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Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Tue Mar 14th at 12:30am 2006

I'm just curious to see how many members of the SnarkPit have ever been part of a mod team. Mappers, coders, texture artists, whatever. Feel free to reply with how many mod's you've been in and any thoughts on the experience.

Were any successfully released? Was it worthwhile? Was it fun? Did it take your skills to a new level? Was it just a frustrating disorganized effort in futility?

Improving to the point where I could join a mod team is something I've been thinking about more and more, but it seems like when it comes to mapping supply far exceeds demand. I voted for Option 2.




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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Orpheus on Tue Mar 14th at 12:49am 2006

I have never been part of one... per say.

I have been asked to join by, what I consider the best out there but sadly I declined each time.(I never saw anything I could contribute as my mapping is atrocious) I have however critiqued several maps contained within them. So how would I answer? None seem fitting. And yes, its true, I was asked by almost anyone you can think of at one time or another.

I think an "other" needs added. In fact, I think ALL polls need at least one other option.





The best things in life, aren't things.



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Tue Mar 14th at 12:57am 2006

Ah -- I hadn't foreseen that there would be people who didnt fall into the original categories. I've added an "Other" option.




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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by French Toast on Tue Mar 14th at 4:50am 2006

No, I haven't. I opted for not really wanting to either. So many of 'em fall through, and even if it does get popular if you screw up people get angry at you... meh.



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by ReNo on Tue Mar 14th at 5:09am 2006

I've been in a fair few of them, none really successful image

My first was a SP/MP Resident Evil mod, and I was "headhunted" after I had just released my second map Elixir. I took on the position as I was a big fan of the games and eager to work on something, and to be fair the mod looked like one of the fairly solid/established ones at the time so I was quite happy to get on it. I was assigned a deathmatch level based in a hotel, and didn't get too far on it before the mod effectively died. The lead level designer I spoke to once in my time on the mod, with the mod leader never knowing where he was and me not knowing if what I was doing was up to scratch or what he had in mind. Somebody else then left the mod and took with them about 80% of the model content that existed image I just sort of drifted off in the end, and half the rest of the team did the same.

Next up, or at least I think it was next up, was The Rig. This was a mod that Kornflakes was semi working on (I think I had to nag him all over the shop to get him to join proper!), and I got on really well with the mod leader. I also thought the mod sounded like a fairly cool concept (you started off in a prison cell, and it turned out you were in an oil rig) and had some cool weapon ideas. Unfortunately nobody really did much on it and it just fell through. Another sob story.

I was never really a team member, nobody bar the founder/programmer was to be honest, but I did some mapping for the Adrenaline Gamer mod. That could be considered a success I guess, given that most of the serious HLDM players, particularly in the European scene, played it exclusively. It was just DM mapping, but I had some maps included in it. I also made 3 CTF maps - one original and two ports - that were included with it when they added a CTF mode.

Paroxysm was a coop mod that a few of our fine members here (specifically Campaignjunkie, Blister, Crackerjack...any others?) worked on. It had potential, it even had an unpolished and buggy but somewhat functional alpha build, but I think there were management problems and it fell through. I wasn't really an official team member here - I didn't want the pressure and responsibilities of bothering to be honest - but I got an alpha build and worked on two maps that were never finished image Real shame too...one of them f**king rocked image

The other one, and my favourite one, was my own one. But I'm a crappy leader to be honest, and can't seem to make important decisions too well or inspire work ethic! Research Project: ELVA was a multiplayer mod in which players piloted quick and agile mechs that were highly customisable in the not too distant future. I still think it would rock, and still have all the documentation that was written up for it, so maybe someday I'll take it upon myself to make it.



Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Crono on Tue Mar 14th at 6:11am 2006

I demand your skills Morphine ... in fact ... I've already done so ... and you accepted ... and we need to finish planning that. Yeah, I know, shh shh.

