Hello Emperors,
Today I’m giving you a glimpse into how modding Space Opera will work. Basically, I want to make all of the game’s data models available to you sooner or later in a human-readable and editable format. So far, I’ve implemented this for three areas:
- Modules, including graphics
- Ship hulls, including graphics
- Buildings, including graphics All of this is located in your game directory in the ‘GameData’ folder; the graphics are available as PNG atlases and the data as JSON.
Here are two examples of modules and buildings
Buildings:
Modules:
In addition to the obvious fields like “id,” “name,” and “cost,” the “icon” and “effects” fields are particularly important for modders. Icons:
The “icon” field points to another JSON file that manages the saved icon atlas. This makes it possible to create and use your own atlas, or to modify my existing graphics. Effects: Effects are the core of a module—essentially its active effects. These effects are listed and evaluated as such. This means you can attach any existing effects to a single module or building. A storage building for all resources at once? Armor with negative mass? Propulsion systems that generate supply? Anything is possible. A Look to the Future: A clear goal is to implement a mod loader and to open up additional areas of the game to make them moddable. The Steam Workshop is also a goal I’m aiming for. —Bradley