Did you see that??? Next week is going to be about MODDING!!!!

[ShadyGuy_SuspiciousGoal]

HERE WE GO BOYSSS! Sorry I'm super excited about that LOL.

What are you guys interested in? Any questions you would like to know the answer? For me personally, I would love to know more about:

• Localization: will there be a clearer indication on the keys of where they are used? Will the localization files be a hot mess again? (For the uninitiated, localizations are all the modable texts in the game, like titles, relationship, and event texts et cetera.)
• 3D modding: what are the options given, and how exposed is this? Lightings (really hate how in the earlier pics the lighting makes the eyes look too deep and dark btw), backgrounds, outfit etc... So many questions!
• Decision modding: of course some more info about this will help, but I doubt there will be significant difference.
• Will there be functions and variables? The "flags" and "events" kind of work, but I am thinking of building an algorithm using the script and don't know if that possible.

And before y'all complain about how technical the DDs are lately, think of how often we get to ask the devs for clarification on scripting. It will definitely help the community much, much more than yet another feature walkthrough. Next week can't come soon enough!

 

[Cyhort]

Didn't they already do one about modding a while back? Or am I imagining that?

 

[ShadyGuy_SuspiciousGoal]

Didn't they already do one about modding a while back? Or am I imagining that?

That was event modding. In CK, we have events, decisions, trigger, flags, localizations, and many many more aspects.

 

[Duditsfireguy]

A lot of these recent diaries feel like they could just be twitter posts instead, the majority of us aren't modders I'd prefer more in-game mechanics instead of another filter diary like today to hold us on into release which most of it I didn't understand and the bit I did I was bored of as I skipped to the end.

 

[Cyhort]

A lot of these recent diaries feel like they could just be twitter posts instead, the majority of us aren't modders I'd prefer more in-game mechanics instead of another filter diary like today to hold us on into release which most of it I didn't understand and the bit I did I was bored of as I skipped to the end.

All the performance stuff went right over my head, my main takeaway was "game go faster and smoother than other game", but the AI stuff was interesting and relevant, since it touched on gameplay. But mostly I agree. It seems like they've run out of major features to talk about, which is kind of disappointing since I think there are a few mechanics they still haven't talked about (did they ever do a Crusades/Jihad/Great Holy War DD?). I don't mind them talking about modding, since even if it's never something I'm going to do, it's a major part of the game, but I wish they'd spread the technical stuff out between features that everyone can understand and get excited about, though.

 

[Sushurashi]

The Modding one I think will be very interesting and useful to more people then one might initially expect, since they have stated that we will be able to add our created characters in as a Mod. If nothing else, I expect a lot of people to take advantage of this type of limited modding, and getting a heads up of how to do this will be very helpful.

 

[General Von Trapp]

Not being a modded at all but from watching the video diary about lifestyle choices. I am very excited with what modders can do in that area.

 

[Razmorg]

All the performance stuff went right over my head, my main takeaway was "game go faster and smoother than other game", but the AI stuff was interesting and relevant, since it touched on gameplay. But mostly I agree. It seems like they've run out of major features to talk about, which is kind of disappointing since I think there are a few mechanics they still haven't talked about (did they ever do a Crusades/Jihad/Great Holy War DD?). I don't mind them talking about modding, since even if it's never something I'm going to do, it's a major part of the game, but I wish they'd spread the technical stuff out between features that everyone can understand and get excited about, though.

They haven't talked about crusades besides saying it'll work close like Holy Fury but have a more balanced pay-out.

The thing is we don't know their content plan right now. They released the character tutorial video on Monday and tomorrow we'll get our first livestream. Who knows when embargo for youtube content is lifted or when we get even more streams. Chances are we'll have a whole lot more before next DD.

Personally I'm curious how well modding will be integrated. Like it'd be fun if you could have hereditary elf ears and blending between them for fantasy mods etc.

 

[PillowWillow]

The Modding one I think will be very interesting and useful to more people then one might initially expect, since they have stated that we will be able to add our created characters in as a Mod. If nothing else, I expect a lot of people to take advantage of this type of limited modding, and getting a heads up of how to do this will be very helpful.

The next DD will certainly be VERY interesting for me, since I want to make my first deep dive into modding with CK3 (that's why I decided to sign up to programming courses this September, hoping to learn something relevant to modding games.

If that doesn't happen, well, there's always the fallback line of YouTube tutorials, or just contacting professional modders for guidence.

For the moment, I'm very bad with computers, I hope to change that soon enough - fingers crossed!).

 

[Sushurashi]

The next DD will certainly be VERY interesting for me, since I want to make my first deep dive into modding with CK3 (that's why I decided to sign up to programming courses this September, hoping to learn something relevant to modding games.

If that doesn't happen, well, there's always the fallback line of YouTube tutorials, or just contacting professional modders for guidence.

For the moment, I'm very bad with computers, I hope to change that soon enough - fingers crossed!).

Best of luck with that. Much of the work will be done through scripting so learning how scripting languages work should be a good place to start.

One thing I like about the ability to to use mods to place your created characters is that once you have designed him/her you won't ever have to do that work ever again (if you don't want to) even if/when you start new different games. You can take that same character and either replay him/her, or start them in an different part of the world or time with out having to go through the time consuming process of recreating them from scratch. You can give them what ever titles you want, even create a titular title for them if you want. Heck, you could even start them with your own custom religion this way.

 

[ShadyGuy_SuspiciousGoal]

Oh wow I didn't think that the some players will be disappointed in such in-depth dds but I guess it's understandable. However think of the future guys. Once the game is released all your questions will be answered, but having a good, detail explanation of the scripting language will never be done without the devs actually explaining things. If you check the modding wiki there are still a lot of commands/conditions that doesn't have a clear explanation. While the devs are still actively answering questions, we should ask ALL the details we can. This is a great investment for the long term.

