Too work or not too work on Mod teams

[Bond394]

So everyone I've talked to says that you should work on a mod in order to help you get a job in the gaming industry. Not only will it give you some experience about the industry but it will also help you build up a portfolio with 3D assets that are placed in game engines.

However what if you don't really like first person shooters like Unreal or Crysis or Half Life. What if you wanna make games like a Final Fantasy Tactic's or Disgaea style of game or even games like the new Prince of Persia. Should a person work on a mod team and also do personal side projects. And if you decide not to work on a mod what should you do with your artwork. Should it still go in a engine or should you just do renders in 3ds Max.

I know if you wanna go for something to just go for it but if it doesn't help you get a job is it really worth it.

[Talon]

Yeah, I really recommend mod teams as a way of learning.

If you're not up for standard FPS fare, you can see if there are any indie games being developed that take your fancy. However you may find that as there's no engine already there to get stuff working in, that the results are a lot slower and the tech and tools aren't up to the standard of the big name engines, so be a bit discerning when choosing one and find one that looks as if it has real promise for making it a good way into development at least

[Kaskad]

Doing mods gives you some more experience with a game production pipeline than you might get on your own, since you're exposed to to mappers, designers, and hopefully coders (I really don't suggest joining a mod without a coder, it's like joining a taxi company without any cars. Can have really nice employees and a really nice office but it probably won't do too well). It also can be an opportunity for more regular and specific crits if you're on about the same (or lower) level as the other artists. This is all true even if it's for a game genre you aren't interested in. However, if you aren't interested in what the mod is doing then you will most likely lose motivation.

Whether you work on a mod or not you should try to get your models in a game engine. It's not like you have to do it every time, but it's really the best way to tell whether or not you're "doing it right"

[biery]

Pick a team that has a good starting point and is ready to get cracking, ive been on a couple teams where its like "Yeh lets do this".. 5 months later its still in the planning stages.

IMO they should have a solid idea for the mod, and have an asset list at the very least.

[virtualalias]

CDProjekt's Witcher began as a full conversion of Neverwinter Nights using the Aurora engine.

Maybe you should check out the editors with Neverwinter Nights 2 and see if you like them. You could probably get some code together to constrain combat in any way you're interested in. NWN used some pretty simple scripting and sites like this one can get you up to speed on what people are doing.

There were a few guys modding NWN to make a Dragonlance story and almost all of them got yanked up by Bioware.

[Bond394]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I actually am part of one mod currently and just recently joined another. Both are first person shooters which isn't really my thing but like you guys are saying the experience and connections are priceless. However, when applying to game studios will only working with 1st person shooters hurt my chances if I apply to studio's that make games like Prince of Persia or something similar.

[Craig Lewis]

If you're worried about that, just work on a few personal pieces which arent for a mod, as well as the mod work you're doing. At least that way it shows you can do different styles of stuff.

But yeah, modding really is a great way of learning.

[Cryrid]

You could try hunting around for a mod that isn't in first person. They're more rare of course, but still out there.

Otherwise, you could try to learn the process that a specific engine uses to import characters and props while you are working on a mod, and then use it to import your own assets later on. It may not be a playable mod (could just be a trigger that activates a specific animation on the models), but it would still show you are capable of creating such art in a real-time environment. Either way working only on 1st person shooters isn't going to hurt your chances when applying elsewhere (if you compare the credits to several Ubisoft titles such as Farcry2, Assassins Creed, Shaun White, and the new PoP, you'll spot several of the same artists on each title).

[sarge mat]

It can be hard to find the right mod to work on. A small indie team from here in Ireland took me on to do some basic modeling and levels. Teaching me stuff as I go kind of thing. Its not a first person shooter eather.

But its a great way to learn more and to experence working in a team, getting stuff done in time etc.

[Bond394]

Thanks guys, so mod = experience, knowledge, portfolio pieces, contacts = all worth the effort.