Mod tools will be available if enough people are willing to pay for them...

[Mistikal]

Not sure how many people have read this but i found it a bit dissapointing at the response bach gave here...


9lives: On the PC version spoken. You were already suggests that DICE will own dedicated servers hosting. Mod tools will also be made available?

Bach: Not at this time. It is not that we are evil in DICE, but it is very complicated to implement it in contemporary video games. It's all become much more complex compared to earlier. We do not deny the tremendous costs money to produce this. But if there is enough feedback and there are enough people who ask and are willing to pay, then we will definitely think about it. Now we mainly wanted to focus on creating the best Battlefield game.

Seems they just want to see if it will be profitable for them and release mod tools as a paid dlc...

Source (http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=nl&tl=en&u=http://www.9lives.be/specials/interview-met-producer-battlefield-bad-company-2&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhgjJZjF8bLcAXyQgQ4e2V0gHRPZ2Q)

The annoying thing is they already have the frosted done but they say they cant release it... Frostbite engine (http://developer.amd.com/assets/Andersson-Tatarchuk-FrostbiteRenderingArchitecture%28GDC07_AMD_Session %29.pdf)

Few screens of the editor:

http://www.brassjacket.com/images/FrostEd_2.png

http://www.brassjacket.com/images/FrostEd_1.png

[3agle]

god i want this.

[SleeperService]

being complex doesn't wash with me

All 3d modeeling tools are complex, doesnt't stop people picking them up and using them.

I can see the accountants thinking why are we giving away stuff for free when we can sell them. I would never have bought BF1942 if it wasnt for friends playing a mod. It will stop people dabblling and discovering their creativity.

It not like they had to develop the tools from scratch just to give away to modders as they had to be there to begin with to create the game.

[Mistikal]

I cant honestly seeing it being any more advanced than cryed (crysis editor) which actually looks very similar to frosted

[Caliostro]

I can see the accountants thinking why are we giving away stuff for free when we can sell them. I would never have bought BF1942 if it wasnt for friends playing a mod. It will stop people dabblling and discovering their creativity.

This.

I'm honestly split on the issue. On the one hand, we've always got this kind of thing for free... The tools already exist, all they have to do is put it out there for us to use. In return we create nearly endless free content for their game. Seemed like a fair symbiotic relationship.

On the other hand, I can't deny the cost of making videogames has gone way up since "the good'ol days", and, well, as long as it's a reasonable "token" price (~10 bucks), I could live with it, so long as they give it proper support for a PAID service.

Mhhhhhhhhh....

[Logan]

When the community creates content, both it and the publisher are hands down winners.

When the publisher seeks to be downright cheeky to that community, it should start to doubt whether it isn't a step too far. Don't forget, the same publisher has forced us to spend a large sum each month just to provide not for profit space for people to enjoy their game in a top quality environment. When you have invested in your own high powered servers and are supporting their game with passion and enthusiasm, it seems odd to have a relationship so one way. It's communities and content creators that reach their customer base, they benefit more than any amount of advertising. Of course, these thoughts rely heavily on the presumption that developers think, or can afford to think, like PC gamers these days - something i'm doubting more and more.

If they want to make me pay to make content for their game, I'll simply play their game in it's vanilla form until I'm bored of it. Then I'll move on to the next great game.
Kind of like musical chairs, when a great game is released with a Development Kit, I'll stop moving stand still and shout loudly about their product for years.

[Boylee]

BC2 is obviously still in slightly ropey shape. It's got more holes to plug at the moment than bath factory, which makes me think that the editor will currently be in a rather ropey, buggy and generally patchy condition too. If this is the case then they would need to spend time and money making it work as it should, in order to make it a sound product and I can understand why you would charge money for that. However, they could release the buggy current version without spending a penny and I'm willing to bet the community would be just as happy with that and probably even make a lot of the necessary fixes for them.

In short I wish they'd just push it out the door. It's mutually beneficial to do so as VALVe have already proven time and again.

[Logan]

BC2 is obviously still in slightly ropey shape. It's got more holes to plug at the moment than bath factory, which makes me think that the editor will currently be in a rather ropey, buggy and generally patchy condition too. If this is the case then they would need to spend time and money making it work as it should, in order to make it a sound product and I can understand why you would charge money for that. However, they could release the buggy current version without spending a penny and I'm willing to bet the community would be just as happy with that and probably even make a lot of the necessary fixes for them.

In short I wish they'd just push it out the door. It's mutually beneficial to do so as VALVe have already proven time and again.

Spot on. The simple answer is release it, open source, and have the community build it for them. no one would complain. The user would get their 'experience' and the game would live a full life.
I don't know why it's so hard for publishers to get their heads round this.

[Boylee]

They're too busy burying them in the money sack. ;)

[Mistikal]

Thing is look how much money they made thanks to Desert Combat, that was one of the only reasons that bf1942 sold so long after it was released.

.....Untill dice and ea bought out trauma studios (closing down desert combat) so it didnt affect the sales of bf2, after they hired frank and the rest of the team (dice new york) to work on bf2 they ended up shutting it down 1 week after bf2 went gold and shorting them $200,000 out of their agreed $500,000...

Glad to see frank and the team are now working again as kaos studios being backed by thq.

[Boylee]

Thinking on it one of the reasons they may not be keen to release the dev kit is because they're planning on releasing paid DLC. If they were to charge for extra MP levels or SP campaigns, but people were releasing similar content left, right and centre for free it would greatly impact DLC sales. This may be why they're looking at monetising the dev ket release, so that it's outcome doesn't impinge too much on future paid DLC sales.

[awesome-o]

I thought DLC's were free for BC2 pc users?

[thewordsmith]

Man, I can't wait for this :D I've already had the "wouldn't it be cool to get a form of MarioKart going on this?"

8 quadbikes, one driving, one passenger on each
Either some sort of motion explosive (I'm still in the dark if you can get prox mines or claymores on BC2?) or grenades being thrown
A series of courses

It'd be bloody magic :D

[Boylee]

Oh my word I hadn't even considered the possibilities of kart courses. I hope beyond all reason that they see fit to release it.