Hey, new guy here. Got GSB recently, love it, and have started on what will probably end up as fairly sizable and quite potentially unfinished mod. Which leads me to my questions, hopefully simple ones.
How does one disallow a faction from being allowed to use any default modules? I’ve looked around the text files a bit, but must have missed it.
Also, looking at some of the mods that take default ships and put them together in interesting ways, how does one normally go about that? Just cutting parts out and re-size/rotating them?
Welcome aboard, Conan the Librarian! We’d definitely like to hear more about the big mod you’re hoping to create.
BTW the Gratuitous Modding sub-forum is a true goldmine of useful information. I strongly encourage you to make use of this forum’s Search feature. A parallel but separate path to enlightenment is the “GSB Modding 101” guide; permanently stickied to the top of Page 1 of this sub-forum. Curated by renowned Modding Guru darkstar076, it is required reading for any ambitious modder.
Check this thread. The second feature in the first post will do what you asked up above. At the metaphoric eleventh hour, I convinced Cliffski (the game’s developer) to add those three changes to one of the last patches ever for GSB 1.
Yes, that’s called “kit-bashing” and you described it perfectly.
If you’re playing the original (i.e., Windows) version of the game, all of the graphical sprite files are in .DDS format (“Direct Draw Surface”). You will need to locate the sprite files within your game’s installation, and you will need a graphics-editing program that can open .DDS files and save into the same format. GIMP will do this (albeit with some annoyances), and Paint.NET might do the same.
If you’re using a version of Photoshop that (IIRC) is either CS or CS2, there used to be a free, .DDS file-handler plug-in from Invidia that you could add to Photoshop to make it .DDS-friendly. That plug-in is unsupported and I am doubtful that it will still work with current versions of Photoshop, though.
Regardless of which program you choose, you’ll need to become comfortable with creating layers and making numerous selections, copying them from a GSB 1 source sprite, then pasting them onto destination layers in a new file (which will eventually become your fancy new modded sprite). It’s been quite a while since I was involved with creating modder-made sprites, but I do recall that GIMP is picky about .DDS options when it’s time to save your file. Perhaps one of the other modders on this sub-forum can help you with that part.
No problem.
Oh, and if you’re hungry for a solid, quality example of “take default ships and put them together in interesting ways”, check out this mod. It even blew the game developer’s mind.
Thanks for the help! I have been exploring around the forums a bit, and picked up a handful of (read: far too many) mods that looked interesting. And they are quite fun.
As far as the mod goes, it’s a new faction and may be a bit like the Praetorian Industries mod, though the weapon set is all projectile based. (Technically, I guess it’s pulse lasers as far as the actual graphics, but who cares anyway?) Couple blocky new ships, new (modified sort of) modules, maybe a map or two. As far as GIMP and Paint.NET I have used both a bit, and have done a bit with layers, so it shouldn’t turn out too terrible. I hope.