Scripting Farming Simulator with Lua: Unlocking the Virtual Fields

ISBN-13: 9798868800597 / Miękka / 2024 / 287 str.

Manuel Leithner

Spis treści

Chapter 0: Introduction

• About Farming Simulator

• What you will learn in this book

• Technical requirements

• Exploring the GDN

o Modding resources

o Video tutorials

o Documentation

o Community Forum

o Downloads

o LUADOC

o YouTube

• Looking at the ModHub

o Financial opportunities of mod creation

• How to attend FarmCon

• Participating in the mod contest

• Summary

Chapter 1: The LUA Programming Language

• Technical requirements

• Learning about data types and creating variables

o Data types

o Setting and manipulating variables

o Numbers

o Booleans

o Strings

o Tables

o Dictionaries

• Conditional statements

• Declaring and using loops

o for loops

o while loops

o repeat loops

• Learning about functions

o Functions in programming

o Recursion

• Classes

• Demonstrating programming style and efficiency

o General programming style rules

• Summary

Chapter 2: Getting Started with the GIANTS Editor

• Technical requirements

• Installing the GIANTS Editor

• The Viewport

o Movement and camera manipulation

o Viewport Options

• The Scenegraph Panel

o Entities and the Parent-Child Hierarchy

• Application menus

o The File menu

o The Edit menu

o The Create menu

o The View menu

o The Scripts menu

o The Window menu

o The Help menu

• The Attributes Panel

• The Toolbar

o Translation mode

o Rotation mode

o Scaling mode

• Terrain Editing

o Terrain sculpt mode

o Terrain detail texture paint mode

• Scripting

o The Console

• Summary

Chapter 3: The GIANTS Debugger IDE

• Technical Requirements

• Installing the GIANTS Debugger

• Application menus

o The File menu

o The Edit menu

o The View menu

o The Debug menu

o The Window menu

o The Help menu

• Creating and debugging scripts

o Using breakpoints

o Using the Locals tab and the Callstack

• Summary

Chapter 4: Making a Diner with a Rotating Sign

• Technical requirements

• Preparing the diner model

• Creating mod scripts

o Creating XML files

o Creating LUA files

• Testing the mod

• Summary

Chapter 5: Rotating Mower Mod

• Technical requirements

• Creating mod scripts

o Creating XML files

o Creating LUA files

• Testing the mod

• Summary

Chapter 6: Speed Trap Trailer Mod

• Technical requirements

• Creating mod scripts

o Creating XML files

o Creating LUA files

• Testing the mod

• Summary

Chapter 7: Mileage Counter HUD Mod

• Technical requirements

• Creating mod scripts

o Creating XML files

o Creating LUA files

• Testing the mod

• Summary

Chapter 8: Multi-Bale Spawner Mod

• Technical requirements

• Creating mod scripts

o Creating XML files

o Creating LUA files

• Testing the mod

• Summary

Chapter 9: Money Cheat Mod

• Technical requirements

• Creating mod scripts

o Creating XML files

o Creating LUA files

• Testing the mod

• Summary

Chapter 10: Publishing on the ModHub

• Technical requirements

• What is the ModHub?

• Creating an account

• ModHub creation guidelines

• Using the TestRunner

• Uploading your first mod

• Getting feedback and updating your mod

• Rewards & Awards

• Summary

Documentation & Appendix

• Debugging

• Position, Orientation, & Size

• Entities

• Entity Relations

• I3D

• Physics

• Network

O autorze

Zander Brumbaugh is a programmer and game designer based in Seattle, Washington. His work as an independent developer on the Roblox platform has been played more than 300 million times. Zander works with members of the Roblox community and its DevRel team to promote and support the Roblox platform. He has created popular games like My Salon, Power Simulator, Munching Masters, and more. He currently attends the University of Washington and is part of the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering.

Manuel Leithner is a senior gameplay programmer based in Bamberg, Germany. While working on his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Business Informatics / Information Systems, he started modding for Farming Simulator 2008, the first title of the series. A few years later, he worked as a freelancer for GIANTS Software on several DLCs and major game releases. In 2015, a branch office in Erlangen, Germany was opened and he became the head of the office as a studio manager. Since then, he has also become the lead gameplay programmer and responsible for gameplay across the whole franchise.

Blurb

Create mods using the popular game Farming Simulator with Lau, a versatile scripting language that can run on various platforms and applications. This guide is best suited for programmers who want to learn how to use Lua to write scripts that can enhance and extend the gameplay experience.

You'll start by reviewing the basics of programming in Lua and then move on to advanced topics, such as object-oriented programming, vehicle and placeable specializations, network synchronization, and creating custom user interfaces. With step-by-step instructions and detailed explanations, you'll see how to create scripts that modify game mechanics and add new features to the game.

The practical examples and projects are ideal for providing hands-on experience with Lua scripting. Whether you are a creator looking to take your skills to the next level or a game developer interested in learning a new programming language, Scripting Farming Simulator with Lua is the ultimate guide to mastering Lua scripting.

You will:

• Implement a basic “Hello-World” mod
  
• Add a new graphical user interface to your mod
• Use hook scripts to extend base game features
• Publish your mod on the Farming Simulator ModHub