How to be helpful to a mod team!

[depotman]

I was wondering how anyone with terrible artistic abilities could ever be of any help to a mod team? Is that even possible?

I've been a "mapper" for quite some time (literally since about a year after HL1 was released), though I've never really released a map, I pretty much know how to do everything in Hammer. The problem is I don't have a broad photographic mind that attaches to every little detail (because, after all, maps look 100% better with more detail), so everything I do ends up looking plain and ordinary.

I've come to the conclusion that you really just need the "gift" to become a mapper. The ability to see things in your head and just go from there. Upon realization of this, I decided to look further into seeing how I can be part of a team.. you know.. just to be part of one for the experience.

So I narrowed down the choices to a few things that don't require any artistic skills (and let's be honest, most mods can live without a public relations "expert"):
Coder and Sound Technician. Both of these sound very expensive and time consuming.

For Coding, I asked someone if I should take C++ classes at my University to learn game developing to which he replied it was a waste of time as it won't get you comfortable with programming for the HL2 SDK anyway. And as far as sound developing goes, it seems that it requires some hardcore sound equipment($), or FruityLoops (which seems pretty limited).

Sorry for the rant, but does anyone have any words of encouragement for someone who has a lot of spare time to learn new things, but doesn't want to waste their time with something that they will never be good at with such a fragile artistic mind? :bounce:

 

[theholygod]

I think thats completely wrong. If you have been a mapper for as long as you say you have been, then you probably know Hammer inside out by now. Are you capable of making fun maps? maybe you just need to go over the map and put in detail afterwards?

 

[Crispy]

(and let's be honest, most mods can live without a public relations "expert")

He lies!

I was wondering how anyone with terrible artistic abilities could ever be of any help to a mod team? Is that even possible?

I've been a "mapper" for quite some time (literally since about a year after HL1 was released), though I've never really released a map, I pretty much know how to do everything in Hammer. The problem is I don't have a broad photographic mind that attaches to every little detail (because, after all, maps look 100% better with more detail), so everything I do ends up looking plain and ordinary.

I've come to the conclusion that you really just need the "gift" to become a mapper. The ability to see things in your head and just go from there.

Biggest thing you need for mapping is dedication. Making a map takes far longer than a model. Even code can be broken down into belonging to specific features.

If you don't think you have the 'gift' for detail, there are still gameplay types you could work on. Fortress style mods value design high above visual details. If you have the experience and you want to do something worthwhile, I'd suggest seeing if you can release a map and thenmake a decision depending on how that goes. Try making a custom map for SourceForts, it's almost 100% design-oriented mapping with barely any need for detail. The architecture is bold and basic shapes, there aren't really decals or detailed lighting and the map itself can be relatively small. An experienced mapper could feasibly churn one out in a day. The other advantage is that SourceForts still has a smallish community who would probably jump on a new map to play on.

If none of that works you could always consider game testing. All mods need testers if they're going to get anywhere. Beta Watcher would be a good start to get you some credentials, as a mod will be far more likely to open up their inner secrets and game build to a stranger if they can show they are a proficient tester (otherwise you usually need to be 'best buds' to get a spot). Get some betas under your belt, SAVE any reports you write so you have evidence of your work and then try to get some mod testing going. You might even be able to work your way up to Lead Tester if you have good organisational skills.

 

[Kester^]

Personally I think every mod should have someone specifically for PR. Countless mods have felt hard done by when Black Mesa gets awards, and they seem to get totally ignored, even though they are great looking mods, and it's purely down to our PR.

We have great PR, every time we release media we know what we're doing, why we're doing it and what we expect to get out of it.

Take last years moddb awards. We won for the second year running, even though we only released media on 2 occasions, and they were a month apart from each other. They did however perfectly coincide with each round of voting on the moddb awards.

Coincedence? No.

We had a PR plan, we stuck to it, and it paid off. So now for the second year running we are the most anticipated mod, currently being created for any game out there.

Granted we have a great team of artists to back up all the PR work we do, but without the PR we'd not have the support to find these great artists.

Also PR isn't just about media releases, it's doing interviews, pod casts, radio shows, etc. Which means time on development, that if the artists were filling the PR role, is lost.

 

[Crispy]

Personally I think every mod should have someone specifically for PR. Countless mods have felt hard done by when Black Mesa gets awards, and they seem to get totally ignored, even though they are great looking mods, and it's purely down to our PR.

We have great PR, every time we release media we know what we're doing, why we're doing it and what we expect to get out of it.

Take last years moddb awards. We won for the second year running, even though we only released media on 2 occasions, and they were a month apart from each other. They did however perfectly coincide with each round of voting on the moddb awards.

Coincedence? No.

We had a PR plan, we stuck to it, and it paid off. So now for the second year running we are the most anticipated mod, currently being created for any game out there.

Granted we have a great team of artists to back up all the PR work we do, but without the PR we'd not have the support to find these great artists.

Also PR isn't just about media releases, it's doing interviews, pod casts, radio shows, etc. Which means time on development, that if the artists were filling the PR role, is lost.

I think there's a lot of truth in this, PR does pay off (it's fascinating to browse through website statistics and match the peaks and troughs to your mod's media coverage), but it really depends on the scale of the project. If you're working on something aiming for the quality and scale that Black Mesa has, you're going to want to reach out to the most talented artists and you may well have to make frequent recruitment drives because it's such a massive project and people won't have the stamina to work on something for 3-4 years solid. A smaller scale project with less ambitious art and a less ambitious end goal won't need someone just to do PR necessarily.

 

[Majestic XII]

I believe that the Project Lead/Designer can handle all of the PR along side of designing and planning. Besides, doing PR is quite nice after writing design stuff for hours on end.

 

[depotman]

Personally I think every mod should have someone specifically for PR. Countless mods have felt hard done by when Black Mesa gets awards, and they seem to get totally ignored, even though they are great looking mods, and it's purely down to our PR.

We have great PR, every time we release media we know what we're doing, why we're doing it and what we expect to get out of it.

Take last years moddb awards. We won for the second year running, even though we only released media on 2 occasions, and they were a month apart from each other. They did however perfectly coincide with each round of voting on the moddb awards.

Coincedence? No.

We had a PR plan, we stuck to it, and it paid off. So now for the second year running we are the most anticipated mod, currently being created for any game out there.

Granted we have a great team of artists to back up all the PR work we do, but without the PR we'd not have the support to find these great artists.

Also PR isn't just about media releases, it's doing interviews, pod casts, radio shows, etc. Which means time on development, that if the artists were filling the PR role, is lost.

The problem with that is that you'll notice your mod is not only the most anticipated HL2 mod, but THE ONLY anticipated HL2 mod (generally). I agree that Public Relations is needed but there are so little mod teams that recognize this. Maybe you could use your elite public relations skills to put forth a "Public Relations" movement?

 

[Ennui]

I believe that the Project Lead/Designer can handle all of the PR along side of designing and planning. Besides, doing PR is quite nice after writing design stuff for hours on end.

^