WolferCooker wrote:
I've said this a couple times already and we are in denial about it, but i think it's really starting to bear fruit; we are reaching the end of Wolf3d mod making.
Well, "Team RayCast" is a prove that we're not, with at least 4-5 projects in development, the action in our team never stops. Maybe it should expand to include more members, don't know...to work on many parallel projects. We just try to keep "quality control" on members, but as long as those are capable modders - team has no member limit set in stone.
SDL gave Wolf3D modding a good boost and a bright future.
There are indeed a few problems related to Wolf3D modding I can list (if asked to), but I think that the main problem (if I'd have to choose only one) is that most modders find classic mods too repeatable already, after playing 1000 of such. Another barrel, another column...
Our expectations and "excitement limit" are much higher nowdays, especially with SDL that has no limits. This makes projects bigger, longer....and it's hard to make such projects alone. You need a "Team". And beside "Team RayCast" I don't see much such teams emerging. Is it egos or lack of organization skills?
Once a person could do a mod by himself. Most Wolf3D modders new mapping, art could be taken from other games or left original, no much coding required (and you didn't have much memory for too much coding features or art anyway), beside maybe some simple tutorials that existed. So one member was a team of it's own.
Today - if one tries to do all by himself - he'll either give up or make a too-classic-looking mod.... You can't do such thing on your own.
To keep modding - one (and asa community) should keep reinventing itself, with new ideas TC, directions, mod styles, plots....fresh things.
Even if you have both art, coding and mapping skills - 1. Those can't be just the same quality in all 3 areas, IMHO one whould focus on 1 area he is best at. 2. Even if you do - you just can't carry all the areas on your shoulders alone to make a large scale project of reasonable quality in reasonable time.
We got to put egos aside and create teams and development forums, as such can't be public.
That's what "Team RayCast" members understood - in order to do big-scale, detailed, quality projects - one needs a team.
I can list here the reasons why I think "Team RayCast" works so well...in random order.
1. Team of experienced and/or capable wolfers with simular modding taste, free time and devotion.
2. Each member is assigned only 1 area, the area he is best at (modding/coding/art of sounds) and focuses only on that area. It's not a rule, it's just how it works out by itself.
3. Extensive use of Dropbox.
4. Private development forum, with sub-forums for each project and sub-threads for every project theme (art, coding, plot, sounds, enemies, bosses etc).
5. All team members are moderators so they can edit each other's posts, creating an updated common post of overall progress and status - for maps, coding etc.
6. Threads allow first "summary/updated" post to be displayed on (and edited from) every page of the thread, making it faster to edit and keep updated
7. Democratic votes on every dispute, so every voice counts and is heard.
8. Flexibility of team members not to put "veto" on things and respect others.
9. Team members are allowed to choose projects they participate in or not, and are free to have their own personal projects/taking part in non-team projects.
10. Double-posting is not only allowed, by encouraged.
11. One member is in charge of overall ogranizing and managing the projects, to "glue" things together.
IMO this is the way to make great mods.