Poll Question 098 – Does whether an editor is included in a retail game affect your purchase?

6th September 2008

Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3

It seems to me that the most successful SP FPS games over the last few years have been one that came with an editor.

Does whether an editor is included in a retail game affect your purchase?

Clarification

This question is for people who DON’T make the maps or mods. It’s for the players who buy the games with playing maps and mods in mind. Imagien this: You have two games to buy; one that comes with and editor and one that doesn’t. They both are very intersting to you and both cost the same. Which would you buy?

Preaching to the converted.

Of course this question may seem like a stupid one to PP reader because you already play mods but think about other games you bought. Did they come with editors? Having an editor may not seem that important to you because you don’t make mods and maps but there must be thousands of mod player who don’t make mods.

Crysis doesn’t seem to have lots of SP mods available, although maybe they take time to make. I suspect that the story wasn’t deep enough to encourage modders to make SP mods. I have heard the Riddick game was really good but it has all but been forgotten. I have a feeling that if that came with tools for making mods it would have been successful.

Is it because the lead character has exactly that – character, whereas the other games just have these generic marine-types? Can you think of a really good SP FPS that didn’t release SP mods? Maybe Halo, although some were made I believe.

I’ve rushed this post and wish I had more time to research and write something better because it seems an interesting topic. Having an editor doesn’t guarantee success but it sure seems to help. What do you think?

The Poll

10 Comments

  1. For me personally no since I can’t use one anyhow lol.But I think I may buy a game that does just so people can make mods and that in turn makes my purchase a good investment such as HL 1 was and continues to be.

  2. For me personally no since I can’t use one anyhow lol.

    But that’s the point I was trying to make. As you say just after that with an editor it means that others make the mods and YOU play them.

  3. firba1

    I have to say no, at least most of the time. The only game that I really bought for it’s mod potential was HL2. But other games I usually buy for just the game, and I don’t think about mods until after I have bought it. Actually, to be honest, Half-Life and Half-Life 2 are the only games I have ever actually played mods for.

  4. Kyouryuu

    Yes, it matters. As a gamer who owns a less-than-powerful PC and an Xbox 360, I’ll get the Xbox 360 version of the game if the PC version offers no modding capability.

    Mod ability almost guarantees two things:
    – I will spend hours making maps and learning the tools. I’ve logged hundreds of hours on Source SDK, for example. If you factor that on top of the 10-20 hours of gameplay in Half-Life 2 and all its episodes, that’s a tremendous value even at $50.

    – There will be a practically endless infusion of new content for the game. Finished with all of the official maps? Check out some of the user ones. Some are as good, if not better, than the official maps.

    Perhaps the best example for comparison is Red Faction. Yes, the game that came out seven years ago with the ability to blow chunks out of walls with your rocket launcher. The PC version came with the RED editor and guess what? People still make maps for it. People still play it. Even its developer, Volition, is hosting a developers vs. players match pretty soon. Red Faction 2? Had no editor and faded off into obscurity.

    Go over to Hard Light Productions and see how many FreeSpace mods are still in development. That game is almost ten years old and was supported by a fantastic editor and a source code release. Descent still has new maps.

    The difference is quite startling. Look at any PC game that has been successful and you’ll find that user content is somehow involved. My point is, if you treat your modding community well, you will effectively create an “endless” game and instill a customer loyalty that you simply will not find otherwise.

  5. Andrew

    I’ve never made a mod, so editors aren’t yet a big factor for me, but I’ve decided to look at Hammer now. But more generally, I totally agree with Kyouryuu – the “open stuff” meme is a massive popularity driver – open source, available SDK, editors and tools, etc. It builds a dedicated fan base and provides value for those brave enough to venture into modding. And who benefits at the end of the day? – of course, we all do.

    Incidentally, it’s a common mistake these days in the States to confuse “affect” with “effect”. They don’t mean the same thing, although it’s clear what you intend from the context 🙂

  6. I think the point that I didn’t make in my original post was not whether you actually buy a game to make mods but whether you are more likely to buy a game because you know that mods will be made. I guess that 90% of the readers here don’t make mods but they play them and that’s a factor in buying games.

  7. Stef

    If the game editor comes with an easy to handle guide with ton’s of explanation to create stuffs I pay for it but my response is no because I never saw this kind of offer 😉

  8. “I think the point that I didn’t make in my original post was not whether you actually buy a game to make mods but whether you are more likely to buy a game because you know that mods will be mad”e. I guess that 90% of the readers here don’t make mods but they play them and that’s a factor in buying games.”

    My answer is still no.I did not buy doom 3 for any extra but they are out there.Same for far cry.If I wish I will play it.

  9. 23-down

    Of course games with editors are very powerful.

    Be it simple map editors for Command & conquer or strong 3D editors for the Unreal game Series.

    I love mods I guess Half-Life & Unreal 1, Duke Nukem 3D were the only games where I played really many many mods…

    I also build mods (Missions & Campaigns for my own) there was once a game called Operation Flashpoint. It had a ingame editor with 1000 of different command parameters & a scripting language. The new game after Operation Flashpoint is called Armed Assault. I’m still building stuff for it in these days. There are also the possibilities to create new maps (islands possible up to 400km) AddOns (new cars, boats , panzers, planes , helicopters etc.)

    the possibilities are endless.

    look here at our homepage..

    Translated with google:

    http://66.102.9.104/translate_c?hl=de&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.bbs-team.net/&usg=ALkJrhhDE1pssxjg4M3xtgRHuk1qDcTLIw

    I did that for the last 6 years now. It’s true games life a lot longer with editors. The longtime fun stays with editors.

  10. It hasn’t affected my purchase yet, but it might soon.

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