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What's the obsession between modders and realism/real-world connections?
Sorenson
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
One wierd thing that I've noticed in the last few years with games and mods released for said games is that, as the title implies, there seems to be something of a obsessive compulsion for people to try and cram in as many real-world connections and insertions as is possible in the modder's game of choice. Sometimes this is fairly justified - the false names given to the guns used in Stalker, for example - but then again sometimes it really doesn't serve any actual purpose - the innumerable skins and sound packs for Left 4 Dead's weapons, objects, or characters (is it really that important that pills have the Ibuprofin label, that the assault rifle has that slight tinge of grit, and that Louis is wearing a Best Buy/Circuit City uniform?) - and with others still actually detracts from the game - one particularly popular Fallout 3 mod renaming nigh-on every possible weapon and item it can to match up with a real-world counterpart no matter how stupid the result generally looks when taken with Fallout's zeerust 50s styling (I want my Fancy Lad Snack Cakes and AK-112s, not your faggoty Krispy Kreme Donuts and HK G3E3s! 
).
But back on track, what's the deal with this worship of reality and realism in games? Is it really that nessecary that every single aspect of a game somehow match up with every single specification for every single piece of real-world equipment ever created? Is the thought of having to play with equipment and in environments fairly similar to, but worlds apart from, established equipment and environments so terrifying that people can't stand to play until every single gun is an M1911, MP5, M4A1, PSG-1, or a variation of such modeled down to every exact detail?
TL;DR: For some reason a lot of modders love their real-world guns and shit and love nothing more than to stick them in games where they might not or shouldn't belong, so let's talk about this phenomenon and make fun of these gun-humpers.
).But back on track, what's the deal with this worship of reality and realism in games? Is it really that nessecary that every single aspect of a game somehow match up with every single specification for every single piece of real-world equipment ever created? Is the thought of having to play with equipment and in environments fairly similar to, but worlds apart from, established equipment and environments so terrifying that people can't stand to play until every single gun is an M1911, MP5, M4A1, PSG-1, or a variation of such modeled down to every exact detail?
TL;DR: For some reason a lot of modders love their real-world guns and shit and love nothing more than to stick them in games where they might not or shouldn't belong, so let's talk about this phenomenon and make fun of these gun-humpers.
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Yeah, that. The obsession between modders and realism is probably due to an obsession between individual people and realism. I don't think the audience is particularly different from the authors. And I don't think people are refusing to play until it's fixed, they just notice it and either fix it or see a fix and download it.
I mean, I don't care if stuff's renamed. Especially if it's an alternate reality type of game, such as Fallout 3. But I think it's neat to get it close to how I think it would be. I downloaded an entirely aesthetic mod that made the skies a beautiful blue and clear because hey, that's how it'd be after two hundred years and I think it looks neat. And it helps me get immersed in the world, honestly. I'm planning on installing a mod where there is a lot more plantlife, because again, I think it'd be cool. It's a game either way, but the little things that add realism make it better to me. And I'd assume other people just feel the same way.
Edit: Upon a second look, you're talking specifically about guns. I still echo my "whatever, up to them" attitude, but I don't understand it either. I mean, it makes sense in semirealistic games set in world war II, but in 2277, in a world with a timeline diverging in the 1900s? A bit weird.
Not exactly the same situation, but The Sims - the devs recognized that hey, real life has only so much you can work with. Every expansion after the original game added slightly crazier elements until you were giving people donkey heads and planting magic beanstalks in your back yard.
Ugh.
Homeworld 2 was pretty cool looking, and mostly decent, but it was kind of flawed when you looked closely at it. I was all excited that hey, finally something to make me want to play this a bit more, maybe give me more tactical options. It turned out to be THE MOST REALEST and basically reduced combat to turning on the game and leaving. Because it's not realistic that you would give individual commands to vessels.
It is a good way to learn the basic mechanics of modding, from modeling to skins, texture work to full map geometry, by using already pre-designed real world objects as a base. Akin to a still life painting in many ways.