Professionals In Mod Development

KungFuSquirrel · April 2003

<div class="IPBDescription">Your thoughts?</div> Well, for those of you who don't follow Nightwatch, (almost) every week we post a "development diary," some prattle about NW development by one of our team members.

In this week's, I wrote the following (copy/pasted for ease of reading). It's not exactly my best or most polished piece of writing, but the application for which it was written isn't supposed to be winning any pulitzers. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'> There's a couple parts I wanted to develop further, but I started writing this one after it was already supposed to have been posted, heh... Here it is:

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Once upon a time there were two Half-Life modifications. The two had a similar premise and theme, and as is (unfortunately) standard procedure in such situations, tensions rose between the fans of one and the fans and team of the other. A forum dispute arose, some harsh words were slung, and things just generally got ugly.

At one point during the ?discussion,? one member of a team spoke up, saying how it was ?unfair? for the other team to step in with its professional team members and people getting paid for their work. It was an offense to those who couldn?t make any money and somehow infringing on their right to make their mod.

The mod that was being attacked for this reason was Natural Selection. Charlie ?Flayra? Cleveland, the programmer for and man behind Natural Selection, is a former Stainless Steel Studios employee and can be found in the credits for Empire Earth. Same goes for Cory ?SquealLikeAPig? Strader, lead artist for NS and artist for Stainless Steel.

It?s interesting to note this story at this time given recent events of the Nightwatch team. With our new modeling staff, we now have at least 5 professional team members, with at least 2 who have had to leave the team for various reasons, and a few more pending positions. Companies at which our team members have worked or are working include Ritual, 2015, 4D Rulers, and Taldren.

Why, though, should those of us who already have made or are currently making money in the industry have any less right to work on mods than anyone else? We?re not on payroll. We?re not in a studio. We?re the same as any other mod developer or mod author. Let me let you in on a little secret...
Professional game developers love what they do.

It?s not a chore as some jobs become or just the day-in/day-out cycle. To take this direction in life, a person has do dedicate every ounce he can to succeed. Now the craziest thing about it is this - not only do professionals love what they do, but they love it enough to keep doing it outside of an office setting!

When it comes to mod development, we?re all on equal ground.
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I'm curious to see what other people think about this as well. I do expect a somewhat positive reaction just due to the Natural Selection fanbase being the demographic here, but you never know. I obviously don't see what the big deal is, but maybe that's just me. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'>

Infinitum · April 2003

It all comes down to experience.

In the mod world there is no 'professional team member'. Your all not getting paid for your work and are mearly working from experience. Flayra whom used to be a professional game developer simply has more experience than your average mod developer. If those persons whom complained attained a few more years experience they would be at the level Flayra is.

They don't have any right to start complaining, they should just stick to what they are doing and eventually (and hopefully) they'll start seeing the fruits of their labour.

Chuchumanquiq · April 2003

I'm all for experienced professionsals... with them comes valuable experience designing and implementing complex systems and systems that players will try to exploit...

the risk is that the developer's lives will interfere, they unemployed will go back to work, the graduate students will have projects to finish, and the mod team will suffer for it

That_Annoying_Kid · April 2003

Charie is a pro becuase he has put years into doing what he likes, and he has all the right to make his mod, people shouldnt get angry at others becuae of professionalism, if they want to top someone else, then put in the work themselves

greyfox5 · April 2003

Oh yeah, what happend to that "other mod"?
(forgot the name)
Last I heard thier mod shut down after NS's release.

Cyborgguineapig · April 2003

Yeah I'm still waiting for Nightwatch <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'>

RyoOhki · April 2003

I hardly see how it's "unfair" to have some professionals. Flayra isn't being paid for making NS (at least last I heard), the only advantage he has is that he has worked professionally before. If 2 groups are making a similar mod then whoever makes the better one wins the fans, it's as simple as that. If Nightwatch was better than NS I'd play it, in the same way that I vote for government. The NS team has some professionals, so what? It just means that they'll hopefully produce a better game as a result. It's not Flayra's fault he had exp, nor is it his fault someone else thought of something similar to NS.

BathroomMonkey · April 2003

It's an obnoxiously whiny claim.

Look at the people here who like to play NS . . . you're going to tell them that they really shouldn't have the right to access a game like this, because some kid thinks that it's stealing his spotlight?

You're going to tell a guy like Flayra, 'Sorry, I know you have an idea for a game, but since you've worked in the industry, the only fair way for you to bring it to market it is to become independently wealthy, open your own studio, and sell it'.

'Unfair' isn't professionals trying to make the best game they can, the <i>only</i> way they can (with full creative control) . . . it's taking your narrow view of what mod-making is all about, and trying to force it upon everyone in the community.

It's selfish to try to keep the bar in mod-making as low as possible for your own personal glory.

littlewild · April 2003

I think it is very difficult to determine what "fair" means to everybody. Is it fair for professional to join a mod team to help it beat its so called "rival" mod? Is it fair to the person who came up with a great mod idea but is unable to execute it, only to see a professional take his idea and make it into a reality?

What is the difference a mod and a commercial game any way? Is a bunch of hobbyist making their dream come true any less or any greater than a team of professional developers that are being paid to make a "game"?

I guess everyone has the right to persue what they want in a game. A modification <b>modifies</b> the game to the players' liking. In essence, a mod can be a game on its own.

If the above is true, then I don't see anything wrong with professional game developers making games that they would like to play.

Aldaris · April 2003

If I remember corrrectly, that person said it was 'unfair' because he was hoping to use the mod as a springboard to a professional career in computer game development. If his mod was upstaged by a another mod which was made by professionals, his chances of a possible career may have been reduced.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with professionals in mod developement; they're people to, so they may be doing it as a hobby or just to share their creative genius, I can understand why this person in question was angry. Put yourself in his shoes, your potential job and career are screwed because someone muscled in on your 'territory'.

Then again, if he wasn't good enough to compete with a professional, his chances of getting a computer based job may of been slim in the first place

BathroomMonkey · April 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Put yourself in his shoes, your potential job and career are screwed because someone muscled in on your 'territory'.
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That's assuming that mods are like the minor leagues of professional companies, where the higher-ups actively follow the popular mods out there and spend a lot of time and energy trying to sign the talent that makes them. While this may happen in extremely rare instances (out of the countless half life mods out there, think of how many have been picked up by Valve), for the most part, modders get into the industry by using their game as an opportunity to develop a strong demo reel/portfolio.

I think most people in the industry will tell you that the quality of an applicant's work means much more than any sort of mod brand name attached to it.

Plus, the job argument doesn't sit well with me because it makes it sound like these pros are <i>hoarding</i> jobs. As if, based on his NS work, SLAP is now going to have five jobs in the gaming industry. They can only have one job. They've already got it. If they go to a new company, their position will open up, leading to no discernable decrease in the number of jobs available.

If someone is already crying foul at this point in the game, then I don't think that they're emotionally cut out for an industry that involves competition, criticism, and rejection.

Professionals In Mod Development

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