Community creations and the road to mod support (Patreon)

Last week, in between doing some R&D for native multiplayer networking, I took some time to work on a prototype for a map creation tool. It uses Unity (a free game engine—the same engine we use to build the game) to design and export custom levels that can be directly imported into Davigo.

The idea is that map creators would download Unity engine and import the Davigo map editor package (I've called it Davigedit for now—so please, anyone, suggest a better name). This package would contain all the assets needed to create a Davigo map: rocks, trees, cannons—the like. To sculpt the geometry of the map, the creator would be free to use any tool that can import 3D meshes into Unity (or popular in-engine modelling tools like ProBuilder). Creators would then export the map and be able to immediately play it in game.

The advantages of using Unity for a map creator are pretty clear, namely that we don't have to do...almost...anything. All the nitty gritty things most pieces of software need (placing objects, undo and redo, saving files) are already done for us.

Sketch of Overture Overpass, new map included in the prototype build.

On the flip side, Unity (and 3D modelling) can be a high barrier to entry for non-technical users—but this is a great way to go for a first draft, as opposed to completely building our own map editor.

...But what if we did want to build our own, in-game tool? There's all sorts of baller possibilities, from intuitive VR building to being able to collaborate online with friends Making a tool like this would in fact be somewhat familiar territory for Rob and I, since we used to to work together building VR tools for architecture.

Custom maps only scratch the surface of community content—I come from a background of modding and mapmaking in games like WarCraft III and Battlefield 1942, so this is a topic that's near and dear to me. Hopefully this proof of concept is something we'll have time to move forward with in the not-to-distant future with a proper first draft.

Let us know in the comments what kinds of modding and mapping tools you would be most interested in, and what sort of stuff you'd use them to build! And a better name for the Davigeditor.

> Roystan