So what has happened to the modding community??

[Anuban]

I really have noticed that after six months there is just nearly as much content available for the PC as there was back when six months had passed for UT2K4 and I am not "sad" about it but really just curious. My question is where have all the modders gone? I think there are many factors and I want to get some other opinions if possible. Here are my top five reasons UT3 has such a dearth of content compared to past iterations of the title:

- Epic's new attitude as demonstrated on their forums and huge lack of support
- The PS3 community and their constant nagging for EVERYTHING to be cooked for the PS3 platform has turned off a number of modders
- Most of the well-known modders from 3 years ago have since gone on to professional industry jobs and very few new modders with really great skill have emerged to replace them
- Higher level of complexity due to the Unreal 3 Engine
- Not enough people are playing online so modders don't feel it worth their time or effort; goes with not enough interest in UT3

 

[Trynant]

It seems you have answered your own question Anuban. Those top five reasons pretty much sum up why there aren't as many modders.

That said, it could be that there are mods that are coming out; it's just taking longer due to the reason that Unreal Engine 3 requires more artistic detail.

 

[evilmrfrank]

A lot of it is that it just takes a lot longer to make things in UE3. Both the CBP and the UCMP team are busy working on things, if neither of those is good enough for you than I don't think anything will be XD

 

[Lruce Bee]

Sad as it is for me to say but there really isn't a challenge anymore.
What I used to like about the previous Unreal games is that you really did have the chance to break new ground and create new stuff no one else had ever seen with what can be considered today as very basic tools but it really did feel like you were mapping right on the edge of what was possible.
Now all I see is the tech providing everything you could ever dream of but no one actually doing anything with it.
Levels all look the same - generic and lacking any theme.
There is absolutely no one out there at the moment that makes me take any notice.
There used to be a lot of key mappers that you could guarantee would pump something out amazing and I think the community really misses this sort of expectation and input.
It just doesn't exist now.

Lruce

 

[Anuban]

A lot of it is that it just takes a lot longer to make things in UE3. Both the CBP and the UCMP team are busy working on things, if neither of those is good enough for you than I don't think anything will be XD

Where are you getting the impression I am not satisfied? I didn't say anything of the sort and I know that more stuff is coming ... I just asked a question based on an observation and wanted to give my feelings about it as well as solicit the opinions of others to see if there is some reason I had not yet considered. There is nothing about likes or dislikes in this thread ... I am simply curious as to why this is happening. And yes when those release I will be able to take the modders becoming pros off my list ... as the "pros" will have given to the community in a very satisfying way but there are still a lot of past modders that I just have not seen.

 

[Lethargy]

Cook this thread for ps3 and maybe I'll read.

 

[Emmet Otter]

I want to see Excessive with Relics

 

[Asura]

It may also be that the system specs for UT3 are higher than average, if you want a machine that can help you play competitively online. It certainly is a higher jump than UT2003 was, and obviously 2004 wasn't an upgrade for most people.

I mean even the options screen for UT3 is jerky on my machine. All I want is a JPG image with some text based options on; there was nothing wrong with the options screen in the original UT! And it loaded faster!

 

[alien8]

Levels all look the same - generic and lacking any theme.
Lruce

It was a hell of a lot easier to create new themes with BSP based mapping than it is now with custom meshes.

 

[G.Lecter]

- Most of the well-known modders from 3 years ago have since gone on to professional industry jobs and very few new modders with really great skill have emerged to replace them

I think you've got a point there. You can expect fewer new modders/mappers since the game sold PS3 versions mainly... Still there's a lot of good stuff coming out and things should go better now with the MSUC so close... :tup:

 

[[VaLkyR]Assassin]

There are plenty of decent maps out there I can see, but alot of the remaining community seems a bit too stuck-up to notice, caring too much either about extra fancy graphical features and/or concentrating too much on advanced gameplay, while forgetting about basic fun, quick paced gameplay that is essential for online play for most average players, hence even fewer people bother to try a bit harder.

 

[MonsOlympus]

Perhaps this should be titled "what is happening in the mod community" not "what has happened to the modding community" because as far as Im aware its still ticking along as it always has

 

[gregori]

Given the low player count online and general weak sales, I'm suprised that there is ANY custom content at all.

