The Module Poll, Which do you want most?

[hoggerlivestwice]

I would also like to cover "The Commercial Success attributed to the popularity of a specific mod."

Best example?

DayZ: http://dayzmod.com/

Do you know how much Arma 2 sales increased since its release? Like 100 fold. Or more, it sold out physical copies in most stores simply because people ordered them all, steam keys, amazon keys, its even on GOG.COM, Simply because I swear its popularity since DayZ's release. People saw "oh wow this game can do this" and then boom, Arma 2 became another kind of call of duty. More complex -- yes -- more rewarding = definitely. (you can also destroy most buildings and its hilarious).


Now your game will sell just due in part to its uniqueness. But think of what mods do for games when they are THAT well made? They attract people. And when people see its for a game they want, they buy that game. Even in alphas. Its just how much fun they can get out of something, or how unique that something is that draws them. Or even if it just fulfills a kind of gimick. Maybe they want a zombie mod fully tailored for that kind of atmosphere with custom artwork and whatever, youre not going to be making this perhaps but someone else might. This generates sales as now someone else will buy your game JUST for this mod. Seriously.

[Christian]

Didn't see this thread, guess I'll repost here
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Reading the different possibilities this game could expand is just so cool. The modules I'd most liked to focused on are:
- Endgame escape
- Biomes
- Relationships

Archaeology and Beliefs/Religions would also be great, but I feel that other three would have the biggest impact on the game's depth
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A module suggestion that I think would be interesting would be the concept of Uplifting. Your colony could essentially adopt and help guide a less developed faction, granting them advanced technology in exchange for certain perks, etc. Or you could petition to a more advanced group to Uplift your colony. Of course there will always be unforeseen consequences...

[Pheanox]

Despite my love for Endgame Escape and Animal Husbandry, my votes were for:

• Biomes: This means more replayability through different environmental hazards and situations
• Storytelling Tools: Because I want to tell stories with this game on Youtube
• Relationships: I think this will be great for stories and drama, and add a lot of depth to the game

Really there isn't any module on the list that I don't want to see.  Archaeology and deep characterization would be great as well.  It's so hard to pick, I want them all!

[Haplo]

It's really hard to decide. Everything creates an interesting addition to the game.
Hmm..
- Archeology: It would be nice to find some old artifact that makes the life of the colonists easier (or harder *evil laugh*)
- Biomes: Definitely my must have. Today I want to play on Dune, but tomorrow..
- Deep Characterisation: The traits should have real influence on the behavior of the colonists. It should be really interesting to lead a bunch of pacifists through the rough new world

[Britich]

There are so many good choices, I would however like to see Modability.  My reasoning is that with Mods we can add the biomes, the archaeology et al.

[Oranda]

Would love to see staged projects. Big buildings/devices that require lots of materials and need to be completed over a period of time in several stages.
Thinking about stuff like "base ai control", "droid cleaning production facility", "science center", "bio dome" or endgame stuff like a "orbital launch platform" & "space ship"

And with stages I think about stuff like construct datacenter, install/program ai, wire up the system for a ai base control. And have diffrent meanings to the stages and certain requirements. Like material requirements, certain parts (perhaps only obtainable by traders) and character expertise.

And in the end you would need all these things to get off the planet?

And looking at some of the game play, traders don't land. The just dump the stuff in your backyard. Implying that most space ships can't handle atmospheric flight. Now that i'm thinking about it... I start to wonder how the hell you sell stuff to them. Not like the got a convenient space elevator lying around on rimworld.

[Gazz]

There are so many good choices, I would however like to see Modability.  My reasoning is that with Mods we can add the biomes, the archaeology et al.

Biomes certainly. That's just different content at the basic level.
If implemented consequently, a hot/dry biome requires different survival methods than an ice desert.

Archeology is unlikely to happen just with modding. That would require mechanics to dig/discover/translate and if these don't exist in the game...

So I voted for these 3. =)

[Christian]

Another module I think would be cool would be Robotics.

There could be different tiers, from the steampunk-esque style of ancient civilizations to the sleek intelligence automatons of the advanced factions. You could program them to do things like guard the perimeter or tend to crops at certain intervals and the more advanced machines may even have AI that allow them act as new colonists. Of course you'd have to deal with weary colonists, ulterior motives, the fact that pirates might be able to hack into your machines and turn them against you, or that solar flares may make them go haywire, etc.

