Easy modding tools?

[JoeSteel]

I downloaded the ModBuddy on Steam and was completely confused and bored by it.* I was just wondering if there was a tool out there to make modding factions easyer.

*to keep the above short I added this down here. Im not sure if anybody has ever modded Mount & Blade but i have a tool for Warband called Morghs M&B editor and that makes things easy for me who likes to edit simple things instead of a complete overhaul of the game and this is the kind of thing i am looking for.

 

[Sneaks]

Nothing to help on that front yet.

 

[JoeSteel]

I hate how they created an extremely complex modding tool even though it seems simpler to me to go into the actual files and mod them. only issue is i can't find a custom civ mod that has straightforward files, i found one but then i couldnt figure out how to change the icon on it because i dont have the right program to run stuff and yada yada yada. Please if anybody is out there who can make any tool that would be even romotly easyer than the mod buddy please please let me know.

 

[Putmalk]

I do not think the modding tools are very complicated. At it's core, it's just the same process (updating old files) but doing so without having to replicate the entire file. IMO, it's much easier especially when you get used to the process.

Review Kael's guide. It's a great start to modding. It's how almost all of us got started. Then ask questions if you get stuck. Make simple mods. For example, my diplomacy text mod is very simple. You can get into the big leagues once you've mastered the basics.

Enjoy.

 

[Spatzimaus]

I hate how they created an extremely complex modding tool even though it seems simpler to me to go into the actual files and mod them.

And if you did that, then no two mods would ever be compatible. That'd be a pretty stupid way for them to do things.

XML modding is very simple, and easy to learn. Go read Kael's guide in the Reference forum, and it won't take long before you're making all sorts of mods.
Between XML and SQL you can make tons of changes to the game, in ways that'll rarely conflict with other mods, allowing players to mix and match as much as they want. And when that's not enough, there's always Lua for the more powerful coding methods.

 

[Steves247365]

Heck.. even the modding noob that I am I was able to get into XML pretty quick.. though I do have some experience with referential databases... The Lua will be a harder not to crack.

After poking around the forum some, and now paying particular attention to the post dates, am I correct in assuming that it is near impossible to reskin units after a recent SDK patch?? That has certainly taken the wind out of my sails regarding a mod project I was pretty excited about...

Anything new on the reskinning units front? Or have I just not found the latest and greatest tutorial? I now have Python and Blender.. pretty cool app.. but not sure what I will do with them now

 

[Spatzimaus]

After poking around the forum some, and now paying particular attention to the post dates, am I correct in assuming that it is near impossible to reskin units after a recent SDK patch?? That has certainly taken the wind out of my sails regarding a mod project I was pretty excited about...

Not exactly. To do anything with 3D unit models requires four things: Blender, Python, an image editing program (like GiMP) with a .dds plugin, and the IndieStone NexusBuddy, preferably version 0.5. NexusBuddy is the hard one to find, as the version on this site is only 0.1 and the original creator no longer hosts it on his own site. Someone posted a link to the more recent version in a thread last month, I'll see if I can find it later.

NexusBuddy basically does what the Nexus tools were SUPPOSED to do in the first place, converting an .fbx file into the .gr2 that Civ5 needs. It definitely still works; I've spent the last couple weeks creating unit models for my own mod (link in sig, of course). It's not EASY, per se, but it can be done using the step-by-step instructions in the threads over in the Reference section.

 

[JoeSteel]

I know how to mod XML documents, that is an extremely easy thing to do. All you have to do is look at the documents and with a decent ammount of common sense you can figure it out. I just want to create a custom nation but the guides and tutorials they provide not only don't fit with my ADHD at all, they make little sense atleast to me. So when i get to make a mod it goes to a screen and i have no toolbar or anything like a good program would have. Like a toolbar to generate a nation making code or something. If it did that i would love that program to no end, but like i said once i try to create a new mod its a blank page with nothing on it and idk WTH to do next. I tryed looking at the tutorials and guides but they just explain how the coding works which isnt hard to figure out myself.

 

[Steves247365]

A recent link to the latest and greatest NexusBuddy would be great... I did some Google searching, but could not find anything... or didn't know what I was looking at...

 

[Spatzimaus]

Skajaquada posted the latest NexusBuddy and animation patch script at the end of this thread a few weeks ago. With those, you can make unit models. It's still a lot of work, but at least it can be done. You still have to make the FXSXML (since the one NexusBuddy makes requires certain animations) and update the two artdefines files (units and unitmembers) to point to your new files. But it works; in my own mod I've got about a dozen custom unit models, albeit incomplete (I haven't translated the animations yet).

 

[JoeSteel]

Is there a way someone could just give me a file so i could edit an already existing mod using the mod buddy. I try to load the mods i downloaded but it needs that mod file type that is pretty much everything in one. At this point i will settle with just being able to change the city names.

 

[Putmalk]

I'm just curious - have you actually read the reference material?

Here's a link:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=385009

 

[JoeSteel]

That seems like an all in one guide. I was never at that guide before because it wasnt one of the links built into the mod buddy. I will have to check it out and see if that makes more sense than the other things.

update: made it past the actual creating of a mod but then it says something about a solution explorer and again all there is on the page is a big blue screen and alot of buttons up top.

 

[Steves247365]

Thanks for the link to the updated NexusBuddy... will give it a shot...

Just so I am clear... the only option right now is up converting Civ4 units to Civ5... no way to simply reskin the Civ5 units? Is that the jist of the issue?