Any early word about CoH2 modding?

[Vertrucio]

I know some people here are closer to Relic than others, so any word about CoH2 and modding?

[Celution]

No, nothing has been said or revealed more about CoH2, as far as I'm informed. And somehow I feel there will be as much modding support for CoH2 as for CoH1 if not less, even though they did put big mod releases like EF/MC on their website..

However Cope already said if there is no Official Modding Support, he will try something..

[Jagdpanther]

I think it's way too early to say anything about. More than a year too early.

I also think, Relic has learned how important the possibility of modding can be for a game like this, so why not should also be the new version modable.

[Darkbladecr]

I talked to the new community manager, he is going to push for mod support but no guarantees.

[Mannerheim]

I don't think THQ never liked modding too much especially after their DLC plans few years back. I only hope for decent map editor since other tools are most likely out of our reach anyways if they are using the same asset pipeline.

[Jaffar]

If nothing else I would hope they at least support newer versions of MAX.

[SpardaSon21]

If CoH2 uses an enhanced version of CoH1's Essence, chances are it will still use .module files, so hopefully we'll be able to load mods that way. Hopefully Cope will be able to pull through with tools if Relic doesn't. I just hope CoH2 handles mod loading better than the catastrophe that was DoW2.

[YaZEK]

If game engine will be the same ,mooding woudn't be a problem.

[Celution]

It won't: Essence Engine 3.0 guys .

[Aidas2]

Will there be a Corsix 2.0 :P

[Celution]

Nope, because Corsix is a person, that would mean you're asking for a clone of Corsix.

[Halftrack]

considering the amazing amount of support relic gave to us modders right from CoH release on,
I guess we will see the first real good CoH2 Mods in... 2015. Maybe.

[Darkbladecr]

considering the amazing amount of support relic gave to us modders right from CoH release on

Really? A broken worldbuilder? Mod tools that Corsix had to make himself for editing the Attrib files? An SMF editor/exporter that Mannerheim put together, a model exporter with no documentation, that Corsix had to figure out? An OE that technically was never supposed to be released and we had to figure out ourselves...

I'd say they were 50/50 on the mod support. However I would never say it was amazing

[Celution]

DB, did you really not read the overload of sarcasm in HT's post?

[Gorb]

Mainly because it's not possible to ship dev tools out to consumers, even when you attempt to modify the tools so that they work outside of the developer environment.

I'd say that they did what they could, but it makes me sad that they don't have the freedom to build mod support into the engine itself. Would be nice if Relic's titles weren't rushed out the door to save THQ's financial woes.

[DMz]

As you say it would be nice. But judging on the last rushed release for this, ie TOV, maximum profit minimum effort, is the name of the game. So i dont hold out much hope for mod support. Its easier for them to just ignore it and cash in for the quick buck. Besides that in the currant financial markets with Software sales down, it would probebly be the logical choice for them. But then im just a Doom & Gloom merchant.

[Copernicus]

@Celéstial:
Judging by Corsix' skills and knowledge, I'd say he can't possibly be v1.0 anyway. He is at least at v1.71.

[Celution]

I see what you did there, Cope!

[sirpsychoj]

I have to agree with Halftrack and Darkblade. I was excited at first with the news of a new CoH2 and the possibility of some of the new features mentioned but then the reality set in on how long it was after CoH was released before most of us could do anything special with what tools where available let alone get new models ingame ( no disrespect to those great mods out there atm that didnt need those extra tools as ModStudio was sufficient for those). And I would love to be proved wrong in this situation as well ofc but as far as mods and modding are concerned ( inc Importing stuff) I think CoH will still be the forerunner for it for a long time too come sadly. But Relic, plz prove me wrong, I want to be wrong I would love to see the rise of some new CoH2 mods months after a release

[Jes]

Let's be realistic here guys..

Modding support from Relic games has been on a steady decline, much like mod support in videogames overall. (Remember how DoW1 had an ingame mod selection menu?)
It's unfortunately a dying breed, mostly thanks to the locked down, sequelistic DLC-pushing method some of the world's more greedy publishers are pushing to their obvious economic benefit (THQ wants money too you know), but also to the notably increasing complexity of games in general. (Just compare the EBPs of CoH to those of DoW2. It's madness.)

If CoH2 has any mod support at all, it will be a stroke of luck from on high. :/

[Mannerheim]

I'm pretty sure there won't be any tools "leaked" out similar to the ones we have at the moment. Without them it will be a mess to try to do any real "new" units or objects.

For more full scale modding Relic wouldn't necessary release any tools if there's legal/licensing problems or they are too complex and environment dependent asset pipelines. File headers and/or structures for important files would be enough for us to do our own tool sets. Too bad those are probably also considered business secrets

Its also possible to dig the info from the game itself using other harder and time taking ways but it could lead to boredom before enough info has been gathered. One thing that might help us is that if Relic reuses a lot of assets from current CoH we can compare the files and find the differences faster.

[sirpsychoj]

yea thats what I was hoping too Mannerheim, if they use similar files & assests and such, then the likes of the brains of modding like urself and others who do know how to get into this stuff or create certain programs or modify current ones so we can at least see files or what not. Im fine with current tools or modstudio in using them, but i have no idea when it comes to getting into certain files or making or altering programs to be able to do it. So i for one thought if there ever where a chance anyway, it would be ppl like urself, Cope, Corsix and a few others I can only hope that can crack it. But hey, we'll just have to wait and see when its released, I suppose all we can do is speculate atm and use the past as a reference to how things may turn out.

[Vertrucio]

Some of the most successful games have been born from mods.

The entire modern shooter genre/style came from a single mod.

DayZ is the most recent example of a single good mod massively boosting the sales and community for a game, right in time to develop interest for its sequel.

There's real examples of this. But honestly, to make sure that the cost of releasing usable tools to the users is as low as possible, you need to plan for end user tools from the beginning. It's still pretty early in development. Let's hope staffers can convince management to make that extra effort.