I just started looking into PZ modding and my first effort is going to be a Memory skill mod. The goal is to help the player remember explored information in a way that feels natural in the PZ world, which means imperfect memory but you can work at it to improve.
I thought I'd post to get general feedback and maybe some tips and modding words of wisdom focused on what I'm looking into. I'm already looking over the wiki modding section. There's a lot to cover.
The mod will add a new skill: Memory. The first piece I want to implement is vehicles, starting with the content of the "Vehicle Mechanics" window. When the player closes this window the mod will store everything. When remembering is triggered (TBD) the same info will be presented to the player but some pieces will be missing or incorrect. The higher the memory skill, the more complete and accurate the info will be.
So far I've only just hooked into the Vehicle Mechanics window close operation to log the first set of into I want to store. The things I still need to explore are:
Storing and accessing memory data in a persistent way
Add the ability to open the remembered data either from a context menu or on mouseover with a small delay
Add map markers with a way to show the remembered data from the full view map
Reuse or clone the Vehicle Mechanics window to use with memory data
I'm not sure if this will allow for weird interactions like starting a repair from far away
I want to avoid the associated action of opening and closing the hood
Record vehicle data abstractly. Right now I'm checking a number of specific fields and getters such as vehicle:getEngineLoudness(). There doesn't seem to be a copy/clone method on vehicles.
Expand the behavior to all containers, storing the inventory memory on close
crates, shelves, fridges, and all the standard containers
vehicle trunks
vehicle glove compartments
vehicles with special indoor containers from mods (stretch goal)
bags?
