Do you think it will be easy to mod?

[Jason 0]

I read the round table, yet I wounder, Will RA3 be as fun to mod as RA2? or will it be the catasrophy KW is.

[Doctor Destiny 41]

Same as KW. Games are way too hard to mod freely these days.

[Mighty BOB! 5]

I predict that EA is going to continue the "Closed Source" nature of the engine like with TW & KW (see latest roundtable). It also appears that there will be even more animation states and rigging per building which increases difficulty. I think the coding will be about the same difficulty as it is now, maybe slightly higher.

[Mina Synd 0]

*sighs* why are games so unfriendly to modders these days? :\ it's a shame... so many oppotunities and chances for fun and possibly improvement... all lost because EA are so wrapped up in their own stuff...

[Luk3us 63]

Eh, I'd rather have a better game than have them spending extra time to make it easier for modders. Mods are fun, but eh, shouldn't interfere with the actual game.

 

They can do what they did with C&C3, by dealing with it after.

Edited April 13, 2008 by Luk3us

[Mina Synd 0]

so long as they do actually deal with it somewhere along the line o.o if they just leave it non-mod friendly it leaves a very dark enviroment... no chance for interaction. the more customization you have, the happier it will make the general public

[Doctor Destiny 41]

Eh, I'd rather have a better game than have them spending extra time to make it easier for modders. Mods are fun, but eh, shouldn't interfere with the actual game.

 

They can do what they did with C&C3, by dealing with it after.

EA's games would get a more positive response if they were easier to mod. Why do you think people still play, and mod, Tiberian Sun and Red Alert 2?

[Luk3us 63]

Because they're too poor to afford new games.

 

Besides I doubt that even 10% of people who buy games would ever download and use a mod. Most only play SP FFS and a little skirmish and are done with it.

[Azrael 0]

Good point. But replayability is a major factor in games these days, and reviewers take that into note (for example, a few years back Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion got high ratings, and its replayability was cited; on the other hand, even longer ago, Freelancer got medium ratings, and cited was its UN-replayability.) Mods make games a bit more replayable; and that's major points in my book.

[Mina Synd 0]

agreed o.o mods do offer great replay value... no matter how many functions a game has sooner or later it will become samey and boring... mods give you a completely different game using the same base engine...

[Azrael 0]

Yeah... But it doesn't really need to be mods; maps can do well; just look at how much replayability the DotA maps gave Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne!

[Mina Synd 0]

even so there are so many ways you can play with the selection of units before it gets boring o.o mods offer completely new units to play and master and if you get bored, you can just move onto another mod ^^

[Luk3us 63]

My issue with mods is most have terrible timelines. As in, game is released in say, March 2007. Mod won't be released till say, late 2008. That is far to long, by that point people have already moved on. I can understand it takes time to get a "quality" mod done, but the time it takes is too much. Only the hardcore and the slow will use those mods.

[Azrael 0]

Depends on the modding team and the game. I mean, Gundam Century for Starcraft took a long time, but hey, we loved it in the end. If it's an organized modding team (i.e. with proper experience and tasks for each member, as well as strength in numbers), why, they could turn up a quality mod in a reasonable timeframe. Another key factor is the Alpha, Beta. etc. stages, wherein the modding team gives us a taste of the mod even though it isn't done (note that only a few people will use Alpha and so on tests; quite risky at times). Also, the modding team should do its best to keep the community updated of the progress they have made, so as to keep us interested and so that we can see if the production is high quality or not (and saves us from wasting bandwith).

[Doctor Destiny 41]

My issue with mods is most have terrible timelines. As in, game is released in say, March 2007. Mod won't be released till say, late 2008. That is far to long, by that point people have already moved on. I can understand it takes time to get a "quality" mod done, but the time it takes is too much. Only the hardcore and the slow will use those mods.

Mods have no timelines. They're done when they're done. If you move on that fast, you miss out. It's that simple.

[Mina Synd 0]

either way most times they are worth the wait... sure it takes a long time, but just remember (usually) the longer the time, the better it'll turn out to be. gives them more time to sort out any bugs and make it perfect o.o i mean let's be honest here you can't expect a high level total conversion mod to be out in under a month. it's -gonna- take a long time. you need graphics and animations, coding, sounds, music, buttons and god only knows what else... on the plus side if you know what you're doing making models in 3D programs is a LOT quicker then drawing out the 500 something frames from a game like RA2 xD

[Doctor Destiny 41]

You can use 3d for Red Alert 2. It's more common now than it was when it came out though...

[Mina Synd 0]

for infantry? o rly? o.O interesting x3;

[Doctor Destiny 41]

for infantry? o rly? o.O interesting x3;

It's not easy to get the same look that Westwood did but a few people have 3d-modeled infantry in their mods. I don't like them though. The animations are too rigid and unnatural.

[Mighty BOB! 5]

That's just bad animation. >.>

[Mina Synd 0]

oh i see... you mean just made the infantry in a 3D program then imported the images from different posing? or is there literally a program for making 3D stuff in RA2? o.o

[Doctor Destiny 41]

oh i see... you mean just made the infantry in a 3D program then imported the images from different posing? or is there literally a program for making 3D stuff in RA2? o.o

They're made using 3D modeling software and then exported for use in RA2.

[Jason 0]

Well, I have seen 3d inf in ra2. I would hope that Ra3 would be easer to mod, even if i have to wait. I'm still working on my ra2 mod (started last week. lol)

[Doctor Destiny 41]

Well, I have seen 3d inf in ra2. I would hope that Ra3 would be easer to mod, even if i have to wait. I'm still working on my ra2 mod (started last week. lol)

I still mod YR so you know, keeping with the times is for chumps.

[Mina Synd 0]

cool :3 we always need a healthy collection of modders keeps the community going =3