128 réponses à ce sujet

[LazyDaisy]

I just wanted to say that I am new to the modding community and though the toolset is daunting, I have yet to become shipwrecked on the rocks (wait for it ... you'll all be sick of my questions before long). For what its worth, all of your work is inspiring. I have played many of your mods, visited some of your sites, lurked in your groups and forums, added your cutscenes, used your tools, whatever ... and each and every one of them offers a new dimension of playability to the game or makes sense of some obscure mystery in the toolset.

I want to assure you that there are new DAO players out here and we are interested in adding to the developing story. I used to play DAO on PS3 but switched to PC (and built a whole new gaming rig in the process) just so that I could access, and hopefully add to, the wonderful mods that are out there.

I agree that the toolset is a terror for new modders. Yikes. I also agree with Obadiah above and think it would be useful to know some of the backstory in Bioware's mind. Trying to navigate the waters of existing lore and mods so that any content I create complements and adds to the story rather than re-writes it is tricky. It would also be extremely useful to know where Bioware and any future DLCs are NOT going so that we can expand on storylines that won't conflict and, like stated above, become an amusing but irrelevant side story that makes no sense in the overall storyline.

Thank you for the work you do ... its hard work and very much appreciated by this newbie. I say again, thank you ... its not said often enough.

[DarthParametric]

I doubt you'll get much fluff beyond what is already known, if it even exists at all. And to be honest there would be little point anyway. It's not set in stone, but rather subject to retcon at their whim to suit their latest game or DLC (or novel/movie/comic). Best you just forge your own path. And if something "official" in the future happens to contradict it, so what?

[CID-78]

Maybe we should maintain some kind of community wishlist. It's good for the freelancers that only focus on a ceartain aspect of the toolset but isn't involved in a team.

[LazyDaisy]

DarthParametric wrote...

I doubt you'll get much fluff beyond what is already known, if it even exists at all. And to be honest there would be little point anyway. It's not set in stone, but rather subject to retcon at their whim to suit their latest game or DLC (or novel/movie/comic). Best you just forge your own path. And if something "official" in the future happens to contradict it, so what?

Yah, you may be right Darth.  But I can dream, can't I?

[Shallina]

If you are interested into modding, you have some others PC only games that allow it.

DAO whileone of the good option for modding, isn't the only one

[Elvhen Veluthil]

Shallina wrote...

If you are interested into modding, you have some others PC only games that allow it.

DAO whileone of the good option for modding, isn't the only one

For this kind of tale-telling, it's NWN2 or DA:O. And as things goes, the only miracle one can hope for is if Obsidian makes Icewind Dale 3 with a toolset.

[errant_knight]

-Semper- wrote...

errant_knight wrote...

All I really want is the unavailable content from the Origins DLC, including voice files, and ideally, some of the dialogue that was cut, to have more options for voicing the NPCs in mods.

the models, 2da, uti and so can be extracted if you decrypt the addins. voicefiles are accessable through the appropriate folder (my documentsbiowaredragon ageaddinsaddin_foldermoduleaudiovo). the areas, dialogues and cutscenes are still locked and you will need bio's database which won't happen.

How do I decrypt them? What software do you recommend? With the voice files, I remember that I found them, but seem to recall that I was unable to get them to play, unlike the main game ones. That was early days, though, so I should probably try again--unless you know what my problem there might have been?

[CID-78]

Haven't you read the wiki? http://social.biowar...t/index.php/ERF

read the note about blowfish. Not sure if there is a ERF editor that allow you todo it thought. but it's doesn't seem to be that hard todo. if you can implement blowfish you can certainly also do the extra step required.

[LazyDaisy]

Elvhen Veluthil wrote...

Shallina wrote...

If you are interested into modding, you have some others PC only games that allow it.

DAO whileone of the good option for modding, isn't the only one

For this kind of tale-telling, it's NWN2 or DA:O. And as things goes, the only miracle one can hope for is if Obsidian makes Icewind Dale 3 with a toolset.

I've always been a .. (coughs weakly) ... casual gamer at best but Oblivion got me interested in gaming again and then I met DA:O and it was over for me.  It reminded me of the party building, strategy, and quest approach from the pencil and paper games I used to love. I think it was at first the story telling and the graphics but then it became about the emerging story / the story being told by others (modders) so now I am hooked and very much interested in modding.  Maybe once (if) I tackle the DA:O beast of a toolset the other ones won't be so intimidating?  Ha.  Just have to shake a few cobwebs out of my skull. Ohhh ... scary spiders.

[CID-78]

that's the spirit and when you have mastered, don't by shy with your knowledge. that's the only way a community can grow. by people trying and endup loving mooding for the game.

