Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[calico103]

If you're viewing this thread, chances are that there's been at least one case where you've had an idea for a Dwarf Fortress mod and thought it was the best thing ever. If you were persistent enough to learn how, you probably succeeded in making it, and If you were really proud of it, you probably posted it on the forums. But how does it feel when your great mod idea turns out to be a dud no one plays? This thread is dedicated to avoiding that issue.

This thread is for people who have brilliant ideas for mods they want to share, but wonder if they'll be successful among the community. It was specifically made to avoid incidents where you put so much time and effort into something, only to have to watch as it drops to page 50 due to unpopularity. I got the idea for it after I was inspired to create a big mod, but wondered if all my efforts would go to waste on something no one had interest in.

tl;dr Post ideas you have for mods you're unsure about sharing.

[Putnam]

I have four mods, and two of them are pretty much unplayed

One of them is my only actual original content. Oh well.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Would anyone be interested in a Persona/Megami Tensei mod? Or a kaiju mod?

[calico103]

@IamanElfCollaborator

I don't mean to single you out, but try being more specific. Okay, so you've gotten the basic theme down, but what exactly do you plan on adding? Try being as specific as possible so people know what to expect.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Megas. Summonable megas in the first mods case, and rampaging megas in the other. I'd probably add Anti-Shadow Weapons for the first mod, as well as magic and a lot more things. For the second, it'd pretty much be every freaking kaiju in Godzilla movies since ever.

[calico103]

I had to look up what a kaiju is (for those wondering, it pretty much means "strange beast" in Japanese), but that's an interesting idea. I myself am interested in non-vanilla creature mods, so it may appeal to me. :3

...Ah, I almost forgot the whole reason I made this thread. Here's what my mod thread would look like, minus text-formatting (I'm only posting it like this because I already had the format for the O.P. figured out by the time this ocurred to me):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]

Project Gamma



Introduction

Hello! This page is for an upcoming mod I call Project Gamma. What is it, you ask? Details are posted below, so have a look! Also, keep in mind that helping with organization in the O.P., as well as anything marked by an asterisk ( * ), is greatly appreciated. Thanks!



Version Archive and Download

(No release yet. Check back later!)

A guide to version numbers: The versions listed above will be in the format "X.Y.Z".
 - X: Can be either 0 or 1. 0 means "expect new content before the final release". 1 means "no new content before the final release".
 - Y: Starts at 0 and ticks up for each content update. Resets when X becomes 1.
 - Z: Starts at 0 and ticks up for each bugfix/minor update. Resets whenever X or Y changes.



Disclaimer

The gamma are based on the Aurum from Kid Icarus: Uprising and their ability to copy creatures. Whether they're a loose reference or a blatant ripoff is up to you.



New Content Added

This mod adds a new group of creature species: the gamma. Again, read more for full details.



Background *

Not much is known about the mysterious gamma, but this is what we've currently discovered:
 - They are made from a mysterious rare metal called gammanite that is found beneath the earth. However, mining any found gammanite and attempting to mold a creature from it does nothing, so the origin of their sentience is unknown.
 - There isn't a single known gamma species that isn't in some way based off an already existing biotic creature. However, no gamma is a direct copy; they will always add parts to a creature to make it more effective at certain tasks.
 - No two body parts of a gamma need to touch to be connected. For example, the lower leg of a gamma dog will appear to be separated from the foot and upper leg, but it will still function as though it was connected and will be bound to its adjacent parts.
 - They are extremely hostile and will attack any creature on sight. In fact, what differs gamma from their biotic counterparts most is their weaponry. Attempts to tame a gamma are often fruitless, but if successful can prove to have great reward.
 - A gamma leaves no corpse behind upon dying. Instead, an item made of gammanite appears where it perished.

Development

Not Started, Will Start Soon
Incomplete, Working On it
Finished, In Next Release
Finished, In Current Release
Set In Stone, No Changes Necessary

Creatures *
 - (no list yet, need to prioritize * )
Other
 - Gammanite *



What You Can Help With

In cased you missed it, here's a list of things you can help with as of now:
 - Adding background to the gamma to give them more substance other than "AAAH ALIENZ".
 - Helping list the first few creatures the gamma should copy.
 - Helping with creature raws.
 - Helping with technical stuff regarding gammanite (NEEDS to happen before the rest of the mod can be made!).

I know, I thought way too far ahead. XD

[Putnam]

There are two different mod types, here. There are niche/derivative/themed mods (all fit similar groups) and there are non-themed content mods.

The former are easier to come up with ideas for and name--and those who are interested will be interested and usually don't need to be sold. These are mods like my SCP, DBZ, and Fortbent mods. These are different because:
People play the SCP mod because it's an SCP mod. I honestly can't think of any other reason to . It's kind of shit at this point due to the fact that there aren't actually that many SCPs in, because sciencey magic-like stuff is hard.
The DBZ mod is horribad in fort mode (I really can't think of how to make it better; it makes dwarf play impossible and saiyan play is tantrumy) and great fun in adventure mode, but people do download and play it, probably because, hey, cool, saiyans.
 Fortbent isn't downloaded often (617 downloads Fortbent vs. 3707 My Little Fortress) because it fits into a small niche (Homestuck readers), despite the actually-fairly-interesting content (I find new and fascinating things every time I play!). And that's okay. It's a niche mod. I'm not expecting much.

