Mod help?

[Wish]

i use open office for editing text, but I also use paintshop pro for graphics.

for instance the sphinx's in my small mod were basically abunch of photos i GISed put together.

[Edi]

I use Crimson Editor for text files (or the .dm files). A very powerful text editor for that sort of purpose, so much better than Notepad that I haven't used Notepad for years. Also allows you to keep severl files open in separate tabs at the same time.

For graphics that you might want to make, Paint, GIMP, PAintshop and other image processing programs, depending on what you want to do and how many features you need.

That, and reading the mod manual AND reading mod files somebody has already created (e.g. Juzza's Tarent mod, the Complete Balance mod or any other) to give you an idea of how to do it.

If you can use a text editor and know how to read instructions, you can mod the game. And you can always ask for more help here.

[paradoxharbinger]

i second crimson editor, though i still find uses for notepad

[Sombre]

I find it difficult to see how a text editor with more features than notepad is actually beneficial for editing .dm files. They are incredibly simple.

But hey, use whatever. It's just raw text editing after all.

[Edi]

Sombre, things like "find and replace", "find", changing case for words, lines etc. I've done a crapload of map editing and reading mods and so forth and the last thing I want is having no tools to quicken the process.

If you want an accurate comparison:

• A 600 MHz Celeron with a Matrox G200 graphics card and 392 MB memory
• A Core 2 Duo E6600 with Nvidia 7900GT graphics card and 2 GB memory

Both of those can run Dominions 3, but do you REALLY want to pick the first option if the second is available? Because Crimson Editor is nearly that much more powerful than Notepad. I'll take the steel knife and let others chip away with their flint-bladed stone age tools if they are so inclined. But I'm never going back to Notepad.

If you want to see what I'm talking about, download and install Crimson Editor and try it. Then tell me what you think. The program is freeware for personal use, so it'll not cost you anything. I've noticed you do a LOT of modding, so you could probably find use for some of the additional features. You don't absolutely NEED them, but they make things easier.

[Sombre]

Notepad has find and replace.

You can say it's much more powerful, but then Microsoft Word is also much more powerful than notepad - it doesn't mean it's any help modding .dm files,.. which is the only thing I use notepad for.

There are certain modding tools which would be very helpful and I'd like to see. For instance a prog that output a mod-ready version of a unit from the vanilla database. It would make changing the equipment of units that much easier. Or a full blown unit editor where you input fields, browse for pictures etc.

[paradoxharbinger]

a unit editor would be really sweet, even if it lacked a database of the in-game units and just allowed for creating new ones.