[LazyDaisy]

Thanks for the encouragement CID ... I laughed at your comment about staying focused on one thing or it ends up being shelved indefinitely. I am approaching this toolset systematically. Since I've directed for film (shorts) and theatre and done a fair amount of film editing, I thought I would deal with Cutscene Editor first (start with what you know) and then placeables and then levels. I will be taking a course this fall that, coincidentally, deals on point with Python so maybe I'll get scripting under my belt some day (I'd better or else I'll fail that course and jam my GPA). Learn one part of the toolset at a time, build my skill set, so that once I at least understand how it all fits together, I can approach a larger mod. Oh ... its all so very exciting (she squeals childishly)!

[CID-78]

then you should take your time an think a bit, and answear the last of my VGE topics. and perhaps you will have an easier time with scripting when you get that far. The more feedback i can get from the community the more likely it will be that the tool endup usefull for the majority of the community members.

You do the right start with what you like doing and expand from there. I love scripting and developing, and that's why i never release modules on my own. Script and game mechanics can be really cool and all but without game content they are pretty worthless. And it take me a month todo a Area i like. and i would most likley endup spending several just to make the 3D art that i miss. thes econd most thing i love, old architecture so making my own building and tilesets is also something i love todo..

[LazyDaisy]

Hmmm ... a lot to think about. I'll wrap my web infested skull around this one for awhile and see if I can provide an answer / suggestion to your VGE post in a few days. Having a tool that makes it easier to script would be a serious asset to us non-scripters out here.

[errant_knight]

errant_knight wrote...

-Semper- wrote...

errant_knight wrote...

All I really want is the unavailable content from the Origins DLC, including voice files, and ideally, some of the dialogue that was cut, to have more options for voicing the NPCs in mods.

the models, 2da, uti and so can be extracted if you decrypt the addins. voicefiles are accessable through the appropriate folder (my documentsbiowaredragon ageaddinsaddin_foldermoduleaudiovo). the areas, dialogues and cutscenes are still locked and you will need bio's database which won't happen.

How do I decrypt them? What software do you recommend? With the voice files, I remember that I found them, but seem to recall that I was unable to get them to play, unlike the main game ones. That was early days, though, so I should probably try again--unless you know what my problem there might have been?

Solved my problem with extracting the sound files. Yay for better software!

[LazyDaisy]

Proleric1 wrote...

I'd prefer to see the discussion focus on how we move forward. For example, site pooling / outreach, promotional activity, wiki, lightmapper and terrain tool have all been mentioned as practical possibilities.

From what's been said so far, I see a clear action point on the lightmapper, but I'm not sure what we're proposing about the rest?

Hi there.  As a noob to the modding community (part of the target audience?) I've been giving this some thought.  Though I am not far enough into it to have a firm opinion on some of the tools, I would like to offer my two cents regarding accessibility.  There is a lot of work being done on the wiki right now but there are also some excellent sites that offer different approaches or access points for tools (such as sunjammers site or the Open House site).  Also, there are countless tutorials on YouTube as well as specialized builder groups within the BSN.  While trying to learn the toolset I have been to most of these sites and spend a lot of time re-reading the same info or searching for an explanation of a term that may be familiar to experience modders but is obscure to newbies.  But hey, its a volunteer community so any help at all is very much appreciated.

From what I have read, I appears that the wiki will be reorganized and try to address some of this issue, however, I believe it would be extremely useful to have an area where noobs and experts alike can find links to all of the builder tools / utilities and pages including tutorials.  The wiki takes us most of the way there and, given the amount of energy being expended to upgrade it, I am optimistic about its future but having one project page that lists or links to them all (one project to rule them all, if you will) would be mighty helpful.  If it is the wiki then I think it needs to link to all of the tools (and maybe make recommendations? - but that could be tricky).  

Anyway, I volunteer to help track down and compile those links if you think it would be useful.  Having a 'one stop shop' would make it a lot easier for new modders.   

 

[CID-78]

I think the wiki should contain links but not everything in one place. the current approach with tutorials in the tutorial section, 3rd party tools in the third part tool section is better. you can off course crosslink it a bit more so you can find the tools when you do a certain task and so on.

otherwise we will end up with way to many links, which will drown the information your trying to hand out.

[CID-78]

if you can list the words you didn't grasp as a newbiee we could put up some kind of lexicon for those on the wiki. there is some already but i doubt there is such thing as a wiki with to many pages.

[Obadiah]

LazyDaisy wrote...
...
Anyway, I volunteer to help track down and compile those links if you think it would be useful.  Having a 'one stop shop' would make it a lot easier for new modders.   

 

I think that is great idea. One should be able, as a noob, to hit one page in the wiki with tutorials and basic reference links. The current Tutorial page is pretty good, but too often I find myself hunting around the wiki with different search word permutations to find useful info (more often than not, the answer turns out to be some obscure piece of info in a thread in this forum).

