So You Want to Be a Designer... (Please Read Before Posting)

[mikaboshi]

If you're looking at this thread then you have overcome the first hurdle to becoming a ZT2 Designer. Congratulations! However, before you start downloading programs, posting new topics in the forums, and pestering current designers for help, you should ask yourself a few simple questions:

1. Are you willing to spend hours trying to solve one bug?
2. Are you prepared to handle the stress of people asking you the same question over and over again?
3. Are you willing to carefully analyze and discover for your self that which cannot be easily explained on the computer?
4. Are you willing to dedicate countless hours to creating just one project?
5. Are you aware that there are limitations associated with creating that cannot be overcome?
6. Are you prepared to have your project not work the first time, or even the 20th time?
7. Are you prepared to have your download rejected an undefined amount of times before it is finally accepted?
8. Are you prepared to have other members negatively criticize your work?
9. Are you prepared to dive in, use the tutorials provided, and get through the bumpy process mostly unassisted?
10. Are you prepared to check every file multiple times before asking a single question?

If you answered "no" to any of the above questions, than perhaps making an entirely new project isn't for you just yet.  If however, you still think you want to try to code something new for the game, then continue reading!

[mikaboshi]

First off, a few rules of designing:

- DO NOT contact designers as a first method of answering questions
- DO NOT start new topics asking for answers; you are not the first person to want to try to make something; chances are, you are not the first person with that question.
- DO NOT start a project if you intend to ask for a coder or skinner. Have these planned out before you decide that you can make a project.
- DO NOT start a current projects thread until you have actually started work on something.
- DO NOT think that you are going to get it right the first time...ever.
- DO NOT depend on untested technology to get a finished product (example: model editing)
- DO NOT use another designer's project as a base for your project unless you have written permission from that designer.


- DO use the search feature to find answers.
- DO plan on doing the coding and skins by yourself, especially from the beginning.
- DO check and recheck the files if you are experiencing problems
- DO try to solve the problem yourself first
- DO look at at other designer's work in order to figure out problems in your own

[mikaboshi]

Next a few extremely helpful links


Zoo Tycoon 2 Designing Centre : created by Penguinman and Gibbon Fanatic, it is the only site dedicated to making, creating, and designing for Zoo Tycoon 2!! If you run into problems, have read all of the tutorials, and have triple checked everything, then this is one of the first places to go.

Common Problems: when you have a problem, this is the thread for you! It contains some of the most common errors that people get when they code, and should be the first place you look if you have a problem!

Animal Attribute Changing: here you will find a collection of the most common attribute changing directions. Want to change that fame level? Can't find how to change the conservation status? Wondering how to turn a meat eater into a vegetarian? This is a one-stop shop for all of the common changes.

[mikaboshi]

Designing Programs List

Here are a list of all of the programs you will need in order to design, including downloads for some.

DXTBmp: Allows you to open and save the .dds files, the files that give color to the game.
WinRar:  Allows you to open up .z2f files as well as save your projects as .z2fs as well
Notepad: Allows you to view and edit a number of files, including .xml, .dl, .bfm, .beh, and .tsk files
WinHex: allows you edit the text in .nif files
Some sort of graphics program: You can use Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, even Paint. A free Graphics program called GIMP is also used. Whatever program you feel most comfortable using, or whichever one you can afford, is perfectly fine to use.



Helpful  Programs

These programs are not necessary, but make the lives of many designers much easier.

Nifskope: Tired of waiting for Zoo Tycoon 2 to load everytime you want to test out your skin? The waiting stops now! Simply have the .nif file in the same folder as the .dds you are working on, and it will load the skin with the model, allowing you to preview it much less time than it takes for the game to load!

Flash Renamer: need to rename 20 files? This program will make it easy work. Just type what you want replaced and with what, and with one click, it does them all for you!

Inforapid Search and Replace: actually changes words inside of files, saving you the hassle of having to replace the original codename with your codename in a bunch of different files individually. DON'T use this on BFM or NIF files!!!

