Historical 4X strategy game Humankind will get mod support and a map editor but neither will be available at launch, publisher Sega and developer Amplitude Studios have revealed.
Modding in the developer’s previous games was more limited and required players looking to craft their own experience to manually edit game files. The goal is to give modders a proper set of tools to work with in Humankind.
“Instead of editing game data files by hand, modders will have access to a set of Unity tools based on the tools our own team uses to add content to the game. The AI will also be moddable, so it can be adapted to the new or altered content,” reads the Steam post announcing Amplitude’s plans.
“On the other hand, if you don’t want to dive into modding technologies or cultures or the AI, you can grab the map editor and craft any map you want, whether it’s a recreation of a real area or a map for competitive multiplayer.”
Humankind’s modding tools and map editor won’t go live at launch because Amplitude will focus on “on improving and polishing” the strategy game first. Modders will be able to upload their creations on the Steam Workshop. Here’s what you can expect from the first iteration of these tools:
- Change game values, e.g. for balancing, or to change or add new content, like technologies, civics, units, or even cultures.
- Change localization (Names, descriptions, event texts, tooltips)
- Reuse existing 3D and 2D assets for your new content
- Import 2D UI assets for new Content
- Change AI code (so it can take your other modded content into account)
- Create fixed maps (The Map Editor will likely be a separate tool)
Amplitude hopes to eventually allow modders to import 3D assets – including unit models or buildings –, materials or textures, and even create full scenarios. If you’d like to test the tools, you’ll find details about how to register your interest in the description of the video below.
Humankind is set to launch on April 22 and headed to PC and Google Stadia.
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