I've been so fascinated watching tutorials on Unreal 4 and hearing that they charge just $19 a month for anyone to use the engine to develop game content, that I've thought it might be interesting to spend the next few months learning how to navigate Unreal 4 and make game elements just for the fun of it.
I am not a game developer, but it seems that some of the game design features could be easy enough to learn. I've gotten very functional in Photoshop, Illustrator... Looks to me like Unreal 4 is not much more complicated than other graphics programs, albeit with a bigger set of tools (and much bigger creative portfolio if you are an experienced game developer). I think as a beginner, in a few months I could learn how to maybe make small pieces of a game.
My question to the devs is - Would it even be feasible for volunteers to design game elements where if the Devs liked the elements, they could be copied and uploaded onto a saved Unreal 4 CoT map the devs are working on, if the devs really liked the elements?
My vision would be this - imagine if the devs said that they encouraged volunteers to share their Unreal 4 development of city elements, (buildings, tree/forest elements, costume elements, etc) that if the devs liked them, might possibly be included in the game. The devs wouldn't have to use anything that didn't fit the COT vision, but maybe some good additions could be added to the game content. Like, what if the Devs created an Unreal 4 Creation Forum and put out requests for things that they would like community development support with. Like if they said they could really use a LOT of interesting Gothic looking buildings and cemetery map pieces for a "Dark Astoria"-like section of the city that the development team would like help with. People like me who could learn limited Unreal 4 skills might have fun putting a lot of time into designing small pieces of the city like art projects, and those small pieces might give additional development support for parts of the city that could be added as extra creative development...
Would there be any interest from the Devs for people in the community like me to learn Unreal 4 and help build pieces of the game? Is this a pipe dream? Or might this be a way to use the huge people power you have available in your community of volunteers?
[color=#ff0000]Environmental Artist, PR Editor[/color]
I've asked something along these lines long ago and the reply was short. I was told that volunteers are always welcome to support the cause, but you would have to be on the Team.
I dont know if its a NDA or other intellectual property issues that might prevent such an effort, as it might turn out into a MOD driven environment.. where its possible everyone only sees what is most appealing to just them and not so much what the DEVs had in their vision of the environment. Such MOD's might infringe on Intellectual Properties and those MOD's wont be hosted as one of the Official Community MOD's, and would find ourselves relying on 3rd party hosts to get those illegal MOD's.
Granted, some games have gained some recognition for allowing MOD's, but in order to Officially host such MOD's, community elected/voted/appointed moderators would have to screen all such MOD's. Right now, this community wouldn't allow anything illegal to threaten the Games Survival, but down the road, as the game gets note-variety, you will see new people, some not so noble, try and pass MOD's or other things that could possibly threaten the Game with In-junctures and Cease and Desist letters from (commercial) rivals. As i see it, its better to have a MOD Builder that can only use pre-cleared Assets (CRC32 or/and other checks) before uploading, or maybe even after they are uploaded to the MWM Server (as hacks might find ways around the checks).
There was talk of a Mission Builder, where it would resemble the BASE Builder, but allow for Architect Entertainment features, but no further mention of it for quite some time.
Yes, community driven content seems to be the wave of the future, but no one knows how to best handle that yet. :/
Thanks Izzy for the reply. I took the sound of crickets to mean that probably this isn't something that could work right now, but it's really great to have a clear theory as to why it might not work. I really appreciate your sharing that.
I think I'm going to play around on Unreal 4 anyway and see if I can learn enough to make it fun. Mission Architect was one of my favorite aspects of COH, and it occurred to me that learning Unreal 4 would give me a lot of the same entertainment... Maybe along the way CoT will find a way to bring volunteers like me that want to contribute work in Unreal 4 to their project development somehow...
By the way, did you pursue volunteering "on their team"? I wonder if any of us volunteers who might get to a point where we are proficient enough in Unreal 4 could actually become a part of the CoT team to work officially as a volunteer - just curious if you pursued that and if it worked out...
Thanks again!
[color=#ff0000]Environmental Artist, PR Editor[/color]
Red...why not simply volunteer to join the team?
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[color=red]PR, Forum Moderator[/color]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/desvipers-creative-impulsivity]My Non-Canon Backstories[/url]
Avatar by MikeNovember
Desviper, I would love to join the team. Not sure if they have too many people working on the project already, or if there are still opportunities to volunteer. I posted and sent PM when they said they were interested in administrative management support (since I'm a local government manager in my paid job) and I haven't heard anything back. That was one of the volunteer roles they asked for because they needed help, but It seems like maybe they are a little overloaded with volunteer inquiries right now.
Anyway, I will look through all of the forum threads and see what would be the best way to try and volunteer and become a part of the team. I really want to be a part of this project!
[color=#ff0000]Environmental Artist, PR Editor[/color]
I apologize for any apparent condescension, I meant none; I was just wondering what the aversion to volunteering was. Didn't know they were stacked.
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[color=red]PR, Forum Moderator[/color]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/desvipers-creative-impulsivity]My Non-Canon Backstories[/url]
Avatar by MikeNovember
Desviper, I didn't take your comment as condescension at all... I actually would very much like to volunteer. just not sure what they have volunteer-wise that's available. And I'm still interested in learning Unreal 4 just for the fun of it anyway.
I appreciate your response!
[color=#ff0000]Environmental Artist, PR Editor[/color]
Some getting started videos for Unreal 4 can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3QBWg9pMnaFF-q0qjXPDEg/playlists
;)
Thanks Izzy!
[color=#ff0000]Environmental Artist, PR Editor[/color]