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crazymike

1324th Post

Red Carpet Executive Member

"The Death of the mod" , posted Tue 19 Jun 09:25

Don't know how many people here are big PC gamers but anyone noticed last few years the quality of gaming mods has decreased and the lack of interest?

Remember when mods like Team Fortress, Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, Desert Combat attracted players by the millions, many times surpassing players on servers in the original game. Now can you name 1 mod that is widely popular online for any game?

Is it the lack of spirit or are PC games becoming too complex to make a worthwhile mod in the hands of amateur programmers and artists?

Replies:

Amakusa

704th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member

"Re(1):The Death of the mod" , posted Tue 19 Jun 11:46:

quote:
Don't know how many people here are big PC gamers but anyone noticed last few years the quality of gaming mods has decreased and the lack of interest?

Granted my modding experience is somewhat limited to RTS games, but in general what I see is people who talk big with nothing to back it up.

What I think is partially to blame here is the greatest modders were college students doing something they enjoyed in their spare time. They got jobs out of it. We come to the next generation who experienced getting spoon-fed these awesome mods and they don't want to try their hand at it themselves. Or, perhaps, are unable to.

It's either that, or the truely talented people are getting hired much faster than before. Some of the better people I knew from my college days got hired for their work.

I found Kagami's sword in a junk yard.
I will rule the world and find that truly good cup of coffee.
"Dink-a-dink-a-dink-a-do."

[this message was edited by Amakusa on Tue 19 Jun 11:47]

Ammadeau

1558th Post

Red Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Member

"Re(2):The Death of the mod" , posted Tue 19 Jun 12:04

It just takes too damn long to make a decent mod these days. It's not so much complexity as sheer numbers. If you were good with UT, you could bang out a map in three hours. Try to do the same in HL2 and it'll take you weeks. You can't solo this anymore, so you have to rely on teams, but the problem with teams that aren't being paid is 90% of the time they just fall apart. With the length of the time it takes, by the time you're ready for a beta, the engine you've been using is outdated, and people are looking to the next real game release, so no one cares.

Oroch

956th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member++

"Re(3):The Death of the mod" , posted Tue 19 Jun 15:58:

quote:
It just takes too damn long to make a decent mod these days. It's not so much complexity as sheer numbers. If you were good with UT, you could bang out a map in three hours. Try to do the same in HL2 and it'll take you weeks. You can't solo this anymore, so you have to rely on teams, but the problem with teams that aren't being paid is 90% of the time they just fall apart. With the length of the time it takes, by the time you're ready for a beta, the engine you've been using is outdated, and people are looking to the next real game release, so no one cares.

winrar!

honestly i see that as the main reason as well, maybe mapping you can do by yourself and fairly quick, but for a fucking mod, its just become tooo much work

also mod makers try make too much work for themselves, rather than mods. No one has a small fun little concept to work on, now they're all try to make mini versions of doom or hl or crysis on the same damn engine.

but its just a cycle i think, give it time, people will be making fun stuff again, i'm placing bets that it will be in crysis as well, HL2 was a disappointment for mods(and in general as well)

[this message was edited by Oroch on Tue 19 Jun 15:59]

Ammadeau

1559th Post

Red Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Member

"Re(4):The Death of the mod" , posted Tue 19 Jun 18:56

I'm expecting the big mods to come from UT3. I'm expecting Crysis mod scene to fizzle like Farcry. Do they even have a map editor? Last time I checked, the maps were being made in Maya.

Oroch

956th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member++

"Re(5):The Death of the mod" , posted Tue 19 Jun 23:03

quote:
I'm expecting the big mods to come from UT3. I'm expecting Crysis mod scene to fizzle like Farcry. Do they even have a map editor? Last time I checked, the maps were being made in Maya.

???

farcry shipped with a wyswyg editor of course, last time crytek didnt push mod making much, this time they have, they've already given mod tools to some big mods, who are expected to release their stuff when the game gets pushed out later this year and of course the game will ship with an editor.

crytek is where epic used to be a few years ago, i don't see much happening with ut3, mod and game situation will probably be worse than with ut2(004)

exodus

3906th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(6):The Death of the mod" , posted Wed 20 Jun 01:51

I think mods are just getting bigger, like everything else. The IGF has a section for them, and all...

a beholder
14th Post

New Customer

"Re(1):The Death of the mod" , posted Wed 20 Jun 02:06

quote:
Don't know how many people here are big PC gamers but anyone noticed last few years the quality of gaming mods has decreased and the lack of interest?

Remember when mods like Team Fortress, Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, Desert Combat attracted players by the millions, many times surpassing players on servers in the original game. Now can you name 1 mod that is widely popular online for any game?

Is it the lack of spirit or are PC games becoming too complex to make a worthwhile mod in the hands of amateur programmers and artists?

Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) and Warcraft 3

that sorta counts, yeah? It uses the WC3 map editor mostly, and some custom models.

exodus

3907th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(2):The Death of the mod" , posted Wed 20 Jun 04:40

quote:

Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) and Warcraft 3

DOTA, Natural Selection, Path of Vengeance, those all count.

KTallguy

911th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member++

"Re(3):The Death of the mod" , posted Wed 20 Jun 08:05

What about Left 4 Dead and Dystopia for HL2?
There's also a ton of content out there for Oblivion.

Hopefully we'll see some user created content on consoles too.

Play to win.

Amakusa

704th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member

"Re(2):The Death of the mod" , posted Wed 20 Jun 11:37

quote:

Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) and Warcraft 3

that sorta counts, yeah? It uses the WC3 map editor mostly, and some custom models.

Defense of the Ancients isn't a mod, especially since, if you count that as a mod, you count literally every map on Battle.net (which is roughly equivalent of counting each map in UT as a mod in of itself). Or worse, it gives good 'ol "Big Game Hunters w/mucho money" legitimacy.

I found Kagami's sword in a junk yard.
I will rule the world and find that truly good cup of coffee.
"Dink-a-dink-a-dink-a-do."

Spoon

1400th Post

Red Carpet Executive Member

"Re(3):The Death of the mod" , posted Thu 21 Jun 03:50

quote:

Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) and Warcraft 3

that sorta counts, yeah? It uses the WC3 map editor mostly, and some custom models.

Defense of the Ancients isn't a mod, especially since, if you count that as a mod, you count literally every map on Battle.net (which is roughly equivalent of counting each map in UT as a mod in of itself). Or worse, it gives good 'ol "Big Game Hunters w/mucho money" legitimacy.

But the thing with dota is that it is more than just another map layout that you play with ladder WC3. Or how about those "hot potato" maps that literally play nothing like WC3?

With the FPSs, there are plenty of custom maps for multiplay and single player. But there are some which add in new weapons, new enemies, etc. and get the "mod" title. Some don't, and just get called "custom maps".

UT had "mutators" that were smallish gameplay modifications that you could try to apply to all kinds of things or even stack together (sometimes). Are those mods? Some are more than just "rockets only".

The problem with some mods is that they make a plan that involves the creation of just too much content, and that demands both people and time... probably too much of both.