Open letter to ModSquad

An open letter to the reviewers at ModSquad.

I have just read your latest "review" regarding the mutator BulletTime. Nothing against the mutator itself really, but as you can see in the comments the author himself admits that he only spent a few hours working on it, and the same thing can be accomplished by a few simple console commands. You gave the mutator a score of 8.2?

On the other hand there is my mod, UnrealGod. It includes over 200 custom classes, a custom level, custom textures and models, and many ORIGINAL features that you won't find in any other mod, the most important of which (the abilitly to play DungeonMaster) is not mentioned at all in your review. I easily spent over a hundred hours working on this mod singlehandedly. It got one of the lowest scores I have seen you give a mod.

So I really have to ask, what exactly is your criteria for rating mods and mutators? Do you have any experience at all making mods and mutators? I tried to be open minded about the score you gave my mod, and I intend to continue to improve it based on some of your points and tons of feedback I have received from other players. But to be honest, the thought that people have passed over trying my mod based upon your low score really upsets me, especially considering the relatively high scores you have given other projects which are totally unoriginal and could be coded by the greenest of script newbies.

It is my belief that as a well known review site for the Unreal community you have a responsibility to be more fair and thorough in your reviews, considering that your opinion could greatly influence whether or not someone who has spent alot of time and effort creating something gets the credit and attention they deserve.

-TrodKnee

Well, I did receive a response of sorts on the news page of ModSquad. Although I'm glad for the response, I have to admit I find it rather unsatisfying. I want to stress that this is nothing against the BulletTime mutator that was reviewed, but the review process itself.

There was really no response to the question of what the criteria for reviews is, or if there are any standards in place. I would expect that they didn't answer about whether or not the reviewers have actually made a mod or mutator, because I think the answer to that is pretty obvious.

I realize that my mod is somewhat one dimensional at this time and becomes boring. If asked how finished my mod was, I would probably say about 2/3s done...which would be on par with the score I received. I cannot understand how something as simple as lowering the gamespeed for everything besides the player doesn't get old. Perhaps it says something about the skill level of the reviewer, because to be honest the bullettime mutator gives an extraordinary advantage to the player, and could almost be considered cheating. Maybe if I wrote a mutator that made all bots stand perfectly still and not fire back I would score a 10.

Yes, I do understand that there is a difference between a mod and mutator. Perhaps someone should explain that difference to whoever made the BulletTime mutator the "Featured Mod" on the front page of PU.

Another thing that troubles me is the statement that the BulletTime mutator is like combining Matrix with Max Payne. Not only is that just plain absurd, there is no way something as simple as lowering the gamespeed can compare to the efforts made by the Matrix mod teams or the fine game that is Max Payne.

But even more irritating is the fact that in the mod community(and even in commercial game design) there is an alarming trend to plaud anything that directly emmulates another existing game that you might find fun. Does originality not matter to anyone anymore?

Oh well, I guess I should just let it go. It is now apparent to me that the most of the reviewers at ModSquad have no real understanding of that which they review, and basically just pull numbers out of the air...and like most critics I would be better off just ignoring them.

-TrodKnee

Gotta add this...reading the plug for the BulletTime mutator on the front page of PU.

"The best part is that this mutator is also compatible with many other mutators – for a combined effect!"

Do these people not understand that this is exactly what the intended purpose of a mutator is, to be compatible with other mutators?

This is from Brandon Reinhart's Mod Authoring Guide on Epic's Unreal Technology site, which anyone who reviews mods and mutators would be well advised to read.

"Mutators are a great place to cut your teeth on UnrealScript because you are exposed to a limited, but powerful subset of the engine. As I said above, Mutators should only modify the game code in a relatively slight way. This increases the chances your mutator will work well when mixed with other mutators. (For example, you can play FatBoy, InstaGib, No Powerups deathmatch. A mix of 3 mutators). "


-TrodKnee

Nemephosis, try to set aside the score for my mod. Let's pretend that it is the worst mod ever and deserved an even lower score then it got.

That doesn't change the fact that at ModSquad there are no set criteria, no standards, and that the reviewers obviously have little or no understanding of how mods or mutators are made, or even exactly what a mutator is("It can be used with other mutators! amazing!").

You yourself are the one that pointed out in the comments for bullettime that the same thing can be accomplished with a couple of console commands. So it seems that you at least have a little more understanding then your fellow reviewers. In the same comment thread the mutator author states that he thought of it as a joke, and wouldn't have even submitted it if a friend hadn't insisted. Now this joke is the "Featured Mod", and compared to Matrix + Max Payne.

Ok, so back to my mod. Even in its unfinished state, it offers much more playability when it is used to its potential then a simple mutator that lowers gamespeed. Of course this would require someone reviewing it to actually try the main feature of the mod, which is the ability for someone to 'play god'(DungeonMaster). Or maybe at least hop online and see what its like when someone else does. But not only is the feature not tested or even observed, its not even mentioned once by the reviewer.

Sure, you can fall back on the 'Sour Grapes' argument all you want, and the uninformed masses will probably agree with you.

Or...you and the other reviewers at ModSquad could actually listen to the concerns I am voicing, and make some attempt to put some standards in place, better inform yourselves about the nature of mods and mutators, and improve the quality of the reviews found there. This would make your site a better place both for the general UT community and for those who put time and effort into making mods and mutators.

In conclusion, I would like to offer my personal rating for ModSquad. I give it a 7.0. Props for the time and effort spent trying to review the many mods out there for the UT community, but unfortunately I can't give a higher score due to the lack of consistancy and apparent lack of knowledge about mods and mutators themselves. But don't be discouraged by the low score...if you continue to work at it I'm sure it can only get better...

-TrodKnee