Where should I start?

[Lungs]

So I'm a complete noob to this. I've opened Nightmare several times, and Mappy quite often, but...

I want to make a complete hack - lots of original characters, lots of new maps, huge amounts of events, etc, etc.

It's a question that probably has a very simple answer for those who've done it many times before, but currently, I don't know what I should do first? Learn to graphics? Write the script? Start mapping? It's a huge project in front of me, and I'm irritated because I love huge projects, and clearing daily objectives and the like. :X

So while I have a lot to learn, I'm willing to learn it, and follow any suggestions from the people who've done this before.

Thanks for your time :D

[AstraLunaSol]

Make a plot, Preferably not on Elibe and make characters to go with it. After that, look at your idea from a gameplay perspective, and look for what is needed. ie: Early game healer, possible Jeigan, etc And add them in in a way that makes sense. Start practicing different aspects of hacking. Mapping and sprites are two things that will take time to be good at, and mess around with hacking tools like Nightmare and FEditor Adv. Once you feel like you have a grasp on those, try to event simple things to get used to how things will work in EA.

[Lungs]

Oh damn it! /inElibeAlready

Thanks for the advice :D

[Celice]

It's natural for Elibe to be a center focus. And there's nothing wrong with that. Since the game first came out in English, fans have been thinking about their own versions and adaptations to the story. It's not something new at all.

As for getting into it, you have two real points to concentrate on--the technical side, and the creative side. Since most of the work is carved out for you, the technical side isn't all that hard to master--it's more familiarizing yourself with what you can work with and how you must work with it. A few things you may want to do might require you to do things unsupported by whatever programs are available, but from what I've seen, the programs available are enough to any other full-fledged editor. (though for some reason, remains unincorporated and segmented across several different programs...)

The creative side is more necessary because that's the actual content that's going to be placed. You don't need much, but the less of it you have, the more empty your project will be. Most authors won't notice this problem as most seem to be forgiving on themselves, and excited that they can do something new with a favorite game. However, if you have an idea of making it publicly available, it would be a good thing to keep in mind that you might have to the problem of overlooking certain things simply because you think they're awesome. Most authors, especially new-er ones and some older, even here continue to view what they do through rose-tinted glasses.

There's a couple of ways to go about this, and since it's a fan doing the work, you can also concentrate on certain aspects more than others. Some people like to flesh out the entire thing before hand, some to concentrate on certain elements first, then begin others (Dahrkdiaz was notable for this). Some jump in and start, seeing where it takes them. Some go blindly from the absolute beginning and see where their story flowers from there. My personal advice? If you're new but you want to begin, just start a random scenario, play around with it, and see what you can do. Advice from pretty much any modding project will help you out greatly. Especially level-specific guides and tips.

[CT075]

(though for some reason, remains unincorporated and segmented across several different programs...)

They're working on it (Or at least, Zahlman is). It's just that having this many different programs written in this many languages provides a barrier by way of what he wants to do (make it a "Nightmare 3" where you can event edit by loading that module, text edit with a different one, etc.), not to mention that he only has so much motivation (read: He can be lazy).

[Lungs]

Thanks for the help, Celice. I'll play around with this a bit, then, I guess :X

[Lord Glenn]

It's natural for Elibe to be a center focus. [...] Since the game first came out in English, fans have been thinking about their own versions and adaptations to the story. It's not something new at all.

Therein lies the problem, however. Elibe as a setting has been done to death over the years, and while it has produced its fair share of both amazing and terrible projects, it's also a somewhat lazy approach in either regard. If a project is going to feature a large number of new characters, as the topic creator is indicating in this case, then why stop halfway and take the easy way out? If one is coming up with that much new material, to me, it makes more sense to flesh it out completely (i.e. instead of only a large number of new characters, make the entire cast new characters (both enemies and allied units), come up with a new world/continent, new lore, etc.) than to jam a bunch of new things into a pre-existing setting. (Note, this is kind of a general remark, not necessarily pointing a finger at you, Lungs.) Now, if it's something like an alternate story using existing characters and such, that's a more acceptable use of the setting and world, but it's also not exactly overly creative.

That being said, I have no intention of forcing anyone to not do projects centered in Elibe. If the creators have a story and want to use Elibe to tell it, then that's their decision. It's just that, minimally, a part of the community (though, I'd honestly wager that it's larger than just a small portion) is getting tired of anything and everything taking place in the same old location of Elibe. And, with the advent of projects that are taking the process the whole way (notably, Dream of Five), it shows that fans *can* come up with something entirely new and don't have to be restricted to Elibe.

Though, to really answer your question, this is what I would suggest: When you're not coming up with data (text, graphics, stats, etc.) for your project, come up with a short, couple-of-chapters long concept (not necessarily related to your project) and try to implement it. That way, it will give you practice using the various tools and it will likely prevent you from having to restart your project early on to go back and improve/fix things that you would have done at the beginning, when you were still learning the tools (as, by doing the short concept project, you'll know how to use the tools and thus won't need to go back and fix mistakes made by not understanding the tools fully).

Edited August 7, 2011 by Lord Glenn