HL2 Mods

[MilkMan12]

I searched for a thread on this but could not find anything that really explains what I am about to ask. I keep seeing all these previews for mods like Insurgency or the others that are on the home page of this website. All these mods sound wayyyy too good to be true. What does it mean when they say they are mods for half life 2? Does this mean they will become free downloads? Thats why I say its too good to be true, these mods sound like full $50 games. Are they going to be downloadable free mods, or will they be seperate games that will cost money?

 

[Mujuro]

They're free. Counter-Strike is a modification as well my friend, but you can purchase at the store if you want. Most people think Counter-Strike is a game, so funny...

 

[poseyjmac]

well, you can bet they will be free while in development. a mod team will be able to charge $ for their mods through steam though, so you can be sure that the successful mods will be selling their mods on steam.

imo its going to turn into something similar to a music scene, you got your underground purist mods that don't charge a penny, and then you got your pop mods that will charge, except the pop mods won't suck.

 

[Plug]

At this point it's fairly safe to assume that most mods will be free to download, as with halflife's previous mod scene.

However valve have mentioned options for high quality mod developers to ask for a small price for their work, which seems totally fair enough to me.


It does seem too good to be true - but the fact is, the experience and exposure making a high quality mod brings to the entire team is invaluable. Take counterstrike and day of defeat for example, they were hired by valve.

You don't get a better break in the industry than that.

 

[Ames]

game, so funny...

I thought that said guinny.

And of course these mods sound too good to be true, would you want to say your mod was crap?

:bounce:

 

[hasan]

yes, mods are free, if you don't believe it do some research on half-life mods. they are all free and some of them are very very good. (the only thing is that many of thier graphics are bad)

 

[Neom]

I personaly dont like the idea of being able to charge for a mod.unless its like 3 bucks then i might MIGHT accept that.

I can just see it now all the worth while mods will cost cash.
Might as well just buy new games!

lets see how this plays out.

 

[SMT]

They're free. Counter-Strike is a modification as well my friend, but you can purchase at the store if you want. Most people think Counter-Strike is a game, so funny...

Counter-Strike is a game. It has rules and objectives and it is meant to be played. Durr.

 

[SidewinderX]

I really, really, really, really don't like the idea of mods being able to charge for thier work... so many crap mods will sprout up thnking they'll make money. And there's the chance that worthwhile mods won't get played.


Another reason I don't like the idea is the fact that mods are, in general, no cost operations. The only costs they might have are owning a few servers, paying for webspace/domain name. So charging money on steam will merely be out of desire for money, not to pay salarys of the team members.

 

[Mujuro]

Counter-Strike is a game of course, but it started and will always be a modification. It never started retail, so therefore considered a modification...

 

[poseyjmac]

itd be nice if steam had something where, your mod has to get a certain amount of players at one time before you can start charging $. that would make it so the initial production of the mod would be quality, instead of a sloppy attempt to get a few $.

 

[poseyjmac]

Counter-Strike is a game of course, but it started and will always be a modification. It never started retail, so therefore considered a modification...

it can only retain the title of modification if it relies on a base game to run.

 

[MilkMan12]

So when Insurgency comes out it will be free? Thats really awesome, I cant believe people take so much time to design what basically is a whole new game for nothing ( at first, after time I bet they get hired because of their work). Its truly incredible. However I remember in the Valve questions sticky, that someone asked if someone remade HL1 completely with the Source engine, that the line would be crossed for free mods, because then HLSource would be worth nothing. I forget where, but I see so many people saying they are remaking HL when I bet they will be restrained from releasing to the public. Maybe im wrong

 

[BrimStone04]

games are mods, same difference.....they are just games made from other games...all connected and playable for our enjoyment

 

[mortey]

I hope natural selection will be free if it comes over to hl2.

 

[ktimekiller]

it will be

 

[hasan]

Yes, I too really really really really really really hate the idea of charging for mods, that's like gonna ruin the whole point of mods.

 

[DrunkPanda]

yeah, i think it's a horrible idea that valve is allowing people to charge for mods too. i'm going to avoid mods that cost money like the plague and i think a lot of other people will too. it would really suck to pay for a mod and find out that it sucks. i can't understand why valve is allowing modders to charge money. no other game is doing that! makes me sad

 

[poseyjmac]

yeah, i think it's a horrible idea that valve is allowing people to charge for mods too. i'm going to avoid mods that cost money like the plague and i think a lot of other people will too. it would really suck to pay for a mod and find out that it sucks. i can't understand why valve is allowing modders to charge money. no other game is doing that! makes me sad

use your noggins, guys. CS was free for a long time, until it became release quality. every mod is going to be free during initial development, do you really think they are gonna charge you to play an alpha? you'll know exactly how much a mod sucks/rocks before you are presented with the choice to buy it.

