Topic: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit *get the first view of the program* (Read 34750 times)

Vandala · « **on:** February 27, 2012, 11:22:18 am »

(( Here's something >>> http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=6008 ))

Dwarf Fortress modding made easy(er). We are still in the very early stages of development so don't expect anything soon.

But for those who want to check out what we are doing you can follow our progress at sourceforge. (I don't think you need an account for this.)
You should be able to see some pictures there, nothing you can't see here but it's better resolution.
More importantly is that you'll be able to look at the code itself and see how things are progressing.

And for those who wish to help us develop this tool, all you need is a sourceforge account, sent me your name and I'll add you as a member to the project.
You can sent me a personal message, drop your name in a reply here or maybe even over at the forum over at sourceforge. Your choice.

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How I see this going down.

Design a Graphical User Interface in wxglade.
Write code for program in python.
Test program with public release and fine-tune it based on criticism.
Add more options to the program as more demands/idea's come in.
Release program as open source once it's bin completed.
Do my best to keep up with new versions of Dwarf Fortress.

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Current jobs I could use help with:

Figuring out the proper placement of all creature tokens: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=102881.msg3056390#msg3056390
Making Clip the Dwarf a reality. http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=102881.msg3056548#msg3056548
I need info on a great number of creature tokens. http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=102881.msg3059699#msg3059699

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I'll be using python code to build this program along with the help of a GUI designer called wxglade.
This means both Windows and Linux users can run it!

Python found here: http://python.org/
wxglade found here: http://wxglade.sourceforge.net/
My DFFD page found here: http://dffd.wimbli.com/who.php?id=2810 (I hope this works.) *STUFF HAS BIN ADDED* (only crappy wxglade stuff x 3)
NightS DFFD page found here: http://dffd.wimbli.com/who.php?id=1536

Sourceforge - Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit - Found here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/dfmcreationkit/

Bazaar - sourceforge info found here: https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/sourceforge/wiki/Bazaar
Meld wiki found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meld_%28software%29 (sadly linux only)

#NightS RAW Applications# found here: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=104069.new#new
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Latest progress: (everything in these pictures is subject to change, a lot of it still looks crappy and requires sorting and such)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

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Sorcerer · « **Reply #1 on:** February 27, 2012, 11:30:19 am »

I wish you the best of luck in this endaveour!
If i could give you more than just moral support i would, but my python skills are way below par

Vandala · « **Reply #2 on:** February 27, 2012, 11:36:38 am »

Quote from: Sorcerer on February 27, 2012, 11:30:19 am

I wish you the best of luck in this endaveour!
If i could give you more than just moral support i would, but my python skills are way below par

Which probably means you're better at it them me. I know pretty much jack shit about it. (luckily I've got a friend who does work as a programmer)

But thanks for the moral support.

i2amroy · « **Reply #3 on:** February 27, 2012, 12:01:02 pm »

Best of luck! This is a huge task you are taking on here, though I say that even if you manage to make it so that only creatures (or something else like that) are fully moldable through a GUI I think it will be worth it.

Sorcerer · « **Reply #4 on:** February 27, 2012, 12:06:14 pm »

I agree with roy here, start out small, just a creature editor would be awesome...

Vandala · « **Reply #5 on:** February 27, 2012, 12:49:13 pm »

Quote from: i2amroy on February 27, 2012, 12:01:02 pm

Best of luck! This is a huge task you are taking on here, though I say that even if you manage to make it so that only creatures (or something else like that) are fully moldable through a GUI I think it will be worth it.

That is the first task I'm on right now. Huge doesn't even begin to describe it.

Just sorting through the base creature tokens is a nightmare.

Di · « **Reply #6 on:** February 27, 2012, 12:55:38 pm »

There is some plugin to some notepad++ in community utilites thread but it hasn't been updated since 40d I presume.

Vandala · « **Reply #7 on:** February 27, 2012, 01:10:10 pm »

Quote from: Di on February 27, 2012, 12:55:38 pm

There is some plugin to some notepad++ in community utilites thread but it hasn't been updated since 40d I presume.

A nice tool but I have no use for it. Thanks though.

