Official Paid Mods Support: A Request for the Developers

i dont get what the opposition here is :shrugs:
if you don't want to pay, then don't, good work deserves to be rewarded and incentivized
lots of people can and will still upload their work for free most likely, and lots of others will push out high quality paid mods for those willing/able to pay for it
if you arent, then not only do you still have mods that dont qualify for the repo that are good quality, but you also have the tons of vanilla content and the current free mods which will likely stay free until/unless creators choose to change their mods

 

This sure seems to be a good idea it would keep paid mods pretty neat and organized to be downloaded and redownloaded and it would be cool to keep everything into one site.

 

The idea of encrypting files behind some layer is imho.. a massive con, I do not support that idea as modding is already difficult with 10 000's of micro edits needing to be made, if there are anymore layers to the process of working on and releasing stuff then there has already become since release.. I'm gonna lose my gosh darn mind.

 

That burden wouldn't be on the user. It'd be an automatic process.

 

The problem is not processing difficulty or complexity, but fairness. Putting encryption or DRM in mods while the game itself is DRM-free is not fair to modders and other players, since people who bought BeamNG can view and edit BeamNG vehicle files, why this cannot be the same with paid mods? Also mods encryption/DRM discourage or outright disallow collaboration as well.

 

The game's main source code is not open source for obvious security reasons. I don't see how my work has to be open source either.
It would also not change anything to collaborative efforts since free mods would still exist and those wouldn't have DRM.
I don't understand how any of this is "unfair".

 

DRM restricts entirely different activities than copyright does, and serves an entirely separate function. While Copyright restricts who can distribute media, DRM restricts how users can access their media.
DRM only restricts and punishes those who have acquired their media legally through DRM-encumbered platforms.
Without DRM, users have control over their own media such as where, when, how, and on what platforms they choose to use their files.

Please don't support DRM

 

Coming with long years of modding experience in GTAs and SLRR (games without proper 3D importers, compiled scripts, etc.), closed source mods never disallowed collaboration. Conversely, if you wanted to alter a mod in any way or use its content, you had to contact the author for the resources needed, oftentimes getting extra insight into how things work in the project.

Unless you call making random unauthorized edits collaboration, then yeah. And at core, I don't see how adding DRM would prevent new modders from learning how to mod the game, too. There are very few things that modders do above what vanilla content already provides, so why bother learning from stuff that isn't the very source?

Though, considering how few proper paid mods* are there, implementing DRM specifically for them probably isn't the best option either. I see the point and I agree (even if that would render those mods closed-source), but that would require extra effort for the devs for something that would sooner or later be cracked. As the devs believe in players being fair with them, so should modders – which is how it is now, and it seems to work fine, after all.


* I'm still counting those $20/month Patreon Forza meshslaps out, they are in no way relevant to what we're discussing here, and I strongly discourage anyone from getting them. But it's your money in the end.

 

The post mentioning paid mods being in a different format that can't be opened/unpacked like normal mods would be akin to DRM. I very much wouldn't like that idea. I often end up editing paid and free mods for my personal use and i would hate to spend money on a mod to find i don't like something i could fix but are unable to.

 

By supporting DRM, your stance is no longer neutral, unfortunately.

 

either way, a neutral stance is a stance of inaction, which is inherently a side of its own

 

I'll support whatever solution at least somewhat prevents my work from being shared for free everywhere, DRM or not.
I also don't understand how supporting something like DRM makes my main argument not neutral anymore. Please elaborate.

 

You can add my name to the list

It would make life easier for modders if we didn't have to put together our own payment systems. Gumroad and kofi both make things much easier for people these days. But I do think it would be better if things were handled on-platform with BeamNG's backing.

Ultimately they will exist off-platform one way or another, so imo it makes sense to provide an integrated system that provides more benefits to both users and modders.

For players: automatic updates in game, a more seamless experience, safer (much reduced risk of people acting in bad faith).
For modders: Make things easier, provides a better user experience.
For BeamNG: A bit of income from their slice of the pie.

 

One thing I'd like to add to the discussion is that mods will probably break less often once Beam reaches a release state, which makes selling them more viable. It was sorta the same thing with Assetto Corsa (Remember the one update that broke exterior sounds? People were angry. And clueless users still download mods from shady sites seven years later, still wondering about it. Of course these mods are also several versions behind on physics changes), though one could argue that the people most vocal about broken mods outright discouraged disruptive changes to the game, though Lord Kunos' personality also had stakes in this. What's important to me is that Beam development is not hindered in any way by mods breaking from necessary changes.

Now it's sort of the same all over again with Custom Shader Patch, where some mods fall behind because they don't support CSP features (which is important to point out, can be fixed to a certain degree by community config addons). I could go on how AC became a 'drive a Forza meshslap of your favorite japanese car with E30 physics on Shutoku C1 simulator', which brings us back to Beam, I guess. Sorry for the rambling.

FWIW, Race Sim Studio became very successful selling non-encrypted mods and just as with Beam, AC only got to where it's now by making the game files open to players and modders. But then again you also have URD, selling mods of comparable graphics fidelity for more money but with much more questionable physics and less longtime support and of course Patreons and private discords with questionable drift cars. I'll stop now

 

well, actually this is a really cool idea, but it will be necessary to make major changes to the repository to make this system work fine, buuuuuuut it is very complicated and a lot of resourses will be needed. also worth to mention that surely there will be people who will try to bypass this encryption thing, and this might cause bad consequences (as i think, actually)
it has been said many times above, but it will not give the opportunity to make changes in mods for yourself - you may want some minor thing in mod, but asking the author himself to do it is quite bruh moment lol. also i dont think that author himself would want to spend his time to make some things for each people

 

Hi @LucasBE,

Count us (the GTG Mods Team) in for this project! We fully condone and support this system.

Cheers!

 

I think this is a pointless idea. It would be better to create a separate store for paid mods

 

I support the idea, but I think that any encryption and prohibition of changes/viewing of purchased mods is unnecessary.

Absolutely agree