Mods/alternative game modes

[primordialegg]

Are there any plans on supporting mods particularly of new units and game modes? The latter could even just be settings applied to the skirmish maps pre launching of the map. Yeah I know the game is still in early access but with the game mechanics already implemented it already has the potential for a great modding scene.

I actually discovered this game from the Majesty HD community and could see how with a few mods this could be the new and much improved version of that game. RtR already spawns "heroes" and NPCs have desires/threat analysis/inventory/leveling. 'All' I can think that would be required would be:

• Guilds: While the preference would be to have a new unit type (villagers/dogs/"heroes"), for simplicity could use a new building to permanently convert villagers to heroes (+ to assign villagers but no - button). There would be different types of guilds based on the hero type required e.g. warrior,wizard etc. Once assigned, the unit stats get buffed according to type of guild.
  
• Heroic pastimes: heroes wander outside of town limits searching for enemies and loot - ideally wander/party up with other heroes but if too complicated, could have a spell that functions similar to a guardoutpost that only this unit type responds to, patrolling between town and spell location. Applying the current guard logic they would probably be adventurous during the day and help out with the defense of the village at night.
  
• Abilities unlocked at different levels (nice to have) e.g. could give a wizard hero the fire elemental fireball and at level 5 they unlock an improved version
  
• A system to allow heroes to buy new equipment (nice to have but probably not easy to do with a mod as RtRs villagers are big fans of the bartering system) - marketplace structure with equipment only equipable by heroes. Something akin to restrictions which prevent dogos from kitting out in armour.

Conveniently the above system could be switched on and off for a map by simply disabling building of the guilds and hero marketplace. So my question is,are there any plans to implement something similar and if not will it be possible with modding, even if in the distant future?

[Tiberiumkyle]

Steam workshop is planned, but only for user made maps and translations. Ray has been considering a scenario mode for maps with specific challenges to overcome, but no work has been done on that just yet.

You can technically already mod the game, just need to decompile it. Unlike minecraft (another game made in java many are familiar with) RtR code isn't obfuscated.

[primordialegg]

Well that's just awesome! Many thanks Ray for making it so accessible!

My only other query so, is it possible to mod the sprites themselves and are there any restrictions on sprite size/characteristics? I notice the current character sprites are great but tiny and low detail but I imagine this is done purposefully, potentially for engine reasons.

[Tiberiumkyle]

Those are questions for Ray, really.

[primordialegg]

Cheers anyway Tiberium. I had a look through the code which is very neat and descriptive and seems fairly straight forward to mod as is which is great. Fairly certain I've figured out how to do much of what I described above and even to make the game winnable, perish the thought. I'm also blown away by the depth of the NPCs characteristics offering a whole host of modding mischief.

So the only problem with my plans is that I can't figure out how to recompile the core folder. Tried it through cmd prompt and Eclipse with both throwing me errors. Is there something obvious I'm missing that yourself or anyone on the forms could clue me in on? Haven't touched Java in >10 years and the furthest I got then was making a calculator....