Why do you Mod Distant Worlds?

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Distant Worlds 1 Series >> Design and Modding >> Why do you Mod Distant Worlds?

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Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/9/2014 2:38:40 PM

Icemania

Posts: 1847
Joined: 6/5/2013
From: Australia
Status: offline

Hey All:

With so much activity around here at the moment it would be interesting to get to know each other a little better.

In my case, I really never thought I would be modding Distant Worlds. I've never modded a game until now or even be motivated to even consider it. Indeed traditionally I rarely played with Mods, it had to be something truly special, like Star Trek Armada 3 for Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion.

Distant Worlds is a terrific game but has some flaws. I've been pretty vocal about the AI but also never been shy about putting action where my mouth is. Matrix introduced the ability to Mod AI Research Build Orders and that was just too good to pass up.

While there are a few interesting Space 4X games coming, most of them are in relatively early stages, and most aren't particularly ambitious either. I'd rather spend my time in more productive environments.

I've been a workaholic in recent years, and changed employers about a year ago, so have better balance these days. Getting more involved is one the changes I've made in my life to help me "switch off" after work.

I'll certainly be volunteering to help out test Distant Worlds 2 as well.

So why do you all Mod Distant Worlds? It's not like it's a small undertaking ... !

< Message edited by Icemania -- 8/19/2014 12:10:41 PM >

Post #: 1

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/9/2014 5:49:11 PM

fruitgnome

Posts: 186
Joined: 6/4/2014
Status: offline

To make it more enjoyable

(in reply to Icemania)

Post #: 2

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/9/2014 6:14:19 PM

Blackstork

Posts: 802
Joined: 7/7/2014
Status: offline

I've modded before (Civ IV was last game i modded for (under other nickname)) and after long break i finally found a game i found renewed desire to mod for. DW:U awesome game, which have flaws, as you said. MoO 2 was my favorite 4x game ever designed, till i found this one. But it have alot of place for improvement, especially towards modding - because alot of featuers are very limited/non existant, and ones which exist often hard-limited. The big pro though that developers listen to community and implement more and more features. Current set of tools aready allow creation of something very deep, comples, ecpic and amazing, despite it need alot of effort and toothbreaking to do that, so certain improvement in modularity will improve the situation.
I love immersion, epicness and variety in strategies, approaches, flavor. That is what modding of this game can produce, in heaps.

< Message edited by Blackstork -- 8/9/2014 7:15:07 PM >

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(in reply to fruitgnome)

Post #: 3

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/9/2014 7:19:08 PM

ParagonExile

Posts: 210
Joined: 6/9/2014
Status: offline

I used to be a console peasant who said "Games don't need mods to be fun!". After joining our glorious master race I discovered just how full of crap of I was, and I was introduced to the world of mods. Now I make personal mods for Skyrim, Sins of a Solar Empire, Empire at War and Distant Worlds and it just makes them so much better.

I figure that helping Blackstork and later releasing some of my own small add-ons will be a great way to start moving one of my favorite 4X games in the right direction.

(in reply to Blackstork)

Post #: 4

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/9/2014 8:08:12 PM

Solarius Scorch

Posts: 180
Joined: 5/25/2013
From: Cracow, Poland
Status: offline

I've been a modder for many years, often spending more time modding a game than playing it. It's a hobby much like building model planes or writing RPG campaigns: a creative activity. And since Distant Worlds are my kind of game, I naturally wanted to play with it a little, and then to add some content I liked. That's it. :)

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Forever Future 1.7 for Call to Power - the biggest mod for the best Civilization-like game ever!

(in reply to ParagonExile)

Post #: 5

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/9/2014 8:59:39 PM

ehsumrell1

Posts: 2529
Joined: 8/17/2010
From: The Briar Patch Nebula
Status: offline

I've been 'hooked' on space. Wanted to be an astrophysicist when I was young. Closest I got was to
be an amateur astronomer and help build a local observatory (which I'm still proud of today!).
Nevertheless, Being an astronomer, timing is everything, and I just happen to be in the thick of it
when computers became accessible (price wise) to the average John Q Public. So off I went...
Learned Basic programming, DOS, Fortran, C+ (Yeah...I'm old!

