User Created Content is Key for New Games

An anonymous reader writes to tell us that recently Valve Software's Doug Lombardi has stated his strong belief that user created content is a very important part of games in the near future. "'I would argue that it's the biggest component those guys have to get over if they want online to matter.' 'Half-Life 1 was okay as a multiplayer game and Team Fortress Classic was really good, but Counter-Strike kicked both their asses no question. And that came from a kid going to college in Canada and another kid going to high school in New Jersey, who had our code and thought it would be cool to play our game.'"

Just...

[by Anonymous Coward]

Don't make a map of your school. Apparently that makes you a threat.

Re:Just...

[4D6963 (933028)]

Don't make a map of your school. Apparently that makes you a threat.

Or let's all make maps of schools, until officials realize they have better shit to do with taxpayers money than arrest map makers.

Re:

[4D6963 (933028)]

Oh, even better! Let's make a 3D FPS that takes place only in faithfully reproduced official buildings and schools and encourage users to create maps of their own school and such. And host the project in Russia or something.

Re:Just...

[cheater512 (783349)]

Hey what about a flight sim in pre-2001 New York with realistic collisions and explosions.

Or is that taking it too far? ;)

Re:Just...

[erroneus (253617)]

I don't know how often it has happened, but this story is fairly recent:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/03/student_co unterstrike_map_texasschool/ [theregister.co.uk]

Re:

[SirMentos (780077)]

what if you make a CS map at the blessing of my professors and got a B on a senior project because of it. gotta love game design curricula

Re:

[7Prime (871679)]

Funny, going to High School, I always thought it out be interesting to make a 3D model of my school and have a game in it. Not because I wanted to pretend I was fighting students, but because some schools (mine included), have fairly interesting architectural designs that would make for interesting maps. I wasn't trying to train for Columbine 2.0, I just thought it would be neat.

I guess it's a good thing I never did.

One idea...

[powerpants (1030280)]

is to give each player their own space and let them custimize it how they want. They can put pictures of their avatar, some fascinating facts about themselves, and maybe have their favorite song playing. They could even link to other players' spaces. I'm not sure what they'd call it, though.

Re:

[alyawn (694153)]

I have a second idea...

Re:

[Falesh (1000255)]

UFO:Extraterrestrials [ufo-extrat...trials.com] is a good example of this. It is a fan made (turned into a company along the way) sequel to the original X-COM games. It only came out very recently but already it has been heavily modded. It seems that practically the whole game can be modified extremely easily. It's good fun and also has potential to not only tinker with the original but to create a fan made sequel to the game.

I think ease of modding should definitely be high on any games priorities.

Re:One idea...

[harry666t (1062422)]

http://www.google.com/search?q=lugormod+jk3&ie=UTF -8&oe=UTF-8

Lugormod, a serverside mod for Jedi Academy allows admins to put any ingame content in "real time", without even a need for reloading the map. And that doesn't mean just adding bots or spawning npcs, but placing all kinds of models, triggers, tricky entities, spawners, vehicles, designing whole new worlds using good old Q3 enigne. Practically it turns server op into game dev.

Lugormod is IMO one of the best mods for any game ever made. And it's 99% serverside (a clientside plugin adds a few weapon models and cvars). Shame on LucasArts they discontinued the JK series.

User Created Weapon

[superpulpsicle (533373)]

How about User Created Weapons. Everyone knows that is why we play the games. It is also important in case some company (cough EA..) decides to buy the rights to real weapons like M16 etc.

User created content

[$RANDOMLUSER (804576)]

U R in amaze of twisty little pasages, all a like

Little Big Planet

[by Anonymous Coward]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuoOosTdFiY [youtube.com]

Absolutely amazing graphics, still remember the shock other people had when Sony unveiled this game at GDC. There were a hell of a lot of developers who went back home after GDC and realized how far behind their level editing tools and rendering engines were.

Can't wait for this to be released later this year.

Re:

[Rycross (836649)]

Amazing? They're great but not absolutely amazing. Thats ok though, the real muscle seems to be in the physics and customization in that game. You can tell the designers focused more on the gameplay than the graphics, which is what makes me want to play it.

Re:

[Rycross (836649)]

No, I'm not joking. I haven't heard any developers talk about how stunned they were about the graphics, and I haven't seen anything that I would classify as "awesome", including the lighting model. I had heard a lot about the gameplay, and I have to wonder why you're focusing on the graphics when its obvious that the gameplay is whats going to bring people to the table.

I didn't think developers would so easily and this early tap into the incredible parallel number crunching power of the PS3.

