Are you going to release all of your in-house developer tools?

On IdolNinja's blog, it said you're going to publicly release a "package" containing a bunch of stuff that would be useful for modders, including tools. What kinds of tools are these? Are you going to release all of the tools you used to develop the games? (Other than the game's source code itself, of course, though I'm sure no one here would complain if you did.) I'd especially like to try out the map editing tools you used.
 
I'm not sure how much of it we will actually be able to release, but I do know that we are trying to get as much a possible released. Unfortunately, we don't have many details yet because we are still trying to figure out what can and can't be released. Some of our tools rely on a lot of internal systems, so we can't just hand them out because they simply wouldn't work. It looks like the tools will most likely release in waves with the first tools being the ones that don't have to be reworked like the texture crunching tool.
 
I'm not sure how much of it we will actually be able to release, but I do know that we are trying to get as much a possible released. Unfortunately, we don't have many details yet because we are still trying to figure out what can and can't be released. Some of our tools rely on a lot of internal systems, so we can't just hand them out because they simply wouldn't work. It looks like the tools will most likely release in waves with the first tools being the ones that don't have to be reworked like the texture crunching tool.

Okay, cool. Do you think you'll be able to (at some point, at least) release the map editing tool(s)?
What kind of "internal systems" are you referring to; like Volition's corporate network or something?

EDIT: I just remembered a while ago I was looking at some xtbl files and I noticed at the end there's a section that presumably tells an editor how the table is structured. I thought it would be nice to have that editor, but I didn't think it would happen—now that there's actually a good possibility, do you think this is one of the tools you can release?
 
Okay, cool. Do you think you'll be able to (at some point, at least) release the map editing tool(s)?
What kind of "internal systems" are you referring to; like Volition's corporate network or something?
Yes, things on the local network that you obviously wouldn't have access to, so we have to make the tools willing to run in an environment without such systems unless they are critical...if they are critical to the operation of the tool, I'm not sure what we can do to fix that, but we are trying to figure that out.

EDIT: I just remembered a while ago I was looking at some xtbl files and I noticed at the end there's a section that presumably tells an editor how the table is structured. I thought it would be nice to have that editor, but I didn't think it would happen—now that there's actually a good possibility, do you think this is one of the tools you can release?

There is talk internally about releasing our table file tool. We currently think this will be possible in the first batch of tools, but it is all wishful thinking currently.
 
Well I'm pretty sure I can speak for everyone here when I say we really appreciate all the work you're doing to make this possible.
Thanks, and keep up the good work! :)
 
Mike Wilson is a true Saint.

Mike, thanks for taking time out of a crazy SR4 release schedule to make all this happen. Respect.
 
Yes, things on the local network that you obviously wouldn't have access to, so we have to make the tools willing to run in an environment without such systems unless they are critical...if they are critical to the operation of the tool, I'm not sure what we can do to fix that, but we are trying to figure that out.



There is talk internally about releasing our table file tool. We currently think this will be possible in the first batch of tools, but it is all wishful thinking currently.

It looks like, pending a bit more testing, this (table file editor) will be a go for the initial tools release. Watch this space for more info!
 
Jeff and Wilson are coordinating the release, so one of them would be able to give you a much better answer than I would. Sorry! From what I've heard, it shouldn't be a long wait.
 
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