Varis 34 Posted September 6, 2018 +johnnyboy Modding is usually more about learning "how to do this stuff with game X" and more creative than your typical coding jobs where somebody has done most of the planning already. A bit similar to starting in a new job/project esp. if it's in the "please tell us what technology to use" phase. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harzach 2511 Posted September 6, 2018 Wow, thanks all! A lot of great discussion. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fn_Quiksilver 1633 Posted September 7, 2018 depends on the objective biggest thing ive learned is where the time-sinks are and how to get the most value out of a limited period of time. as example, biggest waste of time was probably a weather system i built for a gamemode. took the better part of 3 weeks from start to finish, first figuring out what parts of the ingame weather were broken and not MP compatible, then making it work reliably, and finally making it use accurate real-life data to get correct weather for the time of year. no one notices the level of detail (that the smoke started blowing a different direction in April, for instance), so it was a waste of a few weeks that could have been spent on more apparent gameplay. best advice i can give is to be ambitious, but always be aware of the time you are spending. lots of projects never get published because the designer bit off way more than they could chew. ill post more later 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fn_Quiksilver 1633 Posted September 8, 2018 Lots of modders also tend to specialize in one field or another, so their personal systems and style improve with each attempt/iteration. So someone starting on their 5th project (which was roughly similar to the previous 4), has the entire concept and system in their head already. I spent ~6-7 months working on a project which never ended up getting published ... I bit off more than i could chew. but I think the time spent on it was a necessary part of the learning process. The time invested in that project wasnt entirely wasted though, as it became a big "spare parts bin" of scripts and code to use elsewhere. The project, if anyone was curious, was a competitive coop mode where registered units would be able to JIP and compete with other squads on 2-3 concurrent missions. Think DCO but bigger. in the end i tried to do too much work on AI behaviors and burnt out. I should have just slapped down something simple and continued on to other parts of the project. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