Ah, Sony shill. Right. Glad to see you're back after the Wii pounding.

Re:

[master_p (608214)]

I heard that one of the developers most impressed with it was 3DRealms!!!

Duh

[pboyd2004 (860767)]

And it's not the near future it's already happened. Look at Quake. I played that game for years because of some user created content called Team Fortress.

I am glad that companies are starting to think about this stuff though. It would be nice if more games had good mod kits when they are released.

Screw Quake

[xxxJonBoyxxx (565205)]

Screw Quake; I grew out of FPS before that even hit the market. In my day, user-created content was huge in Doom, Doom II and Warcraft II too.

Re:

[TheRaven64 (641858)]

User created content, as I recall, only really took off with Quake in the FPS arena. For Doom, you had maps and monster images that were created by users, but not a huge amount more (until they released the source code, after Quake came out. With Quake, the game and graphics code was separated, so you could completely replace the game with something different, including tank, rally and combat flying games. The source code for the game was released, so it was easy to hack on.

Slow News Day Indeed

[Adambomb (118938)]

Between moddable multiplayer games, MMO's with player created structures, areas, and interactables (vendors and such), and any game with comprehensive map editors being around for ages, is this even a question?

I'm pretty sure we've all known that without a massive potential for replayability in the original title, the only thing that keeps a game alive long term is the user created interactions and content (barring companies that keep ongoing updates and patch, like Cavedog did with TA back in the day [although that also had user created content]).

Re:

[Anonymous Cowpat (788193)]

10, actually. [/smartass]

Re:

[cheater512 (783349)]

Heh. I still play it without the user created stuff.

The gameplay is second to none.
Plus with a Dual Core processor we can finally hit the 5,000 unit mark and just swarm our enemies with Peewees. :D

Several Types of Mods

[pr0xie (902743)]

I think games are getting much better about the offerings of their mod(ding) tools. With many of the older games it was simple level editors, now with games like NWN2 you get access to much of the underlying engine allowing mods as simple as maps or as complex as adding whole new graphics, game rules and more. And it's much easier than most non-programmers would think.

Just now?

[Enoxice (993945)]

Are they just realizing this now? Hell, I remember modding Wolfenstein3D when I was younger. I made a Castlevania mod, if you were wondering (and I know you were).

Point being, user-generated content has always been a big part of all the best PC games; FPS's, Strategy games, you name it. When users can mod the game, they become attached to it and it develops a much more cohesive and less fickle user-base and expands the longevity of the product.

Re:

[hangareighteen (31788)]

Seriously, doesn't anyone remember Quake and QuakeC? CTF (original and thunderwalker), the real Team Fortress, tons of other crap. Anyone playing FPS games 11 years ago knew all of this already.

Speaking of CS

[lamarguy91 (1101967)]

What I would like to know:

If Valve wants user input so badly, when why didn't they listen to their users of CS 1.6 then? Valve was retarded and decided to put in-game ads into CS 1.6, and they don't fully support it any longer.

It sounds like they want the users to give them the good ideas to build the game off of so they can sell more copies. I don't think that most users want to give their work away to Valve for nothing. They'd rather give it to the gaming community as a whole for use. Maybe Valve should truly accecpt input from users and have a set price they pay out to those who submit ideas that are actually used. Wait, nevermind... they could change the ideas just enough to claim originality and then not pay.

Sounds like the user-created aftermarket is still the best alternative.

Re:Speaking of CS

[Chyeld (713439)]

You do realize that Valve hired both the team that created CS and DOD, and the reason why they sell the both mods now is because they paid hard cash for the mods, right?

If you want to be pissed at Valve about something, please at least pick a topic where Valve isn't one of the leaders of the pack on. I don't know of any other game companies that you can speak of that have sheparded their mod community as much as Valve has.

Re:Speaking of CS

[Pvt_Waldo (459439)]

As one of the original DOD developers that got "bought", I have to give Valve immense throbbing sweaty kudos for how they work. Valve bought the game IP, agreed to start paying us, then told us, "Look, you're doing a really good job at what you do. We don't want to break that, so just keep doing what you do. If you need help, we're here."

Re:

[Stevecrox (962208)]

Easy theres a point where you draw the line, CS:Source is less than £20 people have had years to play with it, Counter Strike is now pretty much a money trap adding little. I think the adds are their way of saying "Its been almost a decade get over it already".

Going Out On a Limb Here...

[susano_otter (123650)]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that engaging, high-quality content is key for new video games.

If that content comes from users, great. If it comes from paid professionals, great.

