I am an active modder, and I do smaller releases.
So here's the thing, I consider myself a modder, yet I cannot even make a mesh for the life of me.
True, but that impediment hasn't stopped me from improving upon other great work of others over the years. So instead, I focused on the little things which are often taken for granted sometimes. First and foremost is texture editing in general, which pretty much made me known. I was never very good at first, my limited skills and lack of decent software pretty much dragged me down. But practice kept me going the extra mile in terms of execution and attention to detail. This was mostly in 2006-2007 when guys like elevatormusic and Gavin were mostly active. They were pretty much my main motivators to improve my Armada experience. Their quality stuff and pics were
are nothing short of stunning. They also solidified my affinity for pic making as well, I pretty much learned a trick or two from em'. And the rest is pretty much history. But I couldn't have gotten there without the genuine support from my fellow modders and such. So thank you.
After texture editing, I had my first foray into the simple job of model revamps. Just the average lightmapping and the lot. It was hard enough trying to make sense of ms3d's GUI, let alone edit models. After some snags with permissions at first and after some ill-fated "attempts" to improve models, I eventually got the hang of it. Actually, its still continuing today and I'm enjoying every bit of it. I keep looking for older models and its a real joy bringing them up to current standards. Even the older meshes amaze me when done right.
In terms of releases, I've always been inclined for the smaller
single ship downloads. They're practical, generally easier to make and is spared all of the contrivances, intricate issues and all the quirks inherent with large scale mods. Don't get me wrong,
I have nothing against full mods. In fact, I have found a liking for them IF DONE RIGHT (See:
Art of War, Fleet Ops, Tactical Assault).
What do I mean? I have seen a lot of overambitious people over the years planning and announcing some big bombastic mod. They have a great start, have some supporters, possess high ambitions and promise a lot,
A LOT. Yet, as time passes they fall flat and rarely meet expectations. There's some publicity shots here and there, a news update here, yet they generally have nothing else to show; worse, they take forever to complete. (
See: Dogs of War, Zero Hour and some others which have lost me).
Simple Truth: Large Scale mods or "Total Conversions" (TC) take
genuine skill,
time and
effort to make. Do not waste your time in trying to attempt something you are not even sure of finishing. I learned this the hard way sadly. I had my ambitions for some freaking huge TC project back then, but never got to finish the thing so it was scrubbed.
So yes, I am a modder. I am for the most part active and have a preference for small scale releases. Oh, and don't get me started on how naysayers have nearly destroyed my motivation this past few years. They can all take a hike in Mindanao. Furthermore, modding has also been a medium for my artistic endeavours, A2 can be a decent rendering engine if done right, I should know.
Take a look at the download section if you're unfamiliar with my work.
.
