Visit to M2TW Dev studio - post your must-know modding questions here!

[tFighterPilot]

Ask them for an extractor for the demo's pack file.

EDIT: lol, I registered two years ago and I only have 3 posts

[SigniferOne]

1) What tools will be included, and

2) will animations be provided unpacked.

[Furious Mental]

What hardcoded limits will there be?

[DrAI]

Probably the most wanted info would be on modding the AI.

Biggest problem with RTW was the way AI units would attack without support and leave themselves open to flank attack etc..
I know CA have said they have corrected alot of this but I am sure it can be improved further.

CA will obviously want to protect their code to avoid it be used in other games.
It's a long shot of being able to really get into the base workings of the AI but whatever you can find out will be very useful.

[Duke John]

Not for me, I most likely won't even buy M2:TW, but for the sake of the modding community which has already started lots of new projects.

Do they realize that the community has wasted hundreds of hours with buggy unofficial tools after being told that R:TW would get modding support?

How hollow are their promises for modding support for M2:TW? Practically all modders sees modding support as getting official model/animation importer/exporter and an unpacker. That is how it works for many other top games.

And if they do plan to release a tool, do they realize that if the community gets that tool after a year that few will be able to release their projects before the next TW game?

[Orb]

1) Will it be possible to mod in extra religions?
2) Will it be possible to tie in recruitment or traits to diplomatic relations?

[BozosLiveHere]

Will the script/trait files accept OR operators?

[Epistolary Richard]

Do they realize that the community has wasted hundreds of hours with buggy unofficial tools after being told that R:TW would get modding support?

How hollow are their promises for modding support for M2:TW? Practically all modders sees modding support as getting official model/animation importer/exporter and an unpacker. That is how it works for many other top games.

And if they do plan to release a tool, do they realize that if the community gets that tool after a year that few will be able to release their projects before the next TW game?

Well, as I say the main purpose of the visit is to talk about modding support, and if they're going to follow the same path of RTW then it will be a pretty short conversation

I'm not personally in the modding communities for any other games - but what would be helpful in this regard would be for some specific examples of what other game companies have provided in terms of official tools. Then I can hold them up as how CA should be supporting the modding community and how their competitors have made it work.

[Luciano B]

I would like to know if it is possible to add more factions (some people in the past told about a faction limit brought up to 30 slots), and in general the hardcoded limits concerning the max number allowed of unit entries, unit textures, cultures; and also the max map-sizes allowed. I would like to know also if it is possible to mod or add buildings, a necessary feature for the mod-projects which cover different eras than the medieval one.

Thanks in advance.

[shifty157]

I'm not personally in the modding communities for any other games - but what would be helpful in this regard would be for some specific examples of what other game companies have provided in terms of official tools. Then I can hold them up as how CA should be supporting the modding community and how their competitors have made it work.

Well. WHen you look at the support that other companies give to their modding community it really puts CA to shame. Alot of companies will release their developement tools to the public (sometimes with the game itself, sometimes as a seperate download). Alot of games are completely open for modding with incredibly minimal restrictions. Most games support the ability to turn mods on and off while you're playing the game. Some companies even have modding competitions where every week or month they give a prize out to whoever created the most impressive piece of work during that time (the Unreal Tournament franchise has their 'create something unreal' competition). So many other companies really put forth an effort to encourage modding by almost any means possible because they realize that mods can incredibly increase the lifespan of a game, boost sales (especially later in the lifespan), and provide them with a good deal of feedback about what people liked and didnt like which they can then apply to their next game. In terms of modding support, CA is almost a decade behind other game companies in realizing the benefit of a strong modding community.

[niccolo il discourser]

I hear you Duca Giovanni,

But lets say CA was serious about supporting modding. What in your estimation would be the necessary steps that would needed to be taken? What would a Mod-encouraging and supporting response look like?

I have some experience with Battlefield (and its variants) and with Half Life (and its variants) and they seem to have really active modding. What would it take to make that happen with TW?

Grazie

Osservo in avanti alla vostra risposta,

Niccolo

[shifty157]

When exactly were you going ER?