Training a New Generation of Modders

[Yankee43]

Times has changed around here on the fourms, and a lot of the OG modders that really made this game what it is, like Dyson, Rafael Fernandez, Mikey PI, Hoppah, have either grown out of it, or just found new hobbies. In all honestly, the only one that remains active is itchyboy - Dude your AWESOME. I know this place isnt what it used to be, but its still here, and theres still demand. I think the only thing this place needs, is a new generation of content creators. I've waited a year for my damn verification email which i finally got. and I want to learn, and I hope there are some more who want to as well. I am a beginner coder, and have some background knowledge. So, where do I start? 

[itchboy]

A year for the verification email? I wish we had been informed in the tech support section. It would have been possible for one of the other admins above me to resend the thing, or I could have manually set your account up.

As for how to start: DL the LA mod and modify one vehicle. If you need ideas, google search your town's fire trucks, police cars or ambulance service.

Optionally you could start from absolute zero and modify a vanilla copy of Em4 by creating a new mod package in the editor.

[Squad 65]

I agree with what Itchboy said. That is the first step to modding. Then you can get into scripting, lighting and soon modeling. 

[Yankee43]

17 hours ago, itchboy said:

A year for the verification email? I wish we had been informed in the tech support section. It would have been possible for one of the other admins above me to resend the thing, or I could have manually set your account up.

As for how to start: DL the LA mod and modify one vehicle. If you need ideas, google search your town's fire trucks, police cars or ambulance service.

Optionally you could start from absolute zero and modify a vanilla copy of Em4 by creating a new mod package in the editor.

lol, I may have exaggerated on the email a little but, my first step into modding is, im trying to add some vehicles to Hoppahs LA mod 3.0, I want to take the police Charger, Taurus, and Explorer from the LA County Mod and reskin, then add into LA mod as LAPD units. How would I go about that? (I have access to Photoshop and modeler if thats needed, but it should 

[itchboy]

I'm willing to guide you but I need to clear up some information:

LA Mod 3.0 was a mod that had nothing to do with the actual LA mod. Hoppah never did anything with it, and it was really just a compilation of mods from myself, Xplorer4x4, the Canadians, and ShaneGreen. I am personally against uploading the mod in its current state because the credits still haven't been sorted out but if you can make your own version of it with proper documentation, then I'll allow for it.

The units you mentioned from the "LA County Mod" were were taken without my permission years ago, and its ironic seeing them come back to where they came. I'll let you use these as long as you change them up to be different.

As for doing LA: Personally, Ive lost interest in seeing Los Angeles based anything and would prefer something different. There are plenty of states that have been missed out by mods. For instance, Ive never seen a Mississippi mod, nor a Tennessee mod. Maybe that could be a good starting point?

If you do want to continue doing LA, then its a matter of replacing the sheriff logos with the PD ones, and you're pretty much set. Sheriff and PD use much the same in everything so you have practically nothing to model.

[Yankee43]

On 9/30/2018 at 9:19 PM, itchboy said:

I'm willing to guide you but I need to clear up some information:

LA Mod 3.0 was a mod that had nothing to do with the actual LA mod. Hoppah never did anything with it, and it was really just a compilation of mods from myself, Xplorer4x4, the Canadians, and ShaneGreen. I am personally against uploading the mod in its current state because the credits still haven't been sorted out but if you can make your own version of it with proper documentation, then I'll allow for it.

The units you mentioned from the "LA County Mod" were were taken without my permission years ago, and its ironic seeing them come back to where they came. I'll let you use these as long as you change them up to be different.

As for doing LA: Personally, Ive lost interest in seeing Los Angeles based anything and would prefer something different. There are plenty of states that have been missed out by mods. For instance, Ive never seen a Mississippi mod, nor a Tennessee mod. Maybe that could be a good starting point?

If you do want to continue doing LA, then its a matter of replacing the sheriff logos with the PD ones, and you're pretty much set. Sheriff and PD use much the same in everything so you have practically nothing to model.

This is solely for personal purposes and to get me into the basics of modding, I wouldn't be uploading the altered version of LA. My big plan is to create a mod based off of Charlotte NC to upload, I want to eventually make my own map with it because I have not found any other mods with maps that I think would fit Charlotte, but to start I would most likely base it from LA or a default map. That's all I really have in mind to start though, maybe I could re-skin the Black-Hawk from LA or Montana into a Police Helicopter, I have a good amount of texture experience, I made some Police Skins for GTA5. I really appreciate your offer to guide me, that would be awesome! Thank You! PS: Sorry for the really late reply, I was dealing with school 

[itchboy]

Charlotte?

