Project F.E.A.R.

"rant"
Ok for all you people mocking this 'mod', as Kna said he put alot of work in designing the skin and getting it done, i think they spent more time sticking that skin on the case then alot of the Mods i've seen in the modding forum. Not too sound rude but i don't see any of you going into the modding forum and ripping the piss out of some of the lesser mods that are out there like the people that just slap a window in there case which takes zero effert and design. Atleast there was alot of thought put into the design of the skin.
"slaps all" Bad bit-techies, a mod is a mod no matter how small or extravagent it is, it all comes down too how much time you have, the budget your working from and the people you are working for.


Morgan.

 

Hmmmm ...

Hmm indeed - I am a not so often poster here at bit recently, but consider myself an old timer - ie been around the block and seen it... done it... school of ppl in this community

I have to agree - I was expecting something a bit more innovative, original and "one off", and yes I agree with the ppl that are not as impressed - but at the end of the day it is a vinyl sticker, and whilst I can appreciate the PS work and th amount of hassle it is to get it right and fit it - Vivendi came to bit for a reason, that reason is that you have the reputation of being at the forefront and being very good - however I really feel that this does not come up to your usul standards, and yes I can appreciate that not everything comes up to a g-nome special, hell some of my mods have fallen flat on their face and some are even unfinished ...

I had a discussion recently with a good friend who again has been around the block and has the credibility in this tight community - and he agreed with me that the whole ethos of where bit has come from has diluted to a certain degree - ok I understand that you need to hit a bigger target audience - but I think this "mod" sums it up

I hate to bash anyone - especially when a certain degree of hard work has gone into it - but I cannot hide the fact that I personally am dissapointed in this as a solution for a customer ...

 

what would you expect us to do given a time table that is unrealistic to produce anything near an Orac 3?

A lot of you guys are modders, but somehow I get the impression that you don't understand just how long it takes to complete a high-quality computer case mod.

 

I don't think there is anything wrong with the case. I just think its not much worth an article on its creation. We have all seen the application of a skin before, even on this site. So I think a lot of the people here just feel like, "whats the point of this article?". Its obviously more to promote the game than about modding innovation. And really, there is nothing wrong with that.

But I do see where the negatives are coming from. How soon do you think we will see CrimsonSky toss a vinyl sticker on a case and call it a day? Never probably. The truth is though, thats the same thing many thought about BT. That why I think they feel let down.

 

I agree, i vote for a new competition, you bit-techers have 2 weeks too complete a mod too the standards of G-nomes work, ow and no taking time off work or pushing this too the top of the pile you have too use your spare time.

I hate this when companys expect imaculate products on there step 2 days ago we get this all the time at work. People expect things too fast and at the end of the day you just can't put as much effort into something if your given a deadline that is impossible too meet.

Also i'd like too chip in i don't think any one of you would turn your nose up at that if it was delivered to your door. Would you say too the post man no i do not want it. Next time maybe you should all flip a coin into a wishing well and hope for a frickin miracle cause mods don't just happen over night.

Also too you people that have been here along time guy above BigZ post, you should damn well know how long things take christ the current mod that people are drooling over 69GTs i think has huge pauses between psots as there are more important things in life then too get a wicked case out the door so they can have a super prize.

Morgan.

 

I like the artwork, but find it strange they didn't just do this in-house, other than the obvious exposure somewhere like bit-tech can generate.

 

For one, I think it looks great, especially in the miniscule timescale that was slapped on Bit-tech.

Unfortunately, I've seen a large trend on Bit-tech recently, where a lot of people pick the slightest thing up and have a grade-a-granny-whinge about it. Just remember guys, Bit-tech doesn't have to do diddly-squat for you, so appreciate that yeah.?

Oh, and I think this looks fantastic, which is more than can be said for some "Corporate Mods" I've seen spewed out from certain people classed as "OMG MOD GOD!!!!!!!!111ONE"

 

I think the point is being missed here - with reference to the staff comments, if it was such a tight deadline you could have simply said "no we won't be able to do something spectacular ", with regards to the tight schedule, ok I understand if its for game release date or a show, but its the art of negotiation - don't undertake something that will leave you highly stressed and busting your ass for (in my view) a compromise job.

second point, take the comments onboard and learn from them - no point getting defensive and reactionary - we are your community and reader base ... constructive criticism is a fantastic way of improving your service and keeping yourselves and your readerbase happy

with regards to Dark Blades project - it is out of the grasp of normal modders - hence why its more of an engineering project, I have already queried some of his unsafe machine tool practices (without any acknowedgement :s), whereas Orac is within most modders sphere of being able to complete something like it (with the right imagination and drive).

Again referencing my earlier post - the site has lost some of its modding kudos due to the fact that a bigger target audience was the aim (put me right if I am off the mark) as the whole games/modding/hardware seems to dilute the site - tbh I preferred the old bit

 

I'm failing to see where anyone mentioned it should be ORAC3 quality - everyone knows how goddamn long it took him, obviously something like that is entirely out of the question...

I'm not a fan of case wraps personally, you're taking a 3d workspace and making it 2d. Ive NEVER seen a case skin that I liked, but thats just me.

However, I know all too well what its like dealing with a very, very picky client, so being too critical isnt the nicest thing in the world.

 

That is exactly the conversation I had with Vivendi mate: they found the site through Orac and asked about having a themed PC made. I was clear in explaining the timeline required for that level of mod, and when their budget became apparent, I showed them the past CaseSkin work we had done and discussed concepts for the F.E.A.R. caseskin that you see now.

