It's been rough for modDB in the past in terms of features. But things are heading to a big big change as this community grows larger and larger. Today, after a few delays, I am announcing Counter Organic Revolution as the Mod of the Month for August. The article includes my own outlook on the mod and an interview with a few of the staff as well. I hope you guys will enjoy this article and will play this mod!
How was making the CMRs transform? Are they actually transforming?
Draxon: So if by actually transforming you mean we didn't cheat, then yes. We went great lengths to design and implement the transformers so that they actually believably rotate and slide and such in a way much more similar to a toy than the cartoon. The cartoon just melts, we didn't take that route. As a result the characters require quite a bit of planning to get to work successfully, but I think it was worth it. As far as the tech goes I"ll just say that it was pretty challenging to get to work right, and is a bit of a challenge every time we add a new character because we have to align different rigs which is always difficult.
Mecha: Another thing to mention about tech is that nothing like this has been done as cleanly or as well by any other mods. From a design standpoint, doing believable transforming characters was a massive challenge, maybe a little too much work in retrospect. Each character took between 3 and 5 weeks to design on paper and more than a month to model, texture and animate each guy. Additionally, each character is truely unique, so nothing can be reused from one character to another. An example, in UT2k4 there are several characters that use the Malcolm base model, but replace the texture to create a new character. In COR this was not the case.
On the note of awards, Dystopia has taken out this weeks Originality Award.
Dragonmaw wrote: Dystopia, a unique and original mod, has been cranking out media, and most recently, a gameplay demo for the people at Free Play. The concept is based around cyberpunk lore, and the universe is compelling and the implementation excellent. This is cyberpunk.
How in the hell would Dystopia get an originality award? It looks well done but the cyberpunk core is not new! That is some seriously bad judgement.*
*Of which, of course is my opinion and not a personal attack.
Um, its more original then any other game ive played.. just because its got a cyber punk them, doesnt mean their content is not original.. which it is. Hence why they got the award.
I've seen hulky, metal-armor-wearing-big-gun-toting badasses in many games um let's see... all the Unreal games pretty much...
These awards are given out frequently, and i really don't see what the problem is. We all have our own tastes, and we all see things in our own eyes. Okay, so that being said, the originality award was felt that it needed to be given to Dystopia, so? I don't know much about it, but from what I understand their work is pretty well done, and their concept of cyberspace i must say is neat. But anyway, modDB isn't giving it's last originality award whatsoever so there really is no need to get upset about it. so in the meantime, enjoy the motm! :)
Well I appreciate you being honest and civil in our disagreements.
I don't think the mod is so original, so I don't feel it deserves the originality award. ANOTHER award, however - most likely. But ultimately that is just my opinion and as a ModDB viewer/member it ultimately, unfortunately, has no bearing.
I'm sure if you had other mods in mind, it could be discussed through the forums or even IRC, remember we still are a community. just the main thing is, well don't like it? Then prove us there is there more out there by giving us suggestions! thanks! :D
Oh and stop making CS clones! =p
yey. the MOTM has arrived
im with phait on this one
i mean dystopia looks good and all but i dont think its as revolutionary as modDB say it is all the time.
Talk bout favorites how can moddb give a mod an award when half of there staff has helped with the development of the mod. besides its not even origonal looks like tron 2.0 all over again!
"Talk bout favorites how can moddb give a mod an award when half of there staff has helped with the development of the mod."
Really? Ouch... now the situation looks sillier.
Except for the fact that none of us work or have worked for Dystopia .. so get your facts right..
Maybe cyberpunk is not really original (then again what theme has'nt been done over and over?), but from what I've seen the content in-game is highly original. It's not just your average 'two sides face it off against one another with funky weapons' (with slightly different skins and themes to CS - which is what 70% of all mods out there are).
It has that and more. Heck, the 'cyberspace' mode it has, is already more than a lot of other mods can come up with in the inovation department...
Also, seeing how complete it's already starting to look, it looks like the perfect timing to pimp this mod.
