Where to start?

[salvakiya]

Hello everyone,

I recently discovered OpenRA and I love the way the engine runs. I used to mod Red Alert back in the day and enjoyed my time doing so. I was hoping to learn how to mod OpenRA also but I dont know where to start. What mod tools do I need to get started?

Thanks for your time.

[ddd]

Hey, join #openra channel in IRC to get help. The modding is pretty simple: look into .yaml files and modify them. You can also modify game engine, but you have to know C# for that. There's a guide you can read: https://github.com/OpenRA/OpenRA/wiki
Also you can read HACKING file in the docs. Good luck.

[BaronOfStuff]

Seeing as you're familiar with modding for RA95, you won't need to fool around too much with new programs to edit/change the content. The only real difference is in the text-based 'coding' -- no more RULES.INI with such inflexible nonsense for expanding the game; you can pretty much add whatever the hell you want now, if you have the graphics/sounds ready.

The Good News:
You don't have to mess around making those accursed SC***.MIX files any more either, OpenRA will read standalone SHP's and pretty much anything else RA95 used, as separate files too.
The Bad News:
I don't think there is any, really. Go crazy and make us something fun!

[salvakiya]

I appreciate the info guys. It helps alot. I am excited to get my hands dirty. Its great to be back into modding.

Is there any way to add garrisoned buildings like in RA2 though? thats the one thing I hope to add... Hopefully without rebuilding the OpenRa source files as I do not know C#.

[BaronOfStuff]

There is something like that implemented at the moment (check Pillboxes), but I'm unsure if it's possible to make it so that a garrisoned building's firepower would increase with every extra infantryman barricaded inside.

In fact, I'm not even sure if neutral buildings can be garrisoned/manned yet. You'd probably have to capture them first.