Update Speculation thread

Nah he must live near the Carvana vending machine

 

So I haven't been speaking on the threads in a few years, but I'm going to say my speculations about a certain vehicle in BeamNG that is my favorite that is missing out on vehicle refreshes and remasters. The Hirochi sunburst. Why? Well, for starters, The sunburst needs a lot of touching up and modernization, updated textures, slight remodeling of parts, updated and reworked taillights/headlights, interior etc. And the fact the last time the sunburst had a major change or update was back in 2019, in the 0.16 Update. It isn't that far off to say that it's been 5 years since the sunburst had a makeover by the devs. It probably won't be a full remaster, but more of a refresh update, like how it was for the ETK 800 and K series. It could also be including different body style, since it's 4 door sedan, it may also include hatchback variants or facelift variants as well. I also can't shake off the fact that the interior of the racing and rally variants need more realism and it is missing that potential. I know some other vehicles are in need for a makeover by the devs, but I want to share my speculations about my all time favorite car in the game receiving a refresh.

 

There’s some cars that are more outdated than the Hirochi Sunburst. For example, the Bruckell Moonhawk. It looks hideous and hasn’t been updated in more than 11 years. The Sunburst still looks okay, but I’d just rather remaster all the cars that are mostly outdated and have more low poly textures.

 

^^
Probably won't be in the new update that is going to go out soon, but probably in the next update

 

I personally wouldn’t mind payed mods if a good system could be added to introduce them (if that’s even the avenue the developers are trying to open). It could serve as a safer way to attain and legitimize payed mods, could help contribute to game funding, and wouldn’t have to disrupt adding official content if structured correctly. Then if people didn’t favor them, the mods could be ignored. I’m doubtful a payed mod system is what’s happening but again, I wouldn’t oppose one being added.

 

Hot take I know but I have always been against paid mods. It's such a big risk for both devs and gamers alike. Who's going to stop someone from "ask a person to give $100 usd for a (lets just pretend) Lamborghini mod" that looks good but is just a meshslapped D-series OR breaks after a single update and the mod maker no longer exist. People already have a hard time when the game updates and their "free" mods break the game into 50 parts and blame the devs for "killing the game". No imagine someone who is like that with money and now state they are out $5,000 usd because the game broke one of their paid mods.

Paid mods have always been a gray area and I rather the beamng.drive dev team not go the Bethesda route and rather them go down the SCS route to prevent and real legal issues from people with less brains then lawyers and money. If they want to add a tip jar thing for the repo I am not against it, but a true paid mod system is not something that will work eventually. Those work best for dead update games like Skyrim or oblivion.

People will see this as "hot take" or "you just hate creative people" or some other form of the two, but you have to think of the less desirable people. Scammers, thieves, skimmers, hackers and just false advertising along with who will check each mod after every update INDIVUALLY on a clean install to make sure it stays with a (lets pretend TOS). To me it's a mess and a very slippery slope not worth the overall risk.

 

Now don’t get me wrong, paid mods are both good and bad. The good part is that some good paid mods are not a risk for the devs (like @LucasBE), and they’re truly high quality (like FastLane’s paid mods). But paid mods are mostly bad like RoyalRenderings or Kenemation’s paid mods. The only reason why those devs like RoyalRenderings release those garbage paid mods is because they want to scam and make money.

 

It might be good idea for the devs to further explain the idea, it might give some negative PR. As its a tricky topic, already splitting playerbase without being official, and games that i know of that officialy have paid mods arent exactly the most liked (bethesda and minecraft bedrock).
If this gets out to youtube or reddit, might cause some drama..

 

Its what I dont want paid mods to become

ITS A STINKIN METAPHOR!!!

 

First of all, if paid mods were added to the repo, they'd be moderated by the Beam devs and the problem of scammers charging $100 for a meshslap would be entirely removed.

Secondly, all the good paid mods are like $5. You don't even need a job to afford one. Just mow your parents' grass once or something idk. Or just don't think/worry about them. I don't have all the good paid mods, just a few of the ones I wanted the most. I fully support people getting compensated for a thing they've spent 6+ months making if that's what they want. If they want to give them away for free, I support that too.

