I've been seeing some worrying trends in modding recently. I'm gonna go through these.

Firstly there is the trend towards wanting to make the biggest, best mod ever. While at first this seems a noble goal, it is a double-edged sword. Back in 1997 or so, everyone and his brother was releasing a mod. These mods mostly seemed to consist of a few new weapon skins or something, and so were pretty much pointless. This is one extreme of modding, and of course these were all by people new to modding.

Today the situation seems different. I'm yet to see much in the way of this kind of mod for modern engines. This is probably a good thing, since 90% of those mods are unplayable or simply not worth the download. However, the worrying trend is that people new to modding now seem to feel that they have to dive straight in to some enormous project, which will take months, if not years, to finish. This is not a good thing, proven by the fact that few of these mods get finished. Rather than starting small and working up, new modders are trying to dive in at the deep end and are getting discouraged when they discover just how deep it is. Most of them then leave the modding community, never to mod again.

If we want to see more mods actually released, then perhaps we should be encouraging people to work on minimods, especially if they are new to modding. While minimods don't have the epic scale of huge total conversions, they are something you can actually finish in a short period of time. They are also a fabulous learning experience, and a minimod doesn't have to be just a new weapon or something. Simple ideas are often the most fun, for example adding a 'tag' mode to a deathmatch game can be fun and easy. By a 'tag' mode I mean a mode where one player is given a special power, and the person who kills him takes the power off him. Simple ideas can be simple to code, but more fun than you'd expect.

Instead of waiting in vain for an experienced coder to come and help you make your massive mod, why not have a go at coding something simpler yourself?

The second trend I've noticed is one that I feel has bled over from the 'real' games industry. I'm talking of the obsession with numbers; namely the number of people who'll play your mod. Everyone wants to get as many people as possible playing their mod, and this is totally understandable. However, when people choose the engine and content of the mod purely on potential player numbers, something is wrong. If everyone was doing that we'd all be making WW2 or CS clone mods on Source, and the modding world would be a very dull place.

This, as I'm sure many of you have noticed, is the main problem with many commercial games today. Originality is frowned upon, as it is risky, and so we get the same crap over and over ahead. How many WW2 games have come out in the last couple of years? I hate to see the mod community going the same way. Modding has always relyed on originality; a wide range of mods on a wide range of engines. When I browse the mod lists at moddb these days I just see similar mods on the same engine, and most of them don't have half the people they need to actually make anything other than unskinned weapon renders. Is this a coincidence? I don't think so. Join forces, come up with original ideas and you will get something finished.

Rather than automatically going with the Source engine just because it has the biggest fanbase (for now), why not consider some other possibilities? Doom 3 has fabulous graphics, and is a true next generation engine. Unreal has a great scripting language and a wonderful community. FarCry has fantastic graphics, and can do massive outdoor levels. Quake and Quake 2 are open source so have engine variants equivilent to many of today's engines, and allow you to make standalone games. You should also take ease of modding into account when choosing an engine. The Source engine is by no means easy to work with, especially for a coder; that's why they're such a rare commodity.

My final point is less a worrying trend and more of a word of advice: Don't expect to get people to work on your mod idea if you are not working on game content yourself! I see so many 'mod leaders' searching for every position to be filled. Ideas, web design, leadership and concept art are simply not enough. Learn to code, map, model or skin and you're a lot more likely to attract people to mod with you. Coding in particular is the one that draws people in. Most mods that get to a finished release are led by the programmer.

I just feel that modding seems to have lost it's way a little, and got trapped in the web of commercial game design. Independant game design (which is what modding really is) shouldn't blindly follow the styles of an increasingly money-obesessed industry. With a little more thought and some readjustment of the sights we can really get back on target.

I wanna see fewer renders of unskinned AK47 models, and more games fighting the Zulus on the moon.

The day is upon us once again. We stand as the real-guard of a generation, the upholders of history, defenders of the faith. We aim to prove that there's life in the old dog yet, and that you can teach him new tricks.

This is a celebration of Quake and Quake 2. These are games with a glorious past, and with our help, a glorious future. Often people laugh at these games, labelling them as part of the past, forgotten to all but the most foolish. They couldn't be more wrong.

Quake and Quake 2 have an advantage over many modern games, in that the engine source codes are released, and available free to all. This allows a degree of development unmatched in any other games. Today, Quake and Quake 2 are unrecognisable compared to when they were released. We, as a community, have done this; brought life to the dying and had a lot of fun along the way. Qexpo aims to prove wrong the doubters. We believe in Quake and Quake2, and we hope that by showcasing the latest in development for these games, we can show the world that we still stand.

This is the third biannual Qexpo, and the first to include Quake 2. In the past there has been division, in the future there shall be unity. Together we can be far stronger than we are alone. As we speak QuakeCon is happening, and Quake 4 is being unveiled to the world. Qexpo is our QuakeCon, our unveiling to the world.

So wipe your feet and watch the step. Come inside for eleven days of fun. Not all the booths are open yet, and many will change greatly over the next few days.

Welcome, one and all, to Qexpo 2005.