J
JohnBrown
Guest
I'm looking to organize a team to begin design and production of a near-professional and high-quality mod. The driving purpose behind the mod's creation, and the members interested in joining, should be to create a very enjoyable, very professional looking modification to both show to potential employers and to release to the public.
(I should note, to prevent any potential misunderstandings, that I do NOT have any contacts in the gaming industry, nor do I have any particular companies/employers that are to be targetted. Rather, the idea is to create a product that can initiate contacts with employers and demostrate valuable skills, while at the same time having fun and creating a fun mod.)
I apologize for the verbosity of the following post, but I'd like to take a couple moments to clarify, to ensure that those interested understand where I'm coming from and what I'm looking to accomplish. Here's some of the details, in convenient question-answer form!
That sounds like a boring idea... shouldn't the mod be created for fun?
Absolutely, I don't want to convey this as a business proposition. I enjoy modding, and it's be ideal to do this sort of thing for a living! The end-all goal for the mod itself is to be fun, highly playable, and attractive. I intend for the team to have fun making the mod, even if no job in the gaming industry comes from it.
Why look for others interested in breaking into the gaming industry then?
Ideally, the team should all have the same/shared goal. Modding is very time-intensive, and everybody benefits if the entire team is focused on creating a very polished product. Moreover, stating this objective implies the caliber of people that I'm looking to join with...
Well, what kind of people are you looking to join with?
People with experience or education in their field. College graduates, (or soon-to-be grads), people with experience modding, modelling, map-making, etc. It's true that we all have to start somewhere, but the idea for this group is to be people who have the tools and skills necessary to succeed -- people who can not only set schedules for themselves, but also work well in a team to ensure that everything flows smoothly and efficiently. They need to be mature, intelligent, creative, fun, and respectful of others. Though mod-experience is not needed, it is desired.
But what kind of mod are we talking about here?
Well, I'm not planning on being a despot mod leader or designer, and as such, the nature of the mod is completely in the air. I prefer the democratic approach; I'd like to assemble a team of people, and we can then develop and design the idea. Being on a team is a heckuva lot of work, so this will ensure that everybody is doing something they want to be doing. Of course, if a majority of the eventual team comes up with an idea that you'd rather not do, there would be no hard feelings if you choose to leave.
Besides, having input on the idea from several people from a range of backgrounds will make sure that the idea is solid and appeals to a larger audience.
What's the time frame of work on the mod?
It's tough to say at this point. After the team is formed, it will take several weeks to come to a consensus and develop the overall design documentation. From there, I anticipate a six to twelve month development period for an initial release, (this, obviously, is highly dependent on the nature of the design). Following the initial release, I would expect a three-to-six month iterative development and release strategy, based on user feedback.
Anyone with experience in a mod team knows how tough it can be to keep schedules, which is why I'm hoping to assemble a team dedicated to seeing the project through completion. We can formulate team/individual deadlines and schedules to try to keep the whole team on track.
I'd like to know more...
Great! Feel free to PM me or respond here if you're interested in joining the team, or just have questions. This is very much in the formation stage, so if you change your mind at any time, there will be no hard feelings whatsoever. I know this is a somewhat different approach to creating a mod-team, but I trust there are like-minded people out there.
But wait... who are you?
I'm a recent college graduate with a degree in Computer Science. I have experience modding with Call of Duty, but have yet to begin modding in HL2. (I'll be getting more and more oriented with the code base in the next weeks and through the design stages.)
Who are you looking for?
Mappers, programmers, sound-engineers, modellers/animators (3D artists), texturers. A web-designer/2D artist would be ideal too, though those tasks can definitely be handled by myself, other programmers, and the artists.
Anything else?
A couple more things, on a more serious note. If you're interested but misrepresent yourself while attempting to join the team (i.e., claiming to have graduated college while still being in highschool, claiming experience where you have none, etc.) you'll be promptly asked to leave. For modellers/texturers/map-makers, I'll need to see examples of previous work. Doesn't have to be anything major, just showing that you're capable -- the best code in the world doesn't make up for a mod if the maps or models are horrendous, just like great maps and models don't make up for poor code or gameplay.