Not really. I've had many ideas, but pretty much everything I've thought up I tell friends about and get them interested, so they can help out ... whenever it is we get around to it.


Blame it on Microsoft, God does.



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Tue Mar 14th at 6:50am 2006

? quoting French Toast
No, I haven't. I opted for not really wanting to either. So many of 'em fall through, and even if it does get popular if you screw up people get angry at you... meh.

Yeah that's true, but part of me really wants to find out what it's like on the inside of a mod. I think the experience would be fun (as long as it wasn't too much like a job that doesn't pay me jack) regardless of whether or not the mod gets released. I'm assuming if the mod dies you can take your work with you so... not a tremendous loss.

Great wrap-up ReNo. I find it really interesting to read the trajectory of a mapper/modder.

? quoting ReNo
The other one, and my favourite one, was my own one. But I'm a crappy leader to be honest, and can't seem to make important decisions too well or inspire work ethic!


Sounds like you just need to find someone to fill the shoes of the "bad cop" to crack the whip and get things done.

? quoting Crono
I demand your skills Morphine ... in fact ... I've already done so ... and you accepted ... and we need to finish planning that. Yeah, I know, shh shh.

<img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_wink.gif">



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by omegaslayer on Tue Mar 14th at 7:07am 2006

Yes

Eternal-Silence 2 mod:
Its an RTS/FPS/and flight simulator mixed into one. We currenlty stand at getting flight simulation done, while implamenting the paralax shader into Half Life 2
http://www.eternal-silence.net/

I was/still am assigned the NTSS-Sheldon. The largest vessel in developement.
http://www.eternal-silence.net/4images/details.php?image_id=133

The project is comming along stong:
http://www.eternal-silence.net/4images/data/media/10/sheldon_peek.jpg




Posting And You



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Elon Yariv on Tue Mar 14th at 8:58am 2006

I was in many but they all died or the leader suddenly wanted to continue alone- like in xen assult, that was recently published in this site by a guy who calls him self saco.

Now I decided to make my own mods! :P


Elon Yariv



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by KoRnFlakes on Tue Mar 14th at 10:51am 2006

I was in a few, but only in a sort of part-time way I suppose. most of the ones reno mentioned basically.



My Pit



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by BlisTer on Tue Mar 14th at 11:39am 2006

? quoting ReNo


Paroxysm was a coop mod that a few of our fine members here (specifically Campaignjunkie, Blister, Crackerjack...any others?) worked on. It had potential, it even had an unpolished and buggy but somewhat functional alpha build, but I think there were management problems and it fell through. I wasn't really an official team member here - I didn't want the pressure and responsibilities of bothering to be honest - but I got an alpha build and worked on two maps that were never finished Real shame too...one of them f**king rocked

indeed it did <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif"> (ps: Pvt. Scythe was also mapping for us)

? quoting French Toast
No, I haven't. I opted for not really wanting to either. So many of 'em fall through, and even if it does get popular if you screw up people get angry at you... meh.

true, but it's a great feeling to work as a group toward a goal.




These words are my diaries screaming out loud



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Orpheus on Tue Mar 14th at 11:48am 2006

? quoting BlisTer

true, but it's a great feeling to work as a group toward a goal.

This only holds true if the entire group is of the same notion. It only takes one bad apple to ruin a failed attempt.

I mean, if the mod fails but everyone keeps in relatively good spirits about it, its a learning experience. Everyone comes out of it with some advancement. But let one person start accusing.......

Teamwork is great but its just as rewarding to do a single person adventure. I think all my maps are pure s**t but, I felt wonderful when each was released. Especially if it was better than its predecessor in some way.

My personal belief is, the odds of a successful conclusion increase with the less people involved. In other words, you are more apt to complete your goal if you do it by yourself. This is assuming you have the proper support... IE, Snarkpit.





The best things in life, aren't things.