Consoles vs PC's

[Kazrath (822492)]

Every day I am amazed at how well console system do especially now that they cost as much as a decent laptop. When I was a kid they were great but as I got older I wanted more involved games especially MMO's. Consoles did not offer this and even now it is only sub-par. The controls are preset barely customizable and the lack of hotkeys drives me nuts. I did not own my first PC until 95 (Was actually a PPC) which I used for playing MUDS/Mtrek mainly which were significantly more complex than any console I had played before. Actually learning how to write scripts in TinTin++ was a blast.

As the cost of computers came down more and more people have bought computers and we constantly see quotes concerning the increase of households that have 1+ computers I have no idea if the original Nintendo had more market penetration than lets say Play Station 2. Has the console market grown or shrunk over the last 20 years? I assume it has grown but is its rate exponentially larger than the PC market, about the same or far smaller? Are the amount of game titles being released increasing or decreasing? Basically there has really been nothing in the console market to hold my interest in its welfare with the exception of "God of War" but I am not going to pay hundreds of dollars to play just one title.

The customization available in PC games IMHO makes them a much better and barely more expensive platform. In addition you can actually use your computer for other important stuff "Like surfing Porn".

Reminds me of a Pakistani joke

[140Mandak262Jamuna (970587)]

Mulla Aziz of the Northwest Frontier Province was invited to preside over a local football (soccer to us Americans) match. He was astounded to see all the players chasing a single ball. He thundered, "We, the citizens of Peshawar are not only rich and prosperous, we also value of tradition of treating our honoured guests with dignity and respect. I will not have my people or my guests fighting for a single ball. Give each of them, I command, a ball."

If each player modifies a multiplayer game so much who

Re:

[CaptainPatent (1087643)]

I think the analogy you're trying to make is that if everyone makes their own mod they won't want to play everyone else's. There's a bit of a difference though. Sticking to the analogy: Firstly it would require all of the players to make their own balls, some are much less skilled at doing so than others, so those balls would never be finished. Then of the finished balls, some would be much more high quality than others and everyone who played with them would be able to rate them on overall quality and word

I said the same thing 10 years ago

[Tassach (137772)]

I've said for years that the feature that made the original Doom so popular wasn't the 3d graphics or deathmatch, but rather the fact that people could easily make their own levels.

The industry focused on the graphics (which were remarkable for the day), and the format (FPS) thinking that those were the keys to popularity, and neglected customizability.

Re:

[Control Group (105494)]

You and I clearly have different definitions of "easy."

Creating boards for Lode Runner was easy. Creating boards for Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doh was easy. Creating and texturing BSP trees for Doom was...something other than easy.

I perfer TFC

[Turn-X Alphonse (789240)]

I perfer TFC to CS, it's much faster paced and has more strategy than CS. The fact that everyone is even (give or take gun options) makes for an interesting game but the rock/paper/scissors feel of TFC is just more interesting long term for myself.

Maybe I just perfer capture the flag than 3 minutes of creeping around. But I don't think CS and TFC are ccomparable on equal terms as they are like chalk and cheese.

Re:

[TheRaven64 (641858)]

Just wondering, but did you ever play the original Team Fortress? So far, I have yet to hear anyone say good things about TFC who played TF.

Starcraft

[Annymouse Cowherd (1037080)]

This is why Starcraft is so awesome. The last time I played an official Blizzard map while not on a mod was ages ago.

Console games. Console!

[AlpineR (32307)]

The submitter left out a very important word in his summary. This article is about console games. The first sentence in the article is:

Valve Software's Doug Lombardi stresses the importance of user-created content in home videogame consoles.

He's saying that consoles are way behind general purpose computers in online play. One of the big advantages that computers have always had is customizability and user-generated maps and mods. The online experience of consoles will remain a poor shadow of the computer game ecosystem until they enable and allow the players to share in the extension of their games.

This is a big reason why I haven't bought a full-size console since the Atari 2600. Two years after I got the Atari I also got a Texas Instruments 99/4A. I loved the ability to do wild things like save games, download levels from online bulletin boards, and even program simple games myself. Nowadays I enjoy playing Use Map Settings games in Starcraft and have created several maps of my own. That game is ten years old but still megafun due to the user-generated maps.