 

I'm just doing a HYPOTHEICAL and in NO WAY am I stating anything about anyone.

What would happen if someone like LucasBE were to suddenly stop doing anything with their paid mods and a massive update breaks all of them. What is the compensation? What is the TOS that you more then likely did not read state about paid mods? How does this work in somewhere like the UK where online TOS often don't have any legal merit? How much time can you buy a paid mod and get a refund OR is it a "all sales or final" situation? If it's the latter, what happens if you buy a mod 1 day before the mod is borked because of a update, how do you handle such situations that will happen if something like official paid mod support happens.

 

Paid mods are no more than like 5$ so why is everyone flipping out

 

One of the Devs (ferrettank) actually owns an Impreza irl, so they could use information from that in a sunburst remaster.

 

How do you handle such situations now, with everyone doing their own things their own way and for their own reasons?

I know you've got your reservations about this whole affair. But paid mods are already here, and now it's just down to whether there's official support or not. And with official support, the average user experience is more likely to improve than nosedive.

 

While im not personally againts paid mods, big part of the playerbase is, so that has to be taken into consideration, as it will ruin the outlook on the game.
There are some benefits, but also a lot of things that would need adressing:
- If i was a modder, and was making a high quality mod to specifically sell it (like a full time job). Is there any guarantee that someone wont be able to steal it, or parts of it. As currently, all content in the game is easily accessible, from models to textures. So will the paid mods be the same, or will they have some kind of lock? People will be able to share it, or take parts of it, which if it was official, does not seem right.
- From point of view of a consumer, there is no guarante for how long it will work, and will it even work fully as intended. Will this be adressed, or will it just be a warning when buying a mod?
- Community will take a hit, playerbase will be bit more divded. And depending on how paid mods are implemented, majority of new mods might become paid, Especially maps / cars. Because its official, lot more people will consider making it paid, as it will be much more straightforward and hassle-free than currently and on your mind when uploading the mod.
- Some modding scenes have paid mods that go up to 60$ or even more, and big part of the community isnt againts it. While im not againts work getting rewarded, i wouldnt be comfortable to pay more than 15$ on a mod, counterargument is that i dont pay for it, but thats not the point, the point is that as long as the community isnt againts it, people will abuse it.

Now, i do think the devs would make sure paid mods would have higher standard (right?):
- Paid mods would probably get much more moderation, to ensure a higher standard of quality, and more effort to be put into it. (for example, a simple car skin that adds a few lines might not be accepted as paid)
- Devs might make a ballpark of the price. So a mod that doesnt add too much or might be lesser quality, might not be able to cost more than 3$ (for example).
- They might make a warning when buying the mod that there is no guarante of quality or it working

But there are also positives:
- If they do take a small cut from paid mods (like everything nowdays). They will get a steady stream of income, ensuring that they will be financially stable for much longer.
- Some really hard working modders will get rewarded for their mods, Which migh encourage them to make more. If there are enough people paying, the best might even be able to live off of modding
- Might encourage more people to make mods, enrinching the modding scene.

I do hope if they do plan to add it, that they think really carefully. Especially with only allowing quality mods, as there could be a case where you could purchase thousands of mods. Which isnt an issue to people who are financially responsible. But not everyone is responsible, and some maybe less wise, so there could be cases of someone spending 100$ on bad mods, or a kid using their parents credit card to buy tons of mods.

 

Ah yes, The good old paid debate. Time to pop some corn. pop corn

But for real i think if they are dev like. Spending 5 bucks or so. is welcome. LJ74 And the guy who is doing the mustang ( barstow ) sorry forgot name SHOULD be paid( if they want to charge ) with the stunning mods,

in other words am all for it.

die cast car models cost money

SO one that is in a game that you can crash if its really well made for 5 bucks or so its all ok with me.

 

I think it's LucasBE who's making the "4th" barstow.

 

Yeah it’s him

 

We got some of the most juicy infos about the potential future of the game and you guys are arguing about paid mods again? Get a grip what the hell

 

I am extremely disappointed in the BeamNG community at this point; it is getting more and more divided as time goes by.

Don't you think using the name of a vanilla car on a paid mod is unacceptable? To me, it is.