And now we're back at <project name> after having to prove our worth for licensing. Sometimes things take a bit of time in the real world.
As for the thread in question. It's fairly redundant as the amount of people able to make products worth selling you can count on probably one, maybe two hands. And then you'd probably have to scratch off half of them when you realise they already work for a company. In theory it could work, licensing can easily be circumvented. You simply have to call the track something else, like the local town etc. However it would be hounded down by the majority, and would certainly be an issue for leagues. It'd splinter a fractured community even further. Then there would be the issue of stolen content and the burden that would be for whoever managed a mod store, as well as trying to keep a format that doesn't allow for stealing. Which lets be honest would be cracked - as everything always is. So yeah hypothetically it could work. But realisticly I can't see it ever working.
What other engine is there to use? Is it better to release something with an out dated engine or nothing at all? fwiw, the full potential still has not been extracted from the rF1 engine.
Aye, I was impressed by that, though it was definitely still a licence to be proud of even with a track record. You're dead right about the lack of people who's work is worth paying for too. And hey, good luck to you guys, I still feel a small tingle of pride knowing a company I named and worked for on the first project is doing so well. Y'all earned it.
I disagree. If someone licenses the rF1 engine it doesn't mean what they make will look anything like rF1. They can do their own graphics, their own physics, their own sound.. Their own anything - they have the source code. It's not like ISI threw away the rF1 code when they started rF2... If someone was skilled they could do the same thing ISI has done and completely change it. Could you tell that Warner Brothers used isiMotor2 in Speed Racer movie? Probably didn't look much like rF1, right? It's still a valid engine for beginning development for many things. Infact right now it's the only choice for many.
Hey come on tim you cut off the end of my point ! yes i agree with this. i was talking about some modders who have opportunity to develop a "big" mod. not a professionnal studio who will take the engine as a base of work i have to say i don't have the answer. i don't know if reiza, for example, win some money i have a compagny, my priority every months is to have enough money get back to my bank i hope reiza is financially viable. I have just doubts about this business model, maybe i'm totally wrong. this is why i said "let's see what isi will do in rf2", about this problem
Not many people step up to donate to modders. With all the great mods out for RF1 it won't be long before there are many converted to RF2. There are at least a few modders who think they can cash in on RF2 mods. Good luck with that. There are a few services pertaining to rFactor that people are willing to pay for.
I'd have to disagree with respect to the amount of modders out there that can create mods worth paying for. I think you're not giving modders the credit they deserve. There are a lot of talented people in this community and I'd gladly pay a small fee for most of their work. Does that mean that we will ever have to? Nope. I doubt you'll see anyone charging for mods anytime soon. But to say that there are very few that are worth that, is very short sighted.
Not shortsighted, what I see as the honest truth. I know more than a few modders other than myself who agree. I know for sure I've no right to expect money for my solo work.
A few years ago back when Hudson was selling his texture updates, I was highly against it. Fast forward to now, I've learned a lot about what it takes to make great texture updates, what goes into modding, and what possible costs can incur during development of a mod. So today without a doubt, if a mod was good enough, I would pay for it. $10-$20 would have been worth it to me for the TPTCC mod with all the hours I've spent on that. And now with development costs. I've yet to make a mod, always intended to, but I just can't keep focused long enough to do it. I have made a few purchases that set me back quite a few hundred bucks. I went as far as tracking down series rule books, purchased a higher quality camera for textures, and hell, I even bought a damn rim & tire so I could properly measure that. I continuously spend time building a library of high rez photos I know I would need for reference. Now if I dedicated myself to making a mod, despite the costs to me, it would still be free because of licensing. However, I would have no problem selling the models themselves on a site like Turbosquid. I'm seeing more and more of that as people realize there are some markets to profit in. For a game ready model, $50-$60 a pop, a high rez model, anywhere from $100-$250 depending on how much detail there is. If you're able to make a well documented tutorial video, anywhere between $15-$60 right there. Sometimes the money isn't in the mod itself, it's how it was made. I'd rather see free mods, but if done correctly, I don't mind seeing a pay mod either now.
well if the mod was really really really good! i would pay about... 0. like i allways did and will continue to do.
People keep bringing up the licensing issue. Here's the deal with licensing... There's no need to obtain licenses for any racing series. Modders would just need to create hybrid cars with hybrid names so that there are no copyright issues. Just look at Project CARS for instance. That game is trying to get licensing, but until they do, they are not using real names for their cars. They use hybrid names and hybrid liveries. Then, it's up to the community to change the names and liveries. Online mismatches you say? Nope. The only changes that would need to be made are in the textures themselves and there would be no need to change texture names, only the artwork. The community would know full well what the car was supposed to represent. They'd know it was a Mazda, or a Ferrari. But instead of the modders using the real names, hybrid names would be created. This is how it's been done for years with indie developers and developers looking to obtain official licenses. I'd like to thank everyone again for sharing their opinions in this thread. It really hasn't been love it or hate it. Some people are on the fence about the idea, and for the most part it's remained a civil discussion.
Sorry, but licensing IS a much bigger problem than you have indicated and can be a serious problem for anyone circumventing the appropriate permisisons, especially for financial return.
Considering that I've been basically paying for "mods" from iRacing for the last few years I can't say I wouldn't do the same for rfactor2. On the other hand, I am tired of paying every time I want a new car or race track. When rfactor2 is released I might drop iRacing, or I might not. It's impossible to know right now.
I think one important point is that people are willing to pay for licensed content, because it has the 'stamp of approval' from the actual manufacturer. There's more chance that what is developed with the licensed content is accurate - or at least, the information available will be accurate. For instance, I have IP documents from 1980s F1 Honda engine development including data on every piece of the engine with every sort of engine parametric you can think of. Now I can sit here and tell you that I have them, but without the official license from Honda, all you're paying for is my word. If I was to get Honda to license my engine simulation, then suddenly my work has a lot more credibility and that is what people pay for.
It's highly unlikely that you'll see mods for rFactor 2 that you will need to pay for. The question in my original post was more "hypothetical" than anything else, although it really wasn't worded that way. However, you never know what the future holds. I'd be more interested in seeing mods officially integrated into rFactor 2 as an official add-on of some sort. This is more likely than mod groups charging for their work.
I disagree. Indie developers are a great example. Most of them create games that have nothing to do with any real life anything and people pay gobs of money for that. These developers have no credibility at all because they haven't established themselves in the gaming industry. Yet, we still love paying for their games. How about Live for Speed? What official cars do they have? Don't they have credibility? What licenses do they have? I think you can see my point. I just don't think licenses mean sales. But, I'm not here to argue. I respect your opinion
