When Modmakers Break Your Heart

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Let me preface this topic by saying that I deserve every ounce of disappointment I'm about to lament.

At various points over the years, I've allowed myself to get excited about a few mods that I thought were particularly exciting. The first was the City of Doors Initiative, a NWN1 mod that was either aimed to convert PS:T into the NWN format, or a unique adventure in that gameworld. Despite having very promising progress reports and impressive people working on it (like one of my all-time favorite amateur portrait artists, Sporeboy!) it disappeared without much fuss.

Then there was Icewind Gate - the total conversion of BG2 to the (some say) superior Icewind Dale 2 ruleset and interface. While technically workable, it was (understandably) abandoned by its maker, and I've never tried installing the leftover version for fear that bugs and install woes would be such a time waste that it would sap the fun (the original BG2 was always fine for me).

Then there's the mother of all disappointments, for me at least: The Sith Lords Restoration Project. As many of you who played KoToR II are all too aware, the game was rushed out before proper play testing and the shipped product was full of bugs, cut content and a horrifically slapdash ending, rendering a potentially great game a huge disappointment. I loved the first KoToR, so naturally I bought the sequel the day it came out. When in the last 3rd of the game the story started to break down into incoherence, I was angry. But then when the ending came...I was furious. It's the only game I ever played where I immediately uninstalled and refused to play again.

Then I heard about Team Gizka - and their seemingly well-prepared efforts to rebuild all the lost content, with Obsidians (tacit) blessing, and an actual progress report page to let you know how things were going. I was ecstatic. Every time the bug count dropped, I got a little more excited. While I found the team's (now infamous) "no you can't play it - it's done when it's done" dismissals of any and all inquiries kind of irked me, I somehow figured that if they're this arrogant, they must know their stuff and the result will be great. I figured it was worth the wait.

Then I came to a sad realization just the other day: That was over 4 years ago.

I've been damn-near religiously checking in on that site every few months for the last 4 years. Still no public release, only a private beta that (supposedly) has been completed for over a year. Every few months there's a promising new "trailer" they make of the restored content, still with the obnoxious "done when it's done" at the end. I realize that mod-makers are just regular guys who do this stuff in their spare time, but come on. I'm sure there were other mod teams out there willing to take a crack at repairing parts of KoToR2, but opted not to since Team Gizka seemed to have it covered and promised the moon. If even they'd enlisted the help of the fan community, or simply left out the parts they were having the most trouble with, maybe we could have seen something before now. As it is, as excited as I was to replay KoToR 2, so much time has passed that I have almost no interest in the game anymore. Kind of like Axl Rose waiting so long to make his comeback, now that he has, nobody cares in the least. Axl who?

I installed it this weekend on a whim, and I can't believe how dated the graphics look. That really made me realize how long it's been. I'm now at the 12th step: acceptance. That mod ain't never gettin' made.

I remember Tal once saying something along the lines of "the number of promised and over-hyped mods out there that never see the light of day could just about fill the ocean." I remember thinking "oh Tal, so cynical - MY mod will eventually get made! Sith Lords, baby! It's almost done!"

Yeah. 4 years later, this is some mighty tasty crow.

 

I don't think it fair to lump Weimer and Team Gizka into the same bucket. Weimer has done so much for IE modding (seriously, where would we be without Weidu?), has created so many mods for the IE games (granted not all were completed and not all are everyone's cup of tea) and most importantly, never overhyped his own unfinished mods to death. Yes, it's disappointing that IWG was never completed, but IIRC Weimer released everything he's done on it and if someone was interested in completing it there's nothing stopping them from doing so. TG are a completely different kettle of fish: they've been acting like gods among mortals since the project's inception, they (as DR put it) promised the moon and have yet to deliver anything, they made a huge fuss when their beta was leaked... what, over a year ago now? The bug reporting system they use has been stuck at 84 remaining bugs since April and the excuse given on the boards is that beta testers are reporting directly to the team leader (who incidentally is now the only remaining member of the team after kicking everyone else out), although he himself does not seem to have posted on the boards in a long time. When I finished Kotor more than two years ago I remember getting really excited about TSLRP and deciding not to play the sequel until the mod was out. Now I've lost interest and frankly I don't think I'll ever play the game.

That said we have no one but ourselves to blame for that kind of disappointment - the majority of great-looking mods vanish without a trace and very few actually reach completion. For every Ultima 5 Lazarus out there, how many Planescape Vengeance and Glory of Istar can you remember?

 

I in no way meant to bag on Weimer. I've got mad respect for him. I just listed Icewind Gate among those I eagerly anticipated, followed (since it was made by someone I respected and honestly expected to follow through - especially in Weimer's case) and was ultimately let down.

I definitely don't mean to compare him with Team Gizka - they can eat it. In fact, I feel foolish for even taking them seriously since they, unlike Weimer, had ZERO track record.