NVIDIA DDS Plug-in: Are you Using Photoshop, but are tired of using DXTBmp? This is the plugin for you! Let's you open DDS files right into Photoshop. Amazing!

[mikaboshi]

Where to start?

Want to create something, but aren't sure if you are ready for an animal just yet? Based on the level of ease, this is the order that you should follow to becoming a great designer. Included under each are links to guides you may find helpful as you progress.

1. Variant

The best route is always, no matter what you want to create, to try your hand at an Animal Variant (also sometimes spelled "varient" around here). We have a great guide here, written by Penguinman and Csleesburg, called the Variant Creation Tutorial. These are the only type of file that ZA does not require a .dl for

2. Scenery Object

Park benches and trash cans might not sound so appealing, especially if you want to make an animal, but it really helps to start with something relatively simple before trying to tackle something as complex as an animal.

Penguinman's Object Creation Tutorial (OCT) is an awesome resource for making objects. Note that clicking the link will take you to ZT2DC.
RedNotDead's Guide to Making Fences for ZT2 may prove useful to use, as well as Doooot's ZT 2 Path Tutorial, depending on what you want to do.

3. Foliage

Nique has made an excellent guide to making Foliage, called the Foliage Design Tutorial. It truly is the first guide, and will remain one of my favorite guides for some time.

4. Animal

Here is the part where most people want to be! Of course, the best resource right now to making ZT2 animals is Sideshow Bob's APE II. It is not a program - it is a tutorial. Making animals for ZT2 is more complex and wholey different than making animals for ZT1, and no program will ever be released to the public to make our lives easier. There are known flaws with the guide, but until someone makes a better one or is given permission to edit this one, it is all we have. You will know the flaws when you come to them; refer to Common Problems to get them sorted out.

With help on Lang files, consult Animalover44's Lang File Tutorial.
Every file submitted to ZA must have an accompanying .dl file. For help on creating this, refer to Gibbon-Fanatic's .dl Making Tutorial
If you want to change the area from where your animal comes from (it's location) check out Penguinman's Map Location Tutorial
(Note that these three links will take open up ZT2DC in a new window)

5. Building

Yes, a building is harder than an animal, surprisingly. As such, there is not even a tutorial out for it yet. Much like you did for the Foliage, try using OCT and an already finished project from another designer as a guide to figure it out. When a tutorial becomes available, this post will be amended.

[mikaboshi]

Mesh Editing

If you are thinking that you are going to make an animal using the "Mesh (or Model) Changing Technology" please bear this in mind: it has limitations. For one, we don't know everything about it yet. The only successful models have been by Littlemog, STC, and Penguinman. Simba's Wyvern has a glitch that makes it blink. I strongly suggest that you wait till others have figured it out completely before you decide that model editing is for you. Otherwise you will just end up frustrated because there are inevitable bugs thus far that we just don't know how to fully overcome.

Also note that just because you get it to look good in Blender or 3DSMax, or NifSkope does not guarantee that it will ever appear in the game.

Littlemog has created a tutorial on the way she does it; you can see that tutorial here


Another note to be added here: 3DSMax is a VERY expensive program, and downloading it off from Limewire, etc, is illegal. Please do not tell others it is okay to download them as we do not advocate and in fact can punish members for software piracy. Blender WILL and DOES work; Penguinman for one uses it for the Penguika projects so rumors that it can't work are wrong. It's simply that you can't export from Blender and make it a working NIF. There are other steps that need to be done for t to work, but this is true no matter WHAT program you are using for meshing.

[mikaboshi]

Final Thoughts

Every file that you submit must be approved by RedNotDead. She takes time out of her life to check to make sure your project is not a threat to other people's computers, that it does not have errors, and that it will actually work. If your file does not have a .dl with it or if the file contains errors, your file will be declined, and you will be sent a PM regarding why it was denied. Do not resubmit the file until the problem(s) she has pointed out has been resolved; you run the risk of it being permanently denied if you do that.