tConfig Plan (now it's done)

9/26/2011

I've taken a short break from working on tConfig over the weekend, and I've been re-evaluating the goals of tConfig. People such as Slairne and Crimsonthorn have reminded me that there are those who wish to crack Terraria wide open, and tConfig turned out to be the next best thing, especially after I added custom code support. I had decided to go forward with adding more custom method calls, but the reality is, it will always be limited in what you can do. Instead, I think it is in the interests of everyone to make it easier to modify Terraria's code directly, so you can create full-fledged mods without limitation.

Here's a rough idea of the plan going forward:

1. Do my best to fix all the remaining bugs in tConfig
2. Create an easy how-to involving these steps:
   -Decompiling Terraria
   -Running a patcher that I will create, which will essentially patch in all the changes I've made with tConfig. Thus, you should have a working copy of tConfig's source code. I will probably include the source code to the tConfig Installer as well, so you can have a nice easy-to-use installer for your mods.
   -And that might be it...
   -I will try to find a way to do all of this using free software. I use Visual Studio, but I'm sure there's a free IDE out there somewhere, and I will also try to use a free decompiler. I'm sure modders would rather not have to worry about using expensive proprietary software.
   -Also note that none of this will include the original source code to the game, only the changes.

By doing all of this, everyone will be able to easily start working on mods right away, with the added convenience of loading items through tConfig - at the very least, it should be helpful to not have to worry about arbitrary ID values. Furthermore, tConfig will be open source, and everyone will be free to contribute to it - you just have to make sure you don't post any of the game's original source code.

I look forward to starting this and seeing an increase in the number of mods being created. I hope you guys agree.