Mod suggestion: Load screen changes mod

[QueryEverything]

Following on an idea that I saw @RedKetchup have, and on further thought, I felt that the idea needed its own thread.

we are not talking about some nice screenshots when we start the game saying instead of ..... " Your country has rested all their colonial ambitions...." but having a nice screenshot saying " while your map is been created... Did you know [DS] stands for Discrepancy, a prolific and a very skilled moddler that made 12 big mods with many entire themed mods which you will be using in this version of Megamod..... " ?? ??

or randomly when you start another game a nice screenshot saying : " Did you know [EB] stands for Embx61, a very skilled moddler that made 6 very nice mods and buildings that you will use in this version of Megamod...." ?? ??

while people are waiting patiently the game created (which take 16 mins on my computers with megamod ^^) that people has time to read and know and adknowledge who is Discrepancy, Embx61 or Kid1293, or who is Tom Sayer or Necora .... !!!

My further thoughts

I understand that the current load screen that Red refers to is directly connected to Colonial Charter, and is based on the current storyline that it brings.  I can see that with work in the future, perhaps working with BL and having their Story line preference, to then also include the loading screens of the other modders involved.  I would suggest that those who want to be involved in the side project have a chat with those in the BL team and see what magic can be done.

In the interim, perhaps one of the modders can take point and create a mod override which has the load pages of the different modders, so we can download the mod and change our loading pages.  I would also love to see in this sort of mod screenshots from the community members of their villages.  We have a couple of players who regularly post updates, and I think it would be lovely to have some of their work also included.
Perhaps I should branch this part of the topic off into it's own thread.  Something that can be discussed with all the modders who want to be involved.

So, that's the idea ...
Create a mod that will change the load screen to include modders and community screenshots as part of the load screens.
Each modder who wants to participate supplies a load screen of their choice & design; community players who want their screenshots included also submit a screenshot of their choosing.

So, now I open this up to you all, what do you think @RedKetchup , @kid1293 , @Discrepancy , @embx61 , @Tom Sawyer , @Necora , @kralyerg , @Paeng , @Abandoned and to the many other players and modders our there.


1)  Can it be done (I know it can be done as we've seen the lovely load screens by Black Liquid in their Colonial Charter (I do love those load screens), but can it be done as a separate override mod?


2)  Are people interested in it? 


My original post is here

[Abandoned]

Hi @QueryEverything , I would most definitely not be interested.  I like Luke's original load screen for Banished.  I personally do not like that BL changed it although it does introduce the story change, but it is after all Luke's game that modders have pretty much taken over.  Now this is only my opinion but I would think that when Luke created his game for the players, he may have already had a sequel or major add on in mind (for profit) like many game makers do, but then the modders took over.  If anything, if modders make a new load screen they should thank Luke for the great game instead of giving credit to themselves (tooting their own horn), their name appears (humbly) on the mod list as the mods creator. An option load screen mod, fine, I would not use it.    This is not meant to in anyway diminish the great mods and effort of the modders who have made wonderful additions to the game but some of Luke's game should be preserved, basically it is a really great game.  Thanks Luke.

[elemental]

while people are waiting patiently the game created (which take 16 mins on my computers with megamod ^^)

Did you see the speed load trick that I posted a while back? It has saved me literally hours of load time. Hours.

http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=1495.0

Apart from that, if you want to make a mod that changes load screens please make it 100% optional. 

And apart from that... would perhaps the people who would use a mod like that already know about all the different modders we have here at WOB? Yes? No? I don't know, that's just the first reaction I had when I read this idea. 

[RedKetchup]

when i said that i was not mentionning i would want to do this or that !. it was a comparison, an argument about most players don't even know we exist and what we do for this game, for them.

[embx61]

Like I said in the other thread. I am in the middle, not directly against or for it.

It maybe will turn out to be another split in the community 
I personally don't give much about being recognized though.

Sure, feedback is always nice, but I certainly don't want to put myself on a pedestal because it just happened to be that I like modding for Banished.
And if some feel the need to thank me thank my beloved wife instead, because without her request to make her a windmill, I most probably would not be modding at all. 

Lots of the good folks over here 'know me' already by my nickname and that is enough for me.

[elemental]

It's not a bad idea, it's just that I'm not sure who it will benefit. Are players who don't know about different modders likely to use it? Steam is the place to be seen so maybe mods published on steam should have links to discussion pages here on WOB. (if that's allowed - I don't know what the rules are on steam.) That would probably bring in some new visitors.


A mod that shows some nice screenshots does sound like a good idea. But any text would need to be discreet or it would just be annoying, at least to me.

