Where to start

[Tarokor]

Howdy all

For the last couple of days i have been toying with the idea of starting to make my own ui and mods for WoW. Like alot of people i have downloaded and Installed a number of UI's thru my gaming career but i have never ever tried to make one on my own. Mazzle falling over for 2.3 and dying with 2.4 was the clincher, unfortunately for me, most of the packs out there cater towards one playstyle or the other, not the combination of both that i experience and i have not been able to find a substitute for mazzle i am comfortable with.

So with that out of the way,

Where do you start?

I know nothing about programming/scripting/coding whatever it is called at all. And i do mean nothing. Have read a number of forums downloaded the .Lua tutorial and started working thru it, ripped over to WOWace and got eepanels2 etc etc etc as recommended to many in posts on these forums.

But i cannot make head or tail of it.

Is there some sort of background point needed to begin doing this. Do i have to have basics in any particular languages, or should i choose one of the programs mentioned thruout all these forums get myself a manual and just work thru it.

Hate to say it but this aussie boy is completely and utterly lost and looking for a starting point.

Anyone out there wiling to give me a point in the right direction?

[Gemini_II]

"Making" a UI compilation is pretty easy really. I started mine back when there were only a handful. I aimed at all playstyles to appeal to the masses. Now there are hundreds of compilations.

What made MazzleUI different was the Mazzifier. Mazzle coded an addon that basically did the initial config for all of the packaged addons. Very cool idea, but it required a fair amount of upkeep. Mazzle has since moved on from WoW.

If you wanted to make something similar, or create an addon, then you would have to learn LUA. There's tons of resources out there for this, but a basic understanding of programming would definitely be an asset. If eePanels is causing you grief I would suggest practicing since it's alot less complex than staring at code.

[Tarokor]

thank you

will just keep practicing then. I thought i was going crazy caus i couldnt get my head around any of what i was looking at but will just keep plugging away and see how i go.

other than playing with eepanels and working thru every .Lua tutorial i can find to teach myself the basics of it, anything else people can suggest. Currently hitting every site i can find for suggestions and tutorials, some from here some suggested from wowace even an xml tutorial i found on an old everquest site.

thanks again for any advise

[Everglow]

You need to already know some things like, for example:
variable - a changeable value or set of values stored in memory with an associated name
constant - a non-changable variable
function - a grouped set of instructions to be executed
object - (refered to as "frame" in WoW) a "black box" containing variables and functions

and a lot more, before you can begin to understand how to code.

If you have a basic understanding of programming, then you might want to look at Ten Ton Hammer's UI Mod guide

If you can't follow that, then I strongly recommend a course in basic programming.

Good Luck!