Devs Integrating Community-Generated Mods into A3?

[dnk 13]

So, I see we have old modders being included into the dev team, but are we going to see the mods already being made incorporated into the beta/final? I mean, there are a lot of good things being done already that I think really improve things, especially regarding midrange textures and, of course, the old A2 mods like ACRE and 3rd person view change and such. Any chance of seeing these ingame at release if they're top-notch, or is the dev team going to do it all by themselves and just take mods for their inspirational/copyable content?

Obviously, I'm sort of asking the dev team specifically here, but I think it'd be good for the community as a whole to know, hence not going through PM. Also, a "yes" could help generate even more modding, which is always a good thing, and get current modders to step their game up even more, also always a good thing.

[dm 9]

The simple answer is: No.

The complex answer is: No, because there is a minefield of IP rights you have to negotiate when adding content from a modding community to a game.

It is especially hard with game content, as that little section of texture could have been taken from another game, those two lines of script could have been copied from someone elses scripts, etc etc.

It becomes so hard to check all of the IP rights for things like this, to be cheaper, easier and better to use them as inspiration and rebuild from the ground up.

Edited March 22, 2013 by DM

[neokika 62]

ARMA 2: Community Configuration Project (A2CCP)

[viper[cww] 14]

As I've stated in another thread. They will add things to A3 that have proven popular in the previous titles. Examples are: SMK animations, Soul Assassins Paladin, ACE2 Mines (trip wires and all), First Aid kits. The list goes on.

This is not saying they copy or use the same thing, they are used as inspiration and sometimes as a guideline.

______

But to answer your question, mods should stay as mods, as not everyone likes them. Having them part of the vanilla game wouldn't be a good thing.

[chortles 263]

More specifically, not everyone likes the levels of complexity or functionalities that certain mods add or they wouldn't be appropriate for people's intended missions and would force those to be redesigned.

[[frl]myke 14]

Often enough one sees long time community member suddenly have a Developers badge in the Forums. ;)

BI looks very closely what happens in the modding scene and what kind of work is released and if they think someone is talented, they will approach and "make him a offer he can't refuse" <insert soundtrack of "The Godfather" here>

[chortles 263]

And don't forget, that's also if what that modder has demonstrated a talent for lines up with what BI is looking to "implement in vanilla"! ;-)

[adanteh 58]

I really hope this becomes the case. Sure, I love the modding capabilities, but I like having a fairly complete game. It would be nice to hop in a random server and still have the basic functionality of something that would always work. I'm not saying that this 'basic functionality' is something that would be easy to implement, but just something that wouldn't harm in any of the game modes. Better grenade throwing, shooting out of vehicles, slinging weapon on pistol change. I have no idea how hard it is to make such a thing, but it's something that I'd love to be able to see in every game mode. Even a stance indicator would be really nice, if it's something that could be turned off both in the players config and also in the server settings (More dificult = no indicator). Even something like the PUSH mod (Although it could use some refinement) from Feint would be a very nice addition.

For the record: When I mention basic functionality, I mean something that's not that big of a change for the player itself and has very complex systems to use. I do not want ACE or ACRE included by default. I also don't care much for advanced diving modules and the likes. I'm really talking about something that every game mode could profit from right at the start.

Inb4 I get swarmed by 'real' arma-vets that tell my CoD/BF3 ass to go away and I should be disgusted of wanting a game where stuff is included by default, rather than having to use mods.

I just really hope BI is able to integrate some of the more popular simple mods out there.

[chortles 263]

Again, it comes down to what BI want to implement -- read: what the devs themselves like -- and the inevitable drama should they decide to be "inspired" by a mod whose concept/premise/intent is divisive.

[sproyd 2]

Like people have said - its a dangerous path implementing a non-commercial free community mod into a paid product sold by a profit making company. An IP and copyright minefield.

I like to think that the community making mods is a way of telling the developers what we want to see in the game and hence its great to see them implementing some of these ideas in a more official format. The perfect examples for me in Arma 3 are the fatigue system (see ACE2), the diving system, the improved sounds (see JSRS), improved AI driving (see many attempts of improved AI mods) and more.