Machiavelli24
Mod creator
- Joined
- May 9, 2012
- Messages
- 818
UPDATE (11/18): Current consensus structure
Original Post:
I know the current structure mimics the shape of the forum in Civilization 5 but the switch to Civilization 6 provides an excellent opportunity to adjust to the modern realities of modded Civilization. There is an opportunity to learn from the previous years of experience and common confusions to set up things to be easier for new folks along with old hands.
1. There needs to be a section dedicated to posting technical creation related questions (ei: How do I do X? What is wrong with this code? etc). This is an extremely common use case for the forum and having it explicitly called out will ensure new users will have complete confidence they are posting in the correct location. If a dedicated section does not exist people will post in the main area and the Tutorial and Reference area.
It may make sense to place the Tutorials and Reference section within, under, or less prominently than the "Get Help" section, so people don't see it first and post there. Calling it something like "Tutorials and Learning" may help communicate to folks that it is a storehouse of wisdom rather than a place ask questions.
2. Modpacks, Mod Components and Project Mod Development should all be combined. This isn't Civ4. Folks can and do use multiple mods at a time. Creating a difference between Modpacks and Components will just add confusion without doing anything that a Steam Collection doesn't already cover.
A dedicated "mod that aren't released yet" section can do what the current project & development section while still keeping the distinction between a mod that can be played right now and a mod that isn't available yet.
3. Categorizing mods into: mods, Civilizations, map scripts is a good set up. I would recommend having another section somewhere (maybe with tutorials) that is for middleware resources. Frameworks that help other mod makers, tools, art assets, utility programs (ei: dragon unpacker) could all go here. They should be separated from the general set of mods because they aren't intended to be played by end users.
Pulling it all together, what would this look like? There are multiple ways it could go, here is just one example:
The General mod talk is just there because no posts would be allowed at the top level, users would have to click on one of those sections before they could see threads. Otherwise requests for help will get posted at the top level instead of in its dedicated forum. The general mod talk is sort of a catch all for needs not covered in the other sections.
------------------------------------------General Discussion
- Mod creation help
- Tutorials & References
- Released Mods
- Civilizations & Leaders
- Maps & Scripts
- Projects/Total Conversions
- Individual Components
- Unreleased Mods
- Requests & Ideas
- Utilities, Code Snippets & Art Asset
Original Post:
I know the current structure mimics the shape of the forum in Civilization 5 but the switch to Civilization 6 provides an excellent opportunity to adjust to the modern realities of modded Civilization. There is an opportunity to learn from the previous years of experience and common confusions to set up things to be easier for new folks along with old hands.
1. There needs to be a section dedicated to posting technical creation related questions (ei: How do I do X? What is wrong with this code? etc). This is an extremely common use case for the forum and having it explicitly called out will ensure new users will have complete confidence they are posting in the correct location. If a dedicated section does not exist people will post in the main area and the Tutorial and Reference area.
It may make sense to place the Tutorials and Reference section within, under, or less prominently than the "Get Help" section, so people don't see it first and post there. Calling it something like "Tutorials and Learning" may help communicate to folks that it is a storehouse of wisdom rather than a place ask questions.
2. Modpacks, Mod Components and Project Mod Development should all be combined. This isn't Civ4. Folks can and do use multiple mods at a time. Creating a difference between Modpacks and Components will just add confusion without doing anything that a Steam Collection doesn't already cover.
A dedicated "mod that aren't released yet" section can do what the current project & development section while still keeping the distinction between a mod that can be played right now and a mod that isn't available yet.
3. Categorizing mods into: mods, Civilizations, map scripts is a good set up. I would recommend having another section somewhere (maybe with tutorials) that is for middleware resources. Frameworks that help other mod makers, tools, art assets, utility programs (ei: dragon unpacker) could all go here. They should be separated from the general set of mods because they aren't intended to be played by end users.
Pulling it all together, what would this look like? There are multiple ways it could go, here is just one example:
- Ask for Help
- Tutorials & Learning
- Released Mods
- Civilization Mods
- Maps & Map Scripts
- Unreleased Mods
- Utility Tools & Art Assets
- General Mod talk?
The General mod talk is just there because no posts would be allowed at the top level, users would have to click on one of those sections before they could see threads. Otherwise requests for help will get posted at the top level instead of in its dedicated forum. The general mod talk is sort of a catch all for needs not covered in the other sections.
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