Well, skewing the thread more...
I'd like to think my opinion didn't end up sounding like that but if it did, feel free to egg Carbon016.
It sounded a bit that way to me but it's good to hear you didn't mean it like that. Obligatory egg flung at Carbon.
My main point is that of all the mods released so far only a select few have tried to do anything different. It's frustrating to work in a community where the shape of the ships is valued over gameplay.
I think this is a matter of personal perspective. It would be frustrating if no one had any other interest in this area but I think some do--even if they are a minority.
In defense of the "model mods", many of them are popular scifi themes from books, movie or television and they are for the fans of those works--the goal being more to reflect their source material's ambience and atmosphere rather than trying to create new dynamics and mechanics.
Both interests are equally valid. Even people who just want to make something and show it off to others--regardless of how good it is--are fine. They aren't taking away from the work of others--just having their own level of fun. Many aspiring modders are young and have never done anything like modding before. There is room for them.
I've also got nothing against anyone who puts together guides in importing models, adding new races, etc. But those can't be the only thing you rely on when making a mod. You can have a mod with 11 races with all new models and crap, but if it plays identically to Sins, whats the point?
As a hard-core, life-long strategy gamer I can wholeheartedly agree on "substance over style" as a principle. But I think its unfair to require that people who might have a brilliant mod concept also have to have a brilliant modding ability too or else they are considered sub-par or not serious. I run a business and have kids--this is my hobby for fun and usually is done in place of sleeping. I'm not going to master modeling, texturing, Autodesk, Blender, Particle Forge, Gimp and Photoshop and Entity Editing at comprehensive, full-on pro levels.
I made guides because with only a few exceptions, real help from "the big modders" was almost non-existent. The typical response was, "figure it out yourself". Harpo and Darvin and a few others were exceptions but their help is limited as everybody is hitting them up all the time.
So as I have figured things out, I've posted what I have come to understand because I know how frustrating it can be to just "figure it out". The "Idiot's Guide" I posted was actually a pm to a new want-to-be modder and after replying I thought I'd put it up as a post for others too. MyFist0 put a lot of work in just basically to help other modders. I never saw him blow his own horn over it. Yeah, he got a little temperamental and punched the wall. It happens.
The real community here is people who really like the game and want to share that like with others. The rest are just players who post or people pursuing their own agendas--even if they might coincidentally be game related.
Your mod looks nothing but awesome (as does ManShooter's) and it takes the time it takes. No criticism at all over it. in fact, I like the sarcastic wit you express on occasion in your thread.
I am modding for myself right now and wouldn't go so far as to call myself "a real modder". I just had an idea I wanted to develop so I could play it. I was forced into modding to get the idea. As for originality, I'm adding a race that does away with normal ship movement and weapons and doesn't use credits or colonize worlds--plus posses only a single capital ship and only a small a variety of identical looking frigates. Any posts I make aren't to "blow my horn" regarding modding. They're directed at a hand-ful of nice guys here who chat on modding with me once in awhile and for the hope of some feedback on occasion.
I don't have a "team" and I have to work at it as I learn in my spare time. So I am not going to show up on your radar screen of outstanding, professional mods--but I'm not stupid and have a clever original idea. No one's offering to help so no one should be criticizing.
My personal feeling is that if more were done by people really versed and experienced in modding to make it easier for new people, you might start seeing more of the sort of mods you'd like.
But heck, I respect everyone here making an effort or who has made anything. What's to complain about it?