[TheOtherMicheal]

Personally, I'm in favour of the idea, I am quite tired of the CC load screen text after having seen the same text so many times!
Some people do read the load screen text but in general it seems to me that most of them don't want long lines of text to read, however...

I believe @elemental has hit upon something very important, the people who it would directly benefit are probably the people who need it least. That is to say, the people who should be made aware of the different mods and mod authors, would need to download this mod to become aware of mods/authors that they would already be encountering on any website that hosted the load screen mod.

To make people aware of mods, you give them a mod that they have to get from the same places where they would get the mods we're trying to make them aware of...
It's a dilema without any satisfactory answer that I can see.

[Paeng]

Personally, I'm in favour of the idea, I am quite tired of the CC load screen text after having seen the same text so many times!

Yeah, it's getting a bit... dated 

Well, it's obviously possible to put a number of images (start screens) there that get shown randomly every time you fire up Banished... I'd definitely prefer images with Banished content - so why not screenshots featuring mods... for text it would just need a discreet line at the bottom, like e.g. New Medieval Town by RedKetchup and so on...

I'm not sure about the coding though... ideal would be if new startscreen images could be made available as a simple (and optional) override that you load on top, so it could be updated with the "latest fad in modding" once in a while, and celebrated on the forums... 

But knowing Banished it's probably more complicated than that 

[embx61]

@Paeng

kralyerg the coding magician will probably know if it is possible or not to make it a override mod.

[QueryEverything]

Thanks @TheOtherMicheal, @Paeng & @embx61  for the bump on this    And for those that have offered their thoughts and opinions. 



@elemental also made an interesting point:

It's not a bad idea, it's just that I'm not sure who it will benefit. Are players who don't know about different modders likely to use it? Steam is the place to be seen so maybe mods published on steam should have links to discussion pages here on WOB. (if that's allowed - I don't know what the rules are on steam.) That would probably bring in some new visitors.

A mod that shows some nice screenshots does sound like a good idea. But any text would need to be discreet or it would just be annoying, at least to me.

This is certainly more a 'vanity' project, in some respects, celebrating the modding community and the Banished builders, players, showcasing their work and celebrating what is being achieved in game - both from a modding perspective as well as design & build perspective.  And also, those awesome screenshots. 

Who would see it?  Would it add anything more or less to the game?
Well, if it was released on Steam, and promoted on the various Banished sites & forums, then, 'us, in the know' people would know about it - and maybe, perhaps, some of those that aren't on the forums may also see it, and when they do, they then get to see what else is out there and what other forums & communities there are.

As for gameplay value, no, nothing added, but, it will give us a chance to sit back and sip our water (cough wine) and wait for the load, viewing some of our favourite buildings etc.

I have often said about some of the artists works - WOW - I didn't know that it could be built like that, due mainly in part to the screenshot artists work.  Inspiration.

So the viability of this project?  A small vanity piece?  (yes, let's be honest); A good promotional tool? (definitely when in the right channels - Steam, all the forums, and a couple of YouTube reviewers); and more so when you think that anyone who participates in it then shares it on their own pages & forums etc ...

I ask you, what's the harm in doing this?  Mods have been created for less (I have a lovely gate, haha), so ...  why not??

If we can get the modders & coders on board, we can then promote the idea, and get players to submit their work (screenshot artists); and the modders to also submit their fave shots as well, and there you have it - a community project, a community promotions project.

We can have (with @kralyerg & Shock's permissions) some of the frames from the CC startup included, after all we are promoting all the mods, and I do like their art and vision as well.

We would also have to agree on a template layout, about the promotion of sites etc, in the shots, so that they remain discreet and not a wall of text ... 

I'm still very keen (if I haven't made that clear, lol), to see this happen. 

[TheOtherMicheal]

And @QueryEverything I do actually agree with you, I'm sort of playing "Devil's advocate" here but reading your last post made me look at the whole idea in a different light... I'm now thinking of the psychology behind it.

Taking what you have said, perhaps we should use the load screens more obviously as advertising for those different mods. So instead of having an image of Red's medieval town mod, with the text saying "New Medieval Town by Red Ketchup', the text should be a little bolder/brighter and say something like "Did you know you can get other medieval buildings from Red Ketchup's New Medieval Town mod?"
Or something along those lines anyway.

I think if the mod was made not just as a showcase but as an active advertising platform, it would achieve the aim of both showcasing the modders and making players aware of some mods they perhaps are not aware of.


Edit: And I think we should ask/harass @Paeng to supply the images for the specific mods used in this project. 
Paeng's towns make for some stunning screenshots.