Next dev diary : modding tools ?

[BigGiantBear]

could we see in the next dev diary the modding tools with detailed info about what exactly can be modified in the game?
in almost every thread i see : "it can be modded by players" but there is no info about that. the dev diary should feature at least some of this few topics:

1. can we mod car and pedestrian looks ?
2. can we increase the speed of the cars ?
3. what can be modded at airports, train stations, ports ?
4. could farms be reskinned ?
5. are we able to create new policies ?
6. can we assign new functions to keys ?
7. can we modify the sounds and soundtrack ?
8. can we modify the UI ?
9. can we create new zones like medium density and assign it user created buildings ?

 

[BSC VIP girafe]

I have doubt to see modding tools soon...

DLC and custom content creations are difficult to manage together. I think the priority will be given to DLC as it s a source of revenue for the company and custom content will appear later to make the game long lasting but it s only my point of view.

 

[westy159]

The gist I've got from the devs is that modding tools will be available but not straightaway. A diary showing what tools there are and how they can be used would be welcome but don't expect it till a month or two after the game's release.

 

[BigGiantBear]

I have doubt to see modding tools soon...

DLC and custom content creations are difficult to manage together. I think the priority will be given to DLC as it s a source of revenue for the company and custom content will appear later to make the game long lasting but it s only my point of view.

The gist I've got from the devs is that modding tools will be available but not straightaway. A diary showing what tools there are and how they can be used would be welcome but don't expect it till a month or two after the game's release.

from what i've gathered from ama reddit they said day 1 modding support, hope that will remain true.

 

[karolans]

Yup they said it in a few places, mod support should be in there on launch. Let's just hope CO don't give up once people start modding stuff, that't the only thing I am afraid of at this point

 

[BigGiantBear]

Yup they said it in a few places, mod support should be in there on launch. Let's just hope CO don't give up once people start modding stuff, that't the only thing I am afraid of at this point

my only worry would be, as girafe and westy said, that the devs will hold back on the modding tools until they released their own DLC's and only after that they will give the players the power (simcity DLC style)

 

[karolans]

I'm pretty confident we don't need to worry about that, honestly I'd say CO will happily "outsource" new content to modders as soon as possible . It's a win-win situation for everyone, as long as they keep working on the game even after release! Only time will tell whether the out-of-the-box modding will be a big thing or just mostly cosmetic, guess the devs themselves are still unsure on that. I personally don't know any game that would really provide any huge modding tools, but that's just me.

 

[BigGiantBear]

I personally don't know any game that would really provide any huge modding tools, but that's just me.

check out simcity 4 mods : http://community.simtropolis.com/files/category/1-simcity-4/

 

[BigGiantBear]

added some answers of TotalyMoo about modding from the reddit ama:

- We're working with creating loads of custom tools (bah, Unity) to enable modding of as many aspects as possible. The game will be moddable right at launch and we're working with our modding community to cater to their needs.

- One thing I have to mention, though, is that our dream is to feature UGC (User Generated Content) in the steam Workshop just like the valve games do. So that modders and community asset creators can get paid for their creations. The unfortunate thing is that steam/valve doesn't allow games that aren't theirs to feature this, but who knows if that changes!

- Right now our modding tools are not 100% complete and things are still being decided, as in what we'll launch with et cetera. What I can say now is that any software that uses FBX is supported, so 3DSMAX and, for people who can't afford expensive programs, blender.

- Laws themselves are not very customizable, at least not currently, but you have a lot of playing room with policies to decide how Cims behave, taxation etc. We're going for the PDS business model that you mention with larger DLC's that come together with free updates/patches. It has worked well for that game and we believe that's the best format.

 

[BigGiantBear]

added some answers of TotalyMoo about modding from the reddit ama:

- We're working with creating loads of custom tools (bah, Unity) to enable modding of as many aspects as possible. The game will be moddable right at launch and we're working with our modding community to cater to their needs.

- One thing I have to mention, though, is that our dream is to feature UGC (User Generated Content) in the steam Workshop just like the valve games do. So that modders and community asset creators can get paid for their creations. The unfortunate thing is that steam/valve doesn't allow games that aren't theirs to feature this, but who knows if that changes!

- Right now our modding tools are not 100% complete and things are still being decided, as in what we'll launch with et cetera. What I can say now is that any software that uses FBX is supported, so 3DSMAX and, for people who can't afford expensive programs, blender.