 

From what I've heard, the KOTOR2 restoration pack beta is quite good. It leaked quite some time ago - and while Team Gizka ***** and whine about how it's not finished - I don't think waiting the (infinite?) amount of time for them to finish it is worth it when there's a 'good enough' version already out.

 

@DR

I too feel your pain. I've actually just re-installed KotOR and will probably still follow it up with KotOR2 despite everything you've mentioned. I got so into the story that I even read the Knights of the Old Republic comics set 8 years before the game takes place. It's pretty cool actually when you recognize characters from the game.

 

It took the Freespace Port folks over at Hard Light longer than that to release the Silent Threat Reborn, which is essentially a reworking of Freespace's official expansion pack. Something like 18 months for voice acting alone. But it was eventually released, and it was pretty good.

Mind, I only started messing around with the FS mod scene about a month ago, so it's not like I actually had to wait.

 

While I wouldn't say they broke my heart, I HAVE been waiting for the half-life 2 mod Black Mesa for almost 3 years now. Having said that, it's scheduled for release sometime this year and they seem to mean it (look for the trailer on youtube if you doubt me).

 

I have to agree, DR. Team Gizka looked so professional at first, but have chronically under-delivered. Just like KotOR II, funnily enough: Peragus sets things up so well, the final third is such a let-down. I've found the best solution to the disappointment to be re-playing PS:T. Similar plot, without the Star Wars bells & whistles. Instead, you get the planes, one of the coolest CRPG settings ever. I mean, how many other games have necrophilia jokes within the first ten minutes?

 

Yes, I know I was sounding all high-and-mighty not long ago, preaching about low expectations and mods and fan games that never get completed and so on and so forth...

Today I decided to go have a look at the progress of Might and Magic Tribute, which has been going on for 5 years now (maybe more?) and hasn't shown any sign of real activity in over a year. Just out of habit you know, not expecting anything.

Instead I find out they released a new demo two months ago, with four areas done! Naturally I'm getting all excited about it again... Hope is a funny thing

 

True dat.

 

Oh man...

Here's an old one of mine. Campaign Creations hosted some of the best StarCraft campaigns out there - high quality everything. So when they announced The Gallantry, a brand-new campaign with top names in every StarCraft field working on it, I was naturally excited. It had such talents as Joel Stuedler (music/sound guy), Magic (voice actor guy) and Desler (legendary campaign creator)! They did get the First Episode out (3 levels, IIRC) - very great stuff, played it and loved it. The second Episode was due to come out soon after - "late Febuary 2002".

Well yeah, that was *seven* years ago and it's not here yet, and it will probably never will be.
http://www.campaigncreations.org/starcraft/the_gallantry

As for BG2...I'm still patiently waiting for Lord Mirrabo's Imoen ToB romance. The SoA portion of that mod is by far the best mod I have played. Questionable topic aside, it had brilliant writing, and numerous choices and consequences. Each dialogue block routinely had six or seven choices, each leading to something different. Great stuff.
http://www.imoen.blindmonkey.org/

OTOH, I've installed The Witcher and also reinstalled PS:T. I'm in roleplaying heaven.

 

You just reminded me of The Antioch Chronicles, another Starcraft campaign that was being developed back in the early 2000s. They released the first episode, which was good with an interesting story and fun characters. Then they released the second episode, which was much harder (almost impossible actually) but amazing story and characters, rivaling (possibly surpassing) Brood War itself. It ended on this huge cliffhanger and there was some truly impressive stuff being done for the third and last episode, with new units, new buildings and the story coming to an epic conclusion. Then the whole thing just fell apart and vanished into vaporware.

 

I once followed a thread for a nude Viconia and only found a drawing -- my heart was broken.

 

Oh yeah - Antioch was *great*, wasn't it? It's another one of my loves. Along with Celestial Irruption.

Both of those, however, did have their design documents released, telling you the later story so you don't have to live in cliffhangerness forever.

 

The problem with reading those design documents is that they give you an even better idea of how great the mod would have been had it been completed. Which only adds to the disappointment/heartbreak. It's like reading the original plot for Ultima 9.

ION, after telling myself for days that I wouldn't I finally broke down and downloaded the Might and Magic Tribute demo, installed it and ran it with no small amount of trepidation. Only to have it crash before it even starts. I quickly uninstalled it in disgust.

And since we were on the topic of Kotor 2, a shocking new development: another restoration pack has been announced, and apparently this one is already complete and undergoing beta testing. So now we have two completed, in-testing, unreleased restoration packs for the game. Fun times ahead, if one of them actually gets released at some point before the end of the decade.

 

Well what do you know. The KOTOR II Restoration Project has been finally released!

No, not that one. This one.

I'll wait for the inevitable revision/rerelease before installing it and playing the game, but my interest in the series has suddenly shot up again.

 

While we're at it, for just how many years has Mirrabo's Imoen Romance expansion been in development?