I’ve previously mentioned that the videogame mod community is having a hard time keeping up with increasingly complex content – specifically the CAD-like accuracy of the game model files used to create the normal-mapped textures that make the lower-geometry models look much more detailed. Most often I mention this issue when I discuss the options available for industrial designers and the opportunities being presented by this new reality. I see this as one part of a bigger shift toward a “content is king” world.

Need evidence that there’s a widening gap between the casual modder/modeler and the improving standards? Well, check out the recent news regarding the IGF 2006 Modding Competition over on Gamasutra (Link). From the article:

Finally, the finalists for IGF Best Mod – Doom 3 are Platinum Arts’s co-op ‘classic Doom’ throwback Last Man Standing, and Games[CC]’s closed captioning modification Doom3[CC] – no other entries in this category were of finalist quality.

The idea that an id game could be short of entries is almost unthinkable considering their place in videogame modification history. But I’m not sure which is more curious: the missing Doom3 mods, or the missing designers.

via Blue’s News