- Laws themselves are not very customizable, at least not currently, but you have a lot of playing room with policies to decide how Cims behave, taxation etc. We're going for the PDS business model that you mention with larger DLC's that come together with free updates/patches. It has worked well for that game and we believe that's the best format.

nothing new on this? i see political matters that bring nothing new to the game are heavy discussed while the most important thing about this game gets no attention; !?

 

[co_martsu]

We will have day 1 modding tools, but more on those later! Now I'm really off to the holiday

 

[TheeLord]

We will have day 1 modding tools, but more on those later! Now I'm really off to the holiday

woot, good news

I assume adding new buildings would be a must along with modifying / adding zones and actual simulation changes.

 

[BigGiantBear]

We will have day 1 modding tools, but more on those later! Now I'm really off to the holiday

ok, thank you for your answer, can't wait to hear more. happy holidays.

 

[uebs]

I went through most of the Modding threads, most of the suggestions seem to be 3D buildings/cars etc, which is nice to a point I guess.

1. Can we have access to the system? example financial coffers...so we can implement say parking meters or transit fares, so if a car parks in front of a meter tile it triggers a custom event we code so it adds $ to the city bank account? (I guess we will need scripting/coding support as well)
1b. Ability to add ui/menus so we can set parking meter revenues
1c. If not direct access maybe getters and setters or simple public functions which we can make calls to like a API
1d. Javascript would be nice, or C++/C# is fine.

2. Customizable menus

3. Access to city stats demographics/education levels/wealth, city costs and the ability to create custom dashboards from that information.


***
On a side note people have jobs, and people have homes, if I remember correctly from the youtube video BUT does that person actually go to the same job every morning and go back to the same house every night? or do they play silly musical chairs(like that other silly city game). Where every morning everyone would make a crazy rush to the first available job and every evening make a rush to the first empty house. Then you wonder why there is traffic problems even for their tiny little city tile :\ I guess the benefit of that system would be, you get a new wife/husband every night for those who swing that way...
***

 

[Zarine]

***
On a side note people have jobs, and people have homes, if I remember correctly from the youtube video BUT does that person actually go to the same job every morning and go back to the same house every night? or do they play silly musical chairs(like that other silly city game). Where every morning everyone would make a crazy rush to the first available job and every evening make a rush to the first empty house. Then you wonder why there is traffic problems even for their tiny little city tile :\ I guess the benefit of that system would be, you get a new wife/husband every night for those who swing that way...
***

No, they won't behave like in SC.
Each person will have its home, its "job" (school being a job), and unless he got fired, die, grow up or move away, he will keep it.

 

[uebs]

No, they won't behave like in SC.
Each person will have its home, its "job" (school being a job), and unless he got fired, die, grow up or move away, he will keep it.

Thats great, because of this and buses not going to every bus stop in the proper order caused crazy traffic problems.

I dont see how im not going to buy CSL, they fixed my two biggest issues i had with SC.

Fingers crossed on modding with the ability to do more than just graphics. Api/scripting would be amazing

 

[cRAGGLE]

could we see in the next dev diary the modding tools with detailed info about what exactly can be modified in the game?
in almost every thread i see : "it can be modded by players" but there is no info about that. the dev diary should feature at least some of this few topics:

1. can we mod car and pedestrian looks ?
2. can we increase the speed of the cars ?
3. what can be modded at airports, train stations, ports ?
4. could farms be reskinned ?5. are we able to create new policies ?
6. can we assign new functions to keys ?
7. can we modify the sounds and soundtrack ?
8. can we modify the UI ?
9. can we create new zones like medium density and assign it user created buildings ?

10. can we increase plot sizes

 

[charlesnew]

10. can we increase plot sizes

That sounds like it's coming from a SC5 forum. More like, can we make our cities infinitely big?

 

[uebs]

That sounds like it's coming from a SC5 forum. More like, can we make our cities infinitely big?

Never new farms were so popular...

CXL had really nice farms.

 

[uebs]

I hope they have a detailed modding document like this

http://citiesxl.wikia.com/wiki/Modding_-_3D_-_Building_Technical_Information

or even more detailed than that...

On a side note, there still isn't a official SC2013 mod tool or the Sims 4 mod tools both of which EA was really pushing as part of the pitch to sell the game, seems very sketchy now thinking back on it...oh well maybe it's a that's how EA operates...