Modding is a long process that requires patience and method. You won't go anywhere with your project without these. Just have a look in this forum, at the good amount of modding projects that went dead after a while; lots of reasons are behind the discontinuing of these projects, but there is one that is common to several of them: they were not projects suited for a public release.Myhrginoc wrote:Many effects people strive for in their mods take a lot of work, and meticulous attention to detail. Some people charge in and hit a wall when they find out just how much work is required. The methods for producing these effects are things which must be learned if you would achieve what you have in mind; it doesn't happen naturally.
A mod is like a story, a well written one has both a unifying theme and proper attention to technique. It is precisely that which keeps me from developing a mod myself; I may have some interesting techniques, and am willing to learn more---but I don't have a unifying theme, so anything I am likely to release in the near future would be the equivalent of a student's exercise in modmaking. Maybe a grad student but still a student.
Developing a mod for public release requires responsibility, commitment, and initiative. Don't expect to ever reach a release stage in such a project if you don't do a good deal of thinking in your project, and reach a reasonable stage of development before making your project known to the community. Otherwise, people will most surely lack interest in your project, and you will eventually stop working on it. If you rely too much on suggestions of others and have problems with thinking of feaures for your mod, think very hard before trying to take on such an endeavour. Do you really think this is the right thing to do?
Community can be a big pressure on your shoulders. Several modders have lost interest in modding because of the pressure generated by the community. "When does it come out" and "Fix that damned bug!!!!!" messages repeated over and over again are but two examples of this. While this is surely not your fault and these people should be warned about such behaviour, it goes to show that you, as a modmaker of a public project, have a connection with the community. They expect something from you. If you would not like to deal with this, then perhaps the decision of make your project public is not a good idea.
Soooo, are you interested in developing a mod for public release? Have you got it all planned, are working on it, and now want to get some feedback from the community? You've come to the right place
Please read the rules below on how to apply for a topic here at Non-Hosted Mods:
Non-Hosted Mods Topic Policy
1) The modmaker who wishes to get a topic for the discussion of his/her project must send a Private Message to one of the Moderators of this forum, together with the following Information:
1.1 - The Project Title (a working title will do, if there is no final name yet)
1.2 - Names of the Project Coordinator and other modmakers involved.
1.3 - Patch Version, and whether the project is for D2 Classic or D2 Expansion.
1.4 - Details of the Project: several categories here. You need to show evidence that a good amount of thought has been put in the project already; Include detailed information on all that are present/planned for the project (note that if modifications aren't planned in an area, you obviously don't need to include information on it):
- Detailed Storyline, or at least tell what was modified in terms of NPC speeches/general storyline;
- Detailed list of item modifications. What kinds of new items were added, what's the concept behind them; if only existing items were modified, detail exactly in what manner they were modified. Of course not a complete list is needed, but at least something for players to see and spark their interest;
- Detailed setup of character skills: tell how they work, include the story behind the skills (if any);
- Detailed information on characters: their stats, highs and lows, graphics, what items are specific to them (if any), and other peculiatities. Story behind the character classes should also be included, if available;
- Information on monsters: this does not need to have the amount of detail the other areas do, though whatever can be shared in this regard is appreciated and should be included;
- Other areas of the project like sounds/music/maps should be mentioned as well, if planned/implemented
- Any and all code editing modifications that are done/planned;
If you wish, you can include this information in two lists, one for what is implemented already, and one for what is planned.
- Screenshots, if possible. Remember that the IMG tag is disabled in posts and signatures, so to post pictures simply add the URL in your request;
- If any plugins are to be used in the mod, please include the list of such plugins with appropriate credit given to the plugin's designers;
- website URL and/or contact information, if available.
Note that only ONE request is necessary. Repeated requests will invalidate the topic request.
2) Once the request is received, the Moderator of Non-Hosted Mods will evaluate your request as soon as possible, based on the information provided, and on the project members' history in the Phrozen Keep. Please allow a day or two for the forum moderator to evaluate and respond to your request. The Phrozen Keep is a global forum, and many people are not in your time zone. During the evaluation stage, the Moderator may contact you asking for more information on the project.
3) If the request is approved, a thread for the mod project will then be started by the moderator of this forum, and the all the information given by the mod developer will be quoted at the first post in the thread. The mod developer and the forum members are then free to discuss the project at the new thread.
4) Only ONE thread per mod project will be allowed. If the thread for the discussion of a mod gets too lengthy, the forum staff will take the needed measures to keep things organized; this includes archiving a part of the thread, locking the thread and starting a fresh one with a link to the old thread, or any other solution we might see fit.
5) Once a thread is open, anyone can post their suggestions and feedback to the mod developer. Keep on the topic at hand though; the forum staff reserves the right to delete any post for any or no reason whatsoever (refer to item iv of our Terms of Service). Notice that words of encouragement to the mod developer are not considered Off-Topic, but members should always include some content in his/her post.
6) The modmakers are supposed to post periodically with updates, showing evidences of the project progress, if no release was made yet. Note that by 'periodically' it is not meant several times a day, or every time a new feature is added to the mod. A weekly update should do.
7) Avoid posting updates in consecutive messages. If no one has posted in your topic since the last update, simply edit your last post and include the new update, together with the date to keep things organized.
8 ) This forum is dedicated to discussions of mods under active development. The mod developers are responsible for reporting current progress in their threads, as noted earlier. In addition, the Keep expects the developer to encourage constructive dialog and discourage frivolous dialog. If the mod is not showing active development, or the discussion gets out of hand, it may be necessary for the Forum Moderator to lock your discussion topic. If this happens, a brief explanation will be given in the topic, by means of a post; additionally, a Private Message will be sent to the project coordinator with a detailed explanation of the situation.
9) If a Mod project is to be discontinued by its developer, the developer must report this to any of the following: the moderator of this forum, the Senior Moderators of the keep, PhrozenHeart or jbouley. Your Mod Thread will then be locked.
If anyone needs clarifications, feel free to contact any Moderator of this forum, the Phrozen Keep Administrators or Senior Moderators.