Mod Tools

[B.Khmelnytsky]

When do you think CA will be releasing them, or do you not think they will release them at all?

[Nordmann]

They are likely busy with updates/DLC, so the tools will probably be released after these are done.

[Zaphod]

I doubt they will release any useful tools.

1. The one tool they have promised so far was surpassed by Lt. Chambers and his PFM before they could release it.

2. The only useful tool they released for M2TW (as far as I know) was a .cas exporter that could only work with campaign map models and some animations.

3. All of the other tools (model exporters, map editors, animation editors, etc.) were created, and released, by the TW community.

I hope they prove me wrong, but I doubt it. There are too many things I think CA/Sega would rather not be freely modified.

[johncage]

lol @ soon

[Ightenhill]

technically they only promised a set of tools that has already been surpassed by those the community have developed, If by tools you mean a model & mesh editor, and way of rescipting and editing the map etc I'm not sure we will ever get them (have we ever though)

[Juggernaut]

I think the modders will make their own tools before CA ever releases it, like in the previous games.

[L-Burna]

Soon!

[Opressor]

Once decent mods are created for Empire the popularity and respectibility of this game will skyrocket. Hell, the modders could make more money than CA if they made a great mod and say charged $5-10 for it! But expect CA to milk its customers as much as they can before then...

[Elyrioth]

ROFL at soon!! Seems to be the universal CA response!

[Nordmann]

I doubt they will release any useful tools.

1. The one tool they have promised so far was surpassed by Lt. Chambers and his PFM before they could release it.

2. The only useful tool they released for M2TW (as far as I know) was a .cas exporter that could only work with campaign map models and some animations.

3. All of the other tools (model exporters, map editors, animation editors, etc.) were created, and released, by the TW community.

I hope they prove me wrong, but I doubt it. There are too many things I think CA/Sega would rather not be freely modified.

Sadly, this is all too true, and will probably be the case as with previous Total War games.

[ket222]

can modders make the big changes spoken here of legally? did they change meshes etc before for previous games?

[Rotaugen2009]

I think it will be soon, on a geologic timescale....

[Zaphod]

can modders make the big changes spoken here of legally? did they change meshes etc before for previous games?

You need only look at the Medieval 2 mod, Third Age for your answer. Or perhaps I will just answer it for you... yes they could in previous games. If you can have Cave Trolls and building-sized Oliphants in your game, then I think you can create models, edit skeletons, create meshes, etc.

As for legality... CA is locking all of their new DLC model files, so it would probably be frowned upon to edit those if it were possible.

[aggie_john]

I could understand there unwillingness with the model editor, for the DLC units but everything else? What DLC maps? Why so much hard coding? I mean RTW had some pretty radical mods done with it that totally changed game play and that was a good thing because it was as if I had bought a whole new game at some point. If CA is interested in long life for ETW they should be more helpful than restricting. Even they know that they could never satisfy us all. Some want realism others more troops and so on just look at the big mods that are already available and you see the different camps forming. Why not help them to keep us happy?

[Sknit]

I could understand there unwillingness with the model editor, for the DLC units but everything else? What DLC maps? Why so much hard coding? I mean RTW had some pretty radical mods done with it that totally changed game play and that was a good thing because it was as if I had bought a whole new game at some point. If CA is interested in long life for ETW they should be more helpful than restricting. Even they know that they could never satisfy us all. Some want realism others more troops and so on just look at the big mods that are already available and you see the different camps forming. Why not help them to keep us happy?

Releasing the tools now would blow there whole DLC thing up in there face.
So in my opinion we wont get them until they have released there DLC.

[Turbo]

Hope seems to spring eternal for some people on here. There are going to be no modding tools released. MTW2 was modder friendly - plenty of text files in english with explanations and examples. Empire is not modder friendly and it was designed not to be modder friendly. Creative Assembly is tightening its grip on their products and this is going to impact the modding community. Its been said time and time again that Empire is a different beast than previous games. Currently mods are a collection of various tweaks and that is not going to change radically.

[aggie_john]

You may be right but that seems dumb on their part. TW games rock because of the mods. Without them I would have stopped playing with RTW and M2TW a long time ago. Face it no one has ever just love the vanilla game, the skins and mods make these games great and add long life to them.

[johncage]

it's not dumb, because they'll still get profit. even without the possibility of modding, people are going to be in denial when the next title comes out. you've all seen the threads..."ca, please provide mod tools"...with replies like "mod tools will be released soon after or with the game".

and also, keep in mind how easily it can be to persuade someone to buy something. they certainly have great marketing gimmicks that appeal to shopper's impulses. otherwise how could they possibly have gotten away with special forces units and the dlc?

i've played m2tw, and was actually a bit skeptical about etw. but now i'm certain i won't buy any future products from ca. again, it's not about money. they won't lose any profit with me. and it certainly won't be a great loss for me either. but at the end of the day, i can invest my money, no matter how small or big into something else. that's the essence of being a responsible buyer. if people were more like this, game companies would certainly be more careful of how they do business...and product quality would probably rise as well.

i don't blame them. i blame the idiots that buy everything they see. ironic that the best game i'm playing right now is free. (the hunter)

[B-DizL]

it's not dumb, because they'll still get profit. even without the possibility of modding, people are going to be in denial when the next title comes out. you've all seen the threads..."ca, please provide mod tools"...with replies like "mod tools will be released soon after or with the game".

and also, keep in mind how easily it can be to persuade someone to buy something. they certainly have great marketing gimmicks that appeal to shopper's impulses. otherwise how could they possibly have gotten away with special forces units and the dlc?

i've played m2tw, and was actually a bit skeptical about etw. but now i'm certain i won't buy any future products from ca. again, it's not about money. they won't lose any profit with me. and it certainly won't be a great loss for me either. but at the end of the day, i can invest my money, no matter how small or big into something else. that's the essence of being a responsible buyer. if people were more like this, game companies would certainly be more careful of how they do business...and product quality would probably rise as well.

i don't blame them. i blame the idiots that buy everything they see. ironic that the best game i'm playing right now is free. (the hunter)

This might be a viable solution if there were any games out there that could compare with the TW series, and since there arent i have a hard time believing youll stick to this, nothing personal

[Thorn]

This might be a viable solution if there were any games out there that could compare with the TW series, and since there arent i have a hard time believing youll stick to this, nothing personal

So true, there are only a few more strategic games that give you less chalenge than ETW.