Unlock the true potential of the game!

go back to DoTA

true, i will for one go back to dota because this game is the suxxor :x

There should be modding tools eventually. Frogboy said they want to have mods for the game. On the other hand, even the maps in DG are basically 3d models, so other than misc stat changes modding here will be somewhat difficult if you really want to add "new" stuff.

You are exactly right.

One of the points of modding tools is to allow players to customize certain parts of the game in their own way.  This would, in part, take some of the pressure off GPG and Stardock in regards to fixing ui bugs/preferences and other simple issues.  This would also allow new items, spells, etc to be added.

Someone said go back to DotA, but I was never really a DotA player.  I like Demigod for what it is, but I also think that it could be vastly improved with some minor tweaks.

I was unaware that there was an intention to add the ability to mod the game eventually.  I apologize for my ignorance in that situation.  I also apologize if I seemed impatient for that reason.  I simply want this game to be all it can be and I thought that perhaps getting word from the community to the devs would help facilitate that ultimate goal.  I also like to be a part of the solution instead of just an angry voice in the crowd.  Modding tools would put power in my hands to do just that.

Annatar, you're wrong. It's possible to rewrite most of the game from scratch. You can change how damage works, really core things, and the entire UI is done in script, as well as you can obvs add new maps and Demigods. You could make the game a racing game if you had the patience. Not only that, but it is possible to mod the game right now, with a bit of hacking. I just won't tell you how because people who can't do it will ruin their installs, and even UI mods will cause you to not be able to play online.

Why this worthless comment?  This game needs modding to, as the op put it, unlock the games true potential.  Back in beta, we had some good UI mods already before they disabled them from going online.

I'm glad to hear that there will be modding tools in the future. That was the only thing that made me hesitate to buy the game. It will definitely be nice to see what comes of future mods. I can just imagine a plethora of new spells and items for people to make use of. Not to mention maps and new demigods! 

Can we get UI modding support back at least!

Here is something I did in 10 minutes in the beta map editor:

(The changes to the skydome should be obvious, but as you can see you can add colums or other props quite easily too.)

I want mod tool too. 

Annatar is correct frogboy has said modtools would be released at a later point if there was community support for.

Epic Fail.  Let's hope for the community to grow and become robust with new demigods and the like from developers and modders a like.  If you like this game, please don't attack people who want it improved.

"It seems odd to me that a game based off a mod, would not include the same support that created the concept and made it great"

It is not a mod it is a Custom map and you get a mapmaking tool along with the original game with the skins, planes, trees and all of those. The map is protected so you had to hack the map in order to mod it. In your case it would be you had to hack the mod to mod the mod.

I strongly agree that releasing modding tools would give longevity to the game. However, given how Demigod is mostly a multiplayer title, how would you suggest to implement player-made additions to the game while monitoring it for cheats/exploits?

Only allowing mods in password-protected rooms? Adding a specific, mod-friendly game type?

If modding tools are implemented, how many people can honestly say they will spend the time and effort to push Demigod further?

And please "go back to DOTA"? Now isn't it the paragon of constructive criticism? And no, it doesn't matter whether or not you could or could not mod DotA. What matter is whether or not modding is a viable option for Demigod.

Let's be honest, some people out there want modding tools because they want to turn Demigod into an exact copy of DotA.  They'd take out the flags, increase the range on towers, change how unit upgrades work... I would hate to see that.  I think it's ridiculous.

Modding tools should be at the very bottom of the list imho, or they should be pretty limited on release because otherwise Dota fanboys are going to ruin a unique and balanced game.

I do not want modding tools I want MAPMAKING TOOL.

Just because someone makes a mod doesn't mean everyone has to play it.  Freedom is not a bad thing.

Personally, I could care less about mods, but the ability for users to create new maps (not me, I'm lazy) is incredibly important in the long run for the game.

Yeah thay should make a map editor, cause Id like to see a Hero Line Wars map made for this game!

its not like that at all..lol, u sound like ur going to be forced to play other peoples mods.. jeez, use ur brain for a second

DoTa sucks because everyone who plays it is a D@#$head. 



Stop talking about a stupid WCIII Map in a published games forum...

/topic

Options are a funny thing. You'd think that having more choices available would make a game more fun, accessible to more people. In fact, having more options can be a bad thing. The more choices people have, the more likely they are to be unable to choose anything at all. In the context of Demigod, if there were a bunch of mods available, a lot of people would look at them all, and unable to decide which one was worth their while, wouldn't bother to play any of them. Or maybe they'd play another game.

Another thing about choices is that having to choose actually makes people less happy with the result than if they had no choice at all. The problem is that once a decision is made, it's easy to second guess and think that another choice may have been better. This tends to reduce peoples' satisfaction with choices they've made. Also, the more options are available, the greater the expectation will be that the "best" option is perfect. When a choice is made, it can never measure up to those increased expectations, so dissatisfaction sets in.

Psychologist Barry Schwarz discusses these things in his book The Paradox of Choice. If you want to learn more, have a look at this 20 minute video:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice.html

People tend to assume that mod tools ensure the longevity of any game, but in fact that may not only be wrong, but having too many mods available may actually have the opposite effect. Food for thought.

I do hope when modding tools come out they introduce a central mod database (like in GPGNet but less, ehm, unreliable) and some form of link to the mod download from the custom game lobby.

In SupCom a few mods became extremely popular and a huge percentage of players used them. SupCom would have missed out on so much without Sorians and DuncanEs AIs, the GAZ_UI, Zulans Hotstats, Replay Manager and Analyzer... only to name a few.

And for those who are concerned about cheating: You can lock the game files with an md5 hash check and allow to mount mods from a special folder via GameDataPath.lua. In tournaments and ranked games the folder is disabled and all mods switched off. This system is easy to implement and as foolproof and secure as the current 'protection'.

And a lot of us enjoy modding the game as much or even more than playing it. One of the reasons I preordered Demigod was that it uses almost the same engine as SupCom and I assumed we would be able to make maps and mods!

Jessep, I agree. Given that they already had all the source they needed to make modding work, it's MORE effort to remove it than it is to enable it. I wouldn't still be playing Forged Alliance without the custom options and mods/maps.

All it needs to give us modding support is a second desktop shortcut and ONE single line added to the GameDataPath.lua. This system works great, it's extremely powerful and with an additonal hash check for ranked games pretty much impossible to beat for cheaters.

In SupCom we are using this method to mount mods that can't be handled anymore by the build-in mod manager because they are going too deep into the game (additional factions, massive remodeling of the game, additional AIs, new videos and sounds....)

I have several different shortcuts for FA on my desktop, each one of them launches a different set of mods depending what I want to play. It's like having 3 or more different games sharing the same game engine really. There is one downside: you have to make up your mind which set of mods to play before you launch the game. Sorian has already released a mod manager for the Demigod beta so even that is no longer a problem.

PS: We need two more things for full support: a working map editor (the dev tools will be fine, we are not picky and know the engine) and importers/exporters for 3D modeling software, preferably Blender and 3DS.

Modding 3d maps isn't that rough. Counterstrike, Quake, and plenty of others use 3d maps.

One thing I would like to see a map do is some elevation changes.... Dunno if that is possible with the engine though. I didn't follow DG much till it actually came out.