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(Help!)How Does One Set Up A Mod To Be Shareable And Compatible?

WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
edited June 2015 in General Modding
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I am currently working on new content for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and I have no clue as to how I am going to able to share my new content with our community. If some one could 'come though' to help me out with my struggle, then we can have a bunch of new content for the community. That shareability should most definitely beat my modifications staying stuck on my computer(s). My friend would you not agree?
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Comments

  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,724
    Just post your mod in progress here and get volunteers to test it.

    @Musigny 's work on the Tactics mod can serve as one of the best examples.

    http://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/41242/tactics-mod-bg2ee-compatibility-conversion-and-beta-test/p1

    Another example can be http://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/33721/keeping-yoshimo-is-now-available-for-ee-and-mac-spoiler-for-newbies-to-bg2/p1
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    edited June 2015
    Also, thank you @bengoshi for my 100th insightful. I feel that it will get pretty lonely at the top pretty quickly...
    Post edited by WithinAmnesia on
  • MusignyMusigny Member Posts: 1,027
    @bengoshi
    Thanks for your appreciation.
    However if @WithinAmnesia wants to create a new content, I don't think my 'patch everything on the fly' approach is best suited. And my code is still untidy.
    Another comment, I initially started the conversion of a few components just for me. As a result I stored everything on my own computers. Depending on your objectives sharing the files on an online versioning platform may be a better option.
  • WithinAmnesiaWithinAmnesia Member Posts: 958
    @Musigny very Insightful.

    Say friend how should I go about to share my work? I have seen others offer modifications and content additions that add files with little mess and general 'goofiness'. How could I give my work out the community via such a 'mess free' solution?
    (How do I create a download file that does not 'muck up' any new players' files and is in general very compatible so as to 'play fair' with other mods.?)

    Thank you for your deliberations @Musigny , Take Care.
  • MusignyMusigny Member Posts: 1,027
    What I use:

    A windows 8.1 host on which I run the game (make copies of your game tree). Others use Mac or Linux.
    I also use a Unix system because it is easier for me to manage strings and files on such an OS but there is no game there.

    On Windows I use:
    -Notepad++ as my final text file editor, with a syntax add-on to highlight the weidu grammar.
    -Weidu as the package/deployment manager - also the key tool for creating/modifying dialogs - it has a nice and extended syntax to modify most kind of files (the functions I currently use the most).
    -Near Infinity is critical for me, it is a wonderful time saver. However I also work with the IESDP pages permanently opened in a browser (as well as the weidu html doc).
    -Another modder tool is DLTCEP but I use it less often for my current project. You are very likely to use it if you deal with graphics/maps/multimedia but it does much more.

    From a publishing perspective, your starting point is weidu: http://www.weidu.org/~thebigg/
    Read and reread the excellent doc included in your OS package.
    It helps to patch files instead of purely overwriting them. This is more friendly with other mods but let's kill an utopic idea, there is no 100% appropriate solution. For instance when two mods want to modify the same AI script this may easily conflict (the script logic) even if the mod codes do not overwrite each other.
    Next, have a look at various tutorials on the net, for instance the http://gibberlings3.net/forums/ or http://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php/board,16.0.html?PHPSESSID=20b3803d6d7ee15f6a97fe4b3fc2bbe0
    And of course you can read the packages authored by other modders or developers.
    Reading http://gemrb.org/iesdp/file_formats/index.htm will help understand the various game file structures if you are not used to them yet.
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