[DNK]

Modding. Take a look at ArmA 3. It was a fairly indie producer that has sort of exploded of late not only from DayZ, but also from the fact that for the past 8 months of public alpha-gold it was almost ONLY mods that people could play.

Mods make communities, and communities make reliable sales, free publicizing, and the possibility of a breakout hit direction for the engine to go in that the devs never considered. They also greatly expand the replayability, and so the perceived value to buyers. There are also a lot of players who almost require it so they can fine tune gameplay to their taste.

This should be #1 by a large margin, oh well. Biomes are also really important, so I won't argue too much with the poll.

[Great Wyrm]

While Deep Characterization, Beliefs and Religion, and Relationships are what got my vote, Biomes are only slightly below those. I'd much prefer more depth to our colonists above all other options, but added map diversification is very close behind that.

[Conti027]

Modding. Take a look at ArmA 3. It was a fairly indie producer that has sort of exploded of late not only from DayZ, but also from the fact that for the past 8 months of public alpha-gold it was almost ONLY mods that people could play.

Mods make communities, and communities make reliable sales, free publicizing, and the possibility of a breakout hit direction for the engine to go in that the devs never considered. They also greatly expand the replayability, and so the perceived value to buyers. There are also a lot of players who almost require it so they can fine tune gameplay to their taste.

This should be #1 by a large margin, oh well. Biomes are also really important, so I won't argue too much with the poll.

As an Arma fan I will say the core of Arma is extremely empty because they leave so much up to modders and I don't agree with that. This isn't a Arma site so I digress.

I'm surprised there aren't many votes for Health Modeling.

[GC13]

As an Arma fan I will say the core of Arma is extremely empty because they leave so much up to modders and I don't agree with that. This isn't a Arma site so I digress.

It deserves to be said. The goal isn't to be like Bethesda and leave it up to your customers to make your game fun: the goal is to make a fun game that (maybe) can then be modded for a different experience if people wish.

[JoeJackT]

As an Arma fan I will say the core of Arma is extremely empty because they leave so much up to modders and I don't agree with that. This isn't a Arma site so I digress.

It deserves to be said. The goal isn't to be like Bethesda and leave it up to your customers to make your game fun: the goal is to make a fun game that (maybe) can then be modded for a different experience if people wish.

Have you seen the average nexus site? If Bethesda didn't offer mod support from the beginning, their game -- no matter how much they improved it -- would have fallen short and been lost to obscurity. To this day people release mods for the oldest games on earth.

Now, it's nice that you have a goal for this game, thankfully the developers are listening to all of us and not just one of us.

Features added by "great" mods, they usually go above and beyond what even the most feature intensive developer feels they've accomplished. They aren't about thinking in the box, they're about thinking outside of the box. They often times create unique game play experiences as well. The developer doesn't have time for that, they never do, they can't. There are too many factors for someone with personal taste. Offering mod support only increases sales and longevity of products.

[mumblemumble]

Modability for SURE. As amazing as any developer is, one cannot ignore the plethora of content having modding enables.

Relationships I think would be amazing to, and while less popular, an advanced health system would be GREAT fun I think.

Endgame (though I didn't vote for this) would be ok, but I personally wouldn't care for it. Honestly though, if this is added it should be 100% optional (in other-words, let the game be endless if the person doesn't want to have the game end)

Bear in mind that if I added moddability early, every release thereafter would likely break every mod that anyone had made because the fundamentals of the game are still in flux.

I think anyone with any maturity understands, and accepts this. I would happily have mods, even with this fact.

Multiple "level" mining operations would be fun I think as well. A little harder to program maybe, but would be great to have maybe a surface level, an underground level, and then a DEEPER underground level...with physics connecting the areas together (a cave in underground might mean a sinkhole on the surface). And, if this could also mean multiple story buildings, this would be even better.

[Spike]

As an Arma fan I will say the core of Arma is extremely empty because they leave so much up to modders and I don't agree with that.

The goal isn't to be like Bethesda and leave it up to your customers to make your game fun: the goal is to make a fun game that (maybe) can then be modded for a different experience if people wish.

Have you seen the average nexus site? If Bethesda didn't offer mod support from the beginning, their game -- no matter how much they improved it -- would have fallen short and been lost to obscurity. To this day people release mods for the oldest games on earth.

The key difference is that the game should be fun on its own, and support mods.  The game should not be a simple framework where the modders create the fun.  Personally, I've enjoyed Bethesda's games without mods; I later revisit them with some mods, to change it up.  Never played Arma or Day Z so I can't comment on that.