Given its just been a couple of months since UT3 release, I'm quite happy with the content that has been released. Obviously its harder to make content for this game because of system requirements and the level of detail.

 

[Crotale]

There may not be as much content, but better quality content overall. I saw way too many subtracted cube maps in UT200X games. Considering the effort involved in creating custom content for UT3, I think we have nice selection to choose from. And with MSUC, there will be even more to come.

 

[Jrubzjeknf]

I saw way too many subtracted cube maps in UT200X games. Considering the effort involved in creating custom content for UT3, I think we have nice selection to choose from.

All mappers start with a subtracted cube. The fact that there are few of those maps, is an indication that few new mappers surface. The nice selection you're talking about is from much more experienced mappers.

 

[Jonathan]

Well, I'm working with 3 mod groups and assisting some level designers, so I'm doing my part.

 

[Crotale]

All mappers start with a subtracted cube. The fact that there are few of those maps, is an indication that few new mappers surface. The nice selection you're talking about is from much more experienced mappers.

I get the process. I meant that the maps were just the basic cube and nothing else. Showed a lack of design or effort, IMO. Arena maps are one thing, but when I got onto multiple servers that all had maps of the same "inside a single room" type design, it got plenty boooorrrring.

Edit:/ Oops, I just got out of bed, so I naturally missed your point. Yes, you would be correct, there are not as many new mappers on the scene. But, they are there and some are making some good stuff for us to use.

 

[Cybro-Thing]

its just lack of sales for the pc version.

 

[UndeadRoadkill]

Sure there are plenty of maps. Some of them are pretty good. And some player models, too.

But why is there almost nothing else? Epic didn't really give us anything new to do in the stock game, so I kept hoping for some new weapons or mutators that radically change things, and there isn't a whole lot there.

A large reason why I bought this game was that I thought it was going to be a pretty next-gen base for mods and mutators so that I could build up games the way I want, like I have done with the previous games in the series, but it looks like everyone wants to just make a bunch of maps to do the same-old same-old in.

Of course, the instant action options are so butchered this time around, if I had a page of mutators I wanted to add, it might just be too much of a pain to set it up every time I want to play. MapMixer is still in development, that will probably fix some of those problems, but the dev keeps getting held back by lacking base code in the game!

 

[DGUnreal]

The community is there, most of it is just newbies though.

A lot of the mappers that started out with UT99 moved along onto UT2k4 to become the top 2k4 mappers. So UT2k4 basically saw a previous generation of mappers move onto it right away. Many of these mappers haven't made the move over to UT3, and probably never will.

No offense meant...
The IQ of the community seems to have dropped considerably...
I've been with it since very early on (Unreal and UT99 days) and I dont ever remember such immaturity among a percentage. Perhaps this is due to the younger people now into gaming and the consoles.

The vast majority of current maps that have been released are imho UT99/UT2k4 quality, and while that may still be fine for gameplay, most people want to see new visuals and actual "next-gen" quality.
Personally, unless it approaches Epic UT3 quality, I don't even look at it.

There is the issue that a large percentage of UT3 maps are just remakes or variations of previous UT99 and UT2k4 content. The majority of mappers, newby and expert, are stuck in the 'same-old' rut.

The stock content shipped in UT3 was very limited in comparison to UT2k4, both in total number and in design styles, so there is a lot less variety for map styles.

UT3 content is considerably more difficult and time consuming to do [properly], and a lot of the mappers simply don't have the chops or the time.
Personally I'm working on a pile of custom content for the mod that I am on which will also make it into my own maps, and with UT3 content it takes me 2x to 3x longer to create most content, even with newer hardware/software that I invested in for UE3/UT3 (I'm running multiple systems including a Quad 3GHz, 8GB, 8800GTS 512, Vista 64 and a Dual 3GHz, 4GB, HD3870 512, XP Pro). And I've been working with UE3 since 2006... so imagine what the UT3 newbies have to face.

There are various issues with UT3/UE3 not being as mod'able as UT2kx/UE2 was, or as easily mod'able. The engine is just a bit "messier".