Some video about modding or whatever

It has been suggested in the past
but everyone has been too lazy to do it

I mean I really don't have the time to be doing this but what would it take, like a day? two max.

Anyway, please deliberate below

 

It has been suggested in the past?
I'd say go for it. Apparently people are REALLY BAD at text based instructions.

 

Oh-
Is this a dicussion about if we should make a modding tutorial or something?

Good idea if you ask me.

 

There are a bajillion modding tuts. This is about a video one (which I think'd be helpful)

 

Well Noxid, to cover even the basics like TSC, pbm editing and map editing... Would take a lot of of explaination.

Even if you just explain the most basic principles of how to hack and provide links to your documentation (modding beginners guide and many more) you might inspire some people to give it a go. You know, just to expose more people to the concept and make them aware of the support available for anyone who wants to try it out...Where to gets started etc.

If you want to make a video version of the actual basics of the process, your probably looking at a video series. Theres alot of stuff you need to know even for basic modding. People forget that. Not to mention, this kind of information is stuff you need to look at and absorb and learn. Something a video isnt practical for.

So yeah, i'm all for a very basic introduction to the idea and a promotion for the community. But if you plan on making a video guide to modding, just be aware of the scale of that and the limitations of the medium.

I'd recommend "aquiring" Camtasia Studio 7 and doing audio commentary over the top. I actually considered doing monthly Vlog updates for my mod this way.

 

You have a point about there being a lot of material to cover. This is definitely something that'll need to be planned out before I actually decide whether I'm going to do it or not.

First and foremost we'll need a listing of Key Topics. So far there's this:

[12:16] <Lace> - how to download ce
[12:16] <Lace> - how to turn "read-only" off
[12:16] <Lace> - how to turn (c)pixel off/edit images
[12:16] <Lace> - how to import your own music
[12:16] <Lace> - how to make a map
[12:16] <Lace> - how to edit entities
[12:17] <Lace> and of course you should talk aboot tsc
[12:17] <@Noxid> There should also be something about
[12:17] <@Noxid> what *can't* be done, short of hacks
[12:17] <Lace> yes
[12:18] <Lace> that's important
[12:18] <Lace> also stress that x86 assembly is HARD TO LEARN
[12:18] <Lace> and they should start small

What else?

 

Off the top of my head, theres always been somethign i'd want readily available for any new starters.

Information on what will break your game and the maximums for various stuff, like tiles. Things like how some functions in cave editor may damage your game, using sues workshop is generally a bad idea, NPC editors must be used with caution and ASM shouldnt be attempted at all if you know nothign about it.

Also drive home the fragility of the hacking process and encourage frequent backups. I've mentioned befor ei use the free program cobian backup, i'd suggest that.

 

Also drive home the fragility of the hacking process and encourage frequent backups. I've mentioned befor ei use the free program cobian backup, i'd suggest that.

I agree with backups, but I don't agree with needing special programs to do it.
Just copy your mod folder.

For Noxid: Oh yeah - I agree with Miles that you should definitely include a link to the modding beginner's guide, since there's only so much you can explain in videos. Otherwise it'd be like sitting in a lecture hall without any available textbook.

 

Include a step-by-step tutorial inside the tutorial that shows how to make a simple room with a simple TSC script.

Also remember the golden rule: If it's easy and understandable to you, doesn't mean it's simple to others.

 

I agree with backups, but I don't agree with needing special programs to do it.
Just copy your mod folder.

What can i say? I enjoy the convenience of tellign it to make hourly backups to the internet, computer and external hard drive simultaneously and then never worrying about backups or losing data again. I lost my mod completely twice when it was in very early development. So i've learnt to be very vigilant now that it's been in development for ages.

Anyway yeah i agree with Woodenrat. The hardest thing probably is going to be is dumbing it down for people who may not even have heard of cave story. Who knows, if you show them examples of various mods and glamorise it a bit, you could inspire a new batch of modders.

 

Nice idea, Nox

by Lace It has been suggested in the past?

by meee tooo lol

by Lace I'd say go for it. Apparently people are REALLY BAD at text based instructions.

