Modding is "a declining trend", says Battlefield producer | Gameplanet

DICE believes the once-popular practice of "modding" games – whereby amateur hobbyists take a published game and use tools provided by the developer to modify it into a new experience for players – is on the way out.

[plb]

In other words we aren't giving out Modding tools but yeah I agree definitely not like it used to be but now some console games have built that create share thing eg mod nation lbp infamous 2 etc. Granted it is not the same but similar.

[evrfighter]

modding a trend?

...ya ok

modding is being forced out due to the cancer that is DLC. The modders are still there but the mod tools are not.

This isn't a dying trend. It's moddercide (for lack of a better term)

It's a shame to see it's DICE of all people who are saying this but business is business and right now they are blinded by the $$$$'s that CoD's map packs bring in.

You'll be seeing me in future BF3 articles praising the game but I don't do DLC, sorry DICE.

[Raf1k1]

The fact that fewer games now come with modding tools is a big reason for the decline of modding. The devs are partly to blame IMO since it's pretty obvious people love to create things in games and if you take away the tools then you're obviously going to get fewer mods.

[LightofDarkness]

While I agree that devs have a hand in it, it's also due to the fact that creating content for games these days that's anywhere near the level that the developers shipped with the game is becoming a daunting task. Mod teams now have to be far larger than before. Amateur modelers and animators simply won't have the time (and oftentimes the skill) to create comparable material. The attention to detail that is required in level design these days is staggering.

There's a pretty reasonable correlation between the rise in game budgets (which are Hollywood level now) and the decline of modding.

Back in the HL and Quake days you could create assets and mods that looked as good (if not better) than the stuff the developers themselves created, and in a reasonable time frame too. That's because we simply weren't capable of pushing nearly as much detail as we are today. Mods back in the day used to be able to turn heads because they sometimes looked on a par with games coming out at the same time. Creating something with that appeal these days takes FAR more effort.

Don't get me wrong though: the will to mod is there, games like Minecraft have proven that. But the painstaking effort involved is simply too much for people (especially those of us with jobs).

[Ducky]

Mods don't have to be total-conversions or anything that extreme.

Maps could still be challenging... but what I usually prefer is changes to the gameplay, or custom weapon models... or skyboxes... etc.
For a multiplayer game, that's all I really would need.

[LightofDarkness]

That's true, like the old "(insert game here) Pro" type mods that fixed various issues that the online community saw with the game and made it more fair/challenging.

The maps part is quite true though. I remember a friend of mine used to churn out Quake/Doom maps in a few days (granted he had more time on his hands back then). Working with the UDK, it has taken him 3 months of work on an admittedly large deathmatch style map (I believe it's for UT3) just to get to a decent level of detail. The map isn't even balanced for gameplay properly yet.

[conswella]

There should be a news story that reads, "Videogame modding cut in favor of DLC, Pay for what you could have made with a good mod" or something in that regard.

and there would be a full analysis of how you cannot create your own levels and scenarios, type up your own story, create your own weapons with specific attributes, etc. because that would extend the life of a game indefinitely, where as there is a business model such as in call of duty where if you want new scenarios, you will have to buy the new COD, or the DLC.

Yes, actual video game reporting on that i would like to see very much. it will make people aware that DLC is not "on the decline," it's being taken away as a privilege, and with that a great amount of creativity. i'm really getting sick of the industry.

does anyone else think it sounds like DICE is asking for a boycott? and that this, if not a big issue yet, is going to turn into one?

[Angels3785]

Well............yeah as soon as Crytek said F****k you to their mod community it showed how little the developers are willing to support modding which is a shame because it is a great addition to a game to be able to mod to almost anything you want.

[kmanmx]

At the end of the day they are a business with shareholders to please, if gamers can just mod the content that they want into the game the publishers and developers won't be able to sell the DLC. There is a good argument for mods actually selling games (which i believe in to a good extent) but try telling that to the publishers.

[retrofly]

Desert combat probably sold more copies than BF 1942 than the orginal game ever could :)

[Vladplaya]

Its a declining trend because asshole developers don't make modding tools anymore. Greedy fucks.

