What happened? why is this community so dead?

[Junky]

What has happened? why is everything so quiet and dead , most mods have been "WIP" and such for years already , with the last forum posts dating back years ago , and not much new topics and content is being uploaded to the site , whats happening?

[itchboy]

Modders have either all grown up and are no longer interested in modding (because work and family is more important) or just lost interest with the game, period.

The second point is that is that new people are not willing to take the time to learn how to mod anymore.

Overall, a few projects still remain, but just like Montana mod, it will be very slow going because of how much we have to deal with IRL.

[mr matt5432123]

Plus, the game is already more than 10 years old, It might be time to code a new one.

[itchboy]

Which brings us to the Em5 debate. 16T really dropped the ball there IMO given the overall lack of transitioning to that game. Add to that how its inaccesible to many low-spec users means its pretty much wiped out a third of potential modders.

Add to that the proliferation of other games in the emergency category (such as LSPDFR) and you can understand where people are going.

[EmC-Unit]

On 25.05.2017 at 1:45 AM, Junky said:

What has happened? why is everything so quiet and dead , most mods have been "WIP" and such for years already , with the last forum posts dating back years ago , and not much new topics and content is being uploaded to the site , whats happening?

Game is old, people are getting bored playing the same game with different setting. On other hand "modders" don't have much of new moddels they can reskin from releasd mods. Also nobody would like to learn how to do 3d moddels.

 

On 26.05.2017 at 7:51 AM, itchboy said:

Which brings us to the Em5 debate. 16T really dropped the ball there IMO given the overall lack of transitioning to that game. Add to that how its inaccesible to many low-spec users means its pretty much wiped out a third of potential modders.

Add to that the proliferation of other games in the emergency category (such as LSPDFR) and you can understand where people are going.

IMO Modding something more complex for em5 witch would use 3 times more time to create not wourth it.

[itchboy]

Em5 model porting isnt so hard according to someone who told me what they did. Overall, the only issue with Em4 and Em5 models is not just the conversion process. Its actually the level of detail of the Em4 models vs the default Em5 ones. Then there's the dozen different texutre layers you need to add over top like the alpha mapping, and the bump maps, then add to that you need to make a burned out version of the same model, thats where the issue lies.

[MikeyPI]

In simple terms: Those who could mod EM4: Moved onto other things and/or outgrew modding as a whole.  The game is seriously dated and has it's limits like any other game out there, for the most part those limits are kind of where it's at now. Pretty much leaves scripted-based mods and/or moving on out of this game since those who can do it are not likely to spend time making the same thing over and over with different scenery to boot.

As Itch described EM5 was a disappointment to many of those who were around during their release time for the game and remember quite well the promotion vs final product delivered. While sure it probably is relatively modable as games go, those who were from EM4 are not likely to want to transition.  Couple that with a lack of "new" motivated modders who'd have to either learn EM4 or EM5 (not just reskining existing stuff, there ya go... Too much work for most out there, they'd rather have just went into a different game.

[C.F.D]

When 16T announced that they were making EM5, everyone got all excited, hoping that it would be the new 'em4.' We all assumed, and hoped that 16T had listened to our voices, concerns and ideas to help develop the next game the way it should have been done. Unfortunately, they didn't and instead of working with their own fan base communities ( they overlooked the western communities, to be frank) they decided to be a bunch of cash-grabbers. When the game came out,  we all soon realized that it wasn't going to be a smooth transition for those whom stayed around and created mods for Em4. This was the last nail in the coffin, and for me personally, I cannot support a game company if their interests are profit and not communities that launched Em3, Em4 to the highest point on the market.

Having that being said, until they decide to come out and work with us, and develop the tools that we all desperately need to create mods and not having to go through a huge learning curve, I don't see how this community or how many of the other Em4/Em5 communities will survive for the next decade. So, I'm only sticking around to finish what I have to finish, and I don't see myself hanging around for much longer after that. And it sucks to say this, I've been with this community for 10 years. It just doesn't feel original anymore, it feels ... flat. It's gonna take a miracle to breathe a new layer of life into this community, and if it's already happening, it's probably dropping 1 single sand grain at a time in a hour glass.

I wonder how Sixteen Tons Entertainment is doing right now ... http://www.sixteen-tons.de/en/JOBS 

[mr matt5432123]

I think  Emergency 5 was a flunk because the devs  decided to try to make a full game that could be enjoyed by itself, unlike how emergency 4 was pretty boring by itself but still had a well thought out modding system. I would have thought that by now Sixteen Tons had figured out the only reason they are still in business is because of the modders.

