With Eco we want to create a world that is extremely dynamic: with players created laws, government, economy, and a changing ecosystem. We want to take it a step further and make the game itself malleable, so we’re focusing on a modding system early in development.
We’ve solved a few problems with modding that I think will make this one of the most powerful platforms for modding of any game out there:
The server will sync all the mods with the clients. This allows players to simply connect to a server and get all the code, models, and animations they need to run whatever mods the server is running.
Our system is built to handle multiple mods running simultaneously. Typically mods are a mess to sync, they collide with one another and cause problems. We’ve put a lot of work into a system which avoids common mod conflict pitfalls.
Modding is done in Unity, an existing and well-documented development platform. Modders don’t need to learn some new esoteric system, our client is created in Unity and our mods are created there too.
All mods will work on mobile. It’s rare to see a game where modding works on mobile, due to technical limitations of those platforms. We’ve circumvented this by integrating Python scripting into Unity, giving modders full capabilities on every platform.
“We want to make Eco the foundation platform for a new type of game.
With these features we want to make Eco the foundation platform for a new type of game: games that feature detailed simulations that run continuously, persistent worlds full of players that can change not only the physical landscape but the social and biological landscape, defining how new kinds of ecosystems and economies and governments function. We plan to develop this game openly with the community, and can’t wait to see what people come up with.
Check out this video from our mod system engineer Nicholas Fuller demonstrating the technical steps to get a torch mod into the game:
