Mod Tools - official update

[SenseiTW]

Hi guys,

We thought it was time to clear up all of the rumours regarding mod tools and got Mike Simpson himself to write you an update regarding our plans.

http://blogs.sega.com/totalwar/2010/10/22/modtools/

Have a fantastic weekend everybody,

Mark O'Connell
(aka SenseiTW)

[Port]

Thanks!!!!!!!!

[crossjon]

Hi guys,

We thought it was time to clear up all of the rumours regarding mod tools and got Mike Simpson himself to write you an update regarding our plans.

http://blogs.sega.com/totalwar/2010/10/22/modtools/

Have a fantastic weekend everybody,

Mark O'Connell
(aka SenseiTW)

great to hear.

[ly0_ly0]

Modding tools in 2011...we will be waiting.

[Peteriscoolz]

Will these thing be free or wil the people have to buy these tools via steam? And also this bit seemed interesting:

There aren’t any areas of the game which in principle we don’t want players to be able to mod, but there are difficulties in practice in making it possible, and we do have some work to do to package up the tools.

And for those whon don't want to click the link the full thing I copied and posted:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The recent announcement that the uniform editor was being dropped jumped the gun a bit.
It’s true that we’re not planning to release the tool we originally designed. Some feature designs don’t pan out as imagined, and this one was frankly not great. All it would allow was the setting of colours for a particular unit type. It was clunky and didn’t do what most people actually wanted.
What we are planning to do is to release the full unit editor along with the data builder tool. This is the tool chain we used to create and edit the units in the game. It’s far more powerful than the uniform editor would have been.
There aren’t any areas of the game which in principle we don’t want players to be able to mod, but there are difficulties in practice in making it possible, and we do have some work to do to package up the tools.
We are intending to come up with a more comprehensive long term strategy on encouraging and facilitating mods, and will talk more about this soon, but for now I can say for sure that the Napoleon unit editor tools remain a priority. The tools are currently scheduled for release in the first half of 2011, this is of course dependent on how Shogun 2 progresses, and we will keep you updated.
We haven’t and won’t forget this, hence putting a date to it. For now Shogun 2 remains our top priority.
Thanks,
Mike

[CrayonVonCaesar]

Interesting, thank you CA.

Keep to that and we all shall continue to buy TW and smite the enemy.

[caratacus]

Well if you are cynical (and many Total War fans are now), this could be another marketing ploy to help the sales of DLC content for Naploeon and Shogun II amongst those wanting modding tools.

However, there is a just a tiny burning ember of faith in CA, to give me the impression that this time it might be a genuine offer. primarily for two reasons;
i, Its Mike Simpson's promise and not anyone else's
ii, They could have just released a uniform editing tool, which would have got them off the hook of reneging on a promise but have been completely pathetic.

It remains the case however that I won't buy Empire or Napoleon and will certainly not buy Shogun II, unless better modding support is given for Total war games

[Okuto]

better than nothing I suppose......but it's still late, sigh.....

Though the effort is appreciated CA, we'll see if you live up to it

[Chyeaaaa111]

Well I really hope this becomes a reality!

[MathiasOfAthens]

Some people were a bit assholish but I believe you Sensei and looking forward to this unit tool. If I understood correctly its the tool you guys used to create and edit your units.


Anyway, whatever you guys decide on the future concerning modding, I think what most of us here can agree on is we all desperately want Campaign modding tools. The possibilities are endless with this game if we can only mod the campaign, edit and create (new) regions.

[THEMIK DK]

so... good!!!

[Heavy Weapons Guy]

Thanks CA!!!!!!

[cocoloco]

Well im still waiting to buy NTW and money Isnt the reason.
This reads like good news. I might buy the game after all.


Guess I will be buying Shogun in 2012, Assuming that's when tools for that game are released.

[The Hedge Knight]

Thankyou for this news!

So will this tables program be able to handle all the tables or just the untis ones (including ones we will perhaps never see such as models_buildings and models_naval due to their ridiculous complexity).

[Invictus XII]

Well modding tools are always welcome. I welcome CA staff to work with myself and other modders in developing tools, and improving out current ones.

Cheers, MB

[richardsharpe]

I hope the naysayers are wrong on this one. I did get the chills (in a good way) while reading that post.

['Gunny]

We will hold you to it. Plain and Simple. Oh yea, and God I hope its True

[Chevalier IX]

I would like to personally thank the staff at CA for taking the time to address the communities concerns and issues on a personal basis,ie actually taking the time to create a profile and post in our completely unofficial yet devoted community giving answers to those which in all actuality they owe none..this is not the effort of a greedy mega corporation but a company that genuinely believes in the product they are producing and genuinely cares if we are enjoying ourselves with said productCA,SenseiTW,Craig..I commend you,genuinely...and also for those of you out there that carry this erroneous belief...I highly doubt at any time CA actually set out to deceive or otherwise "lie"to anyone,as much as the fact stands that things change in the real,business,world...I love the modding community,every part of it,and those of you that know me from around the forums know this as well,but the fact of the matter is,CA and the modders are very different.CA cannot make these games and tools and what not at their leisure,there are time lines,time constraint,stockholder expectations and general lack of funding that could contribute to the very real issue of not being able to deliver everything they had every intention of providing.I am of the firm belief that the things CA has been forced to step down from providing were victims of one of the above mentioned issues,not a cruel and insidious plot to deceive the fan base that got them where they are today

[AnthoniusII]

I hope more tools will follow.
CBUR team was about to originaly create TGC 872-1071 mod in ETW but with the lack of tools this was impossible.
I hope that someday we will see medieval naval battles in ETW/NTW games.
Or better in the SII engine.
CBUR team could provide free of charge its knowlege for a M3TW consirning Byzantines (Medieval Roman Empire).

[Prince of Darkness]

Unit editors are a bit redundant because there are already hundreds of unit mods in this forum.
I hope to see a campaign map editor that can change the campaign map into more regions, different continents or even fantasy style maps.