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I want to be a DEV ! - Printable Version

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I want to be a DEV ! - DSE)Spartan - 12-20-2013

(please move to the proper place if this thread is made in the wrong spot... )

The introduction...

Hello Discovery - friends,

Here I am... a 44 year old Dutch Freelancer addict that doesn't last 3 minutes against you flashy young pilots in Conns.

Now I got this crazy idea about becoming a developer for the Disco-gc mod. I have read a lot of tutorials en other threads about developing in this forum and I have come up with a plan. What I am asking is for you to read my plan and gimme your 2 cts...

The Plan...

1) I read all threads that seem interesting on this forum. Especially the ones about the criteria of stuff before I contact any of the dev's or admins...

2) I make a descision about what I want to make (ships, star systems, weapons ... )
=> For this I allready have a question... for what items that can be developed is a need, and for what items is no need ?

3) I download and install all the programs to make whatever I want to make. (I'm sure I can find the names of the programs in the forums somewhere)

4) I install a SERVER version of Freelancer Discovery
=> not sure how to to this... (I mean the Discovery part)

5) I start working and testing...

The responce...

(I appreciate every hint and advise.. )


RE: I want to be a DEV ! - aerelm - 12-20-2013

(12-20-2013, 02:41 PM)DSE)Spartan Wrote: 1) I read all threads that seem interesting on this forum. Especially the ones about the criteria of stuff before I contact any of the dev's or admins...

If you want to start Freelancer deving, Starport is the place to go. It has a lot of useful tutorials and discussion threads. Alternatively, you can check our own Developer Tutorials subforum. It's not as good, but should work for the start.

(12-20-2013, 02:41 PM)DSE)Spartan Wrote: 2) I make a descision about what I want to make (ships, star systems, weapons ... )

Making ships would require a working knowledge of 3D modeling and more importantly, a creative imagination. Doing FLHook plugins requires a working knowledge of C++ and C#, and on top of that, an infinite supply of either caffeine or alcohol, depending on your personal preference (some of our resident FLHookers tend to go for the combination of the two, and who am I to judge...). Anything else though, pretty much involves nothing but endless hours of burying yourself deep in XML or INI files. For the latter, you just have to figure out in which file(s) each part of the game data is stored and then go for editing. Right now, what we could use the most are a couple of capable 3D modelers with original ideas and willingness to dedicate their free times to Disco, but since that's kinda hard to come by, people who can properly work ini files are also welcome, since more help never hurts.

(12-20-2013, 02:41 PM)DSE)Spartan Wrote: 3) I download and install all the programs to make whatever I want to make. (I'm sure I can find the names of the programs in the forums somewhere)

Depending on what you'd want to do, there are various programs you'd need to install. You can find most of these on the Starport, so just do a quick search in their download section and you shouldn't have much of a problem finding them. Though, be forewarned, diving head-first into all of them at once is no good for your sanity, so you'd better pick an area and start toying around with the related programs, then move to the next after you feel you've familiarized yourself enough with it.

For having readable access to the game files without the need to dig through ini files, FLStat and FL Companion are your friends. These two are useful even for regular players, and not just for devs, so get them regardless if you don't have them already.

For standard INI editing, go with Notepad++. It's a much better text editor than the stock windows notepad/wordpad, and also doesn't mess up the XML codes like the other two tend to.

For the actual modeling, people generally use either Google Sketchup, Milkshape 3D or 3DMax. It's more of a personal preference thing, though Milkshape plugins are more "native" to the FL engine while 3DMax offers higher quality results with a bit more work.

For model-related editing (Hardpoints, hitboxes, etc) we usually go with HardCMP and UTF Editor.

For system edits and base changes, FL Mod Studio is the primary program used and offers a much more comfortable interface than other similar programs or plain system ini editing.

For ALE editing (Weapon effects and whatnot) XML Project combined with Notepad++ would be your best option. You can convert ALE files to simple XML code and back, which is a hell of a time-saver.

(12-20-2013, 02:41 PM)DSE)Spartan Wrote: 4) I install a SERVER version of Freelancer Discovery

You don't need to install the server version of Freelancer to run a Disco server. The standard client installation would do. There is a file in the EXE folder of your disco installation called flserver.exe. All you need to do to run your own server is run that program and configure your server the way you want it. It also includes the FLHook server control tool by default, but if you want a more "user-friendly" interface, you can download DSAccountManager.