Personally, I see the future like this: Eventually Some one is going to make a break-through in em5 modding and we are gonna get something similar to the LA mod, But still half of the community will be able to enjoy it due to the formation of other community's for other upcoming games (Emergenyc, Notruf 112, etc.) And em4 modding is just gonna go downhill. I hate to say it, but the peak of our group was a long, long time ago.

[EmC-Unit]

10 hours ago, mr matt5432123 said:

I think  Emergency 5 was a flunk because the devs  decided to try to make a full game that could be enjoyed by itself, unlike how emergency 4 was pretty boring by itself but still had a well thought out modding system. I would have thought that by now Sixteen Tons had figured out the only reason they are still in business is because of the modders.

Personally, I see the future like this: Eventually Some one is going to make a break-through in em5 modding and we are gonna get something similar to the LA mod, But still half of the community will be able to enjoy it due to the formation of other community's for other upcoming games (Emergenyc, Notruf 112, etc.) And em4 modding is just gonna go downhill. I hate to say it, but the peak of our group was a long, long time ago.

I think the peak was when Itchboy showd up, and released stuff. Even i get used to pre made cars that are easy to be skinned. Still thats depressing to finish stuff when so a few left.

[MikeyPI]

I don't believe EM4 had a particularly "strong" modding suite of tools for it, if not for Oleg with Z2 I don't think it would've went anywhere (sure blender came much much later, but without Z2 it would not have gotten that far). 5 is in much the same boat as that goes, the dev tools frankly are clunky, nowhere near well documented enough and the game it's self has many flaws: This is pretty much where em4 was when it came to be; the diff being that em3 carried over much of em3's modding utils (and format) so that eased the process even though to my eyes em3's editor was more "complete (most the stuff in it actually worked). 

Em5 would require people who are figuring it out to be more open with how-to do it along with "ease of use" tools external from the devkit they provided to make a go of it, plus people who would actually want to take the time to do it.  Most people from em4 were expecting em4 with better toys/graphics to build with but to retain the existing structures and such, that really was wishful thinking but one would've hoped they at least tried to detail how to go about it better.  

To find the "heyday" of the community you really gotta go back even further to around 10 years ago when there were far more people modding and far more interest in doing it, itch's arrival brought with it some new models but really did not see anything other than visual updates: the game saw it's best strides when people were still finding new/exciting things to do with it.  Whether EM5 does anything who's to say, that's up to the devs that want to tackle it and try to mod it. Comparing emergency to other games out there really is a fool's errand because it filled a fairly niche market, one which as of to date I've not seen much in the way of competitors for: First persons and 3rd persons are not what emergency tried to be and as such should not be compared anymore than "call of duty" would be to RTS.

[TheVolume]

As one of the project contractors

I also have something to say, That's right, the game is already old but let's say how it really is

Which one of you does not play in the older game

I played this game many times just like you and I tested your own mod

But one I wanted to make my own mod - Questions Why did not I spend my time creating models for the game?

The answer is simple - I did not have that time

But that does not mean I could not start work

This is a European mod - all models and accessories are available, then where is the problem

I'll add that I'm trying to do realistically, but it's just a game and my units can only be similar to real life emergency services not 100%

Please understand this is just a hobby for me

Additional information - all models I use come from the German website and have their own authors

I hope you appreciate my work
 

[FInn Rescue 12]

If I can add my two cents in.  EM4 was on fire for a while but there was a lot young members who did not respect other members work which led to fights on the forum and insulates and bad feelings.  So something had to be done lots of restrictions too get the forum back in check.  Which in my opinion was good and bad it drove away a lot of members went to due privet mods and web sites stealing the work of the modelers and youtube.  

The things that made this forum great was the excitement of trying to make your own town or city. but most of use could only due re-skins and lights.  I always thought everybody should pitch in and give back to the community some others just wanted to take and run.  Most of the members are older now and done with school, dealing with real life and do not have time anymore. 

As for EM5 I have not played it yet and probably will not I did not like the game interface look.  The map and graphics look good tho.  I think after speaking with Itchboy the only thing to get this back on fire is newer members who have time to create models, maps and newer missions.  For Sixteen Stones make new EM6 with option of US maps and models get input from the community for ideas. There is a lot of talent in this forum.    For me playing on new maps models and missions is still exciting          

[RangerDog]

I think mostly the problem is, the creaters who used to do alot, either have a busy personal live, or just stopped for whatever reason, alot of people hoped that em5 was going to be awesome, and the expectations were very high, only alot of people werent happy, so people stopped also for that reason.

And like finn said, that made alot of fights, were due a few modders also stopped.  Personally, i would love to learn some stuff about modding, only i just don't have the time for it, and i think thats also for alot of other members.