Gonks

Hailing from the Star Wars universe, "Gonk droids" are boxy two-legged power droids (basically walking batteries) used to power a variety of machinery and vehicles (the term "gonk" is derived from the onomatopoeia of their vocalizations). Due to their versatility, they are commonly encountered throughout the Star Wars galaxy; Gonk droids appear in the majority of the films and games -- including Jedi Knight series.

In fact, my obsession with them (random as it may be) stems from the second game in the series (the predecessor to the prequel of JA). When I first came upon one of these ambulatory generators, I was rather astonished at its nature; I thought the thing rather bizarre in its shuffling about muttering "Go... Go... Goooord!" (as it sounded to me).

The Beginning

Upon the recommendation of my modding partner Jedi_Mediator, I decided to begin my work in the field of mapping, which is said to encompass many of the other facets of modding(i.e. brushes, textures, shaders, and models, as previously mentioned. This past Labor Day, I invited JM (who is indeed one of my real-life best friends) over to my house to begin working with GtkRadient, a level design program developed by id Software and Loki Software. GtkRadient is used to create maps for a number of computer games, but the version I downloaded was developed for use with the Quake III Arena game engine, which is what Jedi Academy and its predecessor use.

During his time here, Jedi_Mediator showed me some of the GtkRadient's more basic functions, starting out with simple tutorials covering processes such as creating brushes, texturing them, and hollowing them out to make rooms. Afterwards he moved on to more complex things like making doors open and close, placing models, and creating light sources.


What I constructed under JM's direction was basically a single room with textured control panels on two walls, a row of support structures along one wall, and a moderately-sized "garage" door that open whenever the player presses the "use/interact-with-environment" key. To either side of the door are lights, one on each side. Within this chamber I placed three crates in close proximity to each other: two large crates (one of which was set at a random angle -- nonparallel to the walls, in other words) and one small crate stacked on top. Lastly, I placed a Gonk droid in the corner in the far corner of the room, hidden behind the crates. In my next entry, I will elaborate on these boxy robots.

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Like Making a Toy

Like Making a Toy
Does this all sound odd to you readers (whoever you may be)? Many outsiders say that "we" (meaning people that work on video games more than they do play them) have very small worlds in our little projects that we work on. I would like to say this now: Modding can actually be compared to a real-life occupation. It can really be thought of as making a toy (to bring up just one example). Imagine this...
You think up new and exciting ideas for a toy that you want your company to make. Then you make a pitch and present it to your co-workers and boss. If they like the idea, then they congratulate you (hopefully!) and allow you and maybe some others to start working on your project. You work long and hard, and finally it is completed. You present the finished product to your boss, and you wait anxiously for his approval or disapproval...
Modding is exactly the same, in essence. You think up an idea, ask for acceptance, work on it, and present it by uploading it to a special site. It really does match up with the toy scenario...other examples might be making a movie, writing a play, and making a special art project for the school show. The only real difference between this and real life is the fact that it is on the computer: you do the project on the computer and communicate on the computer. Some people may say that "It's just not the same." To you who say that, I'd also like to say a word too: Technology has changed. If you can't handle it, don't go around talking condescendingly to people that do this sort of work on the computer.
This view is shared by my modding partner and I, the former of which had been itching to get this off his chest for a long time (I merely restated our sentiments here for you to read for yourselves). At any rate, though, I hope I didn't offend anyone at the end of that rant there...I was merely defending myself and my "occupation."
Later, in my next entry, I shall post my first progress report!

Until then....

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Jedi Academy

Alright, so the particular game which I have decided to begin modding is one developed by Raven Software: Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, a first and third-person shooter action game set in the Star Wars universe. Jedi Academy was released in September 2003 and received positive reviews, achieving an 81% aggregate score. Needless to say, JA was quite a popular game, and still continues to be so (albeit to a lesser degree, as it is slowly dying out) among numerous gaming communities across the globe.

Jedi Academy is powered by the same version of the Quake III: Team Arena engine used in its predecessor in the series, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, containing modifications to the Quake code to include lightsaber combat. In a new feature to the series, the player can modify the character's gender and appearance at the beginning of the game, and can construct a lightsaber by choosing the hilt style and blade color. The player takes control of the character Jaden Korr, a student at the Jedi Academy under the tutelage of Kyle Katarn. They must then complete various missions assigned to them by Katarn and Luke Skywalker.

Additionally, there is a multiplayer mode that allows the player to play against other people over a network. This multiplayer mode is what I will be basing my work on; projects Jedi_Mediator and I successfully complete are to be uploaded to a modding community/ database called JK3 Files. From there, our mods will be available for public download. I think that's all I shall say for tonight.

Until next time,

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Modding

As stated by Wikipedia:

"Modding is a slang expression that is derived from the verb 'modify'. It is a term generally applied to PC games, especially first-person shooters, role-playing games, and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and require the user to have the original release in order to run. They can include new items, weapons, characters, enemies, models, textures, levels, story lines, music, and game modes. They also usually take place in unique locations. They can be singleplayer or multiplayer. Mods that add new content to the underlying game are often called partial conversions, while mods that create an entirely new game are called total conversions Mods that fix bugs are called unofficial patches."

So if you haven't already guessed, I've gotten involved with modding, an avocation I just recently took up Monday. After following the progress of my good friend Jedi_Mediator for years, his influence in this field has finally inspired me to begin work of my own. But first, here are the main categories of modding and the gereral terms that should help you understand a bit more about the process of modification (I borrowed some of Jedi_Mediator's words here).

Mapping

A map is any video game level that someone can walk, fly, drive, bounce, float in -- or however the character(s) in that game move about the levels. Mapping depends on brushes, textures, shaders, models -- basically what comprises most of the other modding categories. Starting out, though, it's perfectly acceptable to use default material as a means of getting by. The best mappers, though, in my opinion, have found their way around all categories of modding, and use those to their advantage. Remember, when you map, you have the power to create new worlds in addition to depicting the real one.

Modeling

The utilization of a computer program that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system.The way a character, tool, item, or vehicle is physically represented in-game is dependent on this.

Skinning

Learn the ways of Photoshop and modify the appearance of any character model you choose, in any manner you wish. This skill goes hand-in-hand with texturing.

Texturing

An image applied to a polygon to create the appearance of a surface. Textures aren't really released as a feature in standalone mods all that often. Every once in a while, a "Photorealistic Textures Mod" will come around, like Qarl's Texture Pack for Oblivion (a VERY big hit). Otherwise, making your own textures is usually something you get into after spending a while with mapping or modeling.

Effects Editing

Good old special effects. You see them all the time in movies these days, but effects in video games run instead on the game engine, and they are generated by the computer in various forms, limited by certain parameters that their author sets in place. These usually take less time to make than maps.A fairly laid-back modding experience, with which one essentially gets to make lightning, fire, explosions, and any other phenomena you can think of. However, you will need to have at least a basic understanding of shader editing, and perhaps texture editing as well, to take it up.

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Greetings

Good day, friends, associates, and complete strangers alike.

I have just taken the initiative of creating this weblog, so you can expect regular updates in the following days.

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