Interested in contributing

Game Talk The Drawing Board
1

So I know absolutely nothing about modding or coding in any form. But I have played this game for over a year now and I absolutely love the game, and would like to add my own contributions, whether it be buildings, weapons, tools, or anything else. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I should start if I want to learn how to make my own contributions? I may not know anything, but I am really passionate about the game and am very excited seeing new content and the diversity it adds to the game. And thus I would like to add or contribute in some way.

I don’t expect to become a coder in a day or any unrealistic crap of the sort, but I would like to learn in the long run so that when I graduate this June, I can have a hobby for something I am passionate about in my free time away from work. Any advice as to where to start, what programs to use for beginners or the sort would be very helpful. On the other hand, If it helps, my first project I’d like to contribute on is adding more variety in the basements for houses. I feel a larger amount of unique basements would be cool to explore. Sorry if these seem rather ignorant questions, but I have no experience in any sort of modding as I have stated before.

2

Easiest way to start is to look at the different json files and learn what the values mean and how they work together.

3

Alright, I shall start with json files and learning the lingo and use of the files, thanks for the starter tip!

4

I tend to come at it from a different angle, the first step (step 0 is playing the game in the first place…) is picking on something that bugs you about the game (I know, it’s perfect, but I’m sure you can find something :wink: and figuring out if you can fix it, or at the very least come up with something that would improve the situation, which might just be opening a bug report in github.

Speaking of github issues, one very helpful thing someone did a while back was go through the old issues ( https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/issues ) and tried to reproduce the old ones, they posted in the ones that seemed to be fixed, which happens from tine to time without anyone noticing. Lowering the number of open bugs makes our jobs easier when looking for things to fix.

If you DO want to make changes, I’d start with something relatively simple, like read doc/JSON_EFFECTS.md to figure out how they work a little bit, and make a dumb modification, like lightspeed zombies, or zombie children that can throw you through walls so you can check your understanding of how things work.

5

Alright, thanks Kevin, I really appreciate your help and advice and I shall put it to good use. And a quick question, what program do you recommend opening Json files with, clearly it can be opened with many programs, but I was seeing some people recommend Notepad++, and I did open it up with just plain ole notepad,but are there any programs you use to open and edit the files easily and efficiently?

6

Notepad++ is hands down the best for JSON editing in the vast majority of cases, I find. For actual code editing I’d suggest picking up an IDE though, they can have some very helpful features (though to each their own, as always).

7

Glad to have a new contributer! Let me know if need anything, and I’ll be happy to help. :slight_smile:

8

So, what does you guys think of my new Rivtec Rifle I made? This is my first venture into editing JSON files and checking them out in game. It’s something small but it was pretty cool adding my own gun to the game.

{
“id”: “RG22P_rifle”,
“type”: “GUN”,
“symbol”: “(”,
“color”: “dark_gray”,
“name”: “RG22P_Rifle”,
“description”:“Developed for the military just before the cataclysm, the RG22P Rifle was a new and innovative version of H&K’s G11. Designed for airborne troops and special operations, its high rate of fire, short and easy ergonomic profile combined with Rivtec’s proprietary caseless ammunition won it’s place among military special forces.”,
“price”: 750000,
“material”: [“superalloy”, “ceramic”],
“flags”: [“MODE_BURST”, “WATERPROOF_GUN”, “NEVER_JAMS”],
“skill”: “rifle”,
“ammo”: “8x40mm”,
“weight”: 3000,
“volume”: 7,
“bashing”: 10,
“cutting”: 0,
“to_hit”: -1,
“ranged_damage”: 6,
“dispersion”: 200,
“sight_dispersion”: 80,
“aim_speed”: 4,
“recoil”: 50,
“durability”: 9,
“burst”: 10,
“clip_size”: 50,
“reload”: 400,
“loudness”: 125,
“valid_mod_locations”: [[ “accessories”, 4 ],[ “barrel”, 1 ],[ “bore”, 1 ],[ “conversion”, 1 ],[ “grip”, 1 ],[ “magazine”, 2 ],[ “mechanism”, 4 ],[ “muzzle”, 1 ],[ “rail”, 1 ],[ “sights”, 1 ],[ “stock”, 1 ],[ “underbarrel”, 1 ]]
},