Community Modding Wishlist

[V] IdolNinja

[V] IdolNinja

Volition Staff
Hypothetically, if we were to get an SDK, or even basic file format help/documentation for Saints Row 4, what features and functionality would modders like to see? What are some of the formats that have troubled you and the questions that you might have?

Dream big.
 
First thing that comes to mind is a sane archive format with proper directory structure. Bonus points for priority-based content overriding with the ability to load any archives in a directory. If they can't support a directory structure in archives, they could at least make free floating files be loaded from a subdirectory instead of the root game directory.

Beyond that, structure definitions for formats would be acceptable, especially for content (meshes, world, etc), asking for tools is a bit much IMO.
 
And I'd love to know something about game's resource allocating/loading mechanism. I'm not talking strictly about allowing mission-only assets to be used in free roam but I'd also like to spawn already preloaded things (preferably with ability to name them whatever I like so they can be furtherly referred to via LUA functions). Explanation of pathfinding/waypoint system would be awesome as well, because it looks like spawning + pathfinding = new minigames.

Finally, a small guide to LUA functions and their parameters wouldn't hurt at all.
 
An editor for binary CVBM files. Among other things, Mesh tools with a guide on how to use them.

EDIT:
A community modding site hosted by volution would be better.
 
Being able to edit every file we can't edit at the moment would be fine.
Same goes for all the files that are leftovers with their true value being in either a binary cvtf or hardcoded behind the .exe,
An importer for meshes would be handy too, just to make it easier.
And I would love to erase those damn limitations.

The ability to make your own missions would be very very neat, because if there won't be any gangs in SRIV, then I want to make them, with their own missions, cars, looks, weapons, etcetera.
 
Something new from me to add to a discussion happening off-forum that is also monitoring this thread.

How the heck do cheats actually work internally? I would like the ability to create a cheat that has my own parameters for changes. For example, a set of physics changes like, say, the Sad Panda freefall physics. Currently we can only add them to the cheats table and are stuck with using whatever is pre-defined and laid out in TableDescription.

EDIT:
Here's my original wishlist for info and features if anyone is curious:

How is coordinate and trigger data stored for SRTT, and what is the file format so we can edit them and add our own triggers in the open world? In SR2, this info was stored in cts text files and was extremely easy to manipulate.

How do boundaries work? For example, we can easily load the Stilwater zone from m01 in the open world, but can only explore the Western half of it and not inside the bank itself since the boundaries force us back out. It's a very interesting problem since the missions themselves seem to extend only certain boundaries. i.e. If I start m01 I can teleport and fully explore the bank, but if I instead start, say, m24 with the Mars zone, the bank boundaries do not extend (only the Mars ones do for that mission.) i.e. boundary data seems to be mission specific. Ideally, I would like to extend the boundaries for the open world so those mission locations are fully explorable, or find a way to eliminate them altogether.

How are unlocks triggered in SRTT? In Saints Row 2, there was a table named sr2_city_missions.xtbl that a mission would reference when it was completed that contained <unlockable> entries for that mission. These entries were then referenced/processed from unlockables.xtbl for the actual unlock itself. In SRTT we can still edit unlockables.xtbl and change unlocks, but cannot add entries or change when missions or activities actually process them. For example, if I wanted to add the Learning Computer truck as an unlock from m15 there is no currently no known way to actually do that since that mission doesn't have any unlocks that process at all.

How can we change vehicle parts and add new variants? Each vehicle has 3 files associated it. For example, the Halberd is car_2dr_compact04 and its three files are:
car_2dr_compact04.xtbl <- contains variant information and the parts that make up each variant along with the percentage chance a variant will spawn
car_2dr_compact04_cust.xtbl <- contains all the customization information and what is and isn't available at the mechanic
car_2dr_compact04_veh.xtbl <- contains the physics and handling and seating information for teh vehicle.

The problem is that only the _veh file gets loaded by the game. The other 2 files seem to be leftover before they got compiled into a cvtf format and changing them does nothing. We have had some small success by hex editing the cvtf file and enabling certain customization options at the mechanic, but we really need information on the cvtf format itself so we can create our own tools to make more extensive changes.

How is mission asset information stored? In Saints Row 2 there was a cts file that included all mission specific npcs, vehicles, special items, coordinate data, etc for the mission that was then referenced by the mission script itself. The SRTT mission scripts reference these things in the same way, but we can't find the actual files that contain all this stuff.

We need documentation on the mesh format so we can create new clothes, npcs, vehicles, and modify the world geometry itself.

We need documentation on the save file format. Corrodias was able to get most of it sorted out with his save editor, but it would be great to also edit things like world states in the save file as well; bridges up/down, arapice zombies, etc.

We need a way to load our own lua scripts in realtime. Currently I can create my own threads and access open world functions by running them in sr3_city.lua so they get loaded along with the city, but I would love to be able to load my own custom scripts on the fly.

Please please please leave the developer console in for the PC version of SR4 which would open up a ton of possibilities for modding. Perhaps it can be disabled by default and have the user need to enable it in an ini file so Joe Average user doesn't stumble on it and get confused.

Is there any way to enable a free camera in the open world for machinima stuff? camera_look_through_do() doesn't seem to do anything in the open world, even if I give it real coordinates like, say, the Saints HQ end teleport.

Is there any way to preload certain DLC meshes like the laser guns from Gangstas in Space? What I would like to do is make them an unlock after completing the final gangstas in space mission which would ensure that no one could actually use them who didn't own it. i.e. if they can't complete the mission then they obviously can't use them. It seems that any file in dlc1.vpp_pc, dlc2.vpp_pc, and dlc3.vpp_pc gets loaded after the normal archives and I can't simply just add those guns/files to the normal preload archives, which is how we've gotten other assets to work right in the open world like the pony cart animations from Return to Steelport.

Documentation on all lua functions including parameter info. We have figured out a lot of this stuff from how they are used in the mission scripts, but there are still some huge mysteries as to how certain functions work.

Access to Volition's world creation tools that were shown in the promo videos for SRTT (dream big, right?)
 
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