JoeUser Forums
After Elemental gets released I’m going to kind of take a sabbatical from Stardock and become a modder. I’ll focus mostly on modding Elemental and when Civ V ships, I’ll mod that as well. I really would like to see modding of PC games to become more mainstream as they are one of the big advantages they have over consoles.
Who is supposed to keep updating the Elemental AI and all that stuff if you are modding*? Oh, your modded AIs will be used maybe?
* in your sabbatical, I mean
Isn't that kind of dumb from a business point of view? Aren't you suposed to let the plebs do all the mod work for you like some kind of internet age serf?
Good luck with that though. Im sure you will run into engine hardcoded limits and eventually drop the project for a better engine. 
lol
@Aractain: how many millions does someone need before they can do whatever they want?
Just one more.
Do you have a gold house?
Do you have a rocket car?
Seriously though (which is rare, since almost all my posts are based around a - bad - joke), thats a cool thing to do. Mods are a big part of PC gaming and personally one of my biggest interestes. I am an untalented modder possesing some knowladge and no skill but still I try and its satisfying even if you don't create anything anyone else would even care enough about to 'let you down gently'.
Modding to me is about the ultimate in customizing the game experince (or recreating it) which is something sorely lacking in console design in general - options. Other than strategy its the 'killer app' of the PC and I encourage anyone who likes to be creative to mod!
Let me know if u need help modding. I would love to see a good space mod for Civ V it seems like it would be godly 
Do you already own huge tracts of land?
will this slow down any possible x packs for elemental? i'm sure that you might leave something out that would be great to add later.
I'm sure the game will be left in capable hands in terms of patches and expansions. It's good every now and then to step back, take a break, and just do what you love for a while.
Wouldn't you rather just call up your fellow dev Lord British and take a trip to space. Call it research for the next Gal Civ game and it may be a tax deductible business expense. 
Well now that the Elemental modding Community has a crack Coder/AI type, all we need now is a crack writer type, a crack Graphic type etc.
Can't let Brad do it all now can we. What kind of a break for him would that be. LOL
Perhaps Brad, you would consider starting up a bit of an Online Training Program for any up and coming modders to be. Like me... 
I would very much like to be a particpant in such an endeavour and Elemental would be a great starting base. I have modded some before, a little, inseey teensy bit.
Note to self: Get started on your Python reading stupid...
Some AI tutorials...
This many? http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home
Stardock needs a hot dog cooker: http://media.armadilloaerospace.com/2009_09_07/2009_09_07_Labor_Day_wiener_cam.wmv
Can I be in charge in your absence? How about this....Can I be in charge if I pay you for any losses the company makes during my time in charge? I promise though when I make more Millions for the company you can keep that. I'll work them fools over too, just ask Scott. I promise not to bug you or anything , come on....let me take over, just for a little bit .
We over at the ModCast would love to have you on the podcast someday!!
would be nice if you could also help wannbe modders / programmers to get into it... but that might be asking a bit to much of you some, how i think your greater then Sid mainly because you show yourself to us more often.
maybe even get some other people from stardock to do it or some outside of it like the guys for UT3 did a map making then for the limited edition
You don't believe the very first day Brad aren't at work that BoogieBac, CariElf, Cryo (and Island Dog who'll they let out from the serverhall basement ;)) and the rest will throw a big party and just slack off the entire day?? And the NEXT day, they will just chat and play multiplayer. Next day again, it will be even more cookies and multiplayer! So all the work at Stardock will be done by interns 
I thought thats why his business model was sucssesful in the first place, you know like slave labour - but legal.
just got a mention over here: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/20/stardock-ceo-going-on-modding-sabbatical-after-elemental-ships/#comments
Sounds awesome. 
All hail the frog!!! 
Reading your plans makes me very happy. I plan on doing a lot of modding with both as well and with you spending a lot of time and energy modding Elemental I know future updates will improve the modding experence.
Sammual
Meh... if the game is done well and as open to modification as planned, there will be no expansion needed...
The life cycle of a gaming CEO is not complete until after they have launched into space. Especially for someone whose specialty is space games. It's about time Brad goes to Russia. Or fly in one of Richard Branson's little planes. You're not in the club until you do.
Modding isn't losing popularity because people are losing interest, people aren't modding because they CAN'T. DRM and Steam often lock down games to the point where modders can't do much with them these days. People would LOVE to mod Dawn of War 2 for example, but it's simply too much hassle and their modding forum has little in the way of interesting projects.
Which I don't get. Mods are what keep games alive and popular years after their release. The core game of Neverwinter Nights was poor at best, but modders kept the community going for a long time. Warcraft 3 is the biggest example though. The custom map DoTA was so popular, more than one company released retail games based on a game mod!
Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
Elemental Forums
Sins Forums
Stardock Forums
Demigod Forums