how do you make a mod

[kais 54]

how do you make a mod please help me

[Dyntheos]

just add water

[Dannyboy2]

First we gotta know what game and what kinda mod

[Space Chicken]

i use water & lots sunshine somethimes i use sugar, mix & stir well for about 5 hours :beer:

[JumpPackBoy!]

I think this guy actually wants help not random meaningless posts. But yes we need more info my newblet friend.

[King Raa]

the gist of it is first learn how to use gmax - a free cut down version of 3dsmax, to make models
give ur models animations for ne possible event - like being set alight etc
use soundforge or summat to make sum gnarled sounds of stuff like "omfg teh w00t i'm on f1r3"
then you gotta learn the coding or w/e it is for the game to allow your unit to be stuck in and buildable - doop de doop
(i don't actually know)

[kais 54]

i am gonna make a dawn of war mod if thats any help and i going to have nids tau and guard in it no smurfs

[NightBringer]

the gist of it is first learn how to use gmax - a free cut down version of 3dsmax, to make models
give ur models animations for ne possible event - like being set alight etc


yes and how do we go about doing that? i've downloaded it, and the tutorials, but they are no help and i still dont know how to use it. is there anything like "gmax for dummies" anywhere (for free preferably)???

[King Raa]

gmax is easy as its gonna get - start doing the tutorials you get for modding cnc - theres a good tank tut out there sumwhere to make a 500 odd poly tank. do that.

[kais 54]

thanks for your help i really apprecaeate p.s u guys are really cool

[Fend]

:wtf2: hrmmm... I got Gmax too. :/ im to lazy to use it properly, so my suggestion to you is just act as a team manager and recruit a whole heap of people to do the mod in little parts for you. like a coder a mapper a skinner a modeler. or whatever. You just got to convince them "they will benefit in the end" when really ... :damnu: no one benefits cept you who got 4 bozo's to make a mod for you :bandit: ... well thats the way i do it, i did all the concept work for my team and i played the middle man , manageing everyone's work AND i played the visionary cause my ideas Rockzored. oh, and later i helped them get positions on a really cool BFV mod when my mod died because school started up again. oh well.

[sedated]

can i ask about coding it? wot language, or sort of language...i'm fairly good with c/c++, java, & ok vb & assembly...i've never looked at mods much, or at all to tell the truth, beyond playing them.

we're not talking about like, decompiling & fiddling are we?

[Ph1L]

:wtf2: hrmmm... I got Gmax too. :/ im to lazy to use it properly, so my suggestion to you is just act as a team manager and recruit a whole heap of people to do the mod in little parts for you. like a coder a mapper a skinner a modeler. or whatever. You just got to convince them "they will benefit in the end" when really ... :damnu: no one benefits cept you who got 4 bozo's to make a mod for you :bandit: ... well thats the way i do it, i did all the concept work for my team and i played the middle man , manageing everyone's work AND i played the visionary cause my ideas Rockzored. oh, and later i helped them get positions on a really cool BFV mod when my mod died because school started up again. oh well.
Sorry but this is definitely not the way to run a mod :Slap:

Ideas are easy...everyone has their own .02 cents and I don't think ever in the history of ever has anyone not thought that their own ideas aren't really cool. The key to a successful mod, I'll use Desert Combat for example, is a leader who can bring more to the table than just ideas. The leader of DC was a founding father of 3DS Max as we know it today, and had a strong background in 3D modeling.

And out of curiousity which BFV mod?

Anyway, back on topic, www.3dbuzz.com has a ton of great tutorials on every content creation program imaginable, some free some require a "star." I would reccomend aspiring modders start there.