) and got 'hooked' on computers from
the ground up. Learned how to run them and build them. During this time I ALSO became a TREKKIE!

ANYWAY...First games was StarFlight I & II, then Stars!, then MOO2, Imperium Galactica series, Starfleet Command series, GalCiv series, then Distant Worlds. I heard about Distant Worlds and needed more! I read an interview article about this 'one man band' named Elliot Gibbs, developer of Distant Worlds. Saw his dreams materialize from scratch into the fantastic game we have today. I also saw all the game bashing, and "why not this" and "why not that" for the first version of the game (still goes on today by the way), and I couldn't idly stand by. So I wanted to assist Elliot in any way possible to help his "dream game" become masterful. Plus, it would fulfill my desire to play a true space 4x that could immerse me into a Star Trek like world (or any of the others as well).

I ended up being selected as a Beta Tester for Return Of The Shakturi and have been on-board since. Have watched Elliot listen to both the critics and the supporters and make changes to the game to make it better. Then along the way, I met this cool Romulan named Igard (who was authoring a Star Trek mod for DW) and it was ALL OVER! Left Earth, moved to planet Ba'ku in the Briar Patch Nebula, joined the Son'a, became their fearless leader, and the rest is history.

So I now mod Distant Worlds to bring the chase of Romulan Ale to all of known Federation space,
staying cautious around the Neutral Zone (and one certain android we all know), and doing what I
can to assist Elliot (and myself) in making Distant Worlds the ultimate dream game, best space 4x game it can be!

Yeah, I know...GET BACK TO MODDING so I can release Star Trek The Picard Era mod to the masses soon!

[SHOUT OUT TO DAS123 aka DAS24680 for the fine job he's doing with the Star Trek Let's Plays on YouTube!]

This one's for you for posting this thread Ice!

_____________________________

Shields are useless in "The Briar Patch"...

(in reply to Icemania)

Post #: 6

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/9/2014 11:18:14 PM

fierceking

Posts: 235
Joined: 7/24/2010
Status: offline

I've always thought this game has potential, it just needs work. Biggest annoyance for me is how weak the AI is. I figure modding would somehow fix this.

Plus I love to play in sandbox mode so adding tech to extend the game for me is a bonus.

This is my first time ever modding a game. Although not moddable like Skyrim or other games, I hope more features are moddable in the future.

I wish scripting was possible too. That would be something...

(in reply to Icemania)

Post #: 7

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/10/2014 10:51:36 AM

Ikke

Posts: 13
Joined: 8/5/2014
Status: offline

I've long been looking for a game like DW - Real Time, vast map, civilisations. There are a number of concepts I'd like to try out, and building a game from scratch just is too much work. In the past I've modded various games, and I like to think game balancing & game mechanics is a strength of mine. You need a hobby now don't you?

The ground work is very well laid in DW for what I have in mind. I am a tad disappointed by how limited the modding options are so far though, cause they mean I simply can't implement them at this stage. For example, I'd like to throw out the tech tree and have technology being discovered, spread by trade and culture - components improved by planets (not civs) who build them. I'd like to implement various levels of government - much like in say europa barbarorum (Rome:TW mod), where levels have various degrees of independent behaviour. Cultural values, which influence a population's priorities, and spread once more. I guess I'll just have to wait till someone makes an open source DW - spring engine and 0AD just don't cut it for what I want. Or I'll work for free on throwing them into DW 2, from design docs to coding if the devs want :p.

So for now I am simply looking at a rebalancing mod, work away the rough edges there, although some other mods have done this fairly well already (Icemania's AI mod for example, and extended is nice too). I do belief I can add more extremity in the components without upsetting the game balance too much though. It would open up a lot of options in that regard if we could alter the component's value based on the present ship design - or better still circumstances, as I requested in the master wishlist thread.

