Hey there! Just backed the game. Admittedly was waiting until mod support was near-guaranteed... it's the one thing I most excited about for D:OS2, even though it's an amazing game in and of itself.
D:OS' editor kept me from heavily modding the game. Part of it was when I came... only a few months back did I start opening up the editor, and found its "out of box" functionality wasn't friendly. I decided to focus on some other games because of it. Very glad to hear the #1 priority is this usability. While some in the thread have stated how easy it should be, I'm not sure I'm in agreement. It should be friendly, but I don't want the ability to create complex stories and systems stifled by something 'easy-to-use.' There's a balance, and I believe you'll walk it well
That aside, I'll make a few suggestions based on some 'dream' mods I might want to create:
DM ModeWith only 3 days left on the clock, I don't think we'll hit 2 mil. I could be surprised. But, short of that, I'd love to be able to reproduce a DM-type mode using the Editor. This might be asking much, for a feature that was a tier in the KS... but I did say I was dreaming.
For this to work, a few things would need to be exposed to the Editor:
1) Fine scripting system.
Using a set of scripts, we could generate a 'character' that is able to control more than the typical. Would probably add this as an additional 'Race' in character creation, and limit it so only one player could occupy that race at a time. Clearly would not be as smooth an experience as a Larian-developed DM mode, but could replicate a lot of the functionality.
2) Ability to increase party size.
This is going to be requested a lot, because people want persistant universe. I agree, I'd love that - and it'd be a great business move given the lack of anything filling that niche (short of, perhaps, Shards).
But for a "DM Mode," it would be ideal to add a single additional character to the party - a total of 5 - to allow the DM to occupy an additional slot rather than take away a player's slot.
3) Ability to create a custom UI
While the DM's abilities could be created as additional SKILLS in their own custom skill tree, it would be far better to create an interface which allows them to plop down creatures, immediately invoke script functions (or even write them?) and create levels on-the-fly. This latter ability I'm not even going to list, as that's asking for a lot. But, dreaming!
Star Wars TCEveryone loves Star Wars! D:OS2 will have many systems already in place to allow an 'easy' (hah) total conversion. A few editor abilities here would go a long way:
1) Custom Races/Classes at Character Creation
In NWN/2, it was possible to create custom races and classes but required a lot of scripting workarounds. It'd be GREAT to implement new races and classes with full skill trees and effects right inside the editor.
For this, I'm talking DATA and not ART. For Art...
2) Simple import/export of character models
If I want to create a Wookiee to-size, it'd be better to import this model and allow its creation at the character creation menu than fake it with scripting. This means we should either be able to import directly from 3DSMax, or the Editor comes with a built-in or easily-accessible converter.
If you don't want us EXPORTING your assets, you could use a unique file format for your game assets, but a separate filetype that is compatible with the converter for imported assets.
3) Full editor manipulation of item data and art
This is more of a given - most mods are going to want this. But figured I'd note it
4) Global and local music
It'd be great for this feature to be taken care of with a drop-down in the editor, rather than placing a script function in the level. It should still be possible, however, to create a script override function for sudden, forced music changes. These should automatically revert on leaving a level, though, or after a certain period of time.
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I'll stop here for now
Hope this is helpful!