[Raf1k1]

Agreed. They try to pass it off as though they have nothing to do with the decline.

[Senden]

Release mod tools for battlefield 3 and see how declining it really is. If DICE don't release any mod tools for this game I'll lose quite a bit of respect for them. This is supposed to be the game which can be mutually celebrated between console gamers and PC gamers alike.. the true successor to Battlefield 2.. no mod support would be a huge kick in the teeth to the loyal PC fans who ever played any of fantastic mods that were released for the Battlefield series over the last 9 years.

[tdrules]

It declines because you removed it.
Don't twist it DICE

just like cheat codes declined because of DLC

[Corrwin]

Declining for some genres, increasing in others: see inFAMOUS 2, Little Big Planet, Mod Racers, GMod, Minecraft.

[retrofly]

You only have to look at IL2 to see how much a modding community can do.

[DrHouse]

This coming from the same people that said open world sandbox shooters are boring....LOL

[kevnb]

Give us proper mod tools...

[TheBand1t]

you're full of shit dice

Your mod tools were fucking awful for BF2

[NotSoSilentBob]

As I have said before.

When Quake2 was out and being modded so many good ideas come about, but then valve showed up and started to take Ideas from peoples Mods(Team Fortress) and dress them up and resell them. Stupid gamers slurped that crap up and it was a contributing factor to DLC becoming the primary source of income from games.

[jaih27]

Wow, What a bunch of bullshit. I'm so glad after reading the comments above, DICE, EA, and ACTIVISION, all should take note, Console gamers are a generation behind P.C. Gamers, and we won't keep swallowing your bullshit. I used to think DICE was somewhere to stand when it came to P.C. Gameing. However, your just like the rest. We're not going to eat up your bullshit and say... um tastes good, console gamers don't have a choice, but anyone can write games for the P.C. look at the indy scene, it is going to bloom, and you won't beable to swallow all of them to your money machine. At the end of the day all gaming will have to go back to the P.C. as this is where they are made. As the younger generation of gamers gets older, and more wiser they won't put up with it either. I personally havn't purchased, any of your B.S trying to screw us games, Like MW2, Assassins Creed 2. Constant internet connectionr equired, FU. Or any of the others. You want to know why your posting a loss, it's not for the reasons you think, and the more control you try and take, the more loss you will take, your going to be like the snake eatting it's own tail, and wondering why it'll eventually starve.

[Bromeslice]

At least Bethesda still supports modding

[Tennessee88]

This made me sick to my stomach... honestly this is just one more trend among developers that makes shelving gaming almost wholesale a real possibility to me. The developers at DICE above all (with the exception of Bethesda) should realize the value of a modding community. Heck I bought Battlefield 2 in 2011 just to be able to play FH2 and Project Reality. Has the increasing complexity of the engines likely taken a toll... yes. However it is really sad that developers use this excuse to shut the door. There are thousands of individuals who are willing to learn, adapt, and create despite the challenges involved.

The reasons that mods are going the way of the dinosaurs are due to multiple reasons, but very rarely has complexity been that reason. The fact is that even developers who work exclusively with P.C. games have left their customers out to dry. CA assembly deprived the community of mod tools with Empire:TW on top of an incomplete shoddy product. I was used to bugs with the TW series, but I always expected modders to fill that gap which made me comfortable with the purchase. Even with DarthMod's incredible work on the game, it still is a shadow of what it might have been with proper mod tools.

Ever since the first Forgotten Hope, I bought Battlefield games not for the vanilla product, but for the mods the community would provide.

I have had high hopes for BF3 and will not write it off based on this news alone. But no matter what I know that mods like Project Reality will likely be more to my liking then the finished BF3 product. And with the hope of true mod tools quickly fading, I am looking less and less at upgrading my good PC to top of the line and more and more at a new mic and joystick for Project Reality and a heavier wallet.

I truly hope that DICE will realize that PC gaming thrives not just from extra horsepower, but from a dedicated and invested community. I can play any title I want between my PS3 or PC, but at the end of the day, most of my gaming is spent with mods for Battlefield 2.