[WIP] Doing a Life Mod the Right Way! Looking for Developers of all kinds!

[echo97 10]

Hello, I'm Josh. I posted here today in hopes of building a bigger, better development team for a brand new life mod. We want to do what Arma 3 Life and City Life have done, without the exclusivity. We also are looking for a level of quality and mission stability that have never been seen in a life mod. This will be a living mod, with active updates and continuous progress. We want to invite anyone who is interested to speak to us on Steam, Skype, or through a PM on BI Forums. I would also like to welcome any and all who are interested in testing this mission and joining this fledgling community in its undoubtedly hard, long process of building a full-conversion modification from the ground up, and if we get enough, without any outsourcing for content or frameworks. I hope to hear from you, and please, ask any questions you may have. You can contact me right here on the forums!

[themistercat 11]

I'm putting 20 bucks on this thread getting bashed, just run, now.

[echo97 10]

I don't understand why it would get "bashed." If you are referring to the comment I made on City Life and Arma 3 Life, I was simply referring to the excessively long process of applying, interviewing, then having to provide personal information to be approved. I don't approve of it, and I observe people's rights, and I also understand the "security" hype that is largely unnecessary. Therefore, if I get "bashed," then it just further proves my point. I am saying this being someone who has played, and enjoyed, the communities that I have referenced. But, thanks for posting your opinion.

[BadHabitz 235]

I don't understand why it would get "bashed."

People around here don't take too kindly to life servers. For a handful of different reasons.

Also, without describing you and your 'team', you look like an 'ideas guy', which there are a lot of around here these days. An 'ideas guy' is someone who has all of these ideas about what he wants to do, has no idea how to do any of it, and is looking for others to do all of the work.

[nodunit 397]

What role would you play in this mod, Josh?

[echo97 10]

I can definitely understand that point of view, as there are many posts about life mods and "idea guys" that I've seen throughout these forums as well. I am the project lead, with our lead in scripting being a professional developer that goes by the name of Dango. We also have a 3D modeler, who does modelling as a hobby, as far as I know. He goes by the name of Malek. I am an amateur scripter, and I do not have any formal education to back my development background other than a basic level HTML 5 class that I took in high school. I have a bit of experience in Arma 2 scripting. I have enough experience to know what others are talking about, and enough to do some basic level scripting, but you are right in the assumption that I do not do the bulk of development. However, I do quite a bit of graphic design and video editing, therefore, I really handle the media-side of the whole mod, which is why you see me on here, instead of one of my colleagues.

We simply need more manpower, which is why I am on here. We, as a team, decided that the scope of our mod was going to be much greater than originally intended, hence why I am posting on here.

Edited March 24, 2015 by echo97
Clarification

[themistercat 11]

I don't understand why it would get "bashed." If you are referring to the comment I made on City Life and Arma 3 Life, I was simply referring to the excessively long process of applying, interviewing, then having to provide personal information to be approved. I don't approve of it, and I observe people's rights, and I also understand the "security" hype that is largely unnecessary. Therefore, if I get "bashed," then it just further proves my point. I am saying this being someone who has played, and enjoyed, the communities that I have referenced. I reserve my first amendment right, as everyone else on here does, but, I will say, that any snide remarks made towards me or anyone else on this thread will be taken seriously, as it is a violation of the rules of this forum. But, thanks for posting your opinion.

You're welcome. The thing is, when people make mods they make it because no one else did it for them, because they wanted it, I doubt many people will help you unless they themselves wanted to make a life mod, in which case they are probably already working on one of their own. Also what is a "amendment right"? Not everyone lives in the US.

[nodunit 397]

Well it sounds as though you have the experience and people necessary to at least make a start, only problem is that you need to show an example of dedication to your idea and display to everyone that you its not all just words. For example check out the mods on modbb or any other modding website, the majority of mods be they big or small begin with samples, you have to show people what it is or part of what you want to achieve. Present something even if it is an early work in progress and you will probably gain more interest.

For example lets say I want to start a jurassic park mod (yes I'm aware one exists it is just an example), but I need some help from others in order to get things working. I could say "Hey I have this jeep YJ but I can't get it working, would someone be interested? Please contact me" as words and chances are I'll get no response... But if I post a picture of said jeep to show proof of dedication and sincerity, then within the week someone may drop a pm saying "Hey I can help you."

