Steps for a 3D Party addon

I start this thread for a better understanding of making a 3D Party addon. For the beginning the questions i expect to elucidate are the next ones:

1-Who are we supposed to contact first when we decide to make a 3D Party? I mean who from ED, and how(by PM)?

2-What are the terms or the conditions? What does ED expect from a 3D Party for a contract to be signed?

3-What is the difference between a simple mod and a 3D Party? Of what i know at this moment, it's all about modder-ED agreement, and i'm curious if any aditional information is given to the modder when a contract is to be signed. Information like the list of arguments for a functional cockpit and many other...

4-What ED provide us, when we sign the contract? It's like i said above, what are the benefits for the modder to chose for a 3D Party instead of a simple mod.

5-Is it any quality control from ED the main part of the decision of signing a contract? In other way, what are ED criterias for agreeing to sign a contract or not?

6-Till now, no modder has been refused, of what i know.. but what if someone decides to make his own A-10 3D Party? or, what if someone decides to make his own F-15 Strike Eagle 3D Party(contract already given to Iris).

These are my questions for the moment. If you guys have any others feel free to ask them here.

1. The best person is Wags, by PM

2. He will go through these with you depending on your proposal

3. Again Wags will clarify depending on your proposal

4. Simple mod won't get you access to any technical help apart from on pubic forums. And you can't sell it.

5. Yes, and that depends on what you can show to ED/TFC as part of your proposal

6. As Wags has said, there is nothing stopping one developer producing the same plane as another.

Basically, you need to prove to ED that you have something to offer. Just PM'ing Wags saying, hey Matt, I have a great idea for a add-on but have no idea how to do it, or don't have a team to do it etc is likely to get a polite refusal.

To give you a simplistic idea of what you need to develop a 3rd Party Add-on:

3d modeler

LUA coder(s)

Skinning artist

Manual writer

Someone who understands schematics of fule, electrical and hydraulic systems and then be able to code that.

Hope that helps.

thnx for the answer. from the list of the team i can cover only 2 of them: 3d modeler and skinning artist. is it possible to get a team with the help of ED? i mean someone from ED who is interested in developing 3D Parties?

Doubtful... I think the general rule is "you do all the work" including staffing. ED developers work quite hard on ED products, I think.

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4. Simple mod won't get you access to any technical help apart from on pubic forums. And you can't sell it.

What kind of tech help do you get? Do you get more documentation or can you contact ED staff, when you need help?

" one 3rd party choosing to do an aircraft for DCS does not preclude another 3rd party from doing the same aircraft."

what does this mean? how can a 3D Party prelude another 3D Party?

If someone makes a F-18 3D Party, i can't make my own F-18 3D Party? is this what it means?

"what does this mean? how can a 3D Party prelude another 3D Party?

 

If someone makes a F-18 3D Party, i can't make my own F-18 3D Party? is this what it means?

You have not detailed the response. You lack the specific device: an F-18A or F-16C. create a kind of model for a 3rd Partie, not close the entire series to another developer.

so two F-18A 3D Parties for example, can't be made by different persons?

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1-Who are we supposed to contact first when we decide to make a 3D Party? I mean who from ED, and how(by PM)?

Contacting ED is a thing, getting a reply is another...:smilewink::D

What kind of tech help do you get? Do you get more documentation or can you contact ED staff, when you need help?

The ED devs reply to our questions and help out, yes.

At the moment no documentation.

Also the 3rd party dev teams have an area to discuss things, share ideas and code etc. and ED post in there very often.

Just having a modeler and skinner will not do, the whole integration into the sim is LUA code based.

Contacting ED is a thing, getting a reply is another...:smilewink::D

Quite the opposite in fact :p

 

Quite the opposite in fact :p

It was a kind of joke;) I maybe missed something...

Thank you!

No worries Haddock.

A lot of people (not saying you are one of them) say ED never reply blah blah blah....blah.......blah

The devs have been incredibly responsive in my experience...

Great! Then I will contact them again soon:pilotfly:

The devs have been incredibly responsive in my experience...

And at the same time, have updated ALL of their products and brought a new product into open beta! All I can say is ED has really shown their professionalism and dedication to us. I am simply humbled.

The devs have been incredibly responsive in my experience...

 

Great! Then I will contact them again soon:pilotfly:

Depends on what kind of things you're asking [for.] If you are asking questions about development and have some idea of what you're talking about and some evidence that you're working on it and capable... they are extremely responsive and helpful. It's just like you'd think it should be.

The ED devs reply to our questions and help out, yes.

At the moment no documentation.

 

Also the 3rd party dev teams have an area to discuss things, share ideas and code etc. and ED post in there very often.

 

Just having a modeler and skinner will not do, the whole integration into the sim is LUA code based.

 

 

 

Quite the opposite in fact :p

Thanks for the clarification. Bummer about the documentation, though.

Documentation, outside of what can be found in the How To and random posts in our private forum, does not exist. Everything is learned through trial and error except for the occasional answer from an ED dev. We all understand how busy they are and know that all of our questions can't be answered at once. Many advanced features found in DCS products were custom programmed inside of the dlls of each aircraft and so many times when we are trying to do something similar, ED will have to add a call for internal data for us to use in LUA.

...in the mean-time, the rule (for any prospective modders reading) is trial and error, persistence and wits. :D

from my point of view, things are not looking so great, because i'm able to model and texture a F-16 for example, but integrating the aircraft in DCS is probably imposible for me at the moment because of the LUA scripts. About LUA i know some things, basic stuff, i already succeeded to integrate a F-16 mod in FC2. I don't know how much are changed things in DCS but it seems to be a big difference from what i understand here. And what can i do further? I'll probably start to search a person who knows LUA scripting, or learn to use it myself, which it's going to take a while. A manual should be usefull now.

One more question, am i allowed to sell a simple mod of mine(not 3D Party), or only the 3D Parties can be sold?

Learn by doing.

which it's going to take a while.

Yeah, it will! Be patient, anything worth doing takes time to learn. Nothing is going to happen for you overnight, but you can do it if you want to.

One more question, am i allowed to sell a simple mod of mine(not 3D Party), or only the 3D Parties can be sold?

I would assume you have to have a publishing licence from TFC to sell the mod for use in DCS.

what is TFC?