What can be modded in GSB2? GSB2 is a very mod-friendly game. The game data is loaded from text and csv files to make modding easy. This means it is easy to mod in new content such as scenarios, ship hulls, new ship components and also ship modules such as new varieties of beam laser or armor for your ships.

Can you change the look of the ships? You can do this in the basic game, without modding, as it is a big part of the games basic design and already built-in. The ships are designed from a combination of a basic 'hull' and lots of smaller components that you drag and drop onto the ship design. In terms of further customization, you can add new components to ships as a modder if you simply provide the art files and also a text file which describes how the new component works. Unlike the original game, GSB2 uses awesome lighting effects which means your new ship component will need a bump-map as well as a basic sprite. For more information on this read this guide.

What tools do I need to mod the game? To edit scenarios, ship hulls and modules, you only need a text editor (and also preferably a spreadsheet/csv editor such as Microsoft Excel to make things simpler). That data is just text so easy to edit or copy. To add new ship components you are likely to need a 3Dmodelling program so you can create the proper bump-maps for your artwork. The actually art files for the game are saved out as DDS files which may require a (free) plug-in.

Can we add new weapons and ship modules? Yes, this is easy. The modules data for the game is found in \data\modules\shipmodules.csv, but the text displayed to the player is in \data\languages[LANGUAGENAME}\modules_text.csv. These spreadsheets contain all the data that is needed to describe a module for the game. The headers at the top of each column describe the values that the game reads in and uses for each module. there is no limit to how many you can add.

Can we design our own scenarios? Yes, this is easy to do as scenarios are simple text files. You can see the basic ones that come with the game inside \data\scenarios. The easiest way to add new ones is to take an existing scenario and edit it, making sure you change it's map position so that it isn't hidden behind an existing one! You can enter higher map positions that already exist and the map will automatically scale to make your new scenario visible. You can even add your own 'plot' description to a new scenario which is displayed to the player when they select it.

My question isn't answered here For information omn Creating New Ship Components, read this guide. For information on How to package you mod up so that the game recognizes it, read this guide. We will add a LOT more information closer to the games release, and will also be answering technical questions regarding modding the game on our forums which you can find here.