devtrackers.gg
The next big RTS will fail, unless the developers understand the S means Sandbox (GiantGrabGames reference).
But it's not finished, people will have to deal with code and files
As a PC player, we know how to mod our games... Ok we don't, but we can follow tutorials made by the modders to install them.
PC community has made incredible stuff as multiplayer modes for old single player games. They have created rank ladders, new difficulties, new campaigns, new animations, increased performance, better lightining, new mechanics. they even fix the bugs the devs never cared to fix... and those are not games that were easy to mod to start with. Lots of them were never intended to be ever modified.
A guy created a mod to make Pokemon Emerald be played by having a second player controling the enemy trainers. San Andreas Multiplayer was a thing for years (don't know if it still is). A guy in his home created not long ago (well it was a project of years) a definitive mod for Black and White (very old game) with new textures, new mechanics, new stories and new isles... Kenshi was a game with terrible performance and was fixed also by the community giving specific instruccions to create a profile for that game, modify game files with a script and improve lightning and textures for the game... while improving performance and fixing many bugs of the original game. It was a hard to install fix, and mod, and still was one of the most downloaded mods. I want to test the multiplayer mod for Dyson Sphere Project, I've read good things about it.
Lot of the best mods ever made were done by people who never even had documents to work with, just the code of the own game.
The game is in Early Access
Many other games with Early Access have mods, and not a few mods but hundreds.
What benefits would come out of releasing the custom maps creation even if it is incomplete?
Even tho 1v1 mode is fun to watch (for me) and fun to play (many say this) Cooperative and Campaign modes are still lacking. As a good percentage of people is not interested in the 1v1 or PvP in general, it would add a reason for everyone to play the game even if they don't enjoy the PvP modes.
This is very important to understand. PvP and PvE are different audiences. I will never play an RTS with only 1v1 PvP mode. Attracting those players that are not playing the game right now, will increase the chances of getting more purchases in the shop until the other modes are refined.
Also, you will get feedback directly from the people that will work on these custom modes in the future. It would be better to prioritize those features that will have more impact directly from the people that will work with them, instead of prioritizing those features by yourself (agile mindset).
A faulty mode would lead to dissatisfaction
People was already feeling this with the campaign and cooperative modes. We already crossed that bridge and with riskier products (in my opinion). I'm sure an incomplete "Arcade" will be received in a more open mindset by everyone.
But new updates would break the mods
Even if mods break when releasing new iterations, modders are used to this. Stellaris break many features and mechanics from the base game every few months, and the modes are still being played by thousands of people. Modders still find the time to fix them even when it suppose a complete overhaul. Ask Stellaris modders about this and you'll see what I mean.
Also, many companies release all these new updates that break mods without even caring or contacting the mod community. Only by making announcements about the incoming changes to the modders, they would welcome the changes much more than they do with many other devs that do not even communicate with them.
But how to make money with custom modes
I can think of 2 main reasons:
Marketing: If your game has more players per day, more people will have the chance to test your game. Even if the game has mixed reviews, if you can multiply the number of peak and concurrent players, it will increase the curiosity to test which game is doing that. If you want to create a next generation RTS, you need people who have never touched an RTS before interested, and arcade mods will get you exactly that.
More players will lead to an increased chance to people testing other modes, and also buying from the shop or just buy to support the devs. Even if this is not enough, I'm sure you can find ways to make products on sales that could be used on these custom mods. As the fog special effects, pets, maybe special announcers, maybe special sound effects.
Please, consider this suggestion. And thank you for the efforts to make the next RTS I hope to enjoy for hundreds of hours.
External link →