When people new to 1.13 join the JA2 forums and write something about the “1.13 mod” it doesn’t take too long for the other users to correct them about 1.13 not being a mod but a platform for other mods to be based on. While this was true back in the days when the project started, as times passes 1.13 turns more and more into a mod itself. Let’s face it: The goal is not making the game moddable any more but simply squeezing in every little pseudo-feature you can think of. This isn’t bad by definition either – just don’t call it a platform when it’s not.
It was okay when they focused on externalizing hard-coded data from the executable. When they made it XML and got rid of stupid game limitations. But for quite a while now they lost sight of continuing that primary goal. Instead, they put in items over items, weapons over weapons. Things that should be left for future mods on 1.13 one could think. Another example is the “New Inventory” add-on. Regardless of whether you like it or not, how does this add to making the game a platform? If I made a mod, I couldn’t care less about the inventory system if it didn’t improve moddability.
The essential key-area to concentrate on should be externalizing data again to legitimate the use of the term “platform”. There are still way to many things begging for XMLification. Think of prof.dat, the animation system, NPC scripting and all those things that would add real value to the game if a modder was able to pick them.
There is one promising addition though. Someone added some LUA libraries to the code, for game scripting obviously. Unfortunately though there is a total lack of making use of them so far. Scripting support however (real scripting support for that matter) could turn things totally around. This would not only be a huge addition to the game when it comes to modding options but also allow people to work on meaningful features since other popular features could be developed separately via scripts. Curios about what coming next.
To draw a conclusion, there’s one thing to say: Keep externalizing. I know it’s hard. I know everyone contributing does it for fun, for the community and for free. So they do whatever they like and not necessarily what should be done. Of course, they got my respect and my gratitude nonetheless. But please, don’t be silly and insist on 1.13 being a platform.
