Modding Help Helped - How would I make my own hoverbike?

I have been making weapons but I don't know if it's the same science or if it's something different. Also what files should I use for one hoverbike?

 

If you download my Apex Hover Bike mod from steam it comes in a folder and you won't even have to unpack it to look over the files. The only major distinction it has from the normal variation is the lack of thruster stuff - but its all just commented out code and can be restored by reming the --s and //s.

You'll need an active item for the vehicle controller, you can find examples in :

Code:

/items/active/vehiclecontroller

Copy and replace the item for the vehicle controller it will have a .activeitem extension.
By default you'll also need an image for the tooltip <yourvehiclename>.png
In the same directory you'll want an image for the two states of the vehicle controller (empty and full) <yourvehiclecontroller>.png, if you use the same directory as the other vehicle controllers there's a default.frames that can be shared but you'll want your own copy of the animation <yourvehiclecontroller.animation>, which just explains which frame of the controller image to use and when.
Most of the files you'll need to create copies of are located in this directory :

Code:

/vehicles/hoverbike

Here you'll find the .animtion, .vehicle, and .lua files. There's also an image for the fourth damage state's constant fire which is used as part of the animation and has its own .frames extension as well. The same is true for the hoverbike headlights which have their own image and .frames files, because the animation needs to leave them at full brightness when they're on. There's also an image for the warp in animation that has a .frames file of its own. The images that make up the hoverbike itself are broken into foreground and background images, each having four states of damage.

You're going to want to pay attention to the tags used in the .animation file for example

Code:

"idle" : {
  "properties" : {
  "image" : "hoverbike<colour>background.png:move.<damageState>"
  }
  }

You can remove this and just have it say "myhoverbikebackground.png:move<damageState>". Note that a lot of the code in the hoverbike.lua file is for selecting frames in the ventral and rear thrusters. These are contained in a separate directory

Code:

/animations/hoverbikethruster

(any changes to these will help distinguish your bike from others available right now, which mostly leave these files in place)
I hope this doesn't come off as too overwhelming. Its just like anything in modding where you replace little by little to see how it works, until you have your own content.

 

Wow, thanks for the head start i'll be sure to try that and thanks again.