The Weekend Debate – Have It Your Way

Simply put, no.

Beyond the play, create, share of games like LBP and MNR, there is no real call for it.
While games like Little Big Planet are truely amazing, it is mainly down to how unique they are in comparison to most “cookie-cutter” games.
If every game had LBP’s level of customisation, then it wouldn’t be different or special.

Story can also be factored into this argument.
Little big planet sacrifices story for the Play, Create, Share logo, and it succeeds, brilliantly. But if the quality isn’t there, what you now have is a customisable game that is boring to play because it isn’t LBP and it has nop real story behind it.

Games, as a rule, need innovation every now and then, but let the special ones like Little Big Planet stay special and don’t have every game try and copy it.

I really liked the gameface option in Fifa11, I’m still playing everyday because of that, but modding to include some characters of another games or new costumes… I don’t see the need for that…

I could see a use for modding. Not modding done by me, mind you, because I don’t understand it, but I think that it would be a nice addition for other people who do like to mod things.

I definitely think there should be degrees of customisation in most games these days, even if it is just the allowance to customise a music playlist. I don’t expect all games to be freeform, and allow total customisation, but small details (colour of clothing, background music, etc) can go some way to making you connect more with the game (which, I realise is a bit sad that I need a pink top to connect, but there you go).

Borderlands, for example, allows you to colour scheme your character and vehicle. GT5 allows custom music tracks (ideal for those longer races). Then you have games which throw in a simple level creator system – even on the PS2 with the Timesplitters series this was an awesome feature, and added tons of life to the game.

So, yeah, I think with the resources today, and the patching ability, that there should be even minor customisation options in the majority of games. Even if this is a paid for extra option pack to download – I’m all for it.

PlayStation Home could seriously use UGC.

The ability to create your own space would be excellent, using various templates to choose from & being able to buy new template packs to keep things fresh.

There are some items in Home available now to do this but on a very basic level.

If it means more choice, then yeah. I enjoy games that allow protagonist customisation a lot more than the regular kind; gender-choice even more so.
However, not when it impacts the quality of the overall product. Soul Calibur 3′s characters all looked worse than SC2 beacause they were all made with the character gen kit, which makes everyone look generic. Same problem with the MP characters in Uncharted 3 (not to mention they don’t even allow hair changes or gender choice) The Mp characters in UC3 look significantly worse than those in UC2 MP.

Like Trouble said, it wouldn’t work for every game unless you give us the same tools as the devs have and also be able to use voice actors such as Nolan North. And this makes it harder for people to use these tools unless they are professional designers. Though this is hardly what you meant.
Though LBP2 has voice recording which can be used for cutscenes, I it lacks sound quality in it (I don’t know if having better mic helps).

Even though we can’t make mods for singleplayer or multiplayer we definitely want huge customization options which can be tweaked in many ways from health, speed, hit boxes, game rules with many different variabels, gravity and visuals and to be able to add something or slightly change a map or track in MP side of the game.

But I will keep my mind open for the possiblity for playing mods in console games.

I’d like to see more,especially mods.UT3 was amazing because of it.But I don’t think it’ll happen again,publishers would rather sell you day one maps and skins.

Off topic
James,i’ve tried deactivating my old PS3′s from the new site,but keep getting this.

“How to Deactivate a PlayStation®3 System You can only deactivate your PlayStation®3 system from PlayStation®Network using your PS3™ system. You cannot deactivate it using a PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) system or PC.”

Then it tells you how you do it from the consoles XMB

no,then they will be nothing but PCs.

I wouldn’t really call Little big planet ‘customisable’ rather playing about with stock stuff. You still can’t put crazy code into it like you could with PC.

It’s just a next level of worms level creator which they used to have but still nothing compared to PC.

I would like to see if more Steam support was on PS3 what that would mean for it such as downloading custom maps for Portal 2 etc, not needing to wait for official DLC.

Nope; a lot of games already offer some level of customisation. I’m a man of action and it kinda slows the pace after installing game data then downloading the latest patch just to be told to create an image, then be asked which floral pattern I’d like on my weapon…
On the other hand, yes to customisation that alters how the game is played as long as it fits within the game universe eg Deus Ex.

But if you allow Lj and E to swap Kratos for Lara Croft and the Helghast, I’m-a have a few words!!!

I think there is some scope for it certainly – if you look at the mod scene around the elder scrolls games for example, being able to bring that content into the console version would be a big plus – particularly if it can make use of something in the console.

