I want to make a mod, but I'm a complete noob. Help!

[Hancake]

So basically, the mod I want to make is literally to just change all the textures, in the same way a texture pack would work with minecraft.

Here come the nooby questions:



• Is it possible to do with the way rimworld is coded?
• Is it reasonably easy to do as a noob just learning how to understand code?
• Will I need any software to do it?
• If I literally just swap out all the original graphics for my ones..will that mess any code up and cause things to break, that I will then be unable to fix?


Thanks in advance for your help

[Rokiyo]

I don't think you'll need to write any code at all... Just a bit of XML reading to figure our folder and file names should be enough.

To begin with, I would recommend installing Notepad++ and using it to open the XML files located in RimWorld\Mods\Core\Defs.

For example, in RimWorld\Mods\Core\Defs\TerrainDefs\BaseTerrains.xml, you'll see some text that looks like this:

Code Select Expand

<TerrainDef>
<defName>Soil</defName>
<Label>Soil</Label>
<TexturePath>Terrain/Surfaces/Soil</TexturePath>
<EdgeType>Fade</EdgeType>
<RenderPrecedence>340</RenderPrecedence>
<PathCost>2</PathCost>
<Beauty>Neutral</Beauty>
<ScatterType>Rocky</ScatterType>
<SurfacesSupported>
<li>Light</li>
<li>Heavy</li>
<li>GrowSoil</li>
<li>Diggable</li>
</SurfacesSupported>
<ConstructionEffect>ConstructDig</ConstructionEffect>
<TerrainFilthDef>FilthDirt</TerrainFilthDef>
<Fertility>1.0</Fertility>
<TakeFootprints>True</TakeFootprints>
</TerrainDef>

What you're after is the <TexturePath> tag, which tells you where the game will go looking for that texture.

I believe if you were to create a file called Soil.png, and placed it in your RimWorld\Mods\Core\Textures\Terrain\Surfaces\Soil folder, then the game should automatically start using that new texture.

The next step from there would be to bundle those textures into a self-contained mod, which is where I am a little less clear on what is required. Hopefully, the game will just let you dump the your entire Texture folder into a mod by itself and it'll work without any further effort from you. If that doesn't work, then you may need to also copy over all of the XML that refers to those Textures, which could result in compatibility issues with other mods... I'll wait for someone with more knowledge on the matter to comment on this, as I haven't tested a pure textures-only mod myself.

[Cala13er]

If you add me on skype I'll willingly teach you both dll modding and xml modding. The other guy I was gonna teach seems to of pulled out.

Skype : Calumishere1

[Darker]

I don't want to discourage you, Hancake, but generally for programming and other creative activities, the correct progress is not learning by heart. If you wan't to create a mod that does something, try to do it with all you know.


If it doesn't work, ask others why. Next time, you'll know how to do that thing. But you'll fail at another - and again, the community is here to answer your question.
Much like, when I was learning guitar, I didn't pick a book "How to play guitar". I tried to play a song I wanted to play a lot. I failed, but I tried other one and I succeeded.

I've  been asked many times: "How did you learn programming?"
I wanted to make a specific program that does something.

I strongly suggest chosing specific mod you wanna create and finding out how to do it. If you get stuck, others will help you.

[Hancake]

I hear you darker, the problem is I literally have no idea where to start, so I just needed a couple of pointers to head me in the right direction. Luckily the boyfriend has some experience in coding too, but I'd really like to try and do this myself because I bet he'll take over and do it for me haha

I suppose in your guitar analogy, it's like me wanting to learn how to play a guitar and being so clueless I'll try to bash it on my head to get sound out of it. That's about as much as I know about coding haha!

[Cala13er]

If you add me on skype I'll willingly teach you both dll modding and xml modding. The other guy I was gonna teach seems to of pulled out.

Skype : Calumishere1

[Hancake]

Thanks for the offer calum, I don't have a webcam or anything though!

My bf will help me out if I need it I'm sure, it was the nooby/rimworld specific questions I needed answering really

[Cala13er]

No. I meant over chat. Not webcam or voice call. I don't do that stuff :/

[Thunder Rahja]

http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=2325