*sorry for the long post*
Coming back after an absence of some month and taking a look around I see that not much has changed, some articles in the wiki are updated but with minor changes and the same questions are asked in the forums...
Some of the features I need for my mod are still not documented enough and I hadn't had the time to write about it myself. Even though the mod is on ice for the time being because of other activites.
As for the mod quality vs. professional game development I have to say that I had a glimpse inside development during my first semester at a game design school and what some mod teams managed to do and how they did that in their free time is quite impressive and much more "professional" than what happens at some game developers. But they have more money to outsource aspect of their games to professionals like voice over to recording studios or cutscenes to film studios which is not possible for mod developers (afaik). So the quality is sometimes lower in aspects of the mod but the main focus of the mod is much better. So it is always in the eye of the beholder what is a good mod and what not. I played some of the mods that had no voice overs and some with and compared to the original game they were not bad at all just different. When using no voice over there is the problem that the characters use voice for commands or combat and could be a problem but it didn't make it a bad mod. It is more annoying to have inconsequent use of voice overs like it was in DAO or DA2. So go fully voice or not at all. just my opinion...
IMO mods that expand the single player are more complicated because of voice overs and inconsistencies with the campaign as standalone mods. In a standalone mod you have full control over every aspect of if while on an addin you have to look out for pitfalls with every decision you make. Too much xp from you mod can make the campaign too easy or different points of entry can screw with your balancing. A lot of work has to go in the planning phase for aspects like when is the first possible point of entry, how will the character get there and what will be the result after the addin, what consequences has the mod that could influence the campaign.
so much for my opinion on mods...
as for information or tools needed I would say the wiki is ok if not complete and for more detailed questions the forum is ok as well even though some more stickies would be nice for questions that surface a lot.
Something that would interest me a lot is more detailed tutorial on custom classes, backgrounds and companions in standalone mods as there are detailed articles about addins but most if it is not usable in standalone mods or it is not explained enough. Another point of interest is skipping chargen with custom classes and backgrounds which will not kill the game...
Modifié par Apolyon6k, 15 septembre 2011 - 11:08 .
Retour en haut