I like games that let you create your own UCG from something so small as creating an emblem like in Black Ops to LBP’s massive scale. It adds a personal touch to gaming

Consoles have always stream lined the content for every user. Adding more customizability for example the OtherOS brings up two points I have.

One it won’t really be available to everyone because they don’t know how to or won’t ever need to so those resources are better spent elsewhere where it has more audience.

Plus, still using OtherOS as an example it can also stab you in the back later on. If you don’t know what I mean please can I refer you to the PS3 blackout of 2011.

But overall features like this is sumarised nicely by a famous game studio Naughty Dog. Do it properly or don’t do it.

I don’t think games need to have User-Generated Content and only games that aim for this should include it in-depth. Minor things like appearance of characters and car if fine, but most games don’t leave level editors. For example I don’t think there has been any mission in inFamous 2 that is better than the story ones and I don’t think there ever will be.

Instead, I would love to see a game that is moulded by the community in such that as people play, the game learns, levels change to out-fox players, to keep it new and fresh and areas open up as people expect them to.

Imagine a game of Battlefield 3 where every map is generated in those intermission times, every game would be different and no one would know the best camp spots

It really depends on the game type. Generally a single player game doesn’t need it unless its an rpg/adventure. A game like Uncharted wouldn’t work because the character has his own back story and that defines him whereas in Mass Effect 2 you made morale decisions and decided (to a degree at least) what type of person/character you played.
With multiplayer there is no back story so it doesn’t need to be a generic character and being able to individualise your player can make it more about being you on screen rather than generic grunt A. Even classes can be customised to your playing style.
Unfortunately GT5 falls short with its customisation. Blasphemy I hear you cry but cars can be individual and again have no back story. Would you rather race round with 10 identical Ferrari or have each one as individual as its driver? Forza excels with its depth of customisation and its auction and showrooms. From graphics to bodykits the number of options is huge and rare you’ll see two the same.
As for maps and levels, it opens the game up to a whole community and LBP showed that the game never really ends. There’s always a new level somewhere.
So in answer to the question, yes, but only if it fits the game style/type

Still no Payday code James, I’m just being fobbed off by everyone I talk to. This really is unacceptable.

When my console was jailbroken, I could freely mod my games & damn was it fun, fallout new vegas mods & SVR 11, SVR 11 included added arenas & modded superstars. Personalliy I believe we should be able to mod our games, its a great feeling & gives you extra play time with the game.

well it depends on the game, some like LBP are specifically designed for it but you just wouldn’t see the hulk in final fantasy

Will you still be picking winners even without codes? It’s the sense of approval that counts…. not codes…

Customisable games are fantastic – I could spend many days creating a single level on LittleBigPlanet 2, and I’m not even particularly good at creating. But LittleBigPlanet is a game that doesn’t rely heavily on a narrative. As soon as the gamer is given the power to do what they want with a character, that character loses almost all sense of solidarity. They become little more than a lifeless entity that can be warped and twisted to the creator’s will.

Take Sackboy for example; he is a perfectly designed character, in that he can be customised to fit whatever level you want to create. His character is suitably vague and neutral that he is a sufficient playable character for most LBP user-generated levels.

Even with the inFamous series, Cole has enough variety in his character due to the karmic mechanic that whatever user-generated situation you put him in within the game, his character very easily adapts to meet such a role, from saving innocents from a monster, all the way to BEING the monster.

While these are good examples of characters suited to UGC, if you gave the gamer the opportunity to put Nathan Drake into any situation they wished, or Jak and Daxter, then those well-loved and well-developed characters lose almost all their solidarity and focus. Imagine putting Batman or Ezio in a situation where they have to beat up and kill innocents. A game cannot cling onto very solid and focused characters while giving the player the freedom to create original content.

So if we gain full-blown customisation across the board, we start to lose the level of in-depth narrative and well-developed characters that so well define many leading publishers and developers.

Having the option is always nice. I personally loved being able to use mods in UT3. I think the open policy Sony has regarding the PS3 can really increase the value of a product. Valve seems to get this as well with their work on Portal 2.

NO! Cause there are games out there for everyone.

It really depends.

Some games suit customisation more than others.

For instance, I don’t to be able to customise Drake in Single Player in Uncharted because it’s a story-driven experience and I would rather that was done by the guys at ND.

On the other hand though, for games that aren’t story driven or the multiplayer portions of games, I feel that they should all have at least a basic customisation option to allow us to stand out from the crowd in the online space.