 

[hasan]

even if a mod is cool, I won't pay for it. unless it's below $3 maybe .. just maybe.

 

[DrunkPanda]

use your noggins, guys. CS was free for a long time, until it became release quality. every mod is going to be free during initial development, do you really think they are gonna charge you to play an alpha? you'll know exactly how much a mod sucks/rocks before you are presented with the choice to buy it.

cs is still free. i guess you are right that we would be able to see what a mod is like before choosing to buy it but i still don't like this pay-for-mod idea. free mods are a huge part of what made everyone love half life. why would valve ruin a good thing by allowing modders charge for mods?

 

[koopa]

yeah, i think it's a horrible idea that valve is allowing people to charge for mods too. i'm going to avoid mods that cost money like the plague and i think a lot of other people will too.

It's good marketing though - I'm sure many mod authors do it for the love of the game, but I'm also sure that allowing mod guys to charge will attract more mod authors. It's a move to attract 'professional' level mod teams. I guess it's nice to have the possibility, if even just to cover costs - but like you I'll probably be avoiding the money mods.

 

[cronholio]

I'd gladly pay for a good mod. I'd pay 15-20 bucks for DoD, it's great. The point of making mods was never to give everyone free games, it's done for the developer's own selfish reasons. They want to learn something, the get a joy out of creating something, they love the game, they want it to turn into a career... None of them though, I guarantee you, does it because they want to give away free stuff.

Anyway, I think what Valve is doing is great, I'll pay for the mods I like, those guys deserve it. I'm working on a mod of my own and if it's good enough that someone wants to pay for it I'll take their money in a heartbeat.

 

[aeroripper]

It makes sense that you are being charged for CS:S.

True its counterstrike... but your also paying for the source engine. So in a way all mods arn't "free" because you had to own the original game in the first place. So really paying for a game like hl2 is money well spent because you will have even more "free" games down the road, even if a mod becomes bought and charges a small fee to do it, i'd glady pay it if it is a best of the best kind of mod. All the work these mod people put in really is amazing.

 

[iamaelephant]

I will never in my life pay for a mod, I don't care how good it is.

 

[Spartan]

None of them though, I guarantee you, does it because they want to give away free stuff.

Are you a spokesperson for the mod community of the world, or something?

 

[cronholio]

Yep, but if you don't believe me talk to anyone recruitting for a mod. None of them have altruistic intentions. The pitch is always "You'll have to work for free for now, but when we sell it... yadda, yadda, yadda" and they all try to set their mods up like little corporations. They actually say they are "hiring" in a lot of cases and want to to agree to some contract. It's ridiculous. The guys who started doing it initially back in the Doom days did it for fun (a selfish reason), or to impress people (a selfish reason), or to learn something (a selfish reason), now almost everyone seems to be doing it for money or some sort of glory.

I have never ever, ever heard of a mod maker doing it purely because they wanted to make free stuff for people. I don't believe one exists. I'm making my mod because it's something I think will be entertaining and I want to play it (selfish). If there's money to be made, all the better.

 

[koopa]

Yep, but if you don't believe me talk to anyone recruitting for a mod. None of them have altruistic intentions. The pitch is always "You'll have to work for free for now, but when we sell it... yadda, yadda, yadda" and they all try to set their mods up like little corporations.

I think that's mostly delusions of grandeur/pretentiousness rather than commercialism. I hate the way you get guys working in their bedrooms looking for help saying things like 'Flatline Studios is looking to hire 3 coders, 3 artists etc for their professional mod project'.

The thing is: there is no money to be made with mods.

. Agreed, for the most part.

 

[Spartan]

The thing is: there is no money to be made with mods.

 

[cronholio]

Correction there used to be no money to made in mods. Now you can. How many HL mods did Valve buy? 4? 5?

 

[Spartan]

Gunman Chronicles
Counter-Strike
Teamfortress
Day of Defeat

That's just four out of x thousand mods.

 

[cronholio]

Ricochet?

How many full blown mods have been released? According to mod database 823 for all the games they cover and a healthy chunk of those aren't actually "released". MODDB has 147 "released" mods for Halflife. So, take out all the mods that aren't really realeased, are just packs a garbage like "crappack", are simple mods like +hook, aren't based on original concepts and itellectual property (no Pokemod, no DBZ mods), take out mods that are dead in the water... How many do you really have left? A handful. If you come up with a truly good original concept and stick with it, odds are good you can make some money off it.

 

[Argyll]

So when Insurgency comes out it will be free?

Sure will.