Game News Sawyer discusses release plans for Pillars of Eternity with Eurogamer

[Scruffy]

Mods usually don't even try to include new maps even if 'technically possible'

That is, unless some other person already did the work. And they can get away with using it without takedown notices. Which they haven't for this style even if it is unity.

so when they said "mods like for nwn and NV", they actually meant NOT like nwn
ah shit

edit
found it

"From Neverwinter Nights 2 to Fallout: New Vegas, we've enjoyed supporting the mod community, and we are continuing that with Project Eternity. It is awesome to see how you extend the worlds we make.

To make getting mods easy, we are excited to announce that our friends at the Nexus will be the official spot to download Project Eternity mods once the game is released. They have been a great host for mods for our past games, and we want to continue the trend with the Project Eternity Nexus. Check out the Nexus Network at www.nexusmods.com.

Our plan is to release our file-format information and expose as much of the data in the game as possible for you to extend and edit. We traditionally do not "hard-code" numbers so that our designers, and you, have the power to easily change and iterate on RPG data. We also plan on releasing localization tools to let communities around the world create localized versions for languages we are not translating Project Eternity into.

As we get more familiar with Unity during production, we will be extending Project Eternity even more for mod makers. Look forward to announcements in the months ahead as we make further progress and can provide you with more information about tools and mod support."

 

[SCO]

It's going to be exactly the same situation as BG1 at the start without WEIDU to combine mods. That is megamods, megamods everywhere and nary a one will have new maps because they haven't got fileformat and style compatible maps to steal from other games (just consider how many big BG2 mods rip off maps from icewind dale).
Forget about new campaigns not reusing maps, it looks like you have been 'nostalgiazed'.

Moreover i suspect that a WEIDU equivalent will be harder to write, maybe impossible since the scripting language has much more syntax and semantics - just consider that a weidu (a tool actually patch code without knowing what code exactly is there) for bloodlines or ToEE was never written. No accident because python although a very popular language that strives to only have one way to do things, is also very complex to parse, and has the ability to call subfunctions and no definite execution sequence. Therefore it's impossible to know that your code will actually run if placed anywhere on the script file. Therefore, agnostic code patching will never work, because of for example, early returns on the code above you which you don't know about when patching.

A try{ original obsidian code } finally {mods code functions in order} construct could maybe work if there is no eventqueue trickery going on, and obsidian added it to the programming language which i doubt

 

[Athelas]

I'm sure an enthusiastic romance modding community will form around the game.

 

[Dorateen]

If the developers want to offer a platform for end-users to create their own adventures and stories, a separate project is needed distinct from Pillars of Eternity (the game); a construction kit with that expressed purpose. It should not just be "modding capability" tacked on. They need to fashion a toolset, which is an entity of its own, including development of art assets, map-making functions, plug-ins, wizards, etc. And not attached to any attempt at a robust official campaign. A small technical demo would suffice. But module making tools would be an entirely new product for them to pitch.

Learn from FRUA, not NWN.

 

[Johannes]

If the developers want to offer a platform for end-users to create their own adventures and stories, a separate project is needed distinct from Pillars of Eternity (the game); a construction kit with that expressed purpose. It should not just be "modding capability" tacked on. They need to fashion a toolset, which is an entity of its own, including development of art assets, map-making functions, plug-ins, wizards, etc. And not attached to any attempt at a robust official campaign. A small technical demo would suffice. But module making tools would be an entirely new product for them to pitch.

Learn from FRUA, not NWN.

Making quality maps will never be simple, regardless of the tools.

 

[Dorateen]

True, but what may happen if given tools powerful enough, is that you will have a select group of artists... Pre-fab Nazis they were lovingly called in the NWN2 community, who will produce maps and no other content. They will then post their work for other builders to use freely, with proper credit of course. But I think Obsidian has to provide dedicated resources for those people who just want to specialize in mapmaking.

 

[Arkeus]

Infinitron/someone should make a thread over at the Obsidian forums about this.

 

[SCO]

If the developers want to offer a platform for end-users to create their own adventures and stories, a separate project is needed distinct from Pillars of Eternity (the game); a construction kit with that expressed purpose. It should not just be "modding capability" tacked on. They need to fashion a toolset, which is an entity of its own, including development of art assets, map-making functions, plug-ins, wizards, etc. And not attached to any attempt at a robust official campaign. A small technical demo would suffice. But module making tools would be an entirely new product for them to pitch.

Learn from FRUA, not NWN.

I prefer modular modding rather than total modification. But yes, that would be beneficial too and can even support modularity on a simple form if done right and the game supports it (the TES toolset for instance).
Code support for modular additions/hooks to normal game functions is pretty essential for more complicated mods i feel though. So a pretty GUI is not most of it.

 

[Rivmusique]

Isn't Divinity: Original Sin meant to be the modding/toolset paradise?

 

[Gragt]

That's what they told me but you can't trust those godless Belgians.

 

[Apexeon]

PE is going to have a similar problem with modding that the original IE games had. The art is really hard to produce and modders will never be able to make it look ok.

Unless you have a tilebased system like SRR or 3D object placement system like NWN, it's just too hard to make maps.

Agree its brutal hard.

But I should have about 200+ to play with at the end of this year.
They won't look super pro but they are usable.

 

[Excidium]

Isn't Divinity: Original Sin meant to be the modding/toolset paradise?

Is it? I don't remember reading anything other than content creation but I haven't been paying a lot of attention.

 

[Apexeon]

PE is going to have a similar problem with modding that the original IE games had. The art is really hard to produce and modders will never be able to make it look ok.

Unless you have a tilebased system like SRR or 3D object placement system like NWN, it's just too hard to make maps.

Would this level be good enough for modders?
Certain maps are easy for me to produce. A set of 6-10 dungeons like the one below can be completed
very quickly. A set can become a solid base for the modders to work with (work in a story line, turn based combat ).

I plan to release some tutorials in the future for map making.

 

[Rivmusique]

Isn't Divinity: Original Sin meant to be the modding/toolset paradise?

Is it? I don't remember reading anything other than content creation but I haven't been paying a lot of attention.

I remember a video where they talked about it, they 'effortlessly' recreated The Butcher bit of Diablo I think? I would find it, but I'm capped so the net is painfully slow. Fucking Australia.

 

[Goegoff]

Would this level be good enough for modders?
Certain maps are easy for me to produce. A set of 6-10 dungeons like the one below can be completed
very quickly. A set can become a solid base for the modders to work with (work in a story line, turn based combat ).

I plan to release some tutorials in the future for map making.

It's nicer than BG:EE's new stuff, but for a PoE level You're still 4 renders short; You're missing the difuse, specular, normal and height render (Mr. Sawyer's GDC talk, page 12).

 

[Apexeon]

Would this level be good enough for modders?
Certain maps are easy for me to produce. A set of 6-10 dungeons like the one below can be completed
very quickly. A set can become a solid base for the modders to work with (work in a story line, turn based combat ).

I plan to release some tutorials in the future for map making.

It's nicer than BG:EE's new stuff, but for a PoE level You're still 4 renders short; You're missing the difuse, specular, normal and height render (Mr. Sawyer's GDC talk, page 12).

Working on my workflow. I produced that today in 3 hours while my kids were sleeping so I cut corners.
I can imagine if I went full time 10 hours a day but this above does not pay my bills.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

trololololo idonthavetimeforthiscrap you pledged on a false premise. modding won't be as prevalent as it was in NWN1 modules.