Wish to make a mod that expands upon FTB mod(s). Advice?

[Deader]

Hey all,

I'm looking to make a mod that might possibly use some items/power from FTB mods (IC2, Forestry, BC) but am not sure how to go about it. It would currently be for personal use, but if I could make decent progress and was happy enough with it, I would certainly consider releasing it.

I was looking for some advice on how to proceed. I've familiarized myself with modding Vanilla using the MCP, but I'm not sure where to go from there. If I just want to use power, for example, do I need to ask for permission to the whole source for whichever mod's power I use? Or are there some hooks I can use. Same for using their items in my recipes. Is my best bet to just contact the devs for each mod and ask them to share some info?

Thanks!

EDIT: For anyone curious, the core purpose/idea of my mod is to provide a way for players to obtain mob spawn eggs legitimately through a challenging but reasonable process. As for where FTB compatibility comes in, I want it to at least play nicely, but I also am considering adding a block which requires power (MJ) and may want to use other mods' items as ingredients...

 

[Azzanine]

Wouldn't the associated modders have API's posted, if not you could always ask politely for permission and access.

 

[Omicron]

A better place to ask this question would probably be the Minecraft Forge forums, as that is the main API you will be dealing with - and also has an entire community made of avid modders and people trying to become such. They also have a wiki with Getting Started guides.

And maybe Pahimar's youtube series on modding may yield some insight, although he's talking more about basic concepts in the episodes he has so far. But licensing is one thing he addresses.

 

[Deader]

Azzanine: I kinda figured that would be the direction I would head, but wanted to know if I could turn up any good resources for starting/discussing this before blindly asking each dev.

Omicron: Thanks a lot! That seems like a great starting point and is exactly what I needed. I'll definitely check out the forums and keep Pahimar in mind, too.

 

[hotblack desiato]

just as a weird question: did anyone ask notch, if he allows that someone mods his game? no? why do modders want the right to choose wether someone can mod their mod or not...

modding several mods in a modpack offers great opportunities to balance them together and to mix techtrees. but it also offers risks that a modpack gets imbalanced. some modders set special ores to very rare, just to make it harder. then mixing with a second mod that uses the same ore in huge amounts breaks everything...

 

[Deader]

While I do not claim to be versed in this stuff (or legalese, for that matter, as may be needed) my understanding is that what we can and cannot do with modding has nothing to do with asking Notch (or jeb_ or...) but with the Terms of Service we agreed to. I understand it to allow certain things and restrict others. So Mojang gave us certain rights for their work. While a modder's work is based upon Mojang's, it is still a lot of work by the modder. They are not allowed to sell it (which I think is right) but I think they should be allowed certain control over how their work is used/distributed/etc.

Balancing is a whole other issue. Look at EE2 combined with... well any of the FTB/Technic major mods! There is an option for great interplay but also overpowering exploits. That's really up to the modpack to decide if they should be combined, and then also the user if they want to add them in manually or disable them if they are default.

Just my $0.02

 

[NosePicker5555]

When/if you make it could i be a beta tester?

 

[Deader]

Perhaps? I'm still a long way away from that point, but I will keep you in mind since you asked!

I'm a senior Software Engineering student, so while I am pretty sure I can get this stuff figured out, I'm also spending a lot of time doing other stuff (being a slacker, enjoying the end of my college years) so no guarantee how quickly I will work.

Edit: Moved basic description of my mod into original post.

 

[MagusUnion]

If all you want to do is have cross integration with other mods, while still being your own stand-alone mod, you can download the API's for those mods and add to those systems...

If your mod is indeed an add-on to an existing mod, then you need to be aware of the restrictions for add-on development...

http://forum.industrial-craft.net/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=344
http://www.mod-buildcraft.com/development/
http://forestry.sengir.net/wiki.new/doku.php?id=main:downloads

Example: If all you want to do is add an 'electric powered minecart' that runs on EU, but the rest of your mod uses vanilla/custom blocks for crafting and such, then you just simply need to download the IC2 API and implement those functions for a specific block. If you decide to create a series of new and special machines that all require IC2 to be installed in order to work, you must follow the guidelines as stated by the dev team (which is simply to have an up-to-date thread in the Add-on section, and a link to the IC2 website)....

It just depends on how 'dependent' you want to be on existing mods with your stuff. And in some cases, it may just be easier to use a API function rather than being an Add-on