Mod is Dead: Valve

Today's interview is part of Mod is Dead, a continuing series featuring an examination of user-created mods and an appraisal of the state of the mod community. Last week's installment highlighted Noesis' Case Noland and the mod Your World series of videos. If any company has taken note of the mod scene, it has been Valve. Now common knowledge, it remains an encouraging story that a significant portion of Valve's staff is comprised of former mod team members. Born in Venezuela, now-Valve developer Adrian Finol once worked in his home country as a freelance game designer. In 2001 he became a founding member of Front Line Force, a fast-paced Half-Life mod of attack and defense. Since joining Valve in 2002, Finol has served as lead developer on Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, and contributed to Half-Life 2, its subsequent episodes, and Team Fortress 2. Hailing from Chesapeake, Virginia, John Morello II worked on the original WWII-themed Half-Life mod Day of Defeat for up to 40 hours a week as a student. Now his talents are put to good use at Valve, as lead animator and designer on Day of Defeat: Source, as well as contributions to Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life 2. I questioned the two former mod team members about the community that gave them their start. Are mods really declining? Are consoles the way of the future? Read on.

Shack: You both came to Valve via mod experience. That kind of transition was once rare, but now it's almost common. How important do you think getting involved in a mod is to someone who is pursuing a career in the industry? Adrian Finol: It's hard to think of a better path to pursue. Most universities are only starting their game development programs. Even with traditional academic programs in place, though, having actually shipped a playable mod or game is always going to trump a degree or "classroom experience." Shack: Some gamers feel like the mod community, both in size and in scope, has generally declined since the days of Quake and Half-Life. Do you feel like that's an accurate perception? If not, why do you think that perception persists? John Morello: I'm not sure that's true. Too many of the teams are starting out with overly ambitious designs. As a result, many of these don't ever see completion and so it creates an illusion of a decaying mod scene. Shack: Do you think the mod scene has changed markedly since you were heavily involved in it? If so, in what ways? Adrian Finol: We've moved from the causal "let's make something cool," mentality to the headspace of "I want to compete with the leading retail product." On one hand, it's tempting to make that leap, but that's not how Robin [Walker] and John [Cook] made it with the original Team Fortress, or how I met up with the guys at Valve with Front Line Force. In most of the success cases, the teams start off with an idea for something they want to play, which leads to an interesting game or game mechanic. Starting off saying, "We're going to complete with Blizzard or Infinity Ward even though we don't have the resources," is usual a recipe for disaster. Shack: Has the game industry gotten so big that mod-makers now feel they have to compete with retail titles? John Morello: Mod developers are setting the bar higher than people require--a fun game is a fun game. I honestly don't think the community is setting the higher standards as much as the mod developers themselves. But the smart guys--like [Garry's Mod developer] Garry Newman--aren't trying to make giant projects, instead they're keeping their scope appropriate to their team and talents. Keeping the focus of a mod to the main idea is the most important part. While not a mod specifically, the Narbacular Drop game is a great example of how to build a smaller experience around a central idea--and, in that case, a very innovative central idea. Shack: Should mod developers pay attention to these perceived standards, or do you feel like teams should ship whatever they can and worry about the polish later? What is the superior approach--focusing on a single quality release, or pushing out an unfinished build in an iterative project? Adrian Finol: It's not that black and white. In the ideal case, the team or individual is going to be best off focusing on building a small piece of gameplay, testing it, iterating, shipping it, analyzing player feedback, ship update based on player feedback, and repeat. Shack: From a business standpoint, how important is the mod community to a company like Valve? What kind of support do you offer mod teams? John Morello: Team Fortress 2 is one of this year's most anticipated games and just about the entire team came to Valve from the mod community--Adrian, myself, Robin, Iikka, Boone, Driller, etc. In terms of supporting the mod community, we're constantly updating our SDK and Wiki pages. And, some of the newer things we're doing are distributing "Best of" the mod-made map packs to everyone on Steam, and--as you mention--we're promoting the new mods themselves, such as Insurgency, via Steam. Shack: Ideas are a dime dozen. It seems like there is always one serious programmer for every ten mod teams. Will mods always be too difficult for the average person to create? Is there anything developers can do ahead of time to help with that barrier? Adrian Finol: It's all a matter of what you're trying to achieve and what role you want to play. On just about every mod team, there's room for more people to contribute. Those contributions can be as simple as writing copy for the Web site that promotes the project or writing code to balance the weapons in the game. Like anything else, some jobs will be harder than others, and where you start isn't always where you'll end up. Shack: Now that console development is more and more becoming the focus of the industry, do you feel that shift hurts mods as a whole? Or do you see developers going out of their way to allow for mods on consoles, such as Epic with Unreal Tournament 3? John Morello: The PC is still a big focus for the industry--in fact, this holiday may very well be dominated by the major PC releases. That aside, Valve and other studios have played a critical role in expanding the mod scene and providing avenues for mod authors to become professional developers. Counter-Strike was the first mod to go to retail and become a commercial success, and that's because Valve helped shepherd the project through all the channels that are involved with bringing a game to retail. On the consoles, the barriers to entry are even higher than they are on the PC, so it will most certainly require the help of the studios to bring their mod authors onto those platforms. Shack: Best advice for those getting into mods? Adrian Finol: "Release soon, Release often." Commercial developers must spend years trying to produce a single player game that is over 10 hours in length and contains an additional multiplayer mode. Mod authors, by definition, have more freedom as they don't have to adhere to commercial restraints. Instead, mod authors can focus on the central game mechanic only, polish it to a playable state, then release it and begin getting feedback immediately. "Release soon" doesn't mean releasing bad quality stuff, it just means doing your mod in small, polished increments and expanding it over time. Shack: What are some of your favorite mods of the past year or so? Maybe some that you feel aren't getting enough attention? Adrian Finol: I can't stop following Defense of the Ancients for WarCraft III as they continue to evolve the project, essentially following the release early and release often philosophy. As a fan of that mod, that design philosophy seems to have a marketing angle as it keeps you coming back to see what's new. Shack: Thanks guys! Think the mod you play is under-appreciated? Have some feedback you need to get off your chest? Want to play a round of FLF or DoD? Nick@Shacknews.com