[echo97 10]

I appreciate the comment, and I am aware of that. I simply want to pull all of the stops to try and reach anyone who may be interested in making a life mod. It is a lot of work, and it is very time-consuming, therefore, I feel that there may be a few out there that may feel, for lack of better word, overwhelmed by the amount of work it requires. That being said, I think that there are at least a few out there that like making guns, cars, buildings, or maybe are just looking for something new.

To bring up your other point, I would just like to say that I do understand that there are many out there that do not have the denoted first amendment right, but the connotation of free speech still is present within the constitutions of many countries in the western world.

[nodunit 397]

Bit off topic and I get that you are referring to peoples right to speak and agree or disagree, but there is no free speech on a privately owned forum, only tolerated speech that adheres to the rules.

[echo97 10]

I definitely have the devotion needed to see this through to the end, and though I do not have the content to really show to people in pictures right now, as we are still in the planning and preparation phase for the whole mod, deciding what needs to be done, allocating certain tasks based on priority, and setting quality control standards, however, I will be showing a few models that our modeller has created as soon as possible, but, in terms of scripting, we are planning to build upon Tonic's Altis Life framework unless we manage to get a sizable team of developers. I hope to do so, because I hate the legal snowball that outsourcing content can lead to, and myself and the team want to create something truly unique in every aspect, and that is not possible if we outsource content, even if that content is obtained within the law. Thanks for the tips, by the way!

[themistercat 11]

Anyway, good luck with your mod, I'll be keeping my 20 bucks. Not everyone lives in the West either

[nodunit 397]

That would be a good start, doesn't have to be anything super complex, even the smallest of items show sincerity...civilians items, furnishings, decor... anything that says "this is a civilian mod and we are serious about making a civilian mod".

[echo97 10]

I was just saying that there is no legal action that can be taken against me for stating the things I did. But yes, I understand that this is considered private property for all intents and purposes.

[nodunit 397]

Why would anyone consider taking legal action against you for asking for assistance in creating a mod...

[echo97 10]

Well, as of recently, a few groups have that approach. This one, regarding Arma 3 Life's alleged theft of intellectual property. Plus, one more relevant to this situation. Even though the second one holds no legal claim, these threats get thrown around so often now, I find it important to read up, and voice the fact that I know a good bit about the law, just in case one happens to be real, or to debunk ones that claim to be.

[nodunit 397]

Meh, people getting pig headed about mods that use a majority of base game content and thinking they have more power than they actually do...

Only three things will cause your to have your face bitten off here in terms of modding.

One is if you take a model from a freeware website and claim it as your own. If the author has allowed permission to export and you show where you got it from, and that it has that permission then nobody will bat an eye.

The second is if you take content from another game and claim it as your own (this can potentially even get you banned)

And third that will cause a mob mentality and...rightfully so, is if you take something that someone else in the community made and claim it as your own.

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

Well, as of recently, a few groups have that approach. This one, regarding Arma 3 Life's alleged theft of intellectual property. Plus, one more relevant to this situation. Even though the second one holds no legal claim, these threats get thrown around so often now, I find it important to read up, and voice the fact that I know a good bit about the law, just in case one happens to be real, or to debunk ones that claim to be.

Well, one important thing to remember is that there is no "1st Amendment" on the internet. Also, that this is a Czech company, not an American one. (By the way, there have been some legitimate C&D orders in the "Life" and DayZ side of things, so never discount them with investigating.) By posting and asking for developers without giving any real information on your project, or links, or info on your team, or even something as basic as screenshots, there's not a chance in the Democratic Republic of Sahrani that you'll get people to help you.

If you're actually a legitimate group, then good luck, for what it's worth, though I'd put down $20 on it either never making it to a finished mod, or dying within a year. It's the nature of the life mod. I've been playing them since the granddaddy of every life mod out today, Sahrani Life. From that magnificent piece of work sprung up several copycats and several outright thieves. Those copycats and thieves then carried on to Chernarus Life, which got turned into Takistan/Zargabad Life, which heavily influenced the A3 "Life" scene as the very first life missions in A3 were direct ports from Zargabad/Takistan over to Stratis. City Life is the only life mod to remain somewhat stable throughout the years, probably because of the processes and rules they have, so I'd be careful about tossing all that out and going 100% open if I were you.

Here's hoping you mean what you say, and I'm completely wrong about my opinion and my predictions. (Not really. I kind of stopped hoping for things related to ArmA a long time ago, I learned that the hard way. but either way, I await the future of this thread with mild interest.)