Polycount
polycounter lvl 18
i've been coming here since it was the Q2pmp. And what I love about this place is what it achieves. It succeeds in promoting the idea of player customization and the art of doing so, not just the art, but the actual implementation.
We have other websites that focus on game art, yes game art is important but to me thats what makes polycount different. Its about the idea. Thats what keeps me coming back here. Polycount isn't about the money to me. Its about the love. Polycount pushes artists from a totally different angle. Not simply the angle of making pretty art and getting into the game industry but it pushes from the angle of making a higher level of player customization. I think thats great, Polycount taps into another source of inspiration.
I believe polycount has influenced the game industry into making player characters more customizable. Ive seen polycount be the reason game companies release tools for artists to create and mod their characters.
To me polycounts always been about people creating game characters and putting them into a game for the LOVE of doing it.
I really hope none of that changes. Don't lose focus Polycount.
just my 2 cents
We have other websites that focus on game art, yes game art is important but to me thats what makes polycount different. Its about the idea. Thats what keeps me coming back here. Polycount isn't about the money to me. Its about the love. Polycount pushes artists from a totally different angle. Not simply the angle of making pretty art and getting into the game industry but it pushes from the angle of making a higher level of player customization. I think thats great, Polycount taps into another source of inspiration.
I believe polycount has influenced the game industry into making player characters more customizable. Ive seen polycount be the reason game companies release tools for artists to create and mod their characters.
To me polycounts always been about people creating game characters and putting them into a game for the LOVE of doing it.
I really hope none of that changes. Don't lose focus Polycount.
just my 2 cents
Replies
at first i wasn't sure why this needed its own thread, but then again i guess it's more of a philosophical question, rather than about the nuts and bolts of the redesign.
we've been faced with obsolescence or at the very least being rendered inconsequential if the site doesn't keep up with the core, the heart of polycount, which is here in the forums. plugin player models just aren't what they used to be, and as much as we'd like to maintain an up to date archive of cheapalert's gargoyle models and quake mods, i think we're better off reflecting the current state of hobbyist/professional model design. we're still going to keep the model archive around, and we're not trying to become another cgchat or cgtalk or whatever. we are still going to be about helping people do what they LOVE, like you said.
but for the longest time the only way you could get to forums was a tiny, tiny link buried in a big long sidebar on the old site. we want it to be the same community, with just a few updates, and more accessible to newcomers. we can't really help people if they can only make it to the forums via a secret password or special word of mouth. though we're also not trying to expand the site into some sort of huge, impersonal and faceless conglomerate. we don't want that to happen i don't think it will. as vito said, this stuff about redesigning the front page is just a way of augmenting it to reflect what has been the reality for a very long now--the life is here in the forums, we're just trying to supplement that with a useful front page, not some creaky, byzantine collection of half dead links and urls that nobody visits anymore.
but thank you for your input--we sure as hell don't want to change a thing about the essential nature of this site.
Since I don't see how playermodels take away from the forums, I'd say the only real change needed is a bigger and more prominent "Forums" button.
Scott
but there is the networking, tutorials, and the occasional peice of inspirational art.
I remember it being more fun, but technology moves quickly.
this place is about boobs, gargoyle cocks, homogeneity, bandwagons, imbreeding, and a sausage fest.
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Ahh, all the best in life in one place. I knew there were reasons I started comming here.
Just make the forums button bigger. Dont take away all the resources, skins and models people have been fueling this place with for the last 8 years.
and remember...
ITS A CONSTANT COSTUME PARTY
Less and less custom player models are submitted and created over time. Mostly due to the difficult art path of new game models. But PPM seems to be dying to me. It will most likely be replaced with easier to use parametric body part options in future titles. Personally i'm heavily discouraged by the incredible work studios have been pumping out for UE3 and the likes. At least with Q3 we could compete in art quality relativly easy.
Ok i'm done. I love this place, dont get me wrong. How about a Q4 server that supports custom PPM, or only allows entry if you made your own to a certain spec?
As for Quake 4 custom PPMs, well, until the frontpage is fully operational we won't see many of them shared anyway.