[Fend]

it was Space combat mod. my people however now work on the new upcomming Starcraft one too. OK. back on topic. Well, i found people rally around sumone with a vision. it just depends how likeminded your crowd is. I couldnt model, skin or anything but i was willing to learn how. the point is, i helped out as much as i could and the results were more than pleasing (our modeler ruled but we didnt have a skinner so i just moved them all over to SC). Oh well. if you want to make a mod you need a team, it dont matter how you get it but aslong as they acknowledge YOUR da visionary, they help to, but you shouldnt let everyone else take total control cause soon it goes from "lets make a cool mod" to "this is really cool, lets throw this in cause it just plain Rockz0rs" (ive had this prollem with noob modders before, you need diciplin).


what Ph1l Said is like saying "go to university, invent a program THEN make a free to the community mod". :/ Its not this complex. Just get some mates together and make a few posts in various forums of interest for the right people to fill the gaps in your team and you should soon get some results.

[Wa Va Voom]

Um just remember dont under estimate doing a mod from DoW. It isn't as easy as it looks, just that the devs are pretty good at it that's why it looks so easy.

[LynX]

Making a mod, even a small one, is no easy task. A TC even less so.

Firstly, the prospective "leader" of a mod team must have al least enough dedication and skills to plan all aspects of the dev process, every step of the way, coordinating workflow, as well as being able to do at least half of what is required (e.g. modelling, skinning & animating, coding, concept drawing, storyboarding, PR jobs etc.). Also, the "leader" must have enough dedication to see the mod through to the end.

Also, if you want anybody to take you seriously, show that you can work. Making unskinned, half-baked models isn't enough. Make some stuff, models, skins, coding, anims and all, and put it ingame, then people will sit up and take notice, and *might* offer to help.

[Strangefate]

I pretty much agree with Lynx, i've seen mods come and go since Q1. Like for any popular game there will be tons of mods being started at launch that will go down the rain in no time do to lack of people that actually can do something.

Good old dusted mod article...
http://www.planetquake.com/skindom/features/WHATNOW/index.shtml

[Ph1L]

what Ph1l Said is like saying "go to university, invent a program THEN make a free to the community mod". :/ Its not this complex. Just get some mates together and make a few posts in various forums of interest for the right people to fill the gaps in your team and you should soon get some results.
Well, you said it yourself, without a talented team a mod will never succeed. Just getting some ideas then posting on a forum won't get you very capable modders...or at least not many of them. Talented people are attracted to mods led by talented, technically competent people; these are the mods with promise.

"Getting your mates together" and posting your ideas might be fun for a little bit...imagining always is...but in the long run I have never witnessed a mod of this nature survive, and I have plenty of experience with both successful and non-successful mod teams.

Like I said...ideas are the easy part, you then have to attract talented modders to your team, and any relatively talented one will know that mod lead by a kid with ideas will never get very far; as a leader you have to bring something more to the table.

And that definitely doesn't mean you have to graduate from college. My little brother is 15 and he's a developer of Desert Combat, proficient at 3d modeling, animating, and programming. He's even making his own 3D model scanner from scratch. This is the kind of guy you find on a successful mod team, and he's just a sophmore in high school. :D

[LynX]

@ Strangefate: interesting article.

Talented people are attracted to things they perceive to be able to succeed. If a mod looks good, many people will be fighting to join the mod team so they can be recognised as having been involved with a successful mod.

As for age, it doesn't matter how old he or she is; anyone who is mentally mature enough, who realises just how big a project is, and is skilled enough and dedicated to his/her mod, it can be successful.

That being said, sometimes even that is not enough; there are numerous other factors that really determine whether a mod sinks or swims.

[BarfHappy]

Hi there... i am interested in Dow modding (to add units and such).

I have already made several unpacking-repacking programs, and created the FarCry models maker few months ago to allow people to use their custom models in the game (from microsoft X files which can be exported from nearly every 3D modeler).

I will have a look at how to unpack the files (either by "hand" or using the un-crippled archive dll) see what can be done from there.

Obviously the gameplay has been built around LUA files. If these LUA include units AI then you will be able to create your own army, else you might be verry limited...

I ll keep you informed on my discoveries