Created getting started with modding (markdown)

getting-started-with-modding.md

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+Very rough list of what you need to get started with creating a mod.
+
+# Setup Aquaria for modding
+
+This is not required but highly recommended.
+
+Change your [[usersettings.xml]] file:
+
+* Set `<DebugLog on="1"/>` (To diagnose problems better)
+* Set `<DeveloperMode on="1"/>` (Report script [[errors|common-errors]] and enable debug [[key bindings|editor-keys]])
+
+[OSE only] Optionally, you can also set `<AllowDangerousScriptFunctions on="1"/>` if you really need it. This enables the [io](http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/manual.html#5.7) and [os](http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/manual.html#5.8) functions. You can use those for debugging on your own machine but don't rely on them. They are disabled for a reason!
+
+[OSE only] Note that in developer mode, the game skips all unnecessary start-up delays and animations. It's a lot less pretty but saves a lot of time when you need to quit & restart Aquaria a lot due to crashing or other problems that may arise during modding.
+
+
+# Editing text files
+
+If you plan to write code or edit some of the game's data files (txt, xml, lua, ...) you should get a proper text editor. Some good choices are:
+
+### Windows
+
+* [Notepad++](https://notepad-plus-plus.org) (recommended)
+* [Notepad2](http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html)
+
+### Linux
+
+* Gedit
+* Kate
+
+### Multi-platform
+
+* [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com)
+* Qt Creator
+* [Sublime Text](http://www.sublimetext.com) (commercial)
+* [SciTE](https://scintilla.org/SciTE.html)
+
+
+# Editing graphics
+
+* [Paint.NET](https://www.getpaint.net/download.html) (Windows only)
+* [Krita](https://krita.org/)
+* [GIMP](https://www.gimp.org)
+* Photoshop (commercial)
+
+# Learn Lua
+
+Not required for creating basic mods but for anything fancy you'll need to write (or modify) some scripts.
+
+* [Lua 5.1 manual](http://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/manual.html) -- very terse and technical, but THE reference.
+* [Programming in Lua](https://www.lua.org/pil/) -- THE introduction to Lua.
+  * The [first edition](https://www.lua.org/pil/contents.html) is freely available but aimed at Lua 5.0 (Aquaria uses 5.1), but the same concepts apply.