Post by Admin on Jan 3, 2017 18:46:27 GMT
Welcome to the ME3Explorer Toolset community!
The toolset and these forums have their origins in the Mass Effect 3 ending debacle, beginning with a forum post from WarrantyVoider to Gildor. From that post a community grew, and the ME3Explorer toolset evolved into the 40 tools it contains today. This thread serves as a reference for some basic information about these forums and our community.
Toolset Sites.
Community Focus.
Over the last five years the ME3Explorer community has grown significantly. While we continue to focus on modding the Mass Effect trilogy, our scope has become more refined.
Modifications to Mass Effect actually involves four very different types of modding: texture, mesh, coalesced, and content. While you'll find discussions of all types on the forum, the toolset is focused on content modding. Other tools exist for both texture and coalesced modding, and mesh modding (like texture modding) requires the toolset only to insert the meshes in game; editing of meshes themselves takes place outside the toolset via other software. In addition, while many content modders cross into texture and mesh modding (coalesced modding is necessary for every content modder), the reverse is almost never true; texture, mesh, and coalesced modders rarely become content modders. They each have vastly different levels of complexity and most often modders interested in one are not interested in one of the former are not interested in the latter.
Due to this, we appreciate that you respect our community focus, and keep it in mind when starting discussions:
Forum Groups.
Upon registering, all ME3Explorer community members are assigned to one or more "groups". Groups control the level of access you have to the various areas of the forum and are assigned at the discretion of Admins. If you are a member of more than one group, you can control which one is displayed in your posting profile by editing your settings. More groups may be added in the future.
Apparently this needs further clarification, so here we go. Just like on the previous forum, the Modders group and ME3Explorer Modders forum section is for community members who have a proven track record in advanced content modding and who release their mods publicly. You'll be relocated to this group if and when your level of forum discussion and knowledge indicates you'd be a good fit. There is no manual for this; we cannot give further guidance about when you will be "ready".
We want to be very clear that this isn't about excluding people. It's about giving modders who are working on different types of content and have different levels of knowledge, different areas of discussion on the forum. Each specific to them. It keeps content organized, eases communication, and allows folks to ignore content they may not be interested in. Please use the area you have permission for and that is relevant to the type of content you want to discuss. Repeated requests to be moved to this group will trigger the forum strike policy (see below).
Forum Structure.
The ME3Explorer forum is divided into four categories:
Each board contains a sticky post that clarifies who may create threads (anyone may post), describes any discussion guidelines for the board, and explains when, if ever, threads are locked. Always read the sticky before you start to use a board.
Policies + Rule Enforcement
Please see the Forum Policy section of the forum.
Restricted Registration
Due to repeated problems with profanity and derogatory content in usernames, we've enabled "restricted registration". This means that your membership must be approved by forum staff before you are considered a member and can post. If your username contains profanity or derogatory content, your membership will be rejected, and you'll need to re-register.
Help + Bugs + Feature Requests
If you're a toolset user looking for help, always read this sticky prior to posting.
All bug reporting is done through Github. We realize this is less convenient and requires another registration, but it helps things stay organized and keeps our coders sane. Any bug threads started on this forum will be immediately locked. We'll do this without response,and you'll be issued a strike.
The toolset and these forums have their origins in the Mass Effect 3 ending debacle, beginning with a forum post from WarrantyVoider to Gildor. From that post a community grew, and the ME3Explorer toolset evolved into the 40 tools it contains today. This thread serves as a reference for some basic information about these forums and our community.
Toolset Sites.
Community Focus.
Over the last five years the ME3Explorer community has grown significantly. While we continue to focus on modding the Mass Effect trilogy, our scope has become more refined.
