About modding games...
polycounter lvl 9
Say you worked 2-3 years on a project. You're super proud of your work. All of the team is happy of the art and everthing.
Then during PC release, modders creates new 3D ''upgraded'' models, with new HQ textures, lighting,etc.
Aren't you a lil bit upset that they denaturlazed the original art style and work just to make the game fit their photorealsitic vision?
As much as I'm impressed with, for say, all of the Skyrim mods or the GTA IV mods, in which pretty much, alot of textures, animations, models have been re-worked, don't you think it's like disrespecting the work of the people who worked on it?
I was in a thread earlier and you know how some gamers are really ignorant about the game industry. There's this comment that really made me angry.
They were discussing about the new available mods on a game and then this guy went and said'' Oh man, it's sad to see modders make a better job than the devs''..
It's like these people don't give about the original vision the art direction had for the game, it's like for them, your work is never satisfying and so they completely change the art style to fit their ideal visions on how the game should look like..
It kinda makes me...upset.
Then during PC release, modders creates new 3D ''upgraded'' models, with new HQ textures, lighting,etc.
Aren't you a lil bit upset that they denaturlazed the original art style and work just to make the game fit their photorealsitic vision?
As much as I'm impressed with, for say, all of the Skyrim mods or the GTA IV mods, in which pretty much, alot of textures, animations, models have been re-worked, don't you think it's like disrespecting the work of the people who worked on it?
I was in a thread earlier and you know how some gamers are really ignorant about the game industry. There's this comment that really made me angry.
They were discussing about the new available mods on a game and then this guy went and said'' Oh man, it's sad to see modders make a better job than the devs''..
It's like these people don't give about the original vision the art direction had for the game, it's like for them, your work is never satisfying and so they completely change the art style to fit their ideal visions on how the game should look like..
It kinda makes me...upset.
Replies
Now, we have to learn to take it with a grain of salt. you'll run into much worse comments as you walk down this career path. Can never let yourself become demotivated by it.
I wouldn't be upset if someone wanted to redesign or improve my work, hell, I've often wanted to go back and re-work my own art. I don't see why this would make anyone angry. Most artists will tell you an asset is never done, you simply have to stop working on it at some point.
Often times with mods, especially mods that remodel or texture assets with higher resolution maps or more polygons, the modders do not have the same restraints as the original developers. If I mod a 1 million poly car into GTA that only runs on super high end GPUs I'm sure someone will think that is cool and download it. If a dev does that, it will ruin performance and compatibility on a wide range of hardware. Modders typically are not working under time constraints either, so it's not directly comparable.
Its sort of like comparing restaurant food to what you can make at home. Sure, if you can afford to buy the best ingredients and spend half the day cooking it, you can make a restaurant quality meal. But can you make 100 of them in a night? Can you make a profit doing it? Etc.. Apples to oranges.
Whatever the uninitiated have to say about it is unimportant. Enter comment sections at own risk.
For example, I've heard some chefs get frustrated when the customer adds extra condiments to certain dishes such as rice, steak, or soup. You'd think the chef would season the food just right to attain that certain perfection, but everybody has their own taste.
I'll admit I've downloaded Skyrim mods that add a ton of trees or torches in one town, but that's just the way I like it.
I'm pretty sure most gamers think that the workshop stuff for example is created by non professionals, but in reality the top stuff is created by the best of the best.
If someone looks at a game piece, then compares it to a modded game piece and says "I like this one better." - you can't judge them for judging art. It's just personal preference and all the art history in the world isn't going to change the fact that we all see art differently
That's of course why it's an important medium for human history and development.
/Soapbox
I think it's best to embrace the interactive side of games in every possible way.
Yeh, I guess we should take these positively..
For me, when a piece of art is shared with others, it becomes theirs too, because its in their imagination. To insist that no one should ever imagine anything past what the original artist created is, for me, missing the point. A game with a huge modding community is a game that's loved. It reached people and made them dream of new things vividly enough that they wanted to share it with others.
I love seeing the mod community for games I've worked on, means it's not a shit game to me. Especially since I started through a love of modding.
They will also sometimes think of weird or obscure ways of using what we've created, which is always interesting to see it viewed through different eyes.