(in reply to fierceking)

Post #: 8

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/10/2014 12:44:39 PM

lurchi

Posts: 319
Joined: 6/10/2014
From: LV-223
Status: offline

I never modded before, but used a bunch of mods for DW, mostly graphics.

Well, in the beginning I just wanted to make a small mod for the starting hyper drives, that grew to all hyper drives, that grew to the behemoth I'm working on right now.

(in reply to Ikke)

Post #: 9

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/10/2014 9:46:53 PM

mensrea

Posts: 233
Joined: 5/23/2014
From: Pittsburgh
Status: offline

I have been modding since I got broadband cable (squee!) when it first came out in my area. I was looking for Total Annihilation fan sites and found a modding hub detailing how to make units, etc. I think I stayed up all night downloading peoples units and just checking things out. Up until then I thought I would always just have to play the game the developer made.

I went on to make mods for Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics, Rise of Nations, the Civ's, MOO3 (yeah, laugh it up), Deus Ex, Endless Space and many other games. Mostly just small time stuff, nothing big. Then I got into minecraft which is really a game that is meant to be modded and I even started to learn java to work on my dream mod, but eventually had to choose between having fun when I'm not at work or learning an entire language just for one mod. Around that time I found out about Universe and it's extended modding capabilities and decided to get into modding DW.

It has now gotten to the point after 14 years of working with mods that actually playing the game is no longer as much fun for me as modding. In addition to always seeing thing's I want to do differently there is a certain satisfaction from it that I don't get from just playing a game. I frequently find myself playing a game and getting bored and listless after 30 minutes. Then without thinking I will find my modding folders opened and myself poring over some spreadsheet or something. This seems like a job to a lot of people but hell, if I was getting paid for it I would think I died and went to heaven because it is definitely the job for me.

I have to say though, this modding community is by far one of the best I have ever encountered. Everyone has been very friendly and helpful. It actually feels like a community! And it's great to feel valued by the developers, too. Combined with what I would say is the best 4X game on the market, everything about the experience creates a positive feedback loop that makes me want to work harder to make a mod that can be enjoyed by Warhammer fans and players looking for something a little different alike.

(in reply to lurchi)

Post #: 10

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/11/2014 9:52:57 AM

Icemania

Posts: 1847
Joined: 6/5/2013
From: Australia
Status: offline

You are all awesome!

(in reply to mensrea)

Post #: 11

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/11/2014 10:09:47 AM

ASHBERY76

Posts: 2136
Joined: 10/10/2001
From: England
Status: offline

Mainly to try and change things that piss me off about the design.

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Post #: 12

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/12/2014 2:32:46 PM

Icemania

Posts: 1847
Joined: 6/5/2013
From: Australia
Status: offline

Where's your Mod dude? Must be mega if your past posts are any guide. Can't wait!

(in reply to ASHBERY76)

Post #: 13

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/16/2014 8:48:00 PM

Sirian

Posts: 174
Joined: 11/29/2012
Status: offline

Why do I mod? To make DW more pretty.

That's about it. I am quite content with the vanilla version of the game, but I admit I am a horrible gamer and even normal difficulty gives me troubles frequently. So I really don't want to make the AI better...

As well as other mods I took a different approach. I wanted to know how a game like DW works so I started to implement parts of it. It is a fascinating process and I am learning a lot doing it even it will never make it into a complete game.

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Visit Sirian's Mods

(in reply to Icemania)

Post #: 14

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/16/2014 9:18:51 PM

Hikikomori

Posts: 62
Joined: 8/16/2014
Status: offline

I am really really bored...

(in reply to Sirian)

Post #: 15

RE: Why do you Mod Distant Worlds? - 8/18/2014 7:33:09 PM

Erik Rutins

Posts: 37503
Joined: 3/28/2000
From: Vermont, USA
Status: offline