Unleashing your inner artist through game modding

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November 2, 2007


Unleashing your inner artist through game modding


By

Michael Lafferty


Using the right program can help would-be modders achieve amazing results

The
tickle of the notion about getting into the whole modding scene has been dancing
about for a while now. If you look at a site like

www.moddb.com
, you will notice some rather staggering stats, such as new
games average 15-30 mods before release.

And to
quote from that site: “Game mods are more than mere configuration changes, they
are increasingly improving games beyond what was initially considered possible,
delivering not only original lasting gaming concepts, but also driving game
sales. Take for example, the 10 most popular online games as monitored by
Gamespy. Of the 50 to 100 thousand people online at any moment, over 75% of
these people are playing modifications.”

If one
looks at the modding community for a game like The Sims 2, you will see a
dedicated fan base that adds to the enjoyment of the game, and all with
modifications that come in the form of new clothes, hair, makeup, houses,
building components and even behavioral modifications.

The
modding community is a huge one, comprised of creative people that enjoy taking
a game and adding to it. BioWare recognized this years ago when it offered up
the Aurora Toolset for Neverwinter Nights and then gave players the opportunity
to share that. The modules created have been amazing and deep, adding to the
game.

So
where does one begin if wishing to explore that element of gaming. It is tough
to just jump in and go, so obviously a bit of guidance helps. In the weeks to
come, I will be taking a bit more of a look at the modding community, talking
with software developers and even offering up some ideas on how to go about
embarking on modding.

Today,
let’s begin with environments. Modding does require dedicated tools, such as
Photoshop and other software. Depending on the job, and the mod, some tools,
like the aforementioned Aurora Toolset, might come with a game, but generally,
for serious modders, the tools are independent programs, like Bryce, Poser, or
MaPZone.


GameZone had the chance to talk to Dr. Sebastien Deguy, president and founder of
Allegorithmic (www.allegorithmic.com)
about this texturing tool.


(Before actually getting to the interview, though, perhaps a quick bit of the
terminology used may be helpful. A procedural texture, which is what MaPZone
does, is a computer-generated image, using algorithms that simulates real-world
natural elements, such as marble or oak. MaPZone is the most advanced texturing
tool on the market and is optimized for creating high-quality textures that can
be used for a variety of design applications.)


Question: When a person first begins to embark on modding, what are the initial
hurdles that they have to overcome? What do you think factors in to decisions
made during a texturing process? How much of a learning curve is there and will
people have to know computer languages to use the program?


Deguy:
I’d say
the real biggie is to make the mod fun, so it’s all about the game design and
level design.

On the
technical side, the new thing for modders is to take into account the
specificities of a real-time engine: the models have to be really clean, the
textures have to be at the proper resolution, etc. Optimization is the key here.

Tools
like MaPZone are of great help for this as, among other nice features for
real-time applications, you can change the resolution of the texture at any time
without having to redo everything.

MaPZone
is a tool dedicated to graphic artists, and there is no programming prereq at
all, but as with any powerful tool, there is a learning curve.

Tell
us about MaPZone and what it allows users to achieve? Is this a product that is
for advanced users, or can anyone use it? Is this strictly for modding or could
someone use it for graphic/electronic illustrative work?


Deguy:
MaPZone is
a texturing tool. As such, you can design all the maps you will need to produce
high quality textures and materials: diffuse, normal, height, specular, alpha,
etc.

MaPZone
is dedicated to texturing and this is what it does best. We believe it can be
used by anybody, although being advanced will help to get it to its max and
produce amazing results very quickly. MaPZone started its life as a plugin for
Photoshop, and has actually been widely used within the animation/vfx/graphic
illustration fields.

For
what games would people most likely use a texturing tool and would it be
applicable only to environments or does its application extend well beyond that?


Deguy:
It can be
used to texture pretty much anything, any style: realistic, sci-fi, organic,
cartoonish, ugly, etc. It has already been used for all these purposes.
Environments is what MaPZone helps the most with, but characters could
definitely be textured using the tool.

What
do you think the most common mistakes people make when using tools like your
product?


Deguy:
The most
common one is to think it’s limited to produce only math-looking textures, like
old procedural tools are proposing… MaPZone is clearly a great leap forward and
is based on a much stronger base code that allows it to have the most advance
power of expression. Change your mind! MaPZone is a new generation of tools, and
the textures you will produce are of the best breed.

How
much detail is too much?


Deguy:
When your
system crashes! I strongly believe details are what makes the difference. Most
people will look at a picture and say: ”there is something wrong with this
image,” without knowing what it is exactly. Usually this is in the details, and
most of the time in the lack of details.

MaPZone,
by its procedural nature, allows the rapid production of high res details and
organic elements that will give life to your creations.

What
are the minimum specifications for machines using your tool?


Deguy:
Depending
on the level of detail you want; well, typically, we recommend the following
machine:

  • PIII
    or equivalent  – 256 MB of RAM

  • Windows XP / Vista
  • And
    for the 3D viewer, a Shader Model 2.0 capable graphic card.


Technology is constantly evolving. How does the changing template of graphics
rendering cards and such factor in when you create a new program?


Deguy:
Working
with GPUs is a little like getting back in time when programming on Atari ST or
Amiga, getting close to the metal: trying to find the right way to code them and
get the max out of them, so it’s a lot of fun, and the power you get is frankly
amazing and opens new opportunities.

Now
that said, when you have to deal with all the variants of cards, drivers and OS,
you have a nice exponential right here, with quite a lot of problems to make
your program work on the broader machine set.

But
initiatives like DirectX 10 and what is called GPGPU should help going towards a
more pragmatic and professional industry.

(MaPZone is freeware that
can be downloaded at



www.mapzoneeditor.com
)