Definately. My girlfriend actively thinks I have a problem due to the amount of time I spend customising characters when the option is available. Granted I spend a lot of time making stupid things, but there is an amount of pride in the more awesome creations (see the monkelus modnation PSP creations for some examples).

Not only that, the ability to play a full game as yourself adds an extra level of connection to the story itself. I’ve ranted for a while that character creation should be a part of all games for this reason, and truly believe that it will be in the future.

I generally agree with those that say it depends on the type of game etc. But, using UT2003 and Half Life as examples there have been some fantastic mods and even total conversions. I played UT for years but it wasnt for the main game (which was good) but a mod called Deathball, which was like a modern Speedball remake. An awsome multiplayer experience that extended the life of the original game.
As for Half Life theres been some great total conversions (complete with story). i forget the name but there was a really good survival horror with zombies in it.

So yeah, mods. Why not.

@ James

ROFL

Nice find!

Oh yes absolutely

Ever since I was a youngster, playing with the level editors on Kikstart II and …TRAZ (on C64) and the graphics and levels of SEUCK (C64) and Repton 3 (Acorn BBC) I’ve been totally fascinated by any game that includes built-in editors for its various aspects. The more the merrier, I say. OK, so you can waste hours just noodling around, but for me, that’s hours of total absorption. Obviously, it suits some game genres better than others and no game actually NEEDS it (except maybe Minecraft…) but if there’s a good, not-too-complicated editor, chances are it will get its hooks into me deeper than the game itself.

I’m just wishing for Modnation Golfers… Everybody’s Golf with the Modnation construction tools would be mint!

just out of curiosity, are we getting any saints row 3 bonuses, since our friends over the pond got a free copy of saints row 2

@28… LOL, god I remember SEUCK. You could always recognise a SEUCK game, but yeah, great fun.

Being able to customize my games is one of the reasons why I prefer alot of my games on a PC, I mostly use my PS3 for exclusive titles such as LBP, Uncharted ect.

Since there can be alot of games that have bugs still in them that never get fixed (Looking at Oblivion, Fallout 3 and NV) the mod community for those games have made fan patches which fixes the bugs.

Short answer: Yes, I’d love console games to be more customizable.

I had SEUCK and 3D Construction Kit on Amiga. Being able to add your own samples was fun but games were so simple that finished game never really justified the effort. And 3D Construction Kit was so complicated. I had visions of my own reimagined Driller or Total Eclipse (showing my age now) but was pleased if I could just move around a cube

Just checked and I actually still have SEUCK. Wonder if it still works and if I can find disk with some of my old creations on it. Might be dusting off the Amiga this weekend for some rose tinted nostalgia

James,it’s possibly my faul.I used the PS3 browser,and couldn’t select the activated system in the account settings.I was trying in the devices section.
I’ll try it on the PC tonight or tomorrow.

@Opt1mus76 – yeah, I remember 3D Construction Kit. I think I had that on C64! It seemed like it had som much potential but the actual editor made even the simplest stuff so laborious… Limited by the hardware at the time I suppose. I’d love to see an up-to-date version with a really well thought-out editor. I don’t have the patience to get to grips with PC modding tools but I’ve enjoyed tinkering with the options available in the likes of Timesplitters 2′s map editor…

@vonhammer (8) – according to the US blog, the PC site is down ‘for maintenance’ at the moment.

I’d love all the games on the PS3, to be able to use PC mods, like UT3 could. That was an amazing step from Epic, and I’d be head over heels if all games followed this route. Some of the mods in games like GTA / Saints Row can add more life, and mix things up to be even more fun. If a game supports mods on the PC version, and UT3 let you use the PC mods on PS3, I can’t see why we couldn’t see more of this.

Obviously there would be limitations, etc, from the PS3 specs. So some mods would have to go amiss, like the realism mods for GTA4. But overall, it’d be great.

I’m an ex long time PC gamer. I say ex, as I buy pretty much all multiplatform games for my PS3 now. My PC is becoming outdated, and most games are now just horrible ports to the PC. It’d be great to have the mod support for my PS3, then I wont even need to upgrade. Until the PS(4) comes out, anyway.

