Add-on Making Program

[IndigoWizard]

So, learning a programming language seems kind of intimidating, especially since I haven't even learned Python yet, and such. But making an addon sounds pretty fun, and I'd like to be able to do it. So, what I was thinking is, what if there were a downloadable addon maker that could make talents and classes and such, and overload some basic things, without requiring the user to know Lua?

Is that something that could be made?

[Lokean]

It would be a fairly large undertaking, I would think, since there isn't a fixed template that the assets all follow. Any 'addon maker' is going to be so restricted in what it could successfully modify, without the user understanding basic scripting paradigms, that it would be little better than the outcomes one could get after reading the source code of talents you want to mess about with and figuring out what changes you need to make.

And seriously, you don't need to know anything about Lua as a language in general in order to mess about with a Tales of Maj'Eyal addon, which is what I assume you're referring to. Most of the actual programming in Lua has already been done in order to make the module you're used to playing; an addon in the sense you're envisioning it is almost literally going to be changing some numbers in the code, and maybe a little copy-pasting, and well within your capabilities just as an interested non-programmer.

There's no actual 'game' directly associated with the underlying engine (T-Engine 4); the engine doesn't even pin things down as far as 'is this square-gridded?' or 'is this turn based?'. Everything you're used to seeing if you play ToME is a specific implementation of the engine, with all the heavy programming know-how already dealt with (and thanks Darkgod and all the other contributors for making an amazing game!).

[Effigy]

Learning basic programming isn't as hard as you might think. I put off learning about it a lot longer than I should have because I assumed you had to be some kind of wizard to understand it; several years later, I've almost finished a degree in Computer Science and am about to start working as a software developer. I think making game addons is a sort of "gateway drug" to programming, and since programming is a fun and useful skill (even if you don't want to do it professionally) I would encourage you to put aside your apprehensions and just give it a go.

Lua is a fairly newbie-friendly language, and you don't need much knowledge of Lua to start making a ToME addon if you're mostly adapting things from the base game and other addons. I recommend opening up an addon you're familiar with and see how the source files look. Make a new addon using the original with some changes, then test how your changes work in the game. You can play using an addon you've made without uploading it to the TE4 website--your character won't be validated in the character vault, but that doesn't matter for testing. You can refer to the Lua manual if you have a language-specific question and people in the ToME IRC channel are very helpful for ToME/T-Engine questions and even general programming questions. The ToME wiki has some good information on making addons, although it probably won't answer all your questions.

[IndigoWizard]

It would be a fairly large undertaking, I would think, since there isn't a fixed template that the assets all follow. Any 'addon maker' is going to be so restricted in what it could successfully modify, without the user understanding basic scripting paradigms, that it would be little better than the outcomes one could get after reading the source code of talents you want to mess about with and figuring out what changes you need to make.

And seriously, you don't need to know anything about Lua as a language in general in order to mess about with a Tales of Maj'Eyal addon, which is what I assume you're referring to. Most of the actual programming in Lua has already been done in order to make the module you're used to playing; an addon in the sense you're envisioning it is almost literally going to be changing some numbers in the code, and maybe a little copy-pasting, and well within your capabilities just as an interested non-programmer.

There's no actual 'game' directly associated with the underlying engine (T-Engine 4); the engine doesn't even pin things down as far as 'is this square-gridded?' or 'is this turn based?'. Everything you're used to seeing if you play ToME is a specific implementation of the engine, with all the heavy programming know-how already dealt with (and thanks Darkgod and all the other contributors for making an amazing game!).

So, just messing with things in Notepad++ is okay?

[Effigy]

Notepad++ is what I've used when making addons and contributions for ToME. It doesn't give you warnings like a typical IDE would, but the syntax highlighting is still helpful.

[HousePet]

I also use Notepad++.

[Lokean]

Notepad++

+1
Notepad ++ and 7zip, because it will happily open the zipped files and write in an out without me having to unpack them

[Eileen S. Hernandez]

That's an interesting concept, IndigoWizard! A visual addon creator could significantly lower the barrier to entry for aspiring modders. Imagine the creative possibilities! But how would such a program handle complex interactions or unique mechanics beyond pre-set options? Just thinking about the development hurdles makes me wonder, could anyone actually build a functional Eggy Car?