you mean (at least about assembly and C, I'm not a fan of python ), unfortunately it seems pretty common that people are learning Java or C# in computer courses these days instead of learning the more fundamental languages like assembly and C. I think the reasoning for it is that most applications aren't performance critical like games are, and hardware has gotten so much better these days that the development time is usually a bigger concern to the average programmer than the performance and memory issues of Java, and Java is much quicker to develop an application in and also has the added benefit of being an easier language to learn. What really bums me out though is when these people try to use Java to make something performance critical like a game and release something that runs far slower than it could have if they had written it in C/C++ (I'm looking at you minecraft).
The important thing is understanding what is happening underneath. I don't use assembly language in my code. I use C++ or, more frequently nowadays, C#. I do however sometimes have to step into assembly code when debugging. It helps to know what it is, and how to look up the particular commands for the architecture you happen to be dealing with. Java, C#, etc are definitely something you want to cover in a Computer Science course, but not in the first year. You need to be understanding the basics first.
^ I respectfully disagree; in my opinion, students should know the basics of programming before they understand how the architecture works. Same reason we learn basic math before number theory (though not quite to that extent). Going the other way would only increase the already impressive attrition rate. However, I've always had a problem learning computer theory with no application and never pretended to understand academia, so I'm wandering out of my depth.