AlpineR

Re:

[theantipop (803016)]

I salute Valve for talking about this and hope they follow through with it. It's a shame companies like Microsoft insist that "content have value" and heavily pressure production studios to charge for content that has been classically free for PC games. Why should four multiplayer maps cost ten dollars [blognewschannel.com] when companies like Epic have given away expansion-sized updates for their Unreal Tournament games? I can't understand how value-added content is such a bad thing when you're already shelling out $60 for a

Neverwinter Nights

[evil_Tak (964978)]

The ability of users to create custom content (in addition to the three-platform releases) was a huge key to Neverwinter Nights's success.

While the official campaigns were great, all the longtime NWN players I know have spent countless hours playing on user-created and -hosted persistent worlds and user-created campaigns from places like The Vault [ign.com]. I can't think of many other games that are still being bought and played this long after their releases, and the ones that are probably fall into this categ

Whirled

[gmuslera (3436)]

Whirled [threerings.net] seems to go exactly in that direction, where the content created by its players is the king. Some games have meaning by themselves, but if your game is essentially what you and other players adds to it, possibilities are endless.

Canada+NewJersey

[j00r0m4nc3r (959816)]

And that came from a kid going to college in Canada and another kid going to high school in New Jersey

Haha. He says that as if being from Canada or New Jersey is akin to being in the special olympics or something.

Re:

[jalefkowit (101585)]

He says that as if being from Canada or New Jersey is akin to being in the special olympics or something.

I take it you've never been to New Jersey.

No kidding.

[Control Group (105494)]

Not to be a complete cynic, here, but this can be translated as:

"Unpaid labor making product for you to sell can help your bottom line."

I don't think that's entirely revolutionary.

Nor is it a criticism, either of the sentiment or the fact of it. User-generated content is a fantastic way to give a game legs. I've played lots of it, dabbled in making it (not very well), and am all for games including the tools necessary to foster it. Especially on consoles, which are so far behind PCs in this regard they're n

SWG

[toolie (22684)]

One of the reasons SWG was so freakin barren in regards to anything to do is because the expectation was for users to create their own content. Raph Koster wanted to make a sandbox and then have the players create the cities and PVP fight for the rest of the content. I hope to God nobody ever expects that level of user created content to carry a game again.

Designing maps for a FPS, that is good.
Designing mods to extend a game, that is good.
Not providing anything to do except have 'users create their own content' is bad.

Never happen

[MeanMF (631837)]

It'll never happen. Allowing users to create their own content and distribute it to other players would completely destroy the ability of game companies like EA, Ubisoft, and Microsoft to overcharge for half-assed map packs, expansion modules, downloadable songs, etc.

Game companies need to share the wealth

[CodeBuster (516420)]

If companies want to have more user generated content for their games, particularly when they themselves release "for sale" expansion modules ala the Neverwinter Nights series, then they must allow the copyrights to remain with the creators AND they have to give the creators a piece of the action when their content is featured in the "for sale" download area. The problem with Neverwinter Nights and other games is that they state in the license agreement that any content that you produce for their game becomes their property when you distribute it and they can re-distribute it as much as they want and even charge for it without giving you any royalties. If the companies want good user generated content then they must allow users to earn money off of their content and maintain rights to the content that they (the users) create.

We asked

[suv4x4 (956391)]

We asked the three top consoles, what's the key for new games:

XBOX360: Well, hot detailed graphics are definitely a key.

PS3 [looks in question list]: Hey! That's my line, you jerk! Anyway.. Blue Ray's a key too. You can make bigger games on Blue Ray to fit all the hot graphics, so I can have hotter graphics than any of you guys.

Wii and XBOX360: Yea.. Sure.. [chuckling].

XBOX360: Micro-transactions are a key as well. We sell gamers crippled games, and make them pay to buy assets. It's kinda like Scientology: by the time you understand it's all a bunch of bull, you've already paid, so you gotta keep playing and paying. Aaa.. and... and.. it also makes gaming more engaging, and bitter, just like real life is.

PS3: User content is also key. You allow the gamers to create anything they want in a game, guns, cars, roads... Wait.. this kinda doesn't fly with transactions...

XBOX360: Shhhh... damn it! Another key is online gameplay. I integrate all games with consistent online experience, which builds a great community of gamers.

PS3: Me too!

XBOX360: You too what?

PS3: I build a clone of your service by integrating a clone of Second Life in my clone exp.. I mean core experience.

XBOX360: Oh.. right...

Wii: A key in new games, and old games, is fun an inventive gameplay, you guys. You shouldn't forget that.

XBOX360 and PS3: Hahahaha. Idiot...

Wii: And new fun ways to interface with game with innovative sensor controller!

XBOX360: Hahahaha, you're making our day, Wii.

PS3: [hides the 6-axis controller behind his back] Hu-hu-hu :(