That about covers it. As I said, if you have any questions/comments/feedback, please respond to this post or PM me; I promise to reply promptly. I know this idea isn't for everybody, but hopefully, it'll be for enough people to form a team.
Thanks for your time!
(I should note, to prevent any potential misunderstandings, that I do NOT have any contacts in the gaming industry, nor do I have any particular companies/employers that are to be targetted. Rather, the idea is to create a product that can initiate contacts with employers and demostrate valuable skills, while at the same time having fun and creating a fun mod.)
I apologize for the verbosity of the following post, but I'd like to take a couple moments to clarify, to ensure that those interested understand where I'm coming from and what I'm looking to accomplish. Here's some of the details, in convenient question-answer form!
That sounds like a boring idea... shouldn't the mod be created for fun?
Absolutely, I don't want to convey this as a business proposition. I enjoy modding, and it's be ideal to do this sort of thing for a living! The end-all goal for the mod itself is to be fun, highly playable, and attractive. I intend for the team to have fun making the mod, even if no job in the gaming industry comes from it.
Why look for others interested in breaking into the gaming industry then?
Ideally, the team should all have the same/shared goal. Modding is very time-intensive, and everybody benefits if the entire team is focused on creating a very polished product. Moreover, stating this objective implies the caliber of people that I'm looking to join with...
Well, what kind of people are you looking to join with?
People with experience or education in their field. College graduates, (or soon-to-be grads), people with experience modding, modelling, map-making, etc. It's true that we all have to start somewhere, but the idea for this group is to be people who have the tools and skills necessary to succeed -- people who can not only set schedules for themselves, but also work well in a team to ensure that everything flows smoothly and efficiently. They need to be mature, intelligent, creative, fun, and respectful of others. Though mod-experience is not needed, it is desired.
But what kind of mod are we talking about here?
Well, I'm not planning on being a despot mod leader or designer, and as such, the nature of the mod is completely in the air. I prefer the democratic approach; I'd like to assemble a team of people, and we can then develop and design the idea. Being on a team is a heckuva lot of work, so this will ensure that everybody is doing something they want to be doing. Of course, if a majority of the eventual team comes up with an idea that you'd rather not do, there would be no hard feelings if you choose to leave.
Besides, having input on the idea from several people from a range of backgrounds will make sure that the idea is solid and appeals to a larger audience.
What's the time frame of work on the mod?
It's tough to say at this point. After the team is formed, it will take several weeks to come to a consensus and develop the overall design documentation. From there, I anticipate a six to twelve month development period for an initial release, (this, obviously, is highly dependent on the nature of the design). Following the initial release, I would expect a three-to-six month iterative development and release strategy, based on user feedback.
Anyone with experience in a mod team knows how tough it can be to keep schedules, which is why I'm hoping to assemble a team dedicated to seeing the project through completion. We can formulate team/individual deadlines and schedules to try to keep the whole team on track.
I'd like to know more...
Great! Feel free to PM me or respond here if you're interested in joining the team, or just have questions. This is very much in the formation stage, so if you change your mind at any time, there will be no hard feelings whatsoever. I know this is a somewhat different approach to creating a mod-team, but I trust there are like-minded people out there.
But wait... who are you?
I'm a recent college graduate with a degree in Computer Science. I have experience modding with Call of Duty, but have yet to begin modding in HL2. (I'll be getting more and more oriented with the code base in the next weeks and through the design stages.)
Who are you looking for?
Mappers, programmers, sound-engineers, modellers/animators (3D artists), texturers. A web-designer/2D artist would be ideal too, though those tasks can definitely be handled by myself, other programmers, and the artists.
Anything else?
A couple more things, on a more serious note. If you're interested but misrepresent yourself while attempting to join the team (i.e., claiming to have graduated college while still being in highschool, claiming experience where you have none, etc.) you'll be promptly asked to leave. For modellers/texturers/map-makers, I'll need to see examples of previous work. Doesn't have to be anything major, just showing that you're capable -- the best code in the world doesn't make up for a mod if the maps or models are horrendous, just like great maps and models don't make up for poor code or gameplay.
That about covers it. As I said, if you have any questions/comments/feedback, please respond to this post or PM me; I promise to reply promptly. I know this idea isn't for everybody, but hopefully, it'll be for enough people to form a team.
Thanks for your time!
