Mods going commercial Created 13 years ago2011-02-11 14:28:34 UTC by monster_urby

So what do you guys think about mods going commercial and having to be purchased through Steam?

It happened to Raindrop and now it's happening with Dear Esther. I also heard rumours that the new They Hunger on the Source engine was to be a commercial release right before they stopped updating the site and vanished off the face of the Earth.

Personally, I have mixed feelings. For one, I'm glad for the creators because I guess it means they will get some payoff for their hard work. Then again, I hate it because I rarely have the extra cash sitting around to actually purchase games or expansions. I was looking forward to playing Dear Esther's remake in all its glory and now I'm going to have to resort to it's ugly, outdated version.

Muh. ?_?

I'm all for it, it means we get to play new, innovative and creatively designed games which are ultimately more fun than more CoD clones.

I may be abit biased, though, I work on one such project that used to be a mod

As much as I want to be against it, I can't really say that a commercial mod is so different from an indie game.

Whether people create something as a labor of love for the community or not, they have every right to ask to be paid for hard work should they chose to. That's my two cents, anyway.

Although it is a bit of a shame about the Esther remake, this is the first that I've even heard of it.

edit: if BM:S does this I'm going to write them angry letters. And their parents, asking how they could screw their kids up. They'll love that.

I also heard rumours that the new They Hunger on the Source engine was to be a commercial release right before they stopped updating the site and vanished off the face of the Earth.

Rumors nothing. They outright said the game was going to be retail, I don't know to what extent, I just knew you'd have to buy it.
Also last I heard, they stopped updating because a lead person on their team fell severely ill or something? I think...

if BM:S does this I'm going to write them angry letters. And their parents, asking how they could screw their kids up. They'll love that.

They could make a hell of a lot of money off of hype alone for that name, let's hope they don't realize that though.

What wrong with someone making money from their hard work?

You know Valve is getting money from it so what's the problem?

I love mapping as a hobby but if I could make even 99 cents a game I would be more than happy to open my pocket and let the money fall in. lol

And yes, I believe these "mods" should be significantly cheaper. 99 cents is just a baseline. Somewhere between .99 cents and about 10 dollars. Then you need to work it out with Valve as to what they get out of it.

Trust me, you go making a butt load of money from the engine and Valve is going to be knocking with their hand out even if they say "it's cool" initially. I don't know all the details from the mods mentioned but I am sure they are paying Valve somehow.

they prolly have to pay a licensing fee to make money off the source engine

I generally dislike the possibility that modifications go commercial. Do you like to play something like Blue Shift and having to pay money for that? It barely has any new coding. It's really short. Valve also left that glaring Sector G elevator bug in it on Steam that makes it near impossible to play thru legitimately. And it costs money to play.

If modders want money they could ask for donations which allow for special features in the game or something. I know sven coop lets you do that if you donate as little as 2-6 dollars. Go figure.

Black Mesa would be a totally different story. For 5 years, they've insisted that it will be a free mod. To go against that now would be unforgivable.

Now, if you say it's free then it has to be free. Ask for donations, whatever...

And that's why I said as low as .99 cents. For those games you might not necessarily want to pay for but at least the author gets a little something.

Prime example:

The 14 year old kid that wrote the Bubble Ball app and it got more hits than Angry Birds. Although it was free I bet he wish he had charged that 99 cents now. I guess that's why he is writing his 2nd App. lol

I am not up for raping anyone's wallet but I think if you want, you should be able to make a buck or two off something that already makes money, peoples ideas.

Alot can be said for people who donate their work as well.

It's going to be free, but that's neither here nor there.

u need to follow the mainstream = easy money

I'm not really against it, but I'd judge them on a case-by-case basis. I'd want a good look at just how much effort they put into it first.

If, for example, Black Mesa ever decided to go retail, then hell yes I'd pay for it. Dear Esther I have no problem paying for when the time comes. They Hunger: Lost Souls... I dunno, the screens don't show an awful lot of custom work in there, I wouldn't want to pay for a mod that's still mostly all Valve's content.

Yeah, I looked at 'em and wasn't too impressed myself. I do like all the cave work it just reminds me of episode two caves.

Don't know that I would pay for either...maybe 99 cents. lol

kidding

yeah but Strider, TH: lost souls said theyd feature a DRIVABLE TRACTOR! id pay just for that fact.

i would pay for BM:S in a heartbeat..

Not many other people would.

Not many other people would.

I disagree. It would probably weed out some of the crowd who keep complaining about the devs taking their time, too, despite doing this unfunded and in their own time. But it's a hypothetical, so who cares.

I don't mind Dear Esther going commercial, since hey, look at it! The amount of amazing put into that mod, and the amount of work spent on it, they deserve to make some money from such a brilliant peace of work.

Plenty of people would buy Black Mesa if it got a proper Steam release for, say, $10-20. Another option could be one of those "pay-what-you-feel-like" type things, because some people prefer the idea of paying for a game as opposed to donating to the developers of a free game (or mod).

Dear esther going commercial ? Yuck. It's just a narration in a game and just because it looks all shiny they will sell it.

Oh well, at least I feel good for the producer. But not for valve who makes money based on other people's work.

If they feel like it deserves to be paid for, then they are correct. It's improbable that you can't afford to pay a small amount for a quality mod. And if you can't, then there's always the free version of the mod to play if you think that it's not worth it "just because it looks all shiny". You have no right to complain that you can't get it for free. Even less in this case, because you CAN get it for free.

The idea of commercial mods is a very good thing. They expose the mod community to much more advertisement and interest, and mod creators put more effort into their work because they know they will get some money back out of it. It increases the size and output quality of the mod community in general, and helps hobbyist game developers on their way to a proper industry job. (On a related note, if any member of this site pirates any commercial mod, I will instantly and irreversibly ban you.)

Also, Steam is a publishing service, it's only fair that they get a certain percentage of every sale. A Steam release would get far more sales, advertisement and exposure than any attempt to self-publish. There's also the fact that Steam would take care of all hosting servers, online purchases, and the like. And of course there's Steamworks and Steam Cloud and all the other fancy Steam things that go along with a Steam release. And you think that Valve don't deserve anything in return for that? They're not "making money based on other people's work", they're making money from a quality service provided in exchange for a percentage of sales.

I am sure it works the same way as all the other engines. It's basically free use until you make a bunch of money and then, like I said, they will have their hand out asking for some kind of royalties. Usually, it is about 10,000-20,000 dollars. And you are paying for the engine. All your materials should be pretty much custom.

Here are a few links that explain the rigorous process. Good Luck!

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Making_a_Mod

http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Building_Mods_with_Valve_Technology

Makes me happy to be honest, who can't afford 'em anyway, you're all clearly paying your utility + internet bills, or have someone paying them for you, and as for money "lying" around, who pays with cash on the internet? (maybe I took that a tad literally?)

Around how much are they anyway? I'm assuming under $50

You can't assume that everyone has the means to pay $50 a crack on a software title.

Most of the under 18 crowd here does not pay their own bills.

So, your statement really doesn't make much sense.

Most of the under 18 crowd here does not pay their own bills.

So, your statement really doesn't make much sense.

I did say "or having someone paying them for you", which by what I meant was that if you're just a kid and don't actually have to pay for anything, then surely you can save up 50 dollars.

Because it's so easy to get a job, you just run out onto the street, yell "I WANTEH JOB!!!111" and the money starts pouring in.

It is pretty easy to get a job....as long as you aren't TOO picky about where you want work. You gotta start somewhere.

Not many other people would.

Because you would know