Okay, where would you like to start. A fire engine, police car or ambulance?

[Yankee43]

52 minutes ago, itchboy said:

Charlotte?

Okay, where would you like to start. A fire engine, police car or ambulance?

I Assume PD is the easiest, so well go with that.

 

[itchboy]

Have you already figured out how to replace (or add) a vehicle into an Em4 mod?

We will have to come to a decision: Will the Charlotte cop car be a replacement of an existing vehicle or a totally new one?

Replacing is a lot easier, but adding a new one will teach you more things.

[Yankee43]

14 hours ago, itchboy said:

Have you already figured out how to replace (or add) a vehicle into an Em4 mod?

We will have to come to a decision: Will the Charlotte cop car be a replacement of an existing vehicle or a totally new one?

Replacing is a lot easier, but adding a new one will teach you more things.

Well, I have created the mod package in EM4 editor and I basically dragged the rest of the files from the LA mod into it (to use as a starting point, I dont know if that was the best idea but...),   will adding a vehicle basically teach me how to replace in the process or get the idea? If thats the case then well go with adding a new vehicle.

[itchboy]

No what you did is correct because you now have a mod that is listed under its own name.

Based on what you're telling me, I think you should add vehicles in. The original LA mod textures arent exactly the best platform to modify in 2018 because of how dds files tend to get compressed.

If you have any of the Explorer or Taurus cop cars, that's the one you would put into your mod, and then recolor that into a Charlotte police unit.

[nbrown8568]

Take a look at this it has help a little. Itchboy has really helped me. I am working on the Baltimore, Maryland Mod, I had to restart from scratch but I'm getting there. If you need some vehicle files, I can send some that Itchboy sent me if it's ok with him.

Basic Modding Info (revised).pdf

[Yankee43]

On 10/6/2018 at 9:45 PM, itchboy said:

No what you did is correct because you now have a mod that is listed under its own name.

Based on what you're telling me, I think you should add vehicles in. The original LA mod textures arent exactly the best platform to modify in 2018 because of how dds files tend to get compressed.

If you have any of the Explorer or Taurus cop cars, that's the one you would put into your mod, and then recolor that into a Charlotte police unit.

Okay, I could do this, where would I get the vehicle files for an Explorer. another mod? I've tried watching videos on moving vehicles from one mod to another but they are confusing lol. Thank You!

7 hours ago, nbrown8568 said:

Take a look at this it has help a little. Itchboy has really helped me. I am working on the Baltimore, Maryland Mod, I had to restart from scratch but I'm getting there. If you need some vehicle files, I can send some that Itchboy sent me if it's ok with him.

Basic Modding Info (revised).pdf

Much Appreciated, I will use this!

[Squad 65]

You can get the explorers from the Ford Model Category if your in Mayberry or Montana

[itchboy]

15 hours ago, Yankee43 said:

Okay, I could do this, where would I get the vehicle files for an Explorer. another mod? I've tried watching videos on moving vehicles from one mod to another but they are confusing lol. Thank You!

Much Appreciated, I will use this!

You will be receiving a PM shortly.

[Sangmi]

The only thing I could suggest (I'm very new to this website, but I've modded the game and stalked these forums in anti-social fear for years) has already been suggested. 

One of the first things I ever did in Emergency 4 was take the unmarked Crown Victoria from LA Mod and turn it into a slicktop Homeland Security car. It was generally terrible and I ended up corrupting the model on my first five tries, but I got it eventually.

Christ, that's been about six years now. 

I'm not much of a modeler or a coder, but if you ever want some Photoshop advice, I'm happy to give you all the help you need. 

 

 

[itchboy]

On that topic, I discourage people from using LA mod vehicles in 2018 just because the textures haven't aged well. They often have distortions caused by the dds texture format that was commonly used...10 years ago.

6 hours ago, Sangmi said:

The only thing I could suggest (I'm very new to this website, but I've modded the game and stalked these forums in anti-social fear for years) has already been suggested. 

I was lurking for a long time, just like you. Nothing to be ashamed about. I just wish I had come sooner because maybe better mods could have resulted from my presence.

[Sangmi]

5 hours ago, itchboy said:

On that topic, I discourage people from using LA mod vehicles in 2018 just because the textures haven't aged well. They often have distortions caused by the dds texture format that was commonly used...10 years ago.

I was lurking for a long time, just like you. Nothing to be ashamed about. I just wish I had come sooner because maybe better mods could have resulted from my presence.

I ended up making my own UV templates for the LA Mod vehicles because of that distortion.