Modding GUI

[Simulacra53]

Just an extra suggestion, please open up the GUI for graphical modding, this will allow a wider range of mods - like historical flags etc.

[welk]

+1 [8D]

That's I asked too in the beta forum, I think dev will follow this way

[Simulacra53]

Thanks Welk, keep up the ssshtruggle!

[:D]

[wodin]

Always good to make a game as moddable as possible. Visuals to suit taste and mechanics \features to extend and grow game.

Read before someone anti mods seeing them as needed to fix games. So has never used one. A shame, many games have had some amazing mods that extend a games life of enhance it in other ways of maybe not enhance as such but give you even more game. Seriously a game created that's mod friendly is always a huge plus in my opinion.

Take Armoured Brigade, the fact someone (a player of said game) could create a WW2 version of even some sci to steampunk game adds enormously to its potential and buy me factor.It's also exciting to see what some clever folk will do for all our enjoyment and no extra cost.

I remember the days of the early internet and pre DLC releases. When mods first started to be put out, mods that later on would have been released as DLC. It's great we still have games that can be modded and aren't totally locked down so as to protect future dlc.

[Simulacra53]

I’ve learned to appreciate mods as they have many lifted games to a higher level.
Not only have they improved games, but mods have often prolonged development of games long abandoned by their developers.

Some games owe their success more to the mods or user made content than the original product,

As for graphics being fluff - I’ll admit that games like John Tiller’s Panzer Corps do suffer from their outdated graphics.
You can disagree, but even WDS has recognized the need for a graphics update of these games to stay relevant.
On top of that mods like Mapmod provide a complete graphics change.

JST has not updated their MC games, yet the community has bridged the gap between old and new style by mods.
Call that fluff, I do ‘t think so.

The map made by that same Mapmod Jison for WitE is also brilliant.
Look at the great art made by IronX or our own Welk’s work for SC3.

I enjoyed SC3 before Welk’s maps, but now I can never go back to vanilla.

In the end it is fine if you don’t care about mods nor intend to ever use one, fine.

[Zovs]

As for graphics being fluff - I’ll admit that games like John Tiller’s Panzer Corps do suffer from their outdated graphics.

I think you mean "As for graphics being fluff - I’ll admit that games like John Tiller’s Campaign Series or Panzer Campaign/Battles series" Panzer Korps was created by someone else.

One thing about all of John Tiller's games, the game mechanics and game play are spectacular. Personally I don't think the JTS CS graphics are all that bad, they remind me of miniatures for the computer.

I guess for me I look and judge things by the following:

If the game recreates great game mechanics but the artwork looks like crap, I can deal with that.

If the game does not have great game mechanics or is silly but looks fantastic I can't deal with that.

Obviously the best of both worlds is great art work and great game mechanics.

I prime example of crappy graphics but excellent game engine is DG CWIE2 (I did some of the art work and it sucks, lol) but the game engine is true to two different board games and rocks, at least for us old war gamers.

I won't mention my opinion on the reverse of that ideology.

I hope that War Plan can and does 'bridge' that gap between great art and great game mechanics. Its very promising that the Developer knows what the board game Third Reich from Avalon Hill is and means (not the computer version, but that was awesome in the 90s, but the board game).

[Simulacra53]

I like John Tiller games, I have the whole PzC, MC and PzB series series except Moscow ‘42 and Sealion ‘40, but I am no longer living in the early nineties and really hate the vanilla pre-WDS graphics, or pre Volcanoman / Mapmod standard. Indeed without these mods I would not have played PzC nor MC. I actually cannot play JT CS, I tried including mods, but for me it is just too dated in so many ways.

Game mechanics are a given to me, they are either good or bad.
A bad game with good graphics is still bad, no one will argue that point.

But to think that a younger generations of players will be willing to dish out premium prices for “niche” games based on ancient graphics engines is extremely naive. Sure, there will be plenty of old guys making comparisons with good wine getting better with age, but while they’ll fool themselves the publishers and developers go bankrupt or stay extremely niche. It can be done, look at To Rule the Waves.

But many of these now old engines started out as pretty demanding new engines, or even cutting edge.
So why fool yourself that time stands still?

Once you try something like DCS World in VR it will be hard to go back to a regular monitor- this is something you have to experience before you can have an opinion - unless you have actually flown in real life.

SC3 shows that developing your engine is an effective way to attract new players or at least generate new sales.
Same with CM - I would hate to go back to the original CMs.
Same with JTS/WDS.

There is a reason why Close Combat is moving to a new engine.
I can go on.

Yes, core gameplay mechanics are the meat, but few are willing to take that with stale bread.

[AlvaroSousa]

The units and map are all moddable and some of the interface. I think the flags are moddable.

The problem is with the engine. Unity3d puts all graphics in a package so I have to manually create code just so players can upload a custom image. It is actually way more complicated coding than you think it might be.

[Simulacra53]

Yeah, mixing up names.

PG, PK, PzC
Korps vs Corps

Its all in the brain...campaign.

[Simulacra53]

ORIGINAL: fuzzypup

The units and map are all moddable and some of the interface. I think the flags are moddable.

The problem is with the engine. Unity3d puts all graphics in a package so I have to manually create code just so players can upload a custom image. It is actually way more complicated coding than you think it might be.

Thanks for all the attention you are giving to this subject, but most of us will understand it is WarPlan not WarMod.
Keep up the good work.

[:D]

[wodin]

Always gameplay over fancy graphics everytime.

We have imaginations, something back in the day we used when playing computer games, one reason why we look at old screenshots of games we played in the eighties and are surprised about how they look. Way worse than what we remember, because we used our imaginations, great gameplay should be the kicker to our own creativity in our minds eye.

[lecrop]

I love old wargame's graphics [&o]

[Fred98]

As always, game play is more important than graphics.

All modern cars have electric windows. I could not go back to manual windows. The graphics have improved in wargames and I could not go back to the old graphics.

As to modding, if I mod a counter, and then play PBEM, my mod should have no adverse effect on PBEM games.

[AlvaroSousa]

Your mods are only visible to you unless you share them.

Best thing to do is load an original scenario, save it as a new name, copy the scripts to the new folder, put all your images in the new folder.... Now you have your modded game you can do whatever you like without messing up the original.