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Hugh on Tue Mar 14th at 12:01pm 2006

I've been in a few, only one that finished (Issues). I had too much of a leader role in the other ones I was involved with, and that doesn't work if you're lazy and relatively uninspired.


One day you'll know what you're talking about, I can hardly imagine

Maps! - Audio blog!



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by BlisTer on Tue Mar 14th at 12:16pm 2006

? quoting Orpheus
? quoting BlisTer

true, but it's a great feeling to work as a group toward a goal.

This only holds true if the entire group is of the same notion. It only takes one bad apple to ruin a failed attempt.

That is, indeed, a necessary assumption. see also my view on this in the related thread

? quoting Orpheus

Teamwork is great but its just as rewarding to do a single person adventure.

i kinda disagree. a lot of motivational power comes from knowing that people will indeed play your map. There is a higher chance that people will play your map if it gets released with a (more or less popular) mod, than that you release it on a site and it gets attention for a week.




These words are my diaries screaming out loud



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Adam Hawkins on Tue Mar 14th at 12:22pm 2006

Yes, worked on a number of maps for Frontline Force, but they never got played as none of the community were willing to move on past the first set of maps that were released for it.


You Got To Get Through What You've Got To Go Through To Get What You Want But You Got To Know What You Want To Get Through What You Got To Go Through



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Orpheus on Tue Mar 14th at 12:23pm 2006

? quoting BlisTer
? quoting Orpheus

Teamwork is great but its just as rewarding to do a single person adventure.

i kinda disagree. a lot of motivational power comes from knowing that people will indeed play your map. There is a higher chance that people will play your map if it gets released with a (more or less popular) mod, than that you release it on a site and it gets attention for a week.

But see, this is where I have mixed emotions regarding success.

Sure, its a great ego boost seeing your map played someplace. I agree on this point but when you look closer at the list, you also notice... s**t maps getting as much or more play time. So where does that leave your ego?

Another thing to consider, how does one personally measure his or her own success? By what your peers say? By what your family says?

I personally measure it compared to my previous examples of success. In this case, the maps I have released have progressively advanced in technique and theme/style. (Since my maps have no real theme, style is a better choice)

In the end, you just need to please yourself. If the rest of the world as a whole think your map is still just a box, well... f**k them. At least I built a box.





The best things in life, aren't things.



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Pvt.Scythe on Tue Mar 14th at 2:10pm 2006

Paroxysm... A fine bird that was shot down by a broken HD, if I recall correctly Polymorph(the lead coder and leader) lost the source code and it became the end of it. It had very good concept, which still managed to be simple enough to work.
It's a bit surprising that ReNo didn't remember me, since he kept constantly telling me to use light_spot entities to create more contrast. But then I again I guess ReNo has been saying that same thing for a lot of nooblings.
Besides Paroxysm I haven't been working on any other mods. Someone e-mailed me and asked me to join some HL2 Mod just after HL2 was released, but I had to decline due to army service and the fact that I didn't have the SDK at that time. I was on a dial-up so I couldn't dowload the some 100MB of stuff through Steam. vALVE vas also kind enough to only distribute the SDK through Steam so I couldn't get a friend to download it either.




''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Gollum on Tue Mar 14th at 2:38pm 2006

Technically speaking, I was in a mod. team, because I released Gmdm2 as a mod.

It was, however, a mod team of one person.



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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by Dr Brasso on Tue Mar 14th at 3:26pm 2006

mikey, i wish you would port that boulder mod to hl2, beacause i'd love to pick that friggin rolling sob up and smash yer ass with it...///runs

Doc B...





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 Re: Ever Been Part of a HL Modification?
Posted by ReNo on Tue Mar 14th at 3:31pm 2006

Hehe of course Scythe, dunno how I could forget actually <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif"> I think yours was one of the few maps that was actually playable wasn't it? I never really had any joy with it anyways, as any time I shot an alien the build I had crashed <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/sad.gif">



Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net




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