Why do YOU script/edit/mod?

[zapat 56]

I've been around since 2010, and seeing this GREAT, deep and extremely persistent community raised this question in me.

(I am around means, that basically I am not playing other games (Ok, I played Skyrim, GTA4, Miasmata), but investing hours into Arma scripting.)

Seeing A3 coming into life before my eyes raised this question again in me: why am I sitting here having put 50+ hours into the game already? (And I haven't played a minute yet). I have work to do, I have a family, I have a nice kid...

I am wondering about it's psychology: some/many people must have spent many thousands of hours making the mods/missions they made and understanding the engine in depth.

So why? (It is a positive why!)

I, myself have spent thousands of hours through 3 years making THE mission (haven't been released yet, maybe in A3).

Why? I have been playing games since like '85. I have seen many. I've seen some very good games (System Shocks, Morrowind, GTAs, many Arma gamemodes/missions) but something was off every time. Either this, or that, I was always left wondering: what if it was included as well, what if it was made the way I would have liked it?

For me Arma has become the platform which really worth putting time into, because I feel I can make THE mission for MYSELF with this. And this urges me forward. THE mission which could feed my appetite for it.

What about you? What are you after? What do YOU want to achieve?

Edited March 22, 2013 by zapat

[frag 0]

It’s ironic because I asked the exact same thing to myself yesterday. I spent over 80 hours so far in an SP mission that I intend to release later on (probably at the Arma 3 BETA stage). I have cutscenes, voice actors, custom music/sounds , dozens of scripts … it is already pretty good.

But yesterday I stumbled on a serious bug …I got angry and ask myself the same question.

I guess it’s a little bit like when you play LEGO or Minecraft. You like to build things and get enjoyment by seeing what you can create. I would lose interest in Arma in less than 10 hours if it was not of its mod capabilities. This is a very STRONG sandbox.

I just played the showcases once so far, not spent a minute more playing. But I am editing since…

[[evo] dan 79]

Why?

-Its fun, I enjoy a challenge of creating something but whilst at the same time making it efficient.

-Good practice for programming at Uni.

[Opticalsnare 12]

Because i can.

- If i do not like something i have the knowledge and skills to change it.

I like to think of modding as "how i would do things if it was my own project / game"

Edited March 23, 2013 by Opticalsnare

[lao fei mao 21]

Beacuse you can obtain a sense of achievement when you create something. ArmA series is really the most interesting toy for us. And I really enjoyed too much fun when engaging a helicopter fly or a snipe mission with my son. And of cause I always act as pilot or spotter, fire power is in my son's hands, :-)

[mr_centipede 31]

Because I want to play the way I want to... and I like scripting. It gave me a sense of 'power' if you will. The power to tell the computer what I want it to do... Not what it wish of me to do...

[max power 21]

I mod because w0lle whips me if I don't.

[rye1 21]

To create something better. Specifically a medical system. At least be apart of creating something better.

Defining better is dependent on perspective really.

[johncage 30]

cause arma never had very good player models, and now that they do in arma 3, they're sci fi turds. with all due respect to bis.

[gammadust 12]

There is the general answer to this: scripting/programming gives you real power, i always felt extended / overdeveloped arms when messing with computing power. My fingertips touch both high sky and deep earth, and that is aikido.

I did "format c:" once, with a subsequent physical power off in the middle of it, thinking of: "why is this diskette taking so long to format, making no noises?" This mistake made me think both of what you loose and what you gain.

Then there is the fact that BI is one of the few which STILL hand this power to you as a gamer no questions asked, "go play our game, enjoy your own" how altruistic can it be?

Then there is my self education, i need a platform to learn "stuff", "stuff" being anything, programming as i got to it, implies understanding reality, no matter how simple the concept one needs to represent.

Then there is my entertainment, i like the full spectrum of commitment, arma lies in the most toughtful one, i will never forget the first time i got into a tactical gamer server hosting a ticket limited rookie mission, i got blown by the collective effort comming into fruition, no matter how "staged" the mission actually was.

I had this in my younger times with halflife, ms flight simulator... room to expand... not exclusively i have arma now.

[Rydygier 1309]

Because for me scripting is very rewarding journey of discovery.

It is about fun and satisfaction of doing something, in what you are proving yourself, for someone, it is about brain teaser/training, about happy users, act of creation itself, watching results with knowledge, that this is effect of my thought and work... It is also about study the universal logic rules better. Discovering depth of the most fundamental laws of the universe, as lofty as it sounds. When I'm trying to create code, that should mimic something in real world I'm forced not only to translate this "something" nature to the code language, but also backwards - by implementing something in-game I'm learning also to think about real world in different, deeper way, to realize relationships between aspects of reality, which I did not suspected earier.

Reconstruction is a good way to understand, and understanding is probably the best way to conquer the world. :)

Most interesting is AI, modyfing and deepen its behavior patterns on different levels, mostly towards more tactical/strategical approach. I think, that this fascinated me from childhood, even if at the beginning I was unable to name subject of this fascination.

I started with this stuff without nearly any earlier programming experience to improve my gameplay with things, that for me was badly lacking. But when I finished with that, I had another ideas to do and realized, that I do not want spend my time playing, if I can spare this time for some more scripting...

Edited March 23, 2013 by Rydygier

[zapat 56]

... programming as i got to it, implies understanding reality, no matter how simple the concept one needs to represent.

Reconstruction is a good way to understand, and understanding is probably the best way to conquer the world. :)

These. Yes. :)

[slatts 1978]

Because sometimes I see something and say "hey that might be cool to have in Arma" and I can put it into the game ;)

Lately I've been "filling voids", making small weapon packs that should have probably been in the game, that enhance choice among clans/units. E.G. the AK-107 night pack gives the Russians night fighting capabilities, The M27 IAR adds a new class and playstyle to the USMC, while my M4 pack gives US Army lovers the M4's they crave, with all the features of Arrowhead.

Edited March 23, 2013 by Slatts