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Modding Etiquette and Style Guide?

FailGeekFailGeek Member Posts: 50
in General Modding
Hey there.
I'm new to the Baldur's Gate modding community (and modding communities in general), and was wondering on what the etiquette was for things like bug-fixing another person's mods. Do we have to ask permission before looking into the WeiDu tp2 files to find issues? I would never distribute code based on another person's without permission, and I would certainly not try to pass it off as my own. I just wanted to know if it was kosher to submit fixes to mod authors in regards to their work.

I also want to know if there is a sort of style guide for Baldur's Gate dialog entries. In mega-mod installations, you usually end up with a bunch of kits and items that don't have the same formatting when it comes to things like stat blocks. I just wanted to know if there is a formal guide list for writing things like item, spell, and kit descriptions for Baldur's Gate. I know for example, that the stat block for weapons (generally) goes:

STATISTICS:

Equipped abilities:
- (passive bonuses)

Combat abilities:
- (active abilities)

THAC0: +x
Damage: xdy+z (damage type)
Speed Factor: x
Proficiency Type: x
Type: (One-handed or Two-handed)
Requires:
x attribute

Weight: x

I just want to know if there is a formal guide for this sort of thing.

Comments

  • WispWisp Member Posts: 1,102
    FailGeek said:


    I'm new to the Baldur's Gate modding community (and modding communities in general), and was wondering on what the etiquette was for things like bug-fixing another person's mods. Do we have to ask permission before looking into the WeiDu tp2 files to find issues? I would never distribute code based on another person's without permission, and I would certainly not try to pass it off as my own. I just wanted to know if it was kosher to submit fixes to mod authors in regards to their work.

    You do not need to ask permission before looking. The rest would depend on whatever licence the mod is distributed under, but I have yet to hear of a case where the mod author has not been appreciative of receiving a ready-made bugfix. It would be good form, however, to include instructions for reproducing the bug, so the mod author can draw his/her own conclusions, make sure your fix really is correct, etc.
    FailGeek said:


    I just want to know if there is a formal guide for this sort of thing.

    Nothing beyond what you can infer from the vanilla descriptions.
  • FailGeekFailGeek Member Posts: 50
    Ah cool, thanks. Good to know.
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