Old Advice for New Mod Designers....

[helljumper51]

Congrats on starting your first mod and getting into the skillset of modding! Youre doing something that many people try to do but ultimately they dont get off the ground! Dont fret though! Were a community that is here to help! Unfortunately, that help is limited, so Im going to share my best advice after modding for many years and being in the community since 2007....

 

My first big piece of advice, there are hundreds of posts sharing a mod and asking for help from modders on the forums and only a handful of modders that are even around. Ive been here since 2007 and this has ALWAYS been the case. Making a post like this probably wont garner much help, especially because the mod design you have, MOST LIKELY, is kind of the same as many others except for the models. If you want to try to recruit people to help, try pitching an idea or concept that HASNT been done before or submit a mod idea that is different from whats out there. SO MANY mod posts are made for submods and mods that just change models and skins of vehicles and maybe add some sirens. THIS IS NOT WHAT MAKES A GOOD MOD.

 

Montana, LA Mod, NY Mod, Beaverfeld.....why are they all successful and hyped?  Because they did something different GAMEPLAY wise. LA mod put in alot of ease of life scripts and brought fire stations on the maps for us and really projected what we can do with the game; yes it was cool having US models, but people kept playing becuase of the GAMEPLAY. Montana added a dispatch system and made the game lower in scale and focused on a handful of units like a small town. NY MOD added BIG CITY energy and focused on navigating the difficultues of the big city plus added the tight quarters of firefighting. Beaverfeld added a more realistic dispatch system and is the first big US model mod out there. 

 

ALL OF THESE MODS CHANGED THE GAME. As in, they changed how we played the game and added new and exciting changes. Start your design process on this and if your mod is a reskin, thats also OKAY but be aware youll probably have to do most of the work.

 

My Second piece of advice is keep practicing and trying and failing. So many nights I spent trying to figure out what I was doing wrong with my modding and eventually figuring it out. THATS how all of us learned back in the day. I literally have emails still from itchboy and mikeypi on different scripts and concepts we were working on and trying to figure out from years ago. Keep trying and dont give up. Ultimately, you are the only one who will really be invested in this mod and you can become a modder with the rest of us...just keep at it! 

 

Finally, ask for the RIGHT kind of help. WHat does this mean? Well...saying you need help becuase you dont know how to mod is not conducive at all. I cant sit down with every post and go over all the details of modding when theres so many good resources in the downloads section. Asking for a mod team is also NOT asking for help. I know, it sounds weird; but asking for help is making a statement hoping someone with a specific knowledge set will come and share their knowledge. Asking for work done is asking them to use their time and skill to make a product for you. So ask for help the right way by having a question that someone can answer and share their knowledge, not asking to share their physical skills and time.

 

Youve got this! Now go do the things! Your community here has your back!

 

I believe in you!