Yup. According to my mind and research being less able to learn from a written text is at many case the reason for doing 'bad' at school. Profs are just too blind to acknowledge it, they like to call pupils 'dunce' instead. All big ancient schools of the past had hired man for auditive learning. I also cannot learn well from text, I had to learn from a dictaphone during my studies, and text-to speech software many times. I knew a fellow med. student who told me she could not learn NOTHING after more than an hour of starring at a written text, and stated she cannot learn anything at all by reading. My uni anatomy professor made the same confession...interesting how these things have never seen daylight...

 

It would also take a disproportionate amount of human resources to provide constant-access spoken learning material to entire campuses (unless by "hired man" you meant tutors who are employed to read for a small-ish percentage of students who struggle to learn through text (and to clarify, I don't mean special ed teachers, I understand the difference)).

Personally I find learning from text much easier, because if I have to listen to somebody talking I inevitably start daydreaming. I then rely on spoken word mostly to explain what the text I'm reading doesn't/isn't clear about/gets completely wrong, which is admittedly quite a bit >_>

 

Yup. According to my mind and research being less able to learn from a written text is at many case the reason for doing 'bad' at school. Profs are just too blind to acknowledge it, they like to call pupils 'dunce' instead. All big ancient schools of the past had hired man for auditive learning. I also cannot learn well from text, I had to learn from a dictaphone during my studies, and text-to speech software many times. I knew a fellow med. student who told me she could not learn NOTHING after more than an hour of starring at a written text, and stated she cannot learn anything at all by reading. My uni anatomy professor made the same confession...interesting how these things have never seen daylight...

It would also take a disproportionate amount of human resources to provide constant-access spoken learning material to entire campuses (unless by "hired man" you meant tutors who are employed to read for a small-ish percentage of students who struggle to learn through text (and to clarify, I don't mean special ed teachers, I understand the difference)).

Personally I find learning from text much easier, because if I have to listen to somebody talking I inevitably start daydreaming. I then rely on spoken word mostly to explain what the text I'm reading doesn't/isn't clear about/gets completely wrong, which is admittedly quite a bit >_>

Every modder on this forum has learned the majority of wht they know from reading the collective documentation. And probably the rest of what they learned is from playing great hacks and anylising them. Personally i think the videos are more of a hook than anything else. A promotional tool to get people to realise how awesome modding is. To get them to want to read through all the text, play mods and experiment.

 

Making fun of my accent is an instant 1 week ban.

Just kidding or am i

 

Making fun of my accent is an instant 1 week ban.

Just kidding or am i

that is the least short "for short" abbreviation I've ever seen heard.

 

Heh, what are you starting Noxid? It'd be awesome if this brought a few new people in.

I liked it. I even learned something! I've actually been converting to PBM every time i edit a BMP equivelent graphic. But this is whats nice about something like this, its a compilation of knowledge, in the order that you'd need it if your getting started. The tone was good too, informative and encouraging.

Also noted i'm probably picking too big a project for what is actually my first mod. Unfortunately small projects bore me. ^_^;

So yeah, looking forward to this series. And you've giot a new subscriber X3

 

What can i say? I enjoy the convenience of tellign it to make hourly backups to the internet, computer and external hard drive simultaneously and then never worrying about backups or losing data again. I lost my mod completely twice when it was in very early development. So i've learnt to be very vigilant now that it's been in development for ages.

I lost my first mod early on too. Fortunately I didn't do much by that time, so I recreated it. And yeah - it's nice to see someone take data backups seriously.

Making fun of my accent is an instant 1 week ban.

Just kidding or am i

Incredibly good. Well explained. You do talk pretty fast, so the viewers have got to be on their toes if they've never heard of modding before. Or, they can rewatch the video. Whatever suits their style.

I like how you make it blatantly obvious that ASM hacking can be hard to learn at first. It's great to know ASM, but of course everybody should start with the simplest stuff and build from there.

 

I'm not the only one who thinks Noxid sounds like an LPer, am I?

 

NICE! That should definitely be helpful for people who are just starting modding
You should add that to your resource hacking/modding sticky.

 

I'm not the only one who thinks Noxid sounds like an LPer, am I?

He has the perfect tone of an LPer.