Why modders can come out with polished content faster than the actual devs

[alden.monzon]

Just recently got into the modding scene and, from my experience, it does drastically change the game to a huge extent that the vanilla version just feels so meh already.

So I'm struggling to understand why non-professional modders do seem to be able to come out with more polished content faster than the actual devs.

Is it because of the bureaucracy and red tape in getting approval for features? Do these modders simply work longer hours than the devs? Are the devs constrained to work only on features that were assigned to them and have to adhere to strict scheduling releases? Are modders simply more creative than the devs?

Any input is welcome.

[Ficelle]

Making the sticker is easier than making the car

[Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|]

Originally posted by alden.monzon:

Are modders simply more creative than the devs?

There is a big difference between a modder and a dev. A dev have to create a game a mod can just use the engine to alter the game.

Or more simple.

Originally posted by Ficelle:

Making the sticker is easier than making the car

[oulala]

it depends, in the case of a large company, alot of what you cited would apply.

but this is not all, if the devs are using their own engine they developed, this takes time to maintain and upgrade. modders are adding content with tools provided to them by the devs that they had to create in the first place.

see a game as a cake, mods, or content (items vehicles and such) are the icing of the cake.
modders are adding more icing to the cake, making it prettier (though sometimes inconsistent with the existing icing style)
but the whole cake underneath the icing is the engine, the features ect....
that takes alot more time, and alot of times doesnt yield visible results to the players immediatly. players only see the icing of the cake.

also, there are 2 ways to implement stuff:
-do it properly, taking in account dependencies and proper flow (longer)
-hacking it in, sometimes breaking other stuff in the process (shorter)

modders dont always use the first method.

now dont get me wrong, I do love mods and modders in general, they are doing a fantastic work for free.

[alden.monzon]

Originally posted by Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|:

Originally posted by alden.monzon:

Are modders simply more creative than the devs?

There is a big difference between a modder and a dev. A dev have to create a game a mod can just use the engine to alter the game.

Or more simple.

Originally posted by Ficelle:

Making the sticker is easier than making the car

:gilga:

Somehow acceptable explanation but not quite for me. At this point, the "car" is practically finished and everyone are just making the "stickers." We are just waiting for additional features but the game is already here. And at this point, modders seem to be doing the better job.

[Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|]

Originally posted by alden.monzon:

modders seem to be doing the better job.

Because the devs are former modders and created the game the way it is.

[westrud]

Same reason a painter can paint a house faster then a builder can build a house. The modders are modifying things that are already in the game to create new content while the devs are building the basis for all that content. Saying that, what the modders do for this game is absolutely amazing, they put in a lot of work to do what they do, and most of them really are professional level developers.

[alden.monzon]

Thanks for the input everyone. Keep the responses coming if you have more.

[Ficelle]

If modders were all oh so talented, they would stop being modders to become millionnaires by making games of the decade by hundreds..
So much talent would be guaranted succesd isnt it...

Most dont...and not because they dont want to become millionnaires...but because making a game and adding a few things to a game are 2 very different things

Not saying modders are not talented or that some couldnt make a game...but the 'oh my god, modders are so much better than devs' is just totally lol


Also, it isnt because something isnt in a game that the devs couldnt do it if they wanted
But devs have also money / time / priority / hardware / legal...issues modders dont have
Plus, their own vision

[alden.monzon]

Fair point on some, but I think the comparison here shouldn't be on the devs making the actual game and the modders just making additions to it. As I've said, the base game is already here as well as the tools. Everyone, including the devs, are just making additional features and quality of life improvement to the base game at this point.

So the comparison we have now is on who can come out now with those additional features faster and with polish. And one party seem to be better than the other.

[Animalman]

The official features will always be superior as the devs have total unrestricted freedom in whatever they design and implement. Completely unrestricted freedoms whereas modder works with provided or preexistent parameters. Devs could put a UFO in if they wanted, or a real functional aircraft or boat. They could add smoke effects to vehicles. But they have likely provided mod functionality for the reason that they do not intend to add excessive variety of the same thing, but won’t prevent the skilled audience from doing that.

[alden.monzon]

Originally posted by Animalman:

The official features will always be superior as the devs have total unrestricted freedom in whatever they design and implement. Completely unrestricted freedoms whereas modder works with provided or preexistent parameters. Devs could put a UFO in if they wanted, or a real functional aircraft or boat. They could add smoke effects to vehicles. But they have likely provided mod functionality for the reason that they do not intend to add excessive variety of the same thing, but won’t prevent the skilled audience from doing that.

Official features should always be superior for the reasons you've mentioned. But it's not what always happen in the real word. Let's take a look at some of the modded deatures that I think are better than the officially released features or mechanics.

1. The modded sorting system - This looks better, easier to use and is a big quality of life improvement.

2. Several of the existing weapon mods - The weapon models look really polished and one would think this is an official part of the game. These modders did a really good job in making the models of those weapons. They look consistent with the original art style as well.

A number of other content or features I can think about are the shopping cart, tweaks to the gun mechanics system as well as some of the additional vehicles (which also look as polished as the official content).

[Sick Boy]

I noticed you haven't said WHICH mod specifically is more polished than anything in game.

[Animalman]

I don’t doubt there are skilful mods but the game is not bad or unplayable without them.

[planetalgol]

Modders aren't making anything more polished than the devs are. That's a ridiculous assertion IMO, and a lot of mods, including super popular ones, are absolutely a hot mess once you start poking around under the hood.

Sincerely

A Modder.

[Incariuz]

Originally posted by alden.monzon:

Originally posted by Gilga ™ |Yonaguni|:

There is a big difference between a modder and a dev. A dev have to create a game a mod can just use the engine to alter the game.

Or more simple.



:gilga:

Somehow acceptable explanation but not quite for me. At this point, the "car" is practically finished and everyone are just making the "stickers." We are just waiting for additional features but the game is already here. And at this point, modders seem to be doing the better job.

As someone who mods, I can tell you tho it may not always seem like the devs are doing a ton, they are. They're often updating lots of code behind the scenes to improve it and make it easier to work with, or expand upon. For example, how loot spawns work, or farming works. I've had to do a lot of updating to my mods over various versions of this game as a result of changes they made, and at times it actually simplified my modding.

That also said, I personally find a lot of modders do a really bad job with their mods. No disrespect to them, they're working hard, but... Their mods just don't fit the game properly, or can cause tons of conflicts with other mods. It's why I do all my modding myself, to avoid conflicts.