@Quietlywrong, I sold my 3D CK as too complicated but found using a proper CAD program much simpler.
Far Cry 2 has a map designer. I assume servers still working but not 100% sure. Still really hard to design decent map layout though

People already do mod on the PS3 regardless if you can or not on Firmware 3.73 so making it so you can mod on a game may stop people from wanting to buy a E3 flasher to mod just so they can have unlimited ammo and noclip on where as allowing modding on all PS3 games you can make what you want like Unreal Tournament 3 you could make your own map using UDK and lots more but I would want also a developer console so that I can cheat when I want to so that I don`t feel restricted because sometimes I want to cheat and I can`t so I look for ways to cheat and this is why I say PS3 should be more like steam because steam lets you download games which ps3 is starting to pick up on and mod and cheat with dev console.

I enjoy when a game makes itself more customizable, it both makes the game feel more like your own version and in many cases can add quite a bit of humour to it, making the game that bit more enjoyable. On the down side though, games that allow this often end up with people online taking it too far and running around with something along the lines of a ridiculous looking pink afro. This doesn’t ruin the game though, and if it’s optional for you to use this, then I can’t see why not!

I’m also wondering where my payday code is gone, I’ve mailed first uk support over a week ago, then got a auto reply they would reply within 24hrs, a week passed by, and I’ve mailed a reminder and go yet another auto reply, this time diffrent to mail you’re local country.
I did Indeed this right before, and thats beginning to be some days ago now, and still no reply, and I suppose I will never get either, after reading on the forum it looks sony never replys to e-mails.
And I’m not happy about having to call you’re payphone either, I might ending up paying more for the phonecall than buying it myself off the store, ridiculous support if you ask me

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@44
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625 @ and 625 spaces so 1,250
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and characters not words
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so that means 0×00 0×0000 to 0xFF 0x02D9 you can use
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Fun or not LOL
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LOL
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One more
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LOL

To add to what I already put (comment 37^^ ), just look at all the Skyrim mods already. A lot of them are little helpful tools, that just make the game that little bit better, and more accessible. I don’t know why any one would disagree with mods, as long as they don’t effect the multiplayer. As obviously aimbots, wall hacks, etc, are something we don’t want.

@ 45 you mean Unicode version: 3.0 what only has more than 109,000 characters
———————————————————- ———–

01001101 01001111 01000100 01000100 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01001111 01001110 00100000 01010100 01001000 01000101 00100000 01010000 01010011 00110011 00100000 01010011 01001000 01001111 01010101 01001100 01000100 00100000 01000010 01000101 00100000 01001001 01001110 00100000 01000010 01001001 01001110 01000001 01010010 01011001 00100000 01000001 01001110 01000100 00100000 01010100 01001000 01000101 01010010 01000101 00100000 01001101 01010101 01010011 01010100 00100000 01000010 01000101 00100000 01000011 01000001 01001011 01000101 00100000 01001100 01001111 01010100 01010011 00100000 01001111 01000110 00100000 01000011 01000001 01001011 01000101 00100000 01000110 01001111 01010010 00100000 01010100 01001000 01000101 00100000 01000110 01000001 01010100 00100000 01010000 01000101 01001111 01010000 01001100 01000101 00101110

65 = A 97 = a
66 = B 98 = b
67 = C 99 = c
68 = D 100 = d
69 = E 101 = e
70 = F 102 = f
71 = G 103 = g
72 = H 104 = h
73 = I 105 = i
74 = J 106 = j
75 = K 107 = k
76 = L 108 = l
77 = M 109 = m
78 = N 110 = n
79 = O 111 = o
80 = P 112 = p
81 = Q 113 = q
82 = R 114 = r
83 = S 115 = s
84 = T 116 = t
85 = U 117 = u
86 = V 118 = v
87 = W 119 = w
88 = X 120 = x
89 = Y 121 = y
90 = Z 122 = z

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 = E

how many 128 fit into 69 0
how many 64 fit into 69, 1 so you take 64 from 69 = 5
how many 32 fit into 5, 0
how many 16 fit into 5, 0
how many 8 fit into 5, 0
how many 4 fit into 5, 1 so take 4 from 5 = 1
how many 1 fit into 1,1

Sure, why not? DICE did a good job on BF3′s MP with customizable camos and dogtags, I wouldn’t mind seeing more deep customization

@ 49 that 8 Bit Binary because there are 8 bit
1bit 128
1bit 64
1bit 32
1bit 16
1bit 8
1bit 4
1bit 2
1bit 1
that 8 bits LOL
Any Noob can do Binary with that little guide or anyone with a brain can see what happening.
32 bit of binary will not fit on this little blog

@ 45 what about space I need a space OMG I forgot its 00100000 DAM