DoW2 may not have modding

[IBBoard]

I don't know how it applies to textures (which is what we focus on, although modding is definitely related) as they're loaded in the same way as modded files, but I've just noticed that there's rumours of no modding in DoW2. If it's true then it'll be a great shame as modding a game can provide so much additional life and interest within an active community.

From reading some of the comments then apparently Company of Heroes was less moddable than DoW, so it could be a trend in that direction. We'll just have to wait and see.

[stfas]

rumors are often wrong as i see it.

[IBBoard]

They often are, which is why they're rumours. The counterpoint is that there is a quote in that thread and, while it doesn't say "there will be no modding at all", the combination of the quote and the apparent poor support for CoH doesn't bode well for the level of modding support that Dawn of War got.

[IBBoard]

Looks like I need to change the topic title to "DoW2 won't have modding":

Hirmetrium: What sort of mod support will be available?
Jonny: Having worked with the Essence Engine for 3 years now, it's just not a moddable engine. The Dawn of War engine was built from the ground up to be mod friendly and the stakes were much lower then. Animation trees were an order of magnitude simpler, units took half the time to make… basically our choice was this:
Re-write the essence engine to make it moddable and give you 1/3 the game you're getting, or focus on making Dawn of War II the game it is today. We chose the latter. As someone who loves the mods I've seen in DoW, it was a painful, painful decision, but I think it was the decision we had to make.

Hirmetrium: One of the most heavily asked questions is about the army painter – this was an incredible feature in the original, customising your own army with banners, badges and colours. It really captured the spirit of tabletop. Is the feature returning fully in Dawn of War 2, with improvements?
Jonny: Yes there will be an army painter! And yes, there will be some really cool toys to play with! I was playing with it this morning as a matter of fact...

The full interview that this is taken from has been up on RelicNews Forums since the 11th - I've only just read it. It's an interview with Jonny Ebbert, Lead Designer on DoW2.

It's a shame really because it greatly reduces the chances of me bothering with DoW2. I might buy it when it's down to £10 just for the "it's a GW game and I'm a bit of a kleptomaniac on that front", but it's not going to get the attention that DoW2 did and it means it is unclear whether there will be anything for Skins@HWT to contribute to the next game.

[MariusLecter]

Well there go my hopes for someone making 'Inquisition Daemon Hunt' mod for DOW2

[IBBoard]

I've not been reading up too much, but I've not seen much on the subject recently. All mention of modding has been removed from the thread I linked to - probably because it was causing such uproar and things were going round in circles. It does kinda show what removing modding means for the community, though.