Modding the VoidExpanse

[MrVoff]

Hello.
I was following this project for some time since someone posted a thread on bay12 forums. To me it looks like this game might be quite interesting to play.
But my question is about modding. You mentioned several times on your website that you are working on some scripting api. Where can I read more about it and how is it going to work?
Basically, how is modding going to work for this game?

Voff.

[Lurler]

Sorry for late reply, but I missed your thread somehow

I was following this project for some time since someone posted a thread on bay12 forums. To me it looks like this game might be quite interesting to play.

Thanks

But my question is about modding. You mentioned several times on your website that you are working on some scripting api. Where can I read more about it and how is it going to work?
Basically, how is modding going to work for this game?

We are planning to have a wiki with detailed info on how modding works, and all APIs available for modders.

But generally modding is very simple for VoidExpanse, when the game becomes available you could just open core.cpk file (it is actually just a zip file) and see all insides of the game. You can then create a mod that would replace any resource or add a new one.

We will also make available some modding tools that we use ourselves in development of the game.

If you have any particular questions feel free to ask!

[Jax43]

I am wanting to make a mod that makes my starting prospector ship very strong, how would I make that work? Thanks:)

[Lurler]

I am wanting to make a mod that makes my starting prospector ship very strong, how would I make that work? Thanks:)

It's really easy. You could start by opening the original data archive of the game. Just rename it to core.zip and you can open to see what's inside.
There you can modify any of the game data. It's really as easy as editing a few values.

Though, I don't think it would be much fun making an uber ship

[049er]

Hey im just wondering if there is a way to make my own hulls and what software to use ?
Thanks

[Tiaexz]

Hey im just wondering if there is a way to make my own hulls and what software to use ?
Thanks

I recommend Notepad++

[Hammish]

Any chance you could list out what modding tools you might eventually be releasing?  Just a bit of curiosity on my part.

Without them, and this seems something that would go well on the wiki, it would be grand if we could get a list of what some of the more obscure variables mean and the settings for each.  A good example might be ammo_meter; I assume that 1 means a ballistic/missile meter and 2 means a percentage laser meter, but it'd be handy to have information like that at one's fingertips.

One specific one, though: for particle effects in some places it seems to list out four variables.  I figure three have to be RGB values; fourth might be luminosity or something?  Any information on this would be handy as I do a bit of my tinkering.

Edit: Two more quick questions for when someone has a second.   First, for homing weapons, is the listed value for homing under projectiles degrees per second of tracking?  And second, if I create an entirely new item will it automatically populate into station stores by itself or do I need to add it to a list of 'shop gear'?

[Lurler]

Any chance you could list out what modding tools you might eventually be releasing?  Just a bit of curiosity on my part.

Well, I can tell you what we have so far at least.
1. Physics application that allows us to create physics definitions for the ships, stations, etc.
2. Mod packer (console based and windows application).
3. Items agreggator - allows to see all items sorted by different properties, makes it easier to balance things.
But apart from the physics app the rest isn't really that important. You can create any mods just by editing text files.

Without them, and this seems something that would go well on the wiki, it would be grand if we could get a list of what some of the more obscure variables mean and the settings for each.

No problem, you can just ask any particular questions and I will either answer here or create a separate wiki article.

One specific one, though: for particle effects in some places it seems to list out four variables.  I figure three have to be RGB values; fourth might be luminosity or something?  Any information on this would be handy as I do a bit of my tinkering.

The fourth one is alpha, so it is the standard RGBA notation.

First, for homing weapons, is the listed value for homing under projectiles degrees per second of tracking?

Tracking is defined in the ships slots and is not linked to weapons themselves.
While homing is a property of a projectile and is specified inside the weapon.

And second, if I create an entirely new item will it automatically populate into station stores by itself or do I need to add it to a list of 'shop gear'?

As far as I know - yes, it will be available in shops automatically
But it will not be added to drop lists from pirates/aliens because these are defined manually. But they can be changed to be dynamic too, though.

[Hammish]

Tracking is defined in the ships slots and is not linked to weapons themselves.
While homing is a property of a projectile and is specified inside the weapon.

Sorry, chose my words poorly.   I've tinkered with the chassis a bit and know about the tracking in there, I was referring specifically to the homing value under the projectile tag, yep.  Just curious as to what the value actually means in hard math.  If, say, a missile has a homing of 50, I figured it meant either it could continue homing if the target was within a 50-degree arc, or it could turn at 50 degrees per second, or something like that... but I wasn't sure, so I figured I'd ask.

Thanks for all of the rest of the answers, they helped a ton!  Good deal on the modding tools as well, that'll help me a ton once you toss it up given the nature I've what I've been tinkering with, mostly just some odd/exotic weapons and modules.

[Lurler]

Ah, yes. It is degrees per second. Most of the values if they are not set as-is are per second.

As for the tools, I will ask our guys to polish the physics app so we can release at least this one.

[Hammish]

Rock on, and thanks again for all the help!

[Hammish]

Quick question of the day: armor value, is that a percentage of damage nullified or a flat amount off every shot that lands?  IE, if a ship has 20 total armor, is that -20 damage/attack or 20% less damage to hull?

[Lurler]

Flat value removed from incoming damage.

[Hammish]

Slightly more involved question for today!  (By the way, no rush on answering any of my questions.  I don't want to get annoying or take away from work or game dev.)

How do scattering munitions work?  I see that for the Scatterpack mine, it basically just has an additional projectile field with the quantity and properties of submunitions (5 smaller mines for the Scatterpack).  It also has a Scatter Time attribute tag, but for lack of a better term I'm not really sure what each of the attributes does.  So, a few basic questions!

1.  Does the scattering take place whenever the first projectile is destroyed?  (IE, let's say I take the mine and make it a shell.  When I shoot it at something and it impacts on the hull of an enemy, will it still scatter or is it just lost?)

2.  If not, what determines when the weapon goes into 'scatter mode' and separates into the submunitions?

3.  Do weapons that scatter need to be destructible objects, with an associated .obj file, or can they be simple sprites?

Thanks in advance for any answers, or if you have an easier way to explain the process behind scattering weapons.

[DLirry]

Hello! I will try to answer these questions.
1. No.
2. There is a parameter in projectile properties (in weapon xml) - something like 'scatter delay'. It determines when projectile splits into smaller parts.
3. They can be sprites of course.

Scattering projectiles are, actually, quite easy. To make weapon's projectile to scatter, you need to add a few more projectiles with parameters
<scattering>
   <base_projectile>0</base_projectile>
   <scatter_time>1.2</scatter_time>
</scattering>
( see weapon_scatterpack.xml for example )
First parameter is an index of base projectile, from which scattering parts will be emitted. Second parameter - is a time, on which projectiles will be emitted.
Base projectile must exist to emit scattering projectiles. And base projectile may not be destroyed after that!

I hope I gave enough information on this matter to work with.