Making mods for Dominions II. [Basic editing/modding discussion.]

[st.patrik]

Well… I'm more talking about a structure for changing a lot of things than a particular level of change. As I see it there are three things you might want to change:

1> maps - add new maps, change existing maps, make scenarios, etc. - all about (at least in Dom I) changing the .map file and corresponding picture

2> monsters - similar deal. I don't know much about this, but I gather there's been talk about this and it's not impossible

which leaves
3> nations - which is what I am suggesting with having themes be structured as mods. Like I said before, this would allow for little change, or much change, depending on how much work you want to put in. For example, it would be totally possible to do a "Noldor" [for the unenlightened Noldor=a kind of elf from Tolkien] theme which would change every unit of a current nation to well, Noldor units. Similarly you could add a "Dunedain" theme to another nation etc.

It's been a long time since I've coded, but if I remember aright having a structure in place which defines what you can and can't change, so that you can interface between the game and the mod in a relatively clean way is really helpful.