Imagine Lord of the Ring mod with 3d graphic and actual skill trees. Imagine Game of Throne mod with 3D dragon. Imagine the Waifu Simulator 9000 mod with actual 3D anime girls. Elf girls. Disney Princesses.

You have no idea what this game is capable of.

 

[Ezumiyr]

3D modding: what are the options given, and how exposed is this? Lightings (really hate how in the earlier pics the lighting makes the eyes look too deep and dark btw), backgrounds, outfit etc... So many questions!

I wouldn't get too excited by that. I don't think Imperator has any mods for that, and even the 2d animated portraits of Stellaris barely get any mods outside of the few popular ones (and really they are just drawings applied on already existing animations).
At best, we can hope for more color variation. I know some people won't like to hear that, but anything else seems unlikely. I don't think people realize how difficult it is to mod dynamic 3d models, or that modding is something you are doing entirely on your own. The devs don't provide tools to create your own stuff. You won't have a window with a pretty interface and sliders so you can add elf ears for instance. The modder will have to start from scratch and make sure everything interacts well with the rest of the game.

So yellow eyes is something we could get fast, but dragons and ents... I doubt we'll ever get them.

 

[ShadyGuy_SuspiciousGoal]

I wouldn't get too excited by that. I don't think Imperator has any mods for that, and even the 2d animated portraits of Stellaris barely get any mods outside of the few popular ones (and really they are just drawings applied on already existing animations).
At best, we can hope for more color variation. I know some people won't like to hear that, but anything else seems unlikely. I don't think people realize how difficult it is to mod dynamic 3d models, or that modding is something you are doing entirely on your own. The devs don't provide tools to create your own stuff. You won't have a window with a pretty interface and sliders so you can add elf ears for instance. The modder will have to start from scratch and make sure everything interacts well with the rest of the game.

So yellow eyes is something we could get fast, but dragons and ents... I doubt we'll ever get them.

If we can do it in Skyrim, The Sim, Fallout, we can do it in CK3. Body slider mods will take a while, but they will surely surface. There will be meta-mods that expand the script. For any new game, the modders always start from scratch.

The devs talked about how they model some historical figures using real info, thus they already have something like that (a body slider) lying around. It was confirmed that completely new attachment to the body is possible. So chances are we'll see elves and foxgirls soon.

 

[Sushurashi]

I wouldn't get too excited by that. I don't think Imperator has any mods for that, and even the 2d animated portraits of Stellaris barely get any mods outside of the few popular ones (and really they are just drawings applied on already existing animations).
At best, we can hope for more color variation. I know some people won't like to hear that, but anything else seems unlikely. I don't think people realize how difficult it is to mod dynamic 3d models, or that modding is something you are doing entirely on your own. The devs don't provide tools to create your own stuff. You won't have a window with a pretty interface and sliders so you can add elf ears for instance. The modder will have to start from scratch and make sure everything interacts well with the rest of the game.

So yellow eyes is something we could get fast, but dragons and ents... I doubt we'll ever get them.

While fully 3D animated models will take time to make, there are quit a lot of people skilled in 3D modeling and animation. Just look at Cities Skylines and the tremendous number of 3D models the community has added to that game.

 

[ShadyGuy_SuspiciousGoal]

Oh yeah, here's the devs' slider in action:

I suspect it will fall under the GFX modding folder. Although Imperator: Rome does not have portrait modding, I would argue that the character is not the central point of the game so the devs probably decided to forgo that. The opposite is true for CK3.

A while ago, there was an article here that touched upon the fact that I:R and CK3 both use a similar version of the Clausewitz engine and so modding should be similar. It also talked about how the new engine allow character to hold props and pose. So I imagine cool armor set, weapons, and outfit can be modded too.

So I dug around I:R forum and found this Grand Jomini thing that looks like a proper library for the modding community with actual manuals and easier to use code. So I am 90% sure 3D modding is possible.

 

[SirPenetrator]

did they ever do a Crusades/Jihad/Great Holy War DD?)

I don't think they even want to talk about it or mention it since you aren't even allowed to use "Deus Vult" as text and or in terms of event screenshots from the game (after release) as well as Pepe The Frog in their Discord Server, I think they're currently tip toeing around to not offend anyone. That's why they probably won't start a DD around Crusades, Jihad etc.

 

[vyshan]

I don't think they even want to talk about it or mention it since you aren't even allowed to use "Deus Vult" as text and or in terms of event screenshots from the game (after release) as well as Pepe The Frog, I think they're currently tip toeing around to not offend anyone.

Deus Vult was shown in one of the screenshots that one of the press companies got a hold of.

 

[SirPenetrator]

Deus Vult was shown in one of the screenshots that one of the press companies got a hold of.

Sorrry, I forgot to clarify:
We indeed have Deus Vult in the game, you aren't allowed to write "Deus Vult" or post pictures from the games with "Deus Vult" in it IN their Discord!
Sorry for the confusion, error on my part.

 

[ShadyGuy_SuspiciousGoal]

Sorrry, I forgot to clarify:
We indeed have Deus Vult in the game, you aren't allowed to write "Deus Vult" or post pictures from the games with "Deus Vult" in it IN their Discord!
Sorry for the confusion, error on my part.

But I don't think it has anything to do with crusades and jihads. These are historical events.

 

[SirPenetrator]

But I don't think it has anything to do with crusades and jihads. These are historical events.

Indeed. I just think since we aren't allowed to show a "historical even pop up that has Deus Vult written in it" they also probably don't want to make a DD talking about Crusades/Jihads and with that probably starting a discussion that will spiral out of control.

But we never now, and one can only hope. So there's hope they'll probably still bring a DD like that! I mean we still have 4 weeks, so