30 Days...

[Mr.]

Adapt, my friend. I've accepted that in order to do anything I'll have to make a campaign. Now campaign creators will have to accept they'll need to take modding into their skillset if they want to really make an impact.

Why?  Why does a campaign need a mod to make an impact?  You can completely redefine what it means to play the game, using the editor.  What more do you need for making a campaign?

[IskatuMesk]

Custom assets. Voice acting, music, and more than likely custom graphical elements like particles, textures, so on so forth.

With a game as open as sc2 you are only limiting yourself by not taking advantage of these elements.

These are things you cannot take advantage of in a battle.net map, but as a Campaign, you can make complete use of them. And so you should.

[Mr.]

Not everyone has the resources for all of those things.  They're nice, but not necessary.

[Lavarinth]

I'm freezing myself until release. Later.

[Dread]

I'm freezing myself until release. Later.

[imgwh 320x240]http://www.southparkstudios.com/img/con ... 0/1012.jpg[/imgwh]

[IskatuMesk]

Not everyone has the resources for all of those things.  They're nice, but not necessary.

They'll become necessary like they did for sc1 about mid-way through its life. Not everyone has those resources immediately available, but that's why sites like CC exist. I can't model or texture, but I can talk to people once I've got something to show.

As I said, impact. The reason for this is because everyone is attracted to shiny and glitter - that's why people buy Apple products and watch MTV. Even if your story is great and your gameplay intuitive you need shiny to attract attention. Unless of course you're just developing for a private audience, then none of that really matters. Otherwise you will be overshadowed by those with better production resources than you. That's just the way custom content works.

[Alevice]

Iunno, I know my favs, like new avalon 2, newrand citadel, and others, barely needed any custom graphics. In fact I blame desler and oracle for having too many resources on their campaigns that still werent as good as those other i mentioned.

[IskatuMesk]

Yeah, but back then custom resources were very rare. As I said - mid-way through SC the demand started getting higher as they became more available. Nowadays you cannot even release a mod without something shiny in it or it's an instant flop. The bar became higher with wc3 because of how regular maps already had custom data and gameplay elements in them. Everyone started using custom voice acting in wc3; HoS, DoC, and WoS to an extent.

Now with sc2, large production values are already commonplace and the game isn't even released yet. Competition will be tigher than ever to bring out the best presentation and the freshest experience to the audience. Without custom assets you are already two steps behind.

[Marco]

On the contrary.  Without extensive modding I won't be tied down this time around.  Tied down to a concept which is entirely unnecessary for campaign creation.  Just as voice acting is unnecessary in one regard, though I choose to do that as well as other concepts which I feel won't hinder production too much.  Of course, it's entirely a matter of preference.  I already have a lot to do and I know it.  I wrote my story to not demand too many additional resources in the beginning, and that's precisely what I'll be sticking to.

I do see the value of what you are proposing Mesk.  But I also see the work that comes along with it.  I already know that my time investment is going to be huge. 

[IskatuMesk]

Time investment is always going to be huge when you're talking about making as much content or more as what the original game has, which is what many of you are already proposing without considering new assets. But with how much weight you guys have in your name it would be easy to get whatever you wanted.

[Marco]

Easier.  And my story has the opportunity to take advantage of modding later in the story.  But I always knew in the beginning that I wanted to work without adding new custom units and just work within the core of the game.  Start simple, then go from there.

[IskatuMesk]

I think you far underestimate the value of word of mouth when it comes to this kind of thing, but okay bro. I've experienced exactly the opposite for ten years and have learned the hard way that I need to strive and exceed all else to even get noticed.