Beginner Modding Questions

[Hello]

Hey all. I'm a beginner 3d artist and programmer, currently going to school for game design. As practice with coding, making 3d art and just for fun I'm trying to make a mod for 0.A.D. I have a few questions:

1. Are the suggested poly counts and texture sizes listed in the Art Design Document up to date? For my mod I'll need to create some complex character meshes and the suggested poly count might be too low for my needs.

2. Does 0.A.D. use Spec/Gloss or Rough/Metal for textures? Can I use Substance Painter to create my textures? If not what is the recommended programs to use?

3. Is it possible to implement dynamic environmental changes such as day/night cycle, and changes to the map directly related to player actions such as a factory filling the air with smog?

4. one of my factions will be split between slave units (builders, gatherers) and combat units. Is it possible to implement a slave system where Faction 1 can enslave units from Faction 2 and Faction 2 can free the slaves who will then join Faction 2?

 

[Stan`]

1. Nah you can ignore those. It's only meant for the main game and they are a bit outdated.

2. No it doesn't use a PBR workflow. You have to use classic system (Diffuse (Not albedo) Normal Spec) Normal can give you a parallax effect if you use the height map as alpha channel. I think substance painter as a mode for that at least designer does. You'll have to experiment to see how it looks. Else use Photoshop or Gimp to make your textures.

3. It's possible but it's currently not supported.

4. You can but you have to write code to do that.