Then there's non-themed content mods. Mods like Genesis, Masterwork, What Has Science Done, Civ Forge, Legend of Forlorn Realms, etc.

I call these non-themed, but that's not quite right. For these mods, the themes or patterns in are usually spread out; they have different themes for different industries and different pieces of content. For example, Masterwork focuses on higher FPS and accessibility, while still adding a ton of content, a lot of it very magic-based (Slademantine, all the various cultists that transform into other creatures, etc.). Legend of Forlorn Realms has a tech-tree theme to it, somewhat, but it also has some very interesting creatures.

The most important part, though, is that the former--niche mods--don't usually need to be sold on content and the latter does. Usually, people know what they're getting into if they're downloading a mod based on their favorite anime/video game/webcomic/what-have-you, or if the mod is something like Elf's "Kaiju mod" (If you know what a kaiju is, there's about a 100% chance you know what it's going to do to your fort ).  For non-niche mods, though, selling content is needed. LFR has its colors, lore, and fanbase. Genesis has Deon. Masterwork has its customization and init settings UI. What Has Science Done has an intimidating flowchart showing you how you extract aluminum from Bauxite. (Which may explain why I only have 127 downloads )

I'd say people would play a Persona mod. Many people like Persona round here. A kaiju mod sounds fun just because more megabeasts are always fun (unless they're stupid overpowered, but since it's me saying that, that's pretty ironic, isn't it? >_>)

[Clover Magic]

I'm kind of in this boat.  I've spent the last onth or so putting together a Final Fantasy 9 mod.  Was even in the process of writing up an opening post and uploaded it to DFFD, but got cold feet and now the post is just sitting open in another tab, half-complete, because I feel like I'm being silly.

What my mod contains so far:
Races from FF9
Animals and plants also from the game
Some spells, such as summoning (extremely kludgy, but it does work so far)

I think my main problem with releasing the mod is that there really isn't a race/animal/etc. to fight against yet.  The villains of the game were of a certain race, but, er...well.  They weren't actually evil and are in fact my playable race, so.  I'm trying to think if I can use the Mist from the game for evulz, but we'll see.

So many interactions to mod. ):

[Ari Lazarus]

I think, for mod making at least, it would be better to make something *you* would play, even if no one else played it. Hell, that probably applies to games in general.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

@Putnam well I am going to release a Persona mod in the near future, as I've finished most of the party's (for 3 and 4) Personas, as well as a couple of others. I just need to finish the summoning reactions.
 
As for Kaiju, that's third unde Persona and Final Fantasy, but I already have Mothra and Godzilla, so expect it in a month. Thanks for the inspiration.

@Clover Magic, this is why I went for most of the series. More bad guys.

[Meph]

Yeah, like putnam said, big difference between mods that enhance vanilla df, and mods that are theme-specific. Corrosion is epic, but only for zombie apocalypse... masterwork follows no grander scheme, but has tons of downloads... but one mod type has been left out, the small/minor mods. If I think about warlords bonfire mod. It is standalone and downloaded quite often, but it is also part of almost every bigger mod.

I think smaller mods have a wider range of players, because they are easier to get into. A mod the balances weapons better? Easily added to vanilla, the game feels still the same, but is improved a little bit. So if you simply make addition, your mod will be of interest for the wider public

[krisslanza]

I thought about this a lot before I released Voile Fortress. It's Touhou, so I guess that gets it SOME attention, but even if I wished it'd be as popular as Masterwork or Genesis, and start having awesome Boatmurdered-type community forts...

I'm sure it won't happen. Even if I can make great ideas, it's not like everyone and their dorf wants to play as Koakuma, instead of dorfs.

[Meph]

I think the problem is simply that most people dont know what it is... if you speak of Touhou, Koakuma, Mega, Kaiju or fortbent, I have to admit that I never even heard of any of those. But if you make a total conversion that says "Zombie Apocalypse" or "Lord of the Rings" then I assume you will get more downloads, simply because more people do know the name.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I thought kaiju was just another Japanese trope name...you learn something completely random every day around here.

[krisslanza]

I think the problem is simply that most people dont know what it is... if you speak of Touhou, Koakuma, Mega, Kaiju or fortbent, I have to admit that I never even heard of any of those. But if you make a total conversion that says "Zombie Apocalypse" or "Lord of the Rings" then I assume you will get more downloads, simply because more people do know the name.

Yeah, true. Though, Touhou's fanbase is probably larger then DF's... but they probably don't frequent bay12. So I'm kind of appealing to a rather niche crowd here... still, modding is funtimes. Sometimes.

'Cept when stuff doesn't want to work.