Modifié par Obadiah, 21 juillet 2011 - 08:18 .

[LazyDaisy]

Obadiah wrote...

LazyDaisy wrote...
...
Anyway, I volunteer to help track down and compile those links if you think it would be useful.  Having a 'one stop shop' would make it a lot easier for new modders.   

 

I think that is great idea. One should be able, as a noob, to hit one page in the wiki with tutorials and basic reference links. The current Tutorial page is pretty good, but too often I find myself hunting around the wiki with different search word permutations to find useful info (more often than not, the answer turns out to be some obscure piece of info in a thread in this forum).

Cool.  I've just volunteered my searching / compiling services with the DAFTI group so lets see where this goes.  If nothing else, we'll end up with an up to date dataset that everyone can use to cross-ref what they already have and maybe we can fill some holes in existing lists. 

And CID ... you are very right about not overwhelming people with links ... that's why I think the dataset will need to be searchable and be able to withstand being split into parts for display purposes.   Have no fear ... C (and Python, and Java, and well programming languages in general) may scare me but Excel, Access, and SQL don't!  Ha ha ... take that dire bunny / dataset!  I will wrangle you with my sword of research-y-ness!  

Hmmm ...  Apparently I need to lay off the coffee.

[Tchos]

I've been tempted to make a mod for some time in DAO, and yesterday I finally got around to watching a couple of toolset tutorial videos, and made a little area. I'd sort of like to make a little quickie quest mod...something I can get done before school resumes.

There's not much variety in the resources, so I've made a little alteration here and there for more colour. I can't find where the terrain textures are saved so I can export them and make my own variations, though. The number of creatures and armour (especially mage gear) is also very limited.

Still, it would be nice to build something and get it out there. This area was based on the outdoor layout tutorial I watched yesterday. The light mapping was problematic, and took maybe 30% of the time to make this.  I'm looking at an NPC conversation tutorial, so perhaps I can put together a simple quest.

[Challseus]

Tchos wrote...

<some cool pictures>

That's some good work there for your first level.

[pizzapicante]

@Tchos thats your first work on the toolset? thats frankly impressive congrats

[Tchos]

Yes, it's my first and only work with the DAO toolset, aside from a head morph. The terrain editor is very similar to the one in Oblivion's construction set, though, so that familiarity helped in doing this, along with the video tutorials on Youtube. Should I make a thread for it or something?

BTW, if anyone knows where I can find the terrain textures so I can add some custom ones, do please let me know.

Modifié par Tchos, 26 juillet 2011 - 04:26 .

[DarthParametric]

http://social.biowar..._Mesh_Materials

The textures are located in: <install dir>\\packages\\core\\data_tools\\toolset.erf

Modifié par DarthParametric, 26 juillet 2011 - 05:24 .

[littlewisp]

LazyDaisy wrote...

I just wanted to say that I am new to the modding community and though the toolset is daunting, I have yet to become shipwrecked on the rocks (wait for it ... you'll all be sick of my questions before long). For what its worth, all of your work is inspiring. I have played many of your mods, visited some of your sites, lurked in your groups and forums, added your cutscenes, used your tools, whatever ... and each and every one of them offers a new dimension of playability to the game or makes sense of some obscure mystery in the toolset.

I want to assure you that there are new DAO players out here and we are interested in adding to the developing story. I used to play DAO on PS3 but switched to PC (and built a whole new gaming rig in the process) just so that I could access, and hopefully add to, the wonderful mods that are out there.

I agree that the toolset is a terror for new modders. Yikes. I also agree with Obadiah above and think it would be useful to know some of the backstory in Bioware's mind. Trying to navigate the waters of existing lore and mods so that any content I create complements and adds to the story rather than re-writes it is tricky. It would also be extremely useful to know where Bioware and any future DLCs are NOT going so that we can expand on storylines that won't conflict and, like stated above, become an amusing but irrelevant side story that makes no sense in the overall storyline.

Thank you for the work you do ... its hard work and very much appreciated by this newbie. I say again, thank you ... its not said often enough.

Pretty much all of this, except that I'm not likely to try to start building anything (laziness and a preference to build characters dooms me).  But I am new to DA:O, very interested in what the modding community is doing, and I fanatically snoop around looking for life.  I guess I'm more of a consumer that way, though I have been prodding at my significant other to see if he'd be interested in/willing to try out for some of the voice acting parts in some of the upcoming mods (I always have forced him to read books to me due to the voices he seemingly conjures at will).

Still though, if it helps any of you to know that you have fans (new ones, even!) lurking in the wings, consider yourselves cheered for.