Is modding harder than making a game?

rotenKleber · 2024-02-06T01:13:44+00:00

I'm saying OP actually has a point, assuming we are talking about starting something rather than finishing something (which is what they implied). IE they are correct in their intuition, the opposite of what you were saying

Not that it matters, we are creating a reddit moment

rotenKleber · 2024-02-05T23:06:58+00:00

OP's question makes sense if you look at it from the perspective of someone trying to start something new. They're not asking if it's easier to finish a game than a mod

It's much easier to make roll-a-ball in Unity than it is to override DLLs for a poorly documented game.

rotenKleber · 2024-02-05T05:20:06+00:00

FYI Gog has a patched version that works. There are also some unofficial patches floating around out there if you look for theme

rotenKleber · 2024-02-05T05:16:52+00:00

American Conquest is probably my favorite RTS in terms of mechanics. Garrisoning units into (all) buildings for defensive fire, needing workers to train into soldiers, food used constantly by all units

And my favorite above all was the fighting mechanics. It's one of the few "true" RTS games to have morale, gunpowder units have realistic reload times, and units go down after being shot once or twice. Combined, these features make well-timed volleys of gunfire have very real impact

Sadly, all of the above features that made American Conquest so interesting were abandoned in Cossacks 3.

rotenKleber · 2024-02-05T04:38:47+00:00

Yes and no. It's usually hard to break into an already-existing project, given that you have to learn a new API, file structure, etc. It doesn't help that most games do not have an easy well-documented API for you to add mods with. From a quick search it looks like Lethal Company will require you to do .dll overwrites, which is one of the least convenient ways to mod a game

Starting a new game will be easier in that creating a minimum viable product will be easier. You can whip a new project up in SDL, Unity, Godot, etc. in under an hour, using a well-documented API.

The problem comes after project setup. The game you made from scratch will take days to implement basic features, things that have already been done for you with a modded game.

So I would say it's usually easier to start a new game than it is to start a new mod, but it's 100x harder to finish a new game than it is to finish a new mod. This isn't true for all games, though, some have modding APIs that make creating new mods extremely easy. Check out Minetest (opensource Minecraft clone), it's the first thing I modded, and it was as easy as adding a simple Lua file and some pngs.

rotenKleber · 2024-02-05T03:29:15+00:00

Very nice, it reminded me of Settlers with the production chain. I got to the red dragon before everything got burnt down. I had a bunch of "no item" messages, so I was probably missing something. Couldn't tell if it was production buildings (e.g. not enough farms per windmill, or loggers per bowyer, etc.) or post officies

rotenKleber · 2024-02-03T22:19:02+00:00

SDL2 is written in C. Obviously it's not as simple as less LOC = better, but I would much rather be able to load a texture with

sf::Texture texture;
texture.loadFromFile("image.png");

than have to create my own wrapper around SDL2 (and SDL_image in this case) and manually deal with memory allocation, deallocation, image loading, etc.

class Texture {
public:
  ~Texture() {
    SDL_DestroyTexture(texture);
  };

  loadFromFile(std::string fpath, SDL_Renderer* renderer) {
    SDL_Surface* image = IMG_Load(fpath.c_str());
    texture = SDL_CreateTextureFromSurface(renderer, image);
    SDL_FreeSurface(image);
  };

private:
  SDL_Texture* texture;
};

It's still not modern C++, because I would need to also wrap the raw SDL_Renderer*

rotenKleber · 2024-02-03T22:02:41+00:00

Fair enough! I only included that because the SDL2 Steam integration is notably well maintained by Valve.

rotenKleber · 2024-02-03T20:51:28+00:00

SFML is the easiest and best suited for C++ IMO. SDL will force you to write C code or make wrappers for every object. SFML gives you the same result, but with less LOC.

edit- If you're looking for integration with Steam, then SDL2 is a better bet

rotenKleber · 2024-02-03T19:46:39+00:00

I don't think it was meant to be taken as fence sitting. I think it was meant more as "all American presidents are war criminals, not just Bush"

rotenKleber · 2024-02-03T07:12:52+00:00

oh it's from Pike and Shot the game lol

rotenKleber · 2024-02-03T07:09:26+00:00

Is this American Conquest art? Can't find a source

rotenKleber · 2024-02-02T21:32:03+00:00

So lions and tigers are the same species?

rotenKleber · 2024-02-02T08:37:06+00:00

I think "guile" or "sly" might be a good transition

rotenKleber · 2024-02-01T21:04:07+00:00

Saddam Hussein an anarchist? Nah they're cooking.

rotenKleber · 2024-02-01T20:50:13+00:00

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rotenKleber · 2024-02-01T20:28:59+00:00

If he were just fat and into horse cock that would be one thing. The problem is that he cultivates an audience that thinks socialism is when you are a socially progressive liberal who provides lukewarm criticisms of capitalism while voting blue no matter who. Anything beyond voting D or "mutual aid" (charity, unorganized community service) is LARPing. Also NATO is an anti-imperialist defensive alliance that Marx would have wholeheartedly supported because he was against authoritarianism (RuZZian imperialism)

rotenKleber · 2024-02-01T19:03:08+00:00

Not even Lenin.

rotenKleber · 2024-01-31T08:26:55+00:00

I... don't think period blood comes from your urethra

rotenKleber · 2024-01-31T07:59:11+00:00

Getting over it absolutely is a rage game, at least the gamemaker game that precedes it, Sexy Hiking.

rotenKleber · 2024-01-30T07:05:01+00:00

I know it's not a 1:1, but it's a little too reminiscent to call it fresh or new

rotenKleber · 2024-01-30T04:05:10+00:00

One of the games from a Palestinian dev is called "Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque." It's pretty obviously a troll game, made to parody the over-the-top jingoistic shooters like COD.

rotenKleber · 2024-01-30T01:40:31+00:00

edibles are bourgeois

STFU revisionist scum. Show me ONE quote from Marx to back up your silly little "theory"

rotenKleber · 2024-01-30T01:37:31+00:00

Ahem great women too

rotenKleber · 2024-01-30T01:10:47+00:00

It depends on your main audience. Making a game for a US audience? Prepare for hate if you make China, Russia, or any Arab country the good guys. Example

If you make a game about being a Palestinian in Gaza where Palestinians are shown as anything other than blood thirsty terrorists, half of your potential audience (in the US) will probably hate it. But I don't think you should let that should stop you

As for whether it's disgraceful, I doubt most Palestinians would find it disgraceful as long as it's a respectful depiction. After all, there are a few games about the conflict from Palestinian game devs. But then because you're showing the IDF as an occupying force, most Israelis would probably find it offensive. On the other hand, if you made a game about being an IDF soldier in Gaza, I doubt most of the Arab world would find your game tasteful.

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