Just thought I’d make a list of the stuff that I think is needed to mod in the game… that I can’t really do right now until you expose more into the devkit.
Complete dino and tamed dino stats overhaul. Specifically, to balance out the game and make high level wild dinos dangerous to even the highest level characters and tamed dinos.
UPDATE: This can be achieved by clicking the tab Defaults > Components at the top right of the (dinoname)_Character_BP (and similar) blueprints. Either drag/drop from your mod folder, or click “Add Component”. Thanks Azrael.
Add the ability to change the source of existing sound cues in the PrimalGameData_BP model (in addition to combat music that is already in there). So we can change sound/music played during sunrise/sunset/midday transitions.
A mechanism to reduce the spawn of crystal and obsidian outside of mines/caves. … without having to fiddle with actual level maps. To clarify: the easy access of crystal/obsidian etc on the surface pushes cave exploration to a late game activity, instead of making it integral to the mid levels of the game as well. By allow server admins to generically reduce surface spawns (without having to learn out to edit maps), they can control the game experience much easier.
The ability to add structures to target lists of wild dinos. For example, medium carnivores and above would destroy on site any thatch or wood structures. The problem statement is the zillions of thatch/wood huts that dotted the landscape with impunity in what should be dangerous areas.
The ability to add XP loss (as a percentage of total XP) on player death. e.g. a less extreme of hard core mode that still heavily penalizes the player for mistakes but doesn’t brutalize them due to crashes/disconnects by taking ownership/engrams away.
The ability to reference PrimalInventory blueprints. For example, if you add say “Oil” as a potential fuel source to a new “My Standing Torch” item, the EngramEntry_MyStandingTorch->PrimalItemStructure_MyStandingTorch->MyStandingTorch->StructurePlacer blueprints etc. are all reference-able. However, in-game when you access the it, it will be called “Standing Torch” as it always uses the vanilla, non-referenable PrimalInventory_BP_StandingTorch blueprint… which has its own description and remote add item fields that will never match MyStandingTorch.
– StandingTorch blueprint (and other blueprints that can be remote used) needs the reference to the right inventory exposed, e.g. StandingTorch → PrimalInventoryBP_StandingTorch
UPDATE: Apparently possible per 1) above… doing some testing now
P.S. Thanks for all your rapid responses and engagement with the community… whilst you guys probably get a tonne of abuse from dumb, entitled players during early access… I’m fairly certain that the vast majority of the player bases knows you are doing a stellar job they just forget its EA sometimes because it’s so **** playable and fun.
, I know it is super frustrating to have to copy all kinds of files, but when you think about it, that really is the best way to ensure proper function of your mod. Instead of “hooking” into a file, you are completely changing all files associated to your mod, ensuring less “bugs” at a later date.
I know it can get frustrating that things aren’t as simple as “don’t do this anywhere”, but it really is much more fluid and functional to just make the entire file and all of it’s references know what they are supposed to do. Keep in mind that UE4 is actually one of the newer game development programs. Alot of what they have put in is due to experience, it might work for some games, but I remember PLENTY of mods that were buggy as ****.
sorry;
1: you can drag and drop a new dinostatuscomponent into a new dino character (using the component section)
2: you answered that
3: you can’t expect them to create new sound cues for you to use. Alot of them are going to be triggered by source code events, but there are definitely a few you can modify yourself (have you heard my tranq rifle shoot?)
4: “fiddling” with the level maps is a part of the devkit. Yes, I know its a big file, but once you get it in your mod, you can make ALL the changes you want w/o adding that much memory to the mod.
5: yes, that would be code level to add structure into the targeting list… but since the code is constantly changing, do you want to make a mod that’ll be broken on next update?
6: Also code level, but counter-argument has already been mentioned
7: Same as dino componentsstatus, drag and drop into the components field (or click “add component”)
Great… I didn’t realize the Defaults → Components was a clickable tab in the Unreal Editor (first time using UR to be frank). I’ll document this in my next HOWTO.
I didn’t mean for them to add the sound cues… I meant so we could change the value of sunrise/sunset etc. to use our own custom sound cues. I’ll update that to be a bit more clear.
I meant what I meant precisely to avoid forcing server admins changing maps by hand: the addition of surface crystals/obsidian renders cave exploration an end-game goal only for the most part, rather than an exciting integral part of the mid/end game. Rather than edit every map, if the surface spawn could be adjusted generically it would be a lot more efficient for server admins to control the game experience without having to edit every map themselves.
I’d prefer it to be added in … and not broken actually Seeing zillions of thatch/wood huts dotted in major predator areas is a bit of a joke really.
I still think it’s important… and something worth putting in sooner rather than later. Hard mode / perma-death has never been a popular option in any game or MMO I’ve ever played. In my experience, XP loss is a far better mechanic to develop; with the added dynamic of corpse recovery even more fun.
Thanks for pointing that out too… I’ll also document this in a HOWTO.
I think I came off as a little aggressive, and I’m sorry about that. I like your ideas and suggestions about what you would like to see. I know that in time, all of those things will be a possibility, unfortunately some of them are not yet. I definitely feel your pain when it comes to the editing process, I have watched countless hours of work dissapear due to weird bugs with UE4.
Just keep in mind, we are using the SAME version of UE4 that the devs are to build this game. With as many problems as I have come across… I wouldn’t want them focusing on anything but building content (since it is still very much in alpha phase). They will have time down the road to REALLY focus on the modding aspect of this game, but until then, we do what we can with what we have XD.
Seeing zillions of thatch/wood huts dotted in major predator areas is a bit of a joke really.