United ArmA Community

[evilnate 0]

I apologize in advance about posting a somewhat sappy topic, but as I read these forums it seems that everyone agrees on the same things about armed assault. It's a great game that has a lot of potential, but it's also a game that feels incomplete. Beyond the hard-coded engine bugs which are becoming less, i'm pretty sure the community has the real life potential to collaborate and finish making the final touches in a standardized manner that all can use for the sake of compatibility. I see several super talented modders and moding "groups" making great additions and improvements. The biggest problem I see with these addons is that they are used very seldom on servers that run missions that would use them, this is a shame!

I have a feeling that if a set of quality standardized addons were released as a anticipated super-mod (think BAS or WGL but on a more massive scale), most people would use it. I think the hard part would be to have enough cooperation between mod teams to share their work and manage to actually standardize their work in a uniformed manner. Maybe my fantasy of having BAS, WGL, 6thsense, and others working together to make a arma complete is just a dream, but I think it's possible and wanted to make sure it gets suggested. Who knows, it might even get enough publicity to land a paying career in the video game industry? Thanks for reading.

[TRexian 0]

No, not possible.

Four words:

Falcon Four point Oh.

[-Puma- 2]

I wish that i was rich, but hey dreams might come true

[Commando84 0]

i think 6th sense is the closest you can get to that atm.

[berowe 0]

Unrealistic, would be nice though.

Problem with some addon makers is the same as with some clan/unit leaders-- they have their "vision" to do things their way or the highway, making it harder to cooperate with other project leaders. Even struggling gaming-clans won't merge with others because often the leader doesn't want to lose his inflated rank and sense of ownership.

Then there's the perversely secretive nature of online modders. They're so scared of having their stuff stolen/copied pre-release that they're paranoid of cooperation unless it's with close friends/etc.

But of course what if everyone concentrates their effort into one mod, and you yourself end up hating it? I remember in OFP there was one of the larger mods that I just couldn't stand-- so I just avoided it and stuck with one of the others.

Probably a good start would be a universally accepted place to consolidate all mod/addon/etc work, share tips, troubleshoot, beta test, etc. There are numerous "forums" out there for mods, clans, fansites, etc. Then there are the ones here. SO many-- if these guys all hung out in the same place I'm sure the quality level of their work could do nothing but increase. mmm?

[EDcase 87]

How about to have a server list of approved mods that can be used and uploaded to clients.

[Maddmatt 1]

Problem with some addon makers is the same as with some clan/unit leaders-- they have their "vision" to do things their way or the highway, making it harder to cooperate with other project leaders. Even struggling gaming-clans won't merge with others because often the leader doesn't want to lose his inflated rank and sense of ownership.

Very true. Some modders don't like certain mods and would rather do their own thing instead of supporting that mod. I can think of some examples, but I'm not going to say them here.

Quote[/b] ]

Then there's the perversely secretive nature of online modders. They're so scared of having their stuff stolen/copied pre-release that they're paranoid of cooperation unless it's with close friends/etc.

Hiding your stuff for too long can result in someone else beating you to it though. Again, I know some examples but they wont be mentioned here.

[Raptor 10]

seeing modmeeting.

When was the last and only one?

[dmarkwick 261]

No, not possible.

Four words:

Falcon Four point Oh.

Now now, wheres all that positive thinking gone?

I don't know about other modders but I make my mods to entertain myself. I wouldn't like to be roped into a mass addon project, maybe a small intimate one, but even then I'd need to have sole control of my particular area. I'm just like that

Not that I don't need regular help from some of the more able scripters etc here but I expect that's a different thing entirely.

I would however make my mod available for integration into larger mods.

[TRexian 0]

There is a fundamental reality to volunteer projects/"community" development: people do what they want to do.

Get 50 ArmA people - players and devs - to write down the top 20 things they'd like to see, and you'd get a bunch of different answers, and there would be some common ideas and themes. But then if you ask them to prioritize, I can guarantee you'd get 50 different lists. That's just the way it is. People prioritize things differently.

And, since it is volunteer work, you can't force people to do it. Then you get into different timelines and expectations of quality, and it is a wonder any dev groups last more than a few months!

It is hard to make mods. It is easier in ArmA than other games, but it still isn't what I would call "easy." And to make hi-quality mods with broad appeal is even harder.

Getting a large-scale organization to do it is even harder.

Generally, I think it is better to just be thankful for what we have and look forward to more goodies, and to help when we can.

But that's me.

[-ASA-ODEN 0]

LOL @ Falcon parallell

Still that way we'd endup with one good setup, just like RV :P

OpenArmA - 5 key sequence to fire M16

AlliedArmA - C4 your comp, it still runs.

FreeArmA - only looks, definately nothing "under the hood"

[TRexian 0]

LMFAO @ [ASA]ODEN

FreeArmA? That name has "suck" written all over it.

[evilnate 0]

Fair enough. I guess it's human nature to find reasons why it wouldn't work rather then finding possibilities of how it could work.

Cheers.

[TRexian 0]

Cheers.

Just speaking from a wee bit of experience on the issue.

But, in an effort to accentuate the positive, I look around the mod dev forums here and I see all sorts of cooperation and a spirit of sharing. That is really all that is required for great stuff to happen.

