Newb Modding Interst

[towcar]

I didn't know what this title should be
Well I'm towcar, a Newb here, I'm currently designing Kindomwars... if you've heard of it, it's a MMO lol anway

I was kinda interested in doin some modding on the game, but their is so much on this forum I didn't wanna go through alot to find all my answers
So I hope someone can answer my questions?

1. How much can this be modded?

2. Is it possible to re-program the game right to the bone so it's totally different.

3.I read that if you game is different from others then you can't play it online? Right?

Note* Alot of the questions are assuming that the first few are what I hope the answers are lol

Following are if the answer to number 2 is Yes

4. Am I allowed to make it into my own RTS game and offer it out

5.If yes, is there restrictions or credit I have to give?



Well that wasn't very organized questions but my intent is to make a RTS but I'm fairly experience with this stuff but not enough to start out from scratch. I guess modding isn't rewriting, but I wan't to know how far I can take this.

[wciow]

1 - Glest is extremely moddable compared to any other engine I know. Everything (well 99%) of things can be changed via XML files. This makes it very easy for modders to do things which would require new C code in other engines.

2 - This depends on your ability to code C++. If you can do this then the engine is completely unrestricted in terms of modification. Obviously Glest would be a poor base if you wanted to develop a FPS but If you are thinking about a RTS game then Glest would be a great platform to build on.
There is currently a project called Glest Advanced Engine (GAE for short) which is actively improving the enigine by adding new features.

3 - The current Glest engine supports direct play between computers with up to four plays. Since Glest is easy and free to modify it is possible that players may have different data. Multiplayer checks to see if players have the same data to stop the game crashing during play. As long as both players download the latest version of glest and do not modify it then multiplay should work fine.
Also GAE is expected to include cross platform support between windows/osx/linux. This is quite a feat considering that Glest uses a direct connection between players rather than a server.

4 - Yes, Glest is completely GPL meaning that you are free to modify and redistribute the engine. However to comply with GPL the game that you produce must contain only GPL materials or stuff that you have made yourself. (I'm not too hot on licensing stuff so someone pls correct me if I'm wrong).

5 - As explained above there are no restrictions but credits to the Glest team  for making the original is good manners.

[towcar]

Ok Cool, Thats pretty much exactly what I hoped to hear.

I'm not an amazing coder but I've gotta start somewhere.


Also I was reading the license in the Glist folder, and it seems re-distribution and all that is allowed.
Also I would definatly give some credit out.

[Omega]

Usually credit is more than just a 'nice-guy' thing, think of it as plagiarism. (if you were in school, you'd get a big fat F!)

And if you are a good programmer, with C++ knowledge, then making your own rts shouldn't be too hard. if you get it done, do post it somewhere so others can see too! (I just happen to really love RTS and RPG games, and of them, Glest is the only one that's free and worth playing.)

And from a consumer point of view, if you make a game and plan on charging credit, you should offer a trial or demo first, just a tip!

[towcar]

Well I have C++ knowledge, but nothing too advanced, and just some things keep me from making something from ground up.
I plan on using this alot as to help me learn and become more assertive with C++, maybe afterwards build one up from scratch, also I'm not going to charge money for this. It's a long story but it's mainly i'm doing this to keep an interest and to get a bigger community on my Indie Mmo Project, so it will always be free.

Also yeah when I'm done i'll definatly post it out! Yet I'm basically re-doing all the factions and upgrades and textures and maps.
Then adding some of my own features.

Actually I have more Questions

1. Why in the Glest folders it has a empty folder called screens?

2. In the Tech Factions, I noticed it is organized so that when a building is being destroyed the model animations are stored in castle? Same with the building animations. Why aren't they with their equal unit in the same unit folder.

[@kukac@]

1. The screenshots you made are keőt there.

2. It saves a lot of space, if you don't have to store the same thing x+1 times.

@Omega: He may be good in C++, but it does not mean he is good at "modelling" new engines.

[towcar]

Ok Thanks, and I hope to move over to Ogre maybe in a year to make a nice game.

*Ogre is a graphics rendering program which with programming can make some beautiful games.

Questions
Also where do I find xml2g to export xml into G3D


I would use the wikia but I think it's still down from the big spam

[Yggdrasil]

You get it here:
http://http://glest.org/files/contrib/tools/

It's called glexemel and contains the converter xml2g and g2xml.

[Omega]

@Omega: He may be good in C++, but it does not mean he is good at "modelling" new engines.

Too true... I still got some uh... bugs... to work out.

[towcar]

Haha that's always fun  >:S

i didn't get why so many people were complaining about getting models to export into the game format... Now i know, lol

haha Well I just wanna say, i've been trying to make a conquest mode, which is like a campaign since I've heard alot of talk about trying it here.
I made a special hero character mod, but still no model to replace him so I edited a copy of the swordman picture so it has a crown lol
I'm going to start if off with a tutorial, like a training camp. I've made three copies of the game so I can practise different things in each, so in the campaign i'll be adding a new magictech thing, but like a hundred times so I can make each area conquesting different.

[Omega]

Actually, I just gotta find some headers and stuff... Need to get the Lau.hpp and a few others.