I was wondering if anyone has picked up on if modules can be added to a game after it is generated? In the demo video the world is generated, then modules are added, then gameplay starts. I would like the option to continue to expand an existing game so I do not have to start over to get new content.
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Thats true it would be hard to leave a game you have worked hard on for months only to have to start again because there is a new quest you want to complete.
i cant think of any current examples where this is an option, and thinking about it programmatically, i dont see how it would be feasible (from balance, compatibility, etc. perspectives)… would be neat though… 
From the sound of the game design, your world is randomly scattered with modules. I don’t see why new modules couldn’t be added to the existing pool of module choices, but you may have to play through a few games before you get to see all the different modules. It doesn’t seem to be like Minecraft where everything is instantly available to anyone who can find the right materials. Instead, modules are scripted mini-adventures with goals and a purpose, meaning the game could have a satisfying ending if you want to role-play instead of just city-build.
I think it will be an issue if you cannot add modules to an existing game…given the amount of time spent. There could be ways to add new quests…such as adding new islands. Maybe if quests had levels associated with them or if they could scale based on XYZ factors, it could work.
apologies, i suppose i misunderstood… i was reading that as “added in-flight”… while im playing, could there be some method of adding a new mod… dont ask me why… 
but yes, adding a mod to a saved game? sure, that seems perfectly reasonable… im playing a game with 3 of my own mods… my friend creates a new swanky sword of uber slaying, and uploads it to SH Central…
i then load up my game, pick which mods i want to load (in addition to what is already present), and i’m off… 
What if they just treated it like Minecraft. (Sorry, best example I can think of) The world is stupidly large and chunks are randomly generated once the player explores that area. So what if you added modules to an existing game and then they had a shot of coming up once you explored more land. If we end up having Alternate Planes, this seems like an easier fix to that question.
I think part of the question will be whether the mod is an add-on (new adventure, enemy type, profession, etc) or alters one of the fundamental rules of the game. I can see a definitive yes in the first case, the second one might be more iffy.
-Will
It would be kind of important for those who creat RPG style adventure mods and for those who want to play with these mods.
A long running campain is most enjoyable (watching your city and adventurers grow). don’t want to be having to restart all the time.
If you could have someway of deciding the size of your town/s then you could just make anything a particular distance from them have a chance of spawning new modules, like if you clear out a bunch of groups of goblins in the wilderness more might always come there again which isn’t possible without modules being added after start.
From a programming point of view I guess you will have mods compatible with saved games and other not compatible. Like anything linked to world generation.
But new characters and AI might be able to cope.
conversely, I think some mods could be available from the beginning (like a new sword) but I think it would be hard to pop in scripted events.
I also doubt a single game would last you months… I mean maybe, but I just feel like that’s beyond the scope of the game, haha.
For mods it was mentioned in the livestream about modding that there is the possibility of mods being specially approved to be allowed to be turned on and off mid game but that it wouldn’t happen with all of them. A particular case of it would be modules, someone comes out with a bunch of new modules you might want to use them withut having to restart your game.
In the video, modules are shown being sprinkled onto the map at game generation. This might be figurative, but then again, it might be pretty literal; maybe module-thingies have a place, and they kick in once you reach that place and start interacting with the content there.
If that were the case, then it’s conceivable that a place marker for a module is laid down at map generation, but the module at that location is not chosen until you get there. If that were true, modules could be added into an existing game, so long as the map is not fully explored.
The way I understand it is that the game compiles all the mods when you launch it.
Then you load a save game or generate a new world.
It then checks if the save game is compatible with the mods you have running. Similar to the way Civilization V works.
I understand that the world will be procedurally generated so the terrain won’t exist until you get there. It is likely that the game could choose from a pool of mods you are running to populate new terrain. This would take care of the scripted encounters.
For new content like swords, armors, or professions I think that would be easily enough added to existing games since it would mostly just require changing a menu. (Turning a mod off might be another matter.)
For mods that completely alter the game, like someone mentioned a sci-fi type overhaul, I think you would have to start a new game unless there was a one-to-one mapping of content in the mod. Then your existing world content could just be replaced with its modded counterpart.
In my oppinion and from a programming perspective it should be possible depending on how the actual module is supposed to work, where it comes in and how modules interact with the game engine. It would be trickier to remove a module that was used and when there is related data inside the savegame already.
There might also be some modules, that only make sense at the beginning of a game. So maybe there should be a configuration option inside each module to specify whether or not the module requires a new game or if it can be loaded into existing games. Some modules might need to know how long a game has run already, and behave differently based on this information.
Depending on how long it takes to create a big city, this is actually a very important functionality! Who want to build an awesome city for hours/days just to stumble across a “must have” module and have to start everything over again…
You can have a utility module that checks all the mods you want to use and Validates them.
I was thinking this too, but couldn’t think of a way to articulate it while I was on vacation. At any rate, I agree Asterai, and it would be awesome if this were the case.