Modifications to Mass Effect actually involves four very different types of modding: texture, mesh, coalesced, and content. While you'll find discussions of all types on the forum, the toolset is focused on content modding. Other tools exist for both texture and coalesced modding, and mesh modding (like texture modding) requires the toolset only to insert the meshes in game; editing of meshes themselves takes place outside the toolset via other software. In addition, while many content modders cross into texture and mesh modding (coalesced modding is necessary for every content modder), the reverse is almost never true; texture, mesh, and coalesced modders rarely become content modders. They each have vastly different levels of complexity and most often modders interested in one are not interested in one of the former are not interested in the latter.
Due to this, we appreciate that you respect our community focus, and keep it in mind when starting discussions:
- We are a community focused on single-player content modding. The toolset contains dozens of tools that allow for the modification of core game content stored in PCC files. Most modders here are focused on modding this content for the single-player campaign.
- We are not a coalesced-focused modding community. The toolset's coalesced tool is geared at mod creators, not standard users. We encourage most folks interested in this type of modding to use Wenchy and pursue the many online resources that already exist for coalesced modding.
- We are not a multi-player-focused modding community. Most toolset modders on this forum are focused on single-player content. Toolset development and forum discussions take place with that in mind.
- We are not a texture and mesh-focused modding community. While the toolset can be used to install these types of mods, the development of these mods uses third party tools that are unrelated to the toolset.
- We do not host mods and are not a support forum for other people's mods. Most mod authors here host on Nexusmods or ModDB. Questions about those mods, including problems with installation, should be directed to mod authors via support threads located on those sites.
Forum Groups.
Upon registering, all ME3Explorer community members are assigned to one or more "groups". Groups control the level of access you have to the various areas of the forum and are assigned at the discretion of Admins. If you are a member of more than one group, you can control which one is displayed in your posting profile by editing your settings. More groups may be added in the future.
- Users -- Most members fit into this category.
- Modders -- Community members who do advanced content modding with the toolset to create mods for public distribution.
- Global Moderators -- Moderate all boards on the forum.
- Administrators -- Current toolset staff. We are the Harbingers of your perfection.
Apparently this needs further clarification, so here we go. Just like on the previous forum, the Modders group and ME3Explorer Modders forum section is for community members who have a proven track record in advanced content modding and who release their mods publicly. You'll be relocated to this group if and when your level of forum discussion and knowledge indicates you'd be a good fit. There is no manual for this; we cannot give further guidance about when you will be "ready".
We want to be very clear that this isn't about excluding people. It's about giving modders who are working on different types of content and have different levels of knowledge, different areas of discussion on the forum. Each specific to them. It keeps content organized, eases communication, and allows folks to ignore content they may not be interested in. Please use the area you have permission for and that is relevant to the type of content you want to discuss. Repeated requests to be moved to this group will trigger the forum strike policy (see below).
Forum Structure.
The ME3Explorer forum is divided into four categories:
- ME3Explorer Toolset Main - This is the main board for the toolset. It houses areas for announcements, notifications of new releases, general help, toolset development, and wiki development
- The Mess Hall - Introductions, Off topic, and Basic Modding.
- ME3Explorer Modders - A variety of boards for advanced content modders who develop mods for release on Nexus, ModDB, etc.
Each board contains a sticky post that clarifies who may create threads (anyone may post), describes any discussion guidelines for the board, and explains when, if ever, threads are locked. Always read the sticky before you start to use a board.
Policies + Rule Enforcement
Please see the Forum Policy section of the forum.
Restricted Registration
Due to repeated problems with profanity and derogatory content in usernames, we've enabled "restricted registration". This means that your membership must be approved by forum staff before you are considered a member and can post. If your username contains profanity or derogatory content, your membership will be rejected, and you'll need to re-register.
Help + Bugs + Feature Requests
If you're a toolset user looking for help, always read this sticky prior to posting.
All bug reporting is done through Github. We realize this is less convenient and requires another registration, but it helps things stay organized and keeps our coders sane. Any bug threads started on this forum will be immediately locked. We'll do this without response,and you'll be issued a strike.