At the end of the day, this kind of "commercial" mod is about Return on Investment for the publisher: there are dozens of "Win a PC" competitions in magazines around the world each month, generating interest for various games along the way. It is natural to want to try and stand out from the pack, and both Take2 competitions we have built systems for in the UK have generated DOUBLE the normal number of entries.

So the principle is sound, but when you can achieve that effect with relatively simple mods, it doesn't make sense to splash out many thousands on a BlackMesa II or Orac - the gamers reading these magazines aren't the hardcore modding audience that you guys are.

bit-tech have been at the forefront of modding for several years now, constantly pushing back the boundaries of what is possible and pioneering the use of new techniques and new materials. The only trap, as you have demonstrated, is the constant pressure for each subsequent mod to be even more extreme than the last.

It should be obvious that there is a natural limit, and arguably it will be a while before anyone anywhere produces a mod of the frankly ridiculous level of detail that G-Gnome went to with Orac. But I don't think that makes any more basic mod less "worthy" - Project F.E.A.R. is a mod that anyone can follow and replicate themselves over a weekend at a relatively low cost.

If we only published super elite mods that take 6+ months to build and cost $5000 or more, as you seem to suggest, bit-tech would be a pretty empty website.

 

Now everyones explained this, I see why a caseskin is all you could do

 

Well to be fair - I didnt suggest that, and I would be at a loss for words if a *case skin* was all you could come up with - and yes I am aware I am "bashing" just a tad - but I would have thought you could have at least attempted something that hasn't been done before - and I think it was just plain lazyness blocking the front airholes ...

I dont want to seem too negative as I have been a strong supporter and follower of the site for going on 3 years - you do alot of hard work that I for one do appreciate the site, but as this thread points out I am not alone in feeling slightly let down

 

Children of a lesser mod...

I can tell you all about that...

Quality modding costs money, and takes time. Most of us are lacking in both.

OK, here's my take. My wife used to be a chef. The great advantage of this is not that she can cook elaborate big meals, but that she can produce something really nice, every time, no matter how little we have in our fridge, or how little time to cook. It takes real skill to make something from nothing.

Last night we made a seafood pasta with minimal means: some pasta, a tin of chopped tomatoes, some frozen peas, some frozen seafood, some garlic and some left over onion. That's all (we haven't done a big shop for a while...). I threw in the last thimble of port I found somewhere in a cupboard, some black pepper, and slivered some cheese on top. That's it. But it was spot-on: the pasta was just al dente, the sauce just right, the frozen peas sweet and crunchy, the cheese just the right complement... yessiree, it takes a good chef to make a good, balanced meal from left-overs found in a fridge.

Modding is the same. It takes real skill to make something nice on a very tight budget and very narrow time frame. Anyone can buy a load of expensive Aqua-Computer gear and throw it in an equally expensive aluminium case and make it look good. But to do something with modest means... that is special. That takes creativity. Let's not ignore the Small Gods of modding. All mods are worthy.

 

Actually i think this is the probelm. You WERE at the fore front of modding but you aren't anymore. When i first started reading Bit, projects like macroblack, macrocase and linears cube were being published and were ground breaking. The last few great mods on bit (with the exception of WMD) have not been made by Bit staff. Correct me if i'm wrong but when Orac3 was started Gnome was a forum member not Bit staff. He became a member of Bit staff when Gnome became the most popular mod on the site. You also refer to blackmesa which again is not an inhouse Bit project.

If you want to keep the respect of your target audience then you have to mod. Games, columns and reviews are moving away from the original purpose of the site. I accept you have to do this to survive but you cant then slap a case skin onto a case and expect the readers of the site to be impressed. I remember when you built a case for intel, again in a short time scale, which was a great case built in a hurry. unfortunatly the article doesnt seem to be here anymore so i can compare time scales.

It is the forums and the quality of the mods within them which keep bit alive. At the moment i beleive you could remove the entire front end of the website and just leave the forums and it would be as popular.

I hope now you have become full time bit employees the situation improves but please remember that its the forums members that are keeping bit at the forefront of the modding community not the staff. Instead of taking readers comments as a personal insult you should maybe listen to them and see it as a warning.

 

Looks pretty good to me! I can't wait for the game to be released.

If the client is happy with the result does it really matter how much "modding" goes into the project? They got what they wanted, in a tight timeframe, and quite frankly that's what's important.

 

I agree. Awesome job getting the skin perfectly applied, I know how hard it is to get things matched up exactly. Nice design also.
Don't let them get you down man, sometimes the simple/clean looking mods are what people are looking for.

 

bit-tech is a community, made up of staff members and forum members - every single person makes some sort of contribution and this is why bit is at the forefront. There is no "them" and "us".

 

I am responding to the previous points raised and if it comes across as them and us then its echoing posts from bit staff and mods.

Why not through open the case design to the members? Give them the time scale and see what they can produce then pass the best effort onto vivendi if it surpasses what is produced in house.

 

I think some are doing so as we speak... but in the meantime... trying to elevate the value of your own work by demeaning another's may be common, but it ain't wise.

I tend to think of case mods like hot rods. To be brutally honest, the ones who's claim to fame are applied vinyl graphics tend to stay in the spectators' parking lot.

Interesting graphics, by the way. The use of the little girl's image is kinda creepy... maybe that's just the father side of me.

 

I quite like it, the game is going to be awesome, and that bit tech got asked is cool.

Maybee to satisfy some of the more hardcore moders in the future, get some of them to make some basic mods, and just leave out the majour styling points, like colour and decals and then when the time arrises spray sticker and touchup. i like to dream.