Mod Management 102 - The Early Days
Difficulty: Intermediate |
| Category: FPSB > Other/Misc | Author(s): rokusho |
Introduction
So far we have tried to (and probably rather unsuccessfully) tried to define what a good leader's qualities would be when it comes to making a mod. Now we need to actually start making the mod, firstly we need a good idea and a core team. This core team is important to get right from early on as they will be the people working on the mod from beginning to end. I advise that you try to have a core team for several reasons.
Firstly, it means if one person is absent, then there is at least one other person around with similar knowledge of what the mod is and what it's direction is going. The core team needs to be very skilled, with you as it's leader. Each person needs to have complimentary skills (such as one person is an expert with maps, another is good with modelling and another is good with textures and sounds) so that having them is worthwhile. The core team needs to be small, ideally 2-4 people including yourself, so that you can easily keep up with each person and make sure everyone has a shared vision. With that done, it is now time to define what the mod will actually be.
Defining The Mod
You will probably have a decent idea what your mod will be, after all you are the one who wants to make it and you are the one who came up with the idea (or someone else in the core team). This idea needs to be shared between everyone in the core team, you need to discuss is and bounce ideas off everybody, give constructive criticism and build up what the mod will actually be. It is important to get a detailed list of what the core team wants the mod to be, outlining how many new weapons you may include, characters, maps, storyline, objectives, atmosphere etc.
Now, once you have the idea for the mod in concrete writing, stop. Let a week or so pass and then return to the idea as a team. Does everything sound good now? Are all the ideas viable? How much work will need to be done to make the idea a reality? Is there a lot to be done? Will you need a massive team to get it done in a reasonable amount of time? Is it possible? These types of questions are important, these are the ones that will help you to describe the scale and scope of the mod.
Scale is simply how much content will be needed, number of maps, models, textures weapons etc. Try to get a rough idea, it doens't need to be perfect as ideas will change over time and this will effect the scale. The scope of the mod is what the mod covers. Do you really need many modellers, or will there only be a few custom props needed. Can the programming be done easily, or will it need someone of experience (consider this question especially, good programmers and impossible to come by through regular channels of recruitment). The scope takes in the range of skills that will be needed to make the mod a reality.
By asking these types of questions you will realise that you need to change the mod slightly to make it more viable. Do not try and bite off more than you can chew, every time you add something to the mod, such as a map or new weapon, the mod gets more complex and more people will be needed. A common failure of mods is trying to do too much with too little. The more you want to do, the more time it will take and the greater than chances of the team falling apart and progress stagnating it.
So now we have defined the mod and got the core team of people together, it is time to make the mod known.
Getting 'Out There'
Making your mod known isn't easy, by now you will have little or no content actually done for the mod beyond the concept. However, I suggest that now is the best time to make a preliminary website, forum and ModDB profile. Even if the forum is only there for the exchange of ideas between the core team, it is important and will allow you to easily keep everyone updated about the mod.
Don't worry too much about how the website looks, at this point it is entirley about functionality, just get a free forum made for the mod (there are many about) and a free website (you can use a blogging site if you like, such as Wordpress or similar. Anything to allow you to keep your core team updated on progress. On the website, just try and post something about the mods existence and that it has started development, give something about the storyline and what the mod is about. You are not fixed to this, it can always be changed about later if necessary.
The ModDB profile and website is very important in advertising your need for new team members, Recruitment is something that we will look at later in more detail in another tutorial.
Start Producing Content
So now you have hopefully a solid mod idea, a good team of about 2 or 3 people, who you can trust and rely upon and a basic website, forum and ModDB profile. It is now time to start producing content, as without an idea of what the mod is actually going to be, no one is going to bother wanting to join your mod, there are plenty more out there, which look a like they have a lot more potential then yours.
Ideally, you will have an idea about what you may see in your mod, either from the general storyline of the mod or from what the atmosphere is going to be. Use this and start getting any modellers working on some basic props and possibly a weapon, wait until you have some finished props (skinned and even animated) before you post this as your first media screenshots.
From early stages it can be difficult to get anything done, as no one has any reference points yet, just start producing some level of basic content, nothing too fancy, just get something on the go so everyone is working. Level designers would just worry about making a test map, something that can be used to test out gameplay ideas, weapons, props, textures etc. Just get everyone moving and doing stuff, including yourself. You can't just sit there as everyone makes stuff, lead by example and start producing some things yourself.
Conclusion
Well, by now you should know enough to get the mod started. One of the hardest parts will be getting a solid core team in place, but is the most essential part of starting a mod. The website is not absolutely necessary and can be left until the next stage of development. Getting a solid idea of what the mod is going to be, is. Getting some basic content is also very important at this stage, even if it ends up being scrapped in the final release of the mod.
Next tutorial, I'll be looking at moving the mod to the next level and get it truly moving where you can start to make the move from a role in producing content into the actual managing of the mod. |
| Added: 3 months ago | Tags: management, leader, mod, organization |
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