New Mods

So with Co8 8.0.1 being the finished mod for the main game, and with KOTB being polished up for final release, where do new mods go? If someone were to create an adventure/encounter similar to Hickory Branch, or a mini campaign of level 1 - 5 similar to the KOTB demo, where would that fit into the grande scheme of things around here?

Maybe no one is doing it anymore, and I'm late to the game.

It seems like activity around here has steadily slowed over the last few years, with most of the World Builder and tutorials having been penned back around 2004 - 2008. I guess the battle is won, and the mission accomplished, and everyone is preparing to sail off into the sunset.

I get that the average age of a modder here has gone up by 10 since these endeavors began, and life and family take more time than they originally did for most people. But I find it odd that given the plethora of tools in the World Builder, and all the mods added with spells other such things, that more standalone adventures are not being pumped out. Maybe the game has become low-tech in comparison with all of the newer advanced graphics creations now, but I value the D&D 3.5 turn based engine of this game which is not found elsewhere, and the 2D map charm.

All the really hard work is done. The framework is just sitting all buffed up with 8.0.1 improvements, and waiting for people to create new NPC's, and stories, and plot twists, and encounters. Even using existing maps, I would love to see some brand new adventures added, which are independent of the Hommlet story.

I have three main questions:

If one were to make a viable adventure campaign similar to KOTB, either by themselves or compiling bits and pieces from other peoples contributed mods, would it have a place here for release?

If it didn't meet the standards for official release, yet it was still entertaining and professional enough for people to enjoy, could it be "released" via a thread on the message boards as an unofficial adventure?

And also, given that this would likely take a long time, would there be an audience for it a year or two or more down the line?

Thanks for anyone who takes the time to answer.

 

I guess there aren't more mods being made because the barrier of entry is still relatively high. Sure, you could reuse the maps, but that's quite limiting. In the mean time, if ToEE's TB combat system isn't cardinal to a person, which is the case for most people apparently, they would just head over to NWN 2 or something like that to fulfill their module making wishes. That said, there's still about 2-3 newcomers a year who contribute, which is always cool and welcome.

As for audiences for a future mod, there's still a rather steady ~30k downloads a year for the modpack, 10 years after it was released, so it seems that the answer is yes. My impression is that it's one of those games you revisit every few years, thanks in no small part to the modding (e.g. I myself got into modding after replaying it in 2006 with the Co8 mod).

 

Thanks to both of you for the informative and encouraging responses.

I have a passable fluency of most aspects of modding a new adventure, and stripping out all the mobs/voices/dialogs/scripts/etc from the original game and reseeding the existing artwork with an new original adventure was my initial plan. But, I am stubbornly (arrogantly?) wanting to do all new artwork which will most likely consume 80% or more of the total time involved. Creating new maps that are high enough quality is presenting a challenge, but a parallel goal is to expand my artistic abilities and become expertly fluent in photoshop, so I am killing 2 birds with one stone.

I've read enough old threads to know that many have attempted such a endeavor, and most have failed and drifted away. I assume burnout is always a creeping phantom.

See you in a year or so, heh.