Questions about making mods and my over view

[litow]

I am planning on making a mod for my server and maybe go public on it some time in the future. I have been learning Java. but my questions are. What programs are there to use. I know thinks like Eclipse is needed for code. MCP, Forge API, Techne for making models. Its not like i didn't Google it. But is there any thing that i might be missing or other resources ie videos, tutorials that some one can recommend? There is Youtube, i know, but i find a lot of videos from kids that don't explain things very well.

Any form or direction or maybe even a mentor would be great.

Don't need to read the rest wall of text unless you want to.

The idea for my mod is to be used on my server, We plan on making StarGate Atlantis and many other things. The mod it self is going to be a tech mod. Power sources, Transporters, StarGates and so on. The Stargate it self is going to be form of Mystcraft meets Nether portal. The transporter system is going to be the hard part. With being able to type in an address and takes you to another transporter with that assigned address. StarGates in same way where you can go to any world from what ever world you are in. If you don't have the StarGate set up right it might send you to some random world. Using a DOD "Dial Overworld Device" would be needed but some worlds will have a DOD some won't and some will just have the power depleted. Blocks in front of the StarGate will be vaporized when started. Allowing for some Gates to even be underground or in water when you arrive. This will also kill players if you stand in front of it. Stargates will be open for as long as there is power supplied to the gate or it will turn off if it is set up to turn off in a set amount of time. The gate will not draw a lot of power with in the first few minutes. The longer it is open the more power it will start taking. It should drain just about any Naqahdah system if it stays open for 30 minutes. Players can also shut down a gate from the DOD. Sorry there will be no space gates at least not for the start. and gates cant spawn in the air. You will be able to move the gate. How this system will work as not been finalized yet.

Adding new weapons like staff blasters, zat guns and personal shields.

Power sources like ZPMs, Power crystals, Naqahdah generators and so on will be crafted. There will even be unstable ones where players can mess with to try and make it stable or have them blow up in there face.

Adding blocks for aesthetics, Adding ores, Power transfer systems. It goes with out saying that these will be added but i am just pointing it out just in case.

I am going to try to get with other mod makers to see if they will let me do things with them. Being able to charge systems with IC2 power transfer systems like Xycraft. Or even putting Naqahdah in a Nuclear reactor will make it over heat quickly and blow up regardless of the cooling that is being used. We will see if this can even be done. But i think it would be a lot of fun. In no way am i saying any of this is for sure. I have yet to get in touch with other mod developers. and will try to do some with in the next few weeks.

Website is being worked on. So as of right now do not have a link to more info. If you need more info you can message me here.

The mod it self will become public when basic things will be up and running.

Any one that did read all of this thanks. If you would like to help me develop it you are welcome to join me.

 

[Trunks9809]

Pahimar has started what looks to be a promising series on modding - its only one episode 5 atm, and covers very much the basics of setting up your work environment and the framework of a mod package without going into anything too deep code-wise. Theres a series of tutorials on the MCP website that'll take you forward from there as well.

On another note, having read your mod description, are you aware/affiliated with the Stargate Tech mod? May save you a lot of work if you were to collaborate there.

 

[Flenix]

Generally speaking, 9 out of 10 youtube tutorials suck. As you noticed, they're usually quite young, and don't really know what they are doing. I've heard all too many times "I don't know why you need to put this, just do it". Good practice is to down-vote them
That said, Wuppy does some good videos, but all in all nothing beats a text tutorial. You can follow them at your own pace, clearly see the code (I suggest manually copying, copy and paste is cheating!), and if something does go wrong you can copy and paste it to see if it was you, or if the tutorial is outdated.

Again Wuppy does great text tutorials, as well as on the http://www.minecraftforge.net/wiki/Tutorials]forge wiki.[/url] Best thing to do is to start off there, work your way through to get the basic stuff you need (I'd say learn blocks, items and tile entities), then from there look at open-source mods and the vanilla code to learn bits you need. You'll get the hang of Forge surprisingly quickly actually.

 

[CrafterOfMines57]

Honestly I cannot recommend Wuppy's text tutorials more, they are what have gotten me started and through several mods in the past. One tip I can give is: start small, your mod you have planned can, in no way, be done by someone who has literally just started learning Java and especially someone who has just gotten into modding. Code things that are similar to features you want in your bigger mod, and always keep it in mind as your eventual goal of what you want to make, but absolutely do not start coding it until you feel confident in your modding ability.

 

[Flenix]

but absolutely do not start coding it until you feel confident in your modding ability.

I wouldn't quite agree with that. Fun fact: Redpower was one of Eloraam's first mods, and it just kept growing. I think Industrialcraft was quite an early project for the dev too (Completely forgot his name .. Albacka? It's not, but its something like that ) - They are both "Redpower 2" and "Industrialcraft 2" because they re-wrote them later, but I'm confident they wouldn't have gotten that far without trying to push themselves.

You can always lay the groundwork now and optimize the code before a release, it's a good way to push yourself once you have the basics.

 

[CrafterOfMines57]

I wouldn't quite agree with that. Fun fact: Redpower was one of Eloraam's first mods, and it just kept growing. I think Industrialcraft was quite an early project for the dev too (Completely forgot his name .. Albacka? It's not, but its something like that ) - They are both "Redpower 2" and "Industrialcraft 2" because they re-wrote them later, but I'm confident they wouldn't have gotten that far without trying to push themselves.

You can always lay the groundwork now and optimize the code before a release, it's a good way to push yourself once you have the basics.

I can't speak for Eloraam's background, but I believe that Alblaka was studying computer science in college when he wrote IndustrialCraft, so perhaps I worded it incorrectly, maybe don't start coding a major mod until you feel confident in your coding ability would be more fitting.

 

[ILoveGregTech]

From what I read I understand that you are going to use the IC2 power system?
If so, then you will want to make an IC2 addon using the API, someting I am working on right now.
As for writing your own power system you could look at IC2's power system or Buildcraft for examples, but it will be very hard.
Something to remember is that you can't just jump right into modding even if you are pretty good at Java...Start small (Make some tools/armor/blocks/food/plants) then make a mob and ores and stuff like that. For simple stuff like that I use:
https://github.com/DeathSeeker512/Forge-Tutorial/tree/master/Common/tutorialModThat is DeathSeeker512's source code of the modding series he is doing right now. If you want to see the source being written just look up DeathSeeker512 on YouTube.
But like I said start small...