Make the game easier to mod

[Moon_Dew]

Seriously, this game is so hard to mod!  I decided one day to mode the game so that I'd have more starting credits...that was 4 days, 26 posts, and countless headaches ago.  I'm sure some of you may think that it's easy, well, I'm sure that I'm not the only one who feels like they need to be a programming expert in order to edit one damn line of code!

Also, why can we only use debug commands in the development versions of the game?

[geever]

Seriously, this game is so hard to mod!  I decided one day to mode the game so that I'd have more starting credits...that was 4 days, 26 posts, and countless headaches ago.  I'm sure some of you may think that it's easy, well, I'm sure that I'm not the only one who feels like they need to be a programming expert in order to edit one damn line of code!

UFO:AI is actually very easy to mod.. up to a level. Because quite much details are set in configuration files - like the starting money, the weapon statistics, research tree, etc.
It doesn't mean however that anyone can mod it. For modding any game you need some skills. Not programming skills mostly, but basic computer user skills: You need to be able to copy, rename files or edit them with notepad. You need to be able to extract and re-compress files with common archivers and last but not least you need to know your operating system in a decent level. You are probably yet on the beginning of your journey with modding you'll need to learn (and experiment) more about your system and about mods.

Also, why can we only use debug commands in the development versions of the game?

Debug commands are for debugging: hunting bugs! We disable them from the released versions so people don't cheat...

-geever

[MonkeyHead]

Actually, I have found UFO:AI suprisingly easy to mod when compared to other games. I have made many personal tweaks to dozens of game aspects with relative ease. However, I do have a loooooong history of modding a wide array of games so am quite at home with the geneal structure of the games files, accessing them and putting it all back together. As a result, YMMV.

[Eegxeta]

UFO:AI is actually very easy to mod.. up to a level. Because quite much details are set in configuration files - like the starting money, the weapon statistics, research tree, etc.

I have a question where are all those config files? I haven't been able to find them.

Actually, I have found UFO:AI suprisingly easy to mod when compared to other games. I have made many personal tweaks to dozens of game aspects with relative ease. However, I do have a loooooong history of modding a wide array of games so am quite at home with the geneal structure of the games files, accessing them and putting it all back together. As a result, YMMV.

You would love Cortex Command modding that game is so much fun to mod because you change stuff on the fly no packing or unpacking needed. I made a gun that had so much recoil that using it would make your soldier's head explode. I toned down the bullet mass after a few laughs and ended up with a super armor piercing weapon that could shoot a guy standing behind a concrete wall or after three or so mags on the other side of a mountain. Course one of the most fun activities in that game is trying to pull a head shot off on yourself on a wrap around map with a sniper that puts a 50. cal to shame. See how many times you can get the bullet to fly across the map before hitting you.

[Mattn]

check out this: http://ufoai.org/wiki/UFO-Scripts