08-10-2012, 07:00
How to go on with a Modding community if there are no tools?
This is the question that was asked to me and my short response is this: As long as there are still some tools then there will be modding communities.
Of course the short response doesnt contain the core idea behind this philosophy which is somewhat more complex. The modtools that are no more in this particular question are those which were bundled with all the Call of Duty iteration up to Call of Duty Black Ops [although for this last one it can be argued that the tools provided only contains gameplay modification tools and no mapping/level editing tools]. The COD franchise, some will comment, was made popular by modders; imagine a time where the franchise was solely on PC and where thousands of full servers would run custom levels and modifications 24/7. With each COD iteration came more and more modders/map makers with the culmination being Call of Duty World at War which brought along a new breed of modders/mappers with the ever so popular Zombie mode; at that point [2009-2010] the number modding communities were exploding. At the same time however the Console version of COD were getting popular and with this so did the Downloadable Content or DLC, it was a matter of time before the PC was to also get new Official levels by way of DLC and this almost immediately marked the end of the Modtools as so many of us knew them. Not everyone will conform with this mathematic of course, DLC is perhaps not the sole reason for the lack of Modtools; Shorter development cycle, possible cost cutting measure or even engine modifications getting heavier at each iteration probably all contributed to the lack of tools in the InfinityWard COD iterations for instance Black Ops has the merit of having limited tools available but lacks the community members behind it to create new content as level editing was left out.
So what is left? Well quite a bit if you ask me, and the large number of mappers still creating levels or even modifications for COD2/COD4 and CODWAW is quite a testament to the popularity of this hobby. Of course the numbers are in decline but what is important is that everyone involved are enjoying it. This will certainly continue for a minority of hard core fan of the early COD, this alone can keep a community going.
But as said the number are clearly in decline and this will keep on going that way with each new COD released without tools as player move on; Many Modern Warfare 2/3 players today on PC have no clue what a modded server or custom map is this we, the community are quite powerless to change. There is another side to this however and this is something that I have been direct witness several times now: Community hired Level Designer. What if not the best prize a custom map maker can get but a job at InfinityWard or Treyarch and continue creating levels for all to enjoy (ok not for free). This is a purpose the tools still carry today, COD4 modtools being at the top of the list; its the shortcut to the COD franchise machine for the most talented and another reason for Modding community to exist.
In conclusion I have to admit being a realist, the tools might have dictated the popularity of the early COD titles but in the end the Studios/Publishers are in command to providing us with the chance to modify their game/engine the good news is, COD is not the only game worth modding It is worth mentioning is that this hobby is literally thriving for other titles; Games like Skyrim or Valves infinite number of Tool-enable Source titles are living proof and of course the already available SDK suite like UDK or CryEngine are getting extremely popular and new communities are created around all these others titles/tools.
There will always be communities around video games modtools, the only thing that might change is the video game!
Written by @zeroy on http://www.blackmonkeys.de/?p=7920
This is the question that was asked to me and my short response is this: As long as there are still some tools then there will be modding communities.
Of course the short response doesnt contain the core idea behind this philosophy which is somewhat more complex. The modtools that are no more in this particular question are those which were bundled with all the Call of Duty iteration up to Call of Duty Black Ops [although for this last one it can be argued that the tools provided only contains gameplay modification tools and no mapping/level editing tools]. The COD franchise, some will comment, was made popular by modders; imagine a time where the franchise was solely on PC and where thousands of full servers would run custom levels and modifications 24/7. With each COD iteration came more and more modders/map makers with the culmination being Call of Duty World at War which brought along a new breed of modders/mappers with the ever so popular Zombie mode; at that point [2009-2010] the number modding communities were exploding. At the same time however the Console version of COD were getting popular and with this so did the Downloadable Content or DLC, it was a matter of time before the PC was to also get new Official levels by way of DLC and this almost immediately marked the end of the Modtools as so many of us knew them. Not everyone will conform with this mathematic of course, DLC is perhaps not the sole reason for the lack of Modtools; Shorter development cycle, possible cost cutting measure or even engine modifications getting heavier at each iteration probably all contributed to the lack of tools in the InfinityWard COD iterations for instance Black Ops has the merit of having limited tools available but lacks the community members behind it to create new content as level editing was left out.
So what is left? Well quite a bit if you ask me, and the large number of mappers still creating levels or even modifications for COD2/COD4 and CODWAW is quite a testament to the popularity of this hobby. Of course the numbers are in decline but what is important is that everyone involved are enjoying it. This will certainly continue for a minority of hard core fan of the early COD, this alone can keep a community going.
But as said the number are clearly in decline and this will keep on going that way with each new COD released without tools as player move on; Many Modern Warfare 2/3 players today on PC have no clue what a modded server or custom map is this we, the community are quite powerless to change. There is another side to this however and this is something that I have been direct witness several times now: Community hired Level Designer. What if not the best prize a custom map maker can get but a job at InfinityWard or Treyarch and continue creating levels for all to enjoy (ok not for free). This is a purpose the tools still carry today, COD4 modtools being at the top of the list; its the shortcut to the COD franchise machine for the most talented and another reason for Modding community to exist.
In conclusion I have to admit being a realist, the tools might have dictated the popularity of the early COD titles but in the end the Studios/Publishers are in command to providing us with the chance to modify their game/engine the good news is, COD is not the only game worth modding It is worth mentioning is that this hobby is literally thriving for other titles; Games like Skyrim or Valves infinite number of Tool-enable Source titles are living proof and of course the already available SDK suite like UDK or CryEngine are getting extremely popular and new communities are created around all these others titles/tools.
There will always be communities around video games modtools, the only thing that might change is the video game!
Written by @zeroy on http://www.blackmonkeys.de/?p=7920
![[Image: MaEIQ.png]](http://i.imgur.com/MaEIQ.png)
