It is 2022 and there is still no "Ultimate Modder Game"

[Undertaker555]

(Dear diary, lol) Why is there no 100% modding community created game, which allows all kinds of mods implemented in it?

 

I mean, something like an Unreal-Engine, which allows importing maps, weapons, characters, and cars simple like Gmod.

So much great content is created for these engines such as GTA:SA or RAGE, but also other games, and there is no appreciation at all from them.

Best way would be boycotting their products and not releasing any of the great modding content to any of their products.

All the mods in here are free advertising for their "Super Great™ Game: Deluxe © HD Edition".

 

I am afraid that all this respectless behavior from all these companies was just the beginning.

 

So many great games are out there, with good engines.

All these engines get appreciated by usually great modding communities, and always the same story: The greedy companies destroy everything sooner or later.

 

As long as modding communities use engines created by these well known companies, they have a rope around their neck.

Is there actually a solution? An own multi-game compatible engine would cost millions I think. Create a kickstarter and get scammed or a horrible eternal beta version?

Are we stuck with these big companies that take everything better than theirs down? Are we screwed?

[Jason]

What are you even asking lol

 

AAA game engines cost tens of millions to make if not hundreds of millions over their lifetime for something like Unreal. Are you asking why you can't use those engines for free forever? Cause I mean, many engines support stuff like that, Unreal, Source, Unity I think all support indie created games you can release for free, but if you start charging for something (or in Unreal's case make a certain amount of money from it) you have to pay a license fee.

 

Unless you're asking for a game that is completely open to modding? There's loads of those games that exist too lol.

[Undertaker555]

Well, my intention of this thread was not really clear.

I am not really asking for something. It is more like I am kind of afraid about what will happen to modding and gaming.

 

It all is going in a bad direction in general, not only with R*. Most of gamers don't even own their games anymore, instead use Steam and services like that, where actually you don't even really own the game at all.

I mean, what will happen if slowly the big companies will introduce new policies that allow them to revoke any license if they detect changes in your game folder?

We are really close to that. In the EU already basis for such actions exist in law.

 

This would mean, that anyone modding or using mods would become a pirate or a criminal.

The logic of them is like, when you rent a book at the library and rip out pages, add new pages or change the content of it, it is against law and you will get your card revoked, and completely excluded.

 

I didn't want to ask anything, I just wanted to make a point, that there could come rough times for gaming, except for people who will accept to depend on vanilla games and DLC content.

 

Modding was always kind of underground, but it never was illegal.

[Jason]

6 hours ago, Undertaker555 said:

It all is going in a bad direction in general, not only with R*.

 

No, it's not. Modding is still thriving just fine. Take-Two's treatment of the modding community is fairly unique, there's many many other games where the modding community is encouraged and thriving, check out Nexus Mods or the Steam Workshop.

 

6 hours ago, Undertaker555 said:

Most of gamers don't even own their games anymore, instead use Steam and services like that, where actually you don't even really own the game at all.

 

Nothing has changed in nearly 20 years in that regard. PC gaming has been almost exclusively digital for a long, long, long time. What you're saying here, and along with your following sentence, is nothing more than doomsaying. You're essentially saying "what if all these pro-modding companies SUDDENLY went anti-modding?" which isn't going to happen, and isn't worth speculating or fearmongering about without any evidence to back it up.

 

It seems to me your point of view of the modding scene is incredibly narrow and limited to only Take-Two / Rockstar games which does look dire when you look at it from certain angles, but then you have stuff like FiveM absolutely thriving with sh*t tons of high quality mods and assets being created for FiveM servers.

 

There's a lot of potential issues in the industry that may burst in coming years - things like lootboxes being declared gambling for example - but the modding community is in no danger.

[Uncle Sikee Atric]

Large companies are very protective of their stuff, which is a little counter-productive, but there are some other, smaller companies that buck the trend, and I can think of three off of the top of my head :

SCS Software - Euro Truck Sim 2 and American Truck Sim : The modding community is huge in these games and SCS offers both 3rd party downloads and Workshop support.  The base game and official content is simply a blank canvas for the sandbox and the community does the rest.  Everything from maps, trucks, trailers, consists, engines, gearboxes, AI behaviour, Multiplayer Server clients, the works.  and SCS has released 'lite' versions of their own dev toolkits to aid in modding.

 

Focus Interactive - Snowrunner : Here again, the modders run wild and the devs have enabled crossplay between consoles and all PC versions (even Switch is getting additional Crossplay support), but this also goes with the modding devkits and Focus themselves help with supporting modders convert their packs to other platforms and enabling crossplay too, even down to the fact the latest Switch updates show the crossplay mod kits are there too allowing modding on Switch pretty soon.

 

Tynan Sylvester - Rimworld : Want a colony sim where 'anything goes?'  I can guarantee it's modded in somehow, from simple skin overhauls and new items or cosmetics for your pawns, to prisoner torture, improved (yes, improved, they're in the base game too) handling of cannibalism rituals, new ideological beliefs, new weapons, ammo handling....  everything in Rimworld is moddable and the base game itself is just a 'module' that loads in with the mods.  The fact that Rimworld is insanely priced and never goes on sale at anything below 10% on Steam, should suggest what you're getting here?

 

Moaning about modding means you're thinking too much about the big boys in the gaming markets.  Think smaller and you'll find the community-driven games too, where mods drive the game more than the devs themselves.

Edited March 8 by Uncle Sikee Atric

[Undertaker555]

Well, it seems you are ok with the possibility, that mods need to be downloaded from shady t*rrent websites and strange forums mediafire links.

Already now, I can't find some of the biggest and greatest GTA:SA mods without leaving the safe part of the internet.

I mean, obviously all these mods can be spread by PM from authors here, but most people will just use some unofficial mediafire uploads that they find in YouTube videos and strange forums, full of viruses and ad links.

 

This thread kind of became sarcastic in some posts. Hopefully my first post wasn't too offensive, because I didn't have any bad intention.

I just was worried about the future of GTA modding, because I myself am playing on GTA:SA engine with mods, and I pretty much depend on this engine.

It is just the problem, that I discovered on that day when I posted this, that R* removed the original trilogy from Steam, which may be something bigger than it seems, because it is like a statement.

Some of the most played mods are on GTA:SA, and they literally took away one of the only and legitimate ways of acquiring the game. This is like declaring 3D era dead and playing it is not possible, unless you own a DVD, or downloading it illegally.

 

It feels like R* is at a transition to something really bad.

For me it feels like they want to become another EA Games by the time of GTA 6 releases.

 

As I said, I did not have any bad intention.

Just wanted to start a small discussion, if there would be ever another, more independent engine for all GTA mods, where future mods can be released on.

[Jason]

16 minutes ago, Undertaker555 said:

Well, it seems you are ok with the possibility, that mods need to be downloaded from shady t*rrent websites and strange forums mediafire links.

Already now, I can't find some of the biggest and greatest GTA:SA mods without leaving the safe part of the internet.

I mean, obviously all these mods can be spread by PM from authors here, but most people will just use some unofficial mediafire uploads that they find in YouTube videos and strange forums, full of viruses and ad links.

 

Not at all sure of where you got this from. The two sources of mods I mentioned, Nexus and Steam, are massively popular and well established sources for mods.

 

Now, if you narrowed down what you said and focused it on the future of GTA modding, I would agree with you as for various reasons it would be fair and reasonable to say that Take-Two is slowly suffocating the Rockstar modding communities but your initial post implied you were making the point about the PC modding community in general, where this is not the case. Modding is thriving still in many games and there's no reason to be concerned for the overall health of the modding community as of today.