(12-20-2013, 02:41 PM)DSE)Spartan Wrote: 5) I start working and testing...

Deving 101 - Make a copy of your original installation and make your changes there. Don't go for editing your main discovery installation cause that'd definitely end in you forgetting to revert some of the changes when you try to connect to GC, and the mad anticheat autobanning your account.

That said though, FL engine is one huge mess, and some of the stuff that at first seem to be rather simple and straightforward, turn out to be unnecessarily time-consuming and unreasonably complicated, so don't be afraid of figuring things out through trial and error. If you go for making any drastic changes, you'll probably just end up crashing the game over and over for a week or two before you get the hang of things.



RE: I want to be a DEV ! - DSE)Spartan - 12-20-2013

Thanks Aerelm,

Exactly the pointers I was looking for !

I will check starport to begin with.
If I follow my gut feeling, I would LOVE to design a star system . Would that be too ambitious ? If not... what system would you prefer me creating ? (Gallia system, Rheinland system, for what faction or group... etc.)

Furthermore... I allready am pretty familiar with FLStat, FL Companion, Notepad++ and Google Sketchup. So I have my hopes still up of becoming a developer !

Thanks for taking the time to give me all this valuable info !

Regards,

DSE)Spartan


RE: I want to be a DEV ! - eigos - 12-21-2013

I hope you remain enthusiastic about this after a month of fiddling and learning. (talking about the vast piles of various .ini files that make up most of the game).

About the modelling thing - the people here are rather "not very user-friendly", ship submissions sometimes can be frustrating for the creator. Too many comments, most of them negative (you know, because 99% of the community has studied in Harvard and is NASA-certified on spaceship logic and realism).

Im not trying to discourage you, on the contrary - Im encouraging you to create some awesome stuff, because I think you really have an urge for creativity! Just prepare for hard work and a lot of controversy among the....community.


RE: I want to be a DEV ! - DSE)Spartan - 12-21-2013

(12-21-2013, 01:44 PM)eigos Wrote: I hope you remain enthusiastic about this after a month of fiddling and learning. (talking about the vast piles of various .ini files that make up most of the game).

About the modelling thing - the people here are rather "not very user-friendly", ship submissions sometimes can be frustrating for the creator. Too many comments, most of them negative (you know, because 99% of the community has studied in Harvard and is NASA-certified on spaceship logic and realism).

Im not trying to discourage you, on the contrary - Im encouraging you to create some awesome stuff, because I think you really have an urge for creativity! Just prepare for hard work and a lot of controversy among the....community.

Thanks Eigos,

I will keep your good advice in mind ! Also I will not hope for warm welcome from the user side. From the developers side I only get encouraging comments, so.. it's not so bad...

Back to reading stuff on Starport now :-)

Regards,


RE: I want to be a DEV ! - DSE)Spartan - 12-21-2013

OK... when I try to start the server... its says version : 4.71 ... which I cannot ente, because I can only enter servers with version number 4.72 ... what should I do ?

Regards,


RE: I want to be a DEV ! - Tunicle - 12-21-2013

If I have understood correctly then http://the-starport.net/freelancer/forum/viewtopic.php?post_id=27286 should help.


RE: I want to be a DEV ! - DSE)Spartan - 12-22-2013

OK... I got one step further... using that thread you pointed me too.. now... I got the right version nr. on both server and Fleelancer. But I cannot login to my own server :-s
I will try to figure out why... tonight... mayby I need an update for flserver.exe ?

Regards,


RE: I want to be a DEV ! - eigos - 12-22-2013

What windows version are you using (XP, Vista, 7 or 8)?

If you are using anything newer than XP, then you have the IPv6 issue, your server IP shows itself likea bunch of letters and numbers.
Refresh the list so many times, until you get the actual IPv4 adress, consisting of numbers only (e.g. 192.168.1.2)


RE: I want to be a DEV ! - DSE)Spartan - 12-22-2013

I'm using windows 7 , and the problem is exactly as you said : I get an IP eddress that looks like :

fe80::1dba:a3d7:735:8434

I have refreshed the serverlist like... 100 times... but that doesn't solve the matter. I am now tinkering with my Registry to make a connection possible...