Like with the extended init handlers. Those are quickly becoming "required." As more things like that happen, someone will put together a "base" package of most (or all) of the "must have this" type stuff.

And really, there is alot of benefit to having the modular approach to mods that currently exists. Sure - there are tradeoffs. But, there are tradeoffs to having a big organization or two controlling what mods happen.

Just some food for thought.

[ArmaVidz 0]

I think it could work if the community worked to control punks who pillage and rape others work and call it their own. From what I can tell modders don't want to release their stuff to be openly used or included because other people omit credit, or claim it for themselves.

The general feeling i get from the atmosphere is that there are people ripping content, and there are people cheering those people on when they do - which is worse?

Address that issue and whalla - you've got a gold brick road. Just my 0.2 

[paragraphic l 2]

Maybe it's a better solution to target the servers to collaborate in making mods/addons standards on their servers, so you don't have to switch mods every time you switch server

[Scrub 0]

I applaud the subject, EvilNate. Good idea, the first step necessary would be to get only those people who can commit by their word and honor to uphold the agreed upon vision of the completed Uber-project.. EVEN if there are aspects they do not like after it has begun. If all do this, petty and personal squabbles become less of an issue, as a quality finishline is the ultimate goal. They all have the opportunity to even grudgingly accept someone elses idea if it is closer to the completed vision. This is loosely how our business is run, and encourages others to out-do someone else to that finish, either in time, quality, or features. But that word they gave before hiring is held most high and before all other arguments. It helps, but few will take such a pledge (or honor it).

Keep moving positively!

[sputnik monroe 102]

I was kind of hoping this is what Germany 1985 would be like. Basically like FDF but larger a one stop massive addon,mission and campaign expansion with updates and addons added all the time. (for example FDF1.2 to 1.3 to 1.4 the FDF desert pack, Suursaari, winter maldevic)

FDF and WGL got used online because mission makers could count on every one having the right build and addons. single released addons are only good for screenshots, they are basically worthless and might as well not be released. A car that has one mission for it is not worth the time to download.

BW mod, French Point, BOH and CSLAII were good projects, but imagine if they all were balanced to one another and released as single packs each (example the French army pack the German Army pack etc) .

I think the best thing was if there was a core pack, say World War IIIm(just an example name) and then the rest of the packs would be downloaded seperately as they ar efinished or updated, so the german pack, french pack and hopefully a UK pack some time in our lifetime. This would be similar to FDF 1.3 and the desert and WW2 packs.

I use FDF as an example but even they could have done much better. Winter Nogojev, Suursaari and Winter Maldevic and the Ke getys addons should have been added in to 1.4.

In the end it's better to have fewer complete packs to ask people to download. Less people are likely to play on a server or download a campaign when the addons list looks like this...

1. Get the MCR mod

2. Get the MCR patch 1

3. Get the MCR patch 1.1

4. Get the MCR patch 2.0

5. Get the BMP2 addon

6. Get the BMP3 addon

7. Get the BMP3 1.1 patch

8. Get the BMP crews

I mean come on just take down your mod and upload the newest version with all the patches and BMPs and their crews included.

I'm rambeling but I hope some one gets the point.

In the end it's a pointless dream to hope for any way.

[max power 21]

Just a comment relating to TOP.

I'm paraphrasing the below:

Quote[/b] ]

Think WGL or BAS on a massive scale.

WGL wasn't on a massive scale? I remember that thing not only to be deeply comprehensive, but also highly modifiable. It changed just about everything about OFP, IIRC.

[kestrel7e7 0]

I think it could work if the community worked to control punks who pillage and rape others work and call it their own. From what I can tell modders don't want to release their stuff to be openly used or included because other people omit credit, or claim it for themselves.

The general feeling i get from the atmosphere is that there are people ripping content, and there are people cheering those people on when they do - which is worse?

Address that issue and whalla - you've got a gold brick road. Just my 0.2 

It's called a GPL license.

[Dark_vityaz 0]

Really,look at the mods.Everywhere you should write -mod. Not comfortable.What about to make one big mod from all these little?

[max power 21]

I think it could work if the community worked to control punks who pillage and rape others work and call it their own. From what I can tell modders don't want to release their stuff to be openly used or included because other people omit credit, or claim it for themselves.

The general feeling i get from the atmosphere is that there are people ripping content, and there are people cheering those people on when they do - which is worse?

Address that issue and whalla - you've got a gold brick road. Just my 0.2

It's called a GPL license.

Creative commons has some good ones too... but there's a problem with enforcing your license.. What are you going to do? Sue them out of your own pocket? Under what pretense? Lost revenue?

[SlipperyJim 0]

You know a game is dead when people start talking about making mods to work around bugs.

Looks like I will be keeping my money in my pocket when Arma 2 comes out because I don't want to wait over a year for it to get patched.

What a shame.

[USSRsniper 0]

You know a game is dead when people start talking about making mods to work around bugs.

Looks like I will be keeping my money in my pocket when Arma 2 comes out because I don't want to wait over a year for it to get patched.

What a shame.

The way you think? basically OFP was dead on arrival too? there were mods in OFP to fix bugs too And before OFP was fully enjoyable it took long time too.

[Scrub 0]

That was just his version of 'I want my cake, I want it perfect, and I want to eat it too'. 6 months will tell the real story on the community.