NRN_R_Sumo1 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 27, 2012, 01:41:03 pm »

I believe that there was some sort of writer for older versions back around 40d, perhaps if someone can remember the name it would help you figure out what is good and bad about how the other people made it, and help you in your design and interface.

Vandala · « **Reply #9 on:** February 28, 2012, 07:46:40 pm »

*HAS BIN UPDATED WITH A NEW LIST*

A little update on my progress.

I've bin sorting the various creature tokens into groups. The idea here is to get some coherent groupings going to make it easier to design an interface around all of this. And this is where your opinions come in! I could really use some suggestions what tokens people would like to see grouped together. Below is still just my first attempt, this really needs to be further refined.

Here's a link for reverence as to what all this stuff actually does in case you don't know.
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Creature_token

Please do not mind the unused group as the bottom, I haven't sorted those yet for various reasons.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

slay_mithos · « **Reply #10 on:** February 28, 2012, 07:58:56 pm »

If it is complete and not too hazardous in GUI, it might be a good tool to use.

But building it means understanding every tags and possibilities, plus knowing how to make GUI that are intuitive, complete, and still not having too much informations at once.

Quite a challenge, but good luck.

NobodyPro · « **Reply #11 on:** February 28, 2012, 10:04:37 pm »

If anything I'd use this for beginning creatures. My creatures always end up too complicated

Vandala · « **Reply #12 on:** March 01, 2012, 07:05:31 am »

Here's a very crappy look at me diddling around with wxglade.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You might have noticed our first problem, there's just to much stuff in dwarf fortress to put on one screen. And this is just the start, and I didn't even use all of the creature tokens yet, in fact, this is less then half of what I'm going to need to put on screen.

This is going to be fun.

PS:this image is supposed to be 1920 by 1200

Rochndil · « **Reply #13 on:** March 01, 2012, 09:38:13 am »

Greetings!

I really hope you can get this going without losing steam, which is usually what seems to happen with projects like this. If possible (and it may not be), try to get a GROUP going so that you won't be the only one slowly going crazy in the night.

From a historical perspective, there are three main DF mod managers that I'm aware of. I can't remember the name of the first big one, but Sean Mirrsen wrote and maintained it for quite a while. Then there were Uristmod and DFMM (Dwarf Fortress Mod Manager). All of these programs worked pretty well, but often suffered badly when the RAW file formats changed.

One thing I've always thought someone should do, and as I'm NOT a programmer I could be totally off-base here, is to create a RAW parser that would read in the TXT data and create a database based on it. Once you had a current database of all the elements in the RAWs, making changes individually or on a larger scale would be pretty simple. Then you could reverse the process, and write out consistently-formatted RAW files. Obviously there would be a ton of work to do here in defining relationships, formatting, etc., but I think that with the right base this is a process that could make modding a LOT easier.

Then, taking the next step, you would want to build a user-friendly GUI that would display the RAW information in a useful and intelligent manner. Even if you (yourself) can just create a usable GUI, that would be a great start!

I think one solution for you is to use a tabbed interface. Users are generally familiar with them, and it allows you to display MUCH more information without trying to cram it all onto one screen.

As others already have, I wish you much luck with your project!

Rochndil, sometime modder and TCOM professional (not programming!)

scion-of-fenrir · « **Reply #14 on:** March 01, 2012, 09:49:46 am »

Holy carp, bro! This stuff is amazing! Even if the program itself isn't out for a while, that list you made helps me a lot! I always have trouble making new creatures that aren't just re-skins of one in-game!

Keep up the good work, dude!

News:

Author Topic: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit get the first view of the program (Read 34750 times)

Vandala

Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit get the first view of the program

Sorcerer

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit

Vandala

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit

i2amroy

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit

Sorcerer

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit

Vandala

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit

Di

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit

Vandala

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit

NRN_R_Sumo1

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit

Vandala

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit

slay_mithos

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit under construction -opinions needed-

NobodyPro

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit under construction -opinions needed-

Vandala

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit under construction -opinions needed-

Rochndil

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit under construction -opinions needed-

scion-of-fenrir

Re: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit under construction -opinions needed-

News:

Author Topic: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit *get the first view of the program* (Read 34750 times)

Author Topic: Dwarf Fortress Mod Creation Kit get the first view of the program (Read 34750 times)