Introduction to Modding

So you are interested in game modding but don't know where to begin? Want to make your own levels but got totally lost with what you read so far? Then let me introduce you to the world of modding and let me simplify it as much as possible and I will try not to repeat what has been said and done (unless it is essential that you go through these steps). Basically, when I started to mess around with modding, I couldn't go very far because fragments of information were everywhere and worse still, some tutorials tells you (logically) how to do things but when you try it, you only get frustrated because none of what was said could be done! This is my attempt to document what I know, point you to places you can go for more detailed information on certain subjects and hopefully be comprehensive enough yet simple enough to follow and serve as a rough guide to get you to what you want to achieve. So here goes!

The tool of choice is Unreal Editor 3 which comes shipped with Unreal3. The Limited Edition version also comes with Jason Buzzby's excellent video tutorials. However, certain aspects of modding were not covered which left me scratching my head and pulling my hair on how to achieve things like Importing and customizing your own characters, Importing and modifying features for a custom-made weapon or even to alter gameplay.

So without further ado, on with the intro. As far as level creation on FPS (First Person Shooters) games are concerned, generally you can make 3 basic types of levels:

1. BSP (Binary Space Partitioning)
2. Static Mesh
3. Terrain

BSP Levels
BSPs are relatively very simple primitives created within the game editor itself. It is extremely low polygon, has its own set of built-in optimization and accomodates lightmaps baking without the need for the user to manually do it themselves. As a result, BSPs are fast to create, compile and run. They can also do automatic culling and other optimization calculations which speed up their performance. Ideal objects for BSPs would include walls, ceilings and floors, simple boxes and staircases.

Static Mesh
Static Mesh fills up the void where BSPs cannot accomodate. Some objects are simply impossible to make using BSPs for example, a complex organic statue. In comes static meshes which are created in an external 3D package such as 3DSMax and then imported into the engine. One disadvantage of static meshes is that they do not light up as nicely compared to BSP lightmaps. You can compensate in a way by adding vertex lighting but the results may vary.

Terrain
Terrain is a special feature that can be created within most level editors. It contains height depth information and is relatively easy to use. It is preferable to use terrain as opposed to making a terrain and importing it as a static mesh (usually) for optimization and avoiding "holes" in your level issues. NOTE: I will explain in more detail what these "holes" are later. Just know that any "holes" will cause your level to crash of fail to even compile.

Well, that's it for starters. Hopefully, with this basic knowledge, you are better able to appreciate when to use what when you go ahead and create your levels. Happy modding!