11 replies to this topic

[joshuar9476]

Salvete amici,

This is my first post on these forums though I have been following them for a few months now after discovering all the awesome mods that have cropped up since I stopped playing BG years ago.

I recently discovered GemRB, a open-source implementation of the Infinity Engine.
(Found here: http://gemrb.sourcef...?id=start#gemrb )

My question to the community is if any of you have previously considered or would like to migrate current and future BG modding projects to the GemRB engine. This has many pros and cons, and will be no small feat.

Pros:

• Many mods should already work with GemRB
  
• Changes can be made to the engine itself which makes mods like ToBEx obsolete (and many other fix-type mods)
  
• Bug-fixing and feature implementation will be much easier as they can be handled from both sides of development (in the engine/in the mod)
  
• Many Many features can be added now that we can directly change how the engine behaves
  
• Mod support can be directly integrated into the engine potentially allowing for BWS and BWP to be handled in-game by the game,
  this could be extended further and be implemented as a full fledged mod manager.
  
• Some mods could probably be condensed, merged, and/or streamlined.
  
• Probably many more I haven't thought of.

Cons:

• Many mods that are currently "bug free," may become buggy as GemRB is not a perfect recreation of the Infinity engine
  
• Many modders may have to relearn and retool to continue to mod in this new environment
  
• Strict version control and good coordination will be necessary to prevent GemRB from being forked into different projects supporting different mods.
  
• Blood, sweat, toil, and tears.
  
• Many more I probably haven't thought of.

I understand the scale of my suggestion but I believe it would benefit the modding and player community a lot more in the long run.
For the moment though I'm just looking for constructive feedback about this idea and what direction (if any) it might be able to take.

Sisyphus

while i'm interrested to see what other say here, you might also want to ask at the official GemRb forum over at G3

[Ascension64]

What about me being out of business?
Just kidding, GemRB does supercede TobEx. I strive to develop TobEx in a way that maintains compatibility with GemRB so that new features won't clash. It does mean that GemRB will need to implement same for TobEx features for mods using TobEx to work in GemRB.

[salomonkane]

I strive to develop TobEx in a way that maintains compatibility with GemRB so that new features won't clash.

1)It's Good to know, and what are connexions with the Game Editor DLTCP ?
2)We shall see, one day, an Editor or Tools ?
3)Adapted to the emulator GemRB, and the program TOBEX ? ,
4)Intended for Modders ?
5)And / Or for Gamers ? (User Friendly and in WYSIWYG), to make our own Infinity Campaign ?

TY .

Edited by salomonkane, 28 February 2011 - 08:59 AM.

[the bigg]

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[salomonkane]

@the B..:

2083

is a primate number...

[Kaeloree]

Come on guys, there's no need for that.

Sisyphus, it won't happen, because it's too complex and GemRB isn't nearly finished enough.

[Sisyphus]

Hey I'm the OP but with a registered account this time.

I've started a concurrent thread over at G3 http://forums.gibber...showtopic=21974
The thread over there will look at this from the engine perspective and this thread will look at it from the modder's perspective.

Sisyphus, it won't happen, because it's too complex and GemRB isn't nearly finished enough.

Fortunately I'm a computer programmer and I can make it happen . I've gathered that the general sense of the community is that GemRB can't support many mods just yet but I disagree with the statement about the task being too complex. My post was not about making all mods work with GemRB now, but about getting a sense of how accessible GemRB was to modders. The IE is driven by the mod community and if that community can be migrated over then the necessary development for the GemRB engine will happen (or at least get a lot more motivation).

To achieve this accessibility I'm going to pick up an idea that was mentioned on a G3 thread: A mod front end. I'll start playing around with code this weekend when I have some free time but my initial goal is to implement something akin to the BiG World Setup but contained within the the GemRB engine itself. I ask for any kind of feedback/advice you may have regarding this



P.S.

I strive to develop TobEx in a way that maintains compatibility with GemRB so that new features won't clash.

I have an idea to tackle this but I won't comment on it further until I've gotten a better grasp on how the GemRB engine works.

[Avenger_teambg]

I strive to develop TobEx in a way that maintains compatibility with GemRB so that new features won't clash.

1)It's Good to know, and what are connexions with the Game Editor DLTCP ?
2)We shall see, one day, an Editor or Tools ?
3)Adapted to the emulator GemRB, and the program TOBEX ? ,
4)Intended for Modders ?
5)And / Or for Gamers ? (User Friendly and in WYSIWYG), to make our own Infinity Campaign ?

TY .

1. DLTCEP is the official editor of GemRB. ToBEx and GemRB both are technically forks of the original IE, but we make some efforts to keep them similar.
2. Refer to answer #1.
3. Refer to answer #1.
4. Yes
5. Gamers who mod the game are modders. The level of user friendliness will never reach BioWare's tools. Which is relative, I cannot use their WorldEditor which was supposed to be User Friendly and whatever). But I can do quite a lot in DLTCEP (including editing projectiles that simulate the hardcoded projectiles of PST, HoW, etc).

[Kaeloree]

Fortunately I'm a computer programmer and I can make it happen . I've gathered that the general sense of the community is that GemRB can't support many mods just yet but I disagree with the statement about the task being too complex. My post was not about making all mods work with GemRB now, but about getting a sense of how accessible GemRB was to modders. The IE is driven by the mod community and if that community can be migrated over then the necessary development for the GemRB engine will happen (or at least get a lot more motivation).

Hey, if you think you can help get the engine to the point where it's a) playable and b) moddable, sure, I imagine some modders would be happy to make their mods compatible.

As a modder, though, while I don't mind making maintenance releases, I'm not sure I'd be willing to dedicate a whole amount of time to making my mods compatible with gemrb. I would do so if it was an easy process, but I don't really have a lot of time on my hands these days, and that's basically the bottom line. I think the idea is good, but I don't know how many modders would devote the necessary time.

[salomonkane]

@Avenger_teambg

5. Gamers who mod the game are modders.

1) I wanted to distinguish the Game Editors as Shadow Keeper (possibility of cheating), or as Infinity Campaign Maker (creation of campaign) (*), in my opinion more focused on the immediats needs of players VS developers tools like DLTCP, NI, BioWare Infinity Engine EDITOR(**); or the Software WeiDu, which need more skills ... .


2) Otherwise what are the limits of code (hardcoded) that can be crossed with GemRB and which are not ... ?

Thank You .

P.S. :
To better understand the current possibilities of GemRB, I send a wish list :
A GemRB Wish list


Source :
(*),(**) : TeamBG: Editing

Edited by salomonkane, 01 March 2011 - 03:11 PM.