Technical Limitations
There a variety of limitations I have, and one of the big limitations I have is the tools I have on hand.
This includes the current Overgrowth editor tools, textures, models and animations that I can use. It also includes scripts, errors, bugs, etc.
The tools I have now
The Overgrowth editor is very easy to use, and I can get nearly everything I need done with it. It's similar to drag and drop legos that don't have to snap to each other, and can also be scaled up and down and rotated in any direction, along with getting set on a grid axis.
That means I can build buildings, add decals, and create towns very easily. I can add bits of rock to the terrain to make it look very, very natural.
I can also take any set of terrain in the game and turn it into a different type of terrain; for example, I can take a grassy field and turn it into a desert, but with the same exact slopes and hills.
This is a screenshot of a past level I did, with grass and dirt for terrain and a cloudy skybox...
And the same exact level, but with a different skybox, turned into a desert environment.
Now, what I can't do, is a bit of a list;
- I can't make terrain on my own.
- I can't make models (unless someone else makes them for me, or I figure out how to import a model from a different game).
- I can make and edit textures, but only if I have Photoshop, which I currently do not have.
- I can't make scripts and hotspots unless someone else makes them, and not only that, but I have to make sure the scripts/hotspots would work in later versions of the game.
- I can't make custom music on my own (though the lovely Grindgrain from the Wolfire Forums has contributed a few tracks), and I can probably figure out how to make the new set of music properly working ingame on its own.
- I can't find enough good skyboxes out there... if anyone can share me some free skyboxes that I can use, I'd definitely appreciate it.
And of course, Overgrowth crashes a ton because it's an alpha game, but I'm super used to clicking CTRL + S extremely often, so it's no problem.
Later on, I'll also cover the other problems and limitations that I currently have.
" have to make sure the scripts/hotspots would work in later versions of the game."
That's impossible in most cases. The game is an alpha version, so everything is subject to change. And even a beta or the fully completed and released game can't guarantee this. An update may come which could brake some of your mod's functionality: a function deprecated or straight out deleted, or its behavior has changed. Maybe you relied on the behavior of a bug (regardless whether you knew that or not) and that bug got finally fixed.
As for Photoshop, you likely don't need it. There are free products like GIMP that you can use.
As for the skyboxes, you could try to create/generate your own. I'm sure there are tutorials and tools for creating them in Maya, Blender, etc. Also found an online one with WebGL: Nutty.ca
Topic for tools to generate skyboxes: Answers.unity3d.com
I hope I helped at least a little.
Yeah, I know what's subject to change; the levels will more then likely be compatible with later alphas because I'm trying to keep any scripts lightweight and I'm keeping them from conflicting with existing files, hopefully letting them survive multiple alphas. Of course, I can always update the scripts to work.
Not to mention I wouldn't be surprised if Therium-2 doesn't work once Overgrowth is finished. Once it is, I'll probably be making even more custom campaigns for the game, but I might resurrect Therium-2 from the grave and put it in working condition.
And I actually do need Photoshop; almost all of the games' texture files are in .dds format, which I can't get Paint.NET to open (unless there's a plugin somewhere). Thanks for the skyboxes, I'll look into those.
Oh gee. Forgot to sign in. Oopsies.
I never thought about plugins, but apparently there is a dds one for Photoshop, that's going to help me a lot too
If you want you can send me an file (JPEG, PNG, whatever) of your texture and I'll convert it for you if I get the plugin working :D