Personally I'm hard pushed to think of another mod, in a similar stage of development that can boast the same amount of originality. (Sure some other mods have some extravagant ideas that might be fresh and exciting, but how close are they to actually implementing them? The Dystopia team seem to have actually implemented their original ideas into their mod already - which is a big step from a great idea, actually implementing it)
Alos, IMO pointing out that some MODdb staff have tested the game, in order to cause controvercy is a cheap shot, as that has absolutly no bearing on the mod in question... imo, go to the Dystopia site, have a good look and read, I think you will agree that this mod is more than a little inovative and these guys deserve this little award.
half of moddb staff are bias towards dystopia because they are on the team
if you want proof check out this link
Dystopia-game.com
the staff have also been getting other members to post news to cover up the bias.
and fork, it says on dys forum you are a play tester for them, so which one is a lie?
Sorry to say if its an internal alpha and your play testing you still report bugs and other problems with the game thus you are still helping with the development stage. Also I have seen the screenshots and the video on dystopia looks good yes but its not out yet all cause you played the mod it deserves an award? What about what people think? Maybe it should have been asked before jumping to the assumption everyone is going to love it and play it everyday.
Righty, my two cents.
They tested it... so what?
That means they actually will have a very good idea about the game. Secondly if they test it, they have absolutely nothing to do with the actual construction of the game... they get to play it and say "look, this part is buggered"
At a guess the moddb staff will be mod fans anyways, so it's a given that they will get extra access to mods, which we wont. I would'nt want it any other way either, as at least it means they know what they are on about.
Is this really the first ever mod they have played before the public and that has recieved an award? I don't know much about this site at all... but I bet not ;)
This is a tiny little award, going out to an obviously skilled mod team... i really don't know what all this commotion is about...
Does the winner of this get a prize I have'nt heard of?
Also "whine, whine, the moddb staff are biased towards it"... WHY?!
Maybe because it's good?? Oh heck! They've found a good mod and God forbid they are about to let us know it's good! Run for cover!!11!uno
You should be happy that they partake in mod making, as a: it means they really do know what they are talking about and b: if they (people that are confronted with 100's of mods daily) think a mod is that interesting to help out with it... then me, well me, I'd just be happy knowing, that mod will probably be quite good.
sure dys looks ok, but its more the fact of bias that bothers me.
its like giving yourself an award, i could give myself "most awesome person in the world award" but ofcourse im going to do that....... im bias.
ppl keep rambling on about "cs clones", well they cant have looked very far. there are alot of very unique mods out there waiting to be notaced and i believe those are the mods that should be winning awards.
ppl want to hear about great mods, but whats the point if everybody already knows about them. the top 100 proves everyone knows about dys because they are constantly in the top 2 or so.
in my opininon, if your going to give an award for something, the judges should remain imparcial and in this case they are not. it even comes straight from the horses mouth on the dys forums.
dystopia looks to be a very good mod, and they diserve recognition for that but the fact remains they have already had recognition for it, why is it necissery to give it over and over? im sure the average mod player will be content that they hear so much about it and in turn the mod will be quite good but its forceing other mods out of the recognition they diserve which is casting a shadow over the whole community.
if the only hl2 mods anybody nataces were dystopia and insurgancy because they got all the praise, that granted is deserved, i would be very disapointed.
"dub : (summary)they tested it, so what ?"
there we go, a man with a clue.
to kooper re: (all arguements ever in this thread)
omgwtfbbq its a huge consipracy, quick stop the presses, omg guyz we beenz busted CHEESE IT
how the **** is giving a team of developers an award biased because they let you have a chance to play it ?
lets be honest here, testing is essentially playing the game.
'the mod will be quite good but its forceing other mods out of the recognition they diserve which is casting a shadow over the whole community. '
-kooper
oh noes, we are casting shadows, my god dude, you could have been a doomsayer in medieval times, if mods are getting left in the shadows, they should step up, not cower away, see it as a challenge not cry about it.
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If other mods want to get the awards, have the team leaders of those mods contact the Moddb Staff and have them look into it. Otherwise, they'll be largely ignored due to lack of publicity, and therefore won't make much of a difference to which mods get certain awards.
Do not blast the Moddb Staff for choosing a mod that they thought deserved the Originality Award. If you take a look at a lot of the different mods that did recieve these honors in the past, you probably won't even be able to recognize a large chunk of them, including the top honor, Mod of the Month. :P
this is why i sometimes feel i never want to write here ever again sometimes