I'm just a little curious about this. There are many games I've played in which I thought the fans can make better stuff than what the game designers already did. Most of those games are easily modifiable for such things to be compared. I've noticed that ALOT of user made content for Zoo Tycoon 2 are alot better than the official content. But beofre I compare anything, you're probably asking why I decided to compare Zoo Tycoon 2. Let me say that a ZT2 fan forum was one of the first forums I went to basically. I mainly joined such forums because I wanted to get more stuff for my game. But now, let me compare an official Giraffe made by Blue Fang:

With a user made Giraffe made by Aurora Designs (a fan team for making ZT2 downloads), I had to put a link to the pic instead because the picture is too big:
http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac320/auroradesigns_zootycoon/e0f7e566.jpg
See what I'm saying? This is why I want to compare Official with User Made, because the user made downloads can be quite amazing if done right.[/img]

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The fan-made giraffe definitely looks more realistic and detailed of the two. However, I think it comes down to a matter of interpretation and opinion in the end. While the official one looks a little cartoony, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing.

It's kind of difficult to really go and fairly compare the two [official and fan-made stuff]. It's seem like by what you're talking about, you are comparing what the game's content is supposed to be versus what some fans decided to modify into the game.

For example, I've seen several mods for the game called "Left 4 Dead". All of which I say are rather entertaining and/or humorous in their own right. But does that really make the fan mods "better"? Sure, it can be more enjoyable to replace generic zombie sounds to say Pee-Wee Herman sound clips (just so you're properly warned, this is video footage of a game that's rated "M", so therefore there may be what you may consider to be "inappropriate content"), but that may not be for everyone. I mean, if I implemented this soundpack into the game, I'd probably get some kicks out of it for a couple of minutes, sure. But after that, it would probably start to annoy me after a while and I'd either consider putting the original sounds back in or I'd go find a new soundpack to amuse me.

If you'd like other examples, some people made modifications for the PC version of Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition to allow different characters skins, different weapons skins, and even mods that change the HUD (Heads-Up Display) for the game. But would they necessarily make your experience of the game more enjoyable? It would all come down to the player in the end if they end up liking or enjoying the mods made and if it was worth the trouble implementing them.

The TL;DR version: This sort of thing comes down to the player in the end if they end up like the mods made. Not all mods out there will amuse everyone. Mods you may like may not appeal to others, and vice versa.

NINJA EDIT: Well, seeing as I'm not much of a PC Gamer, my opinion may be invalid. However, based on what I have seen, there are definitely some cool/funny mods out there and it's probably one of the biggest reasons I'd like to get into PC gaming sometime. But yeah, I stand by my earlier statement regardless.

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The Local Video Gaming Lunatic

Recent stuff I'm into:

Watching: A Certain Scientific Railgun (ep.14, stalled), Hoshi no Kirby (ep. 71, stalled), Nazo No Kanojo X (ep. 8), Acchi Kocchi (ep. 8)
Reading: nothing

Well from what I know, everyother animal from ZT2 will be getting redone just like the Giraffe, so I'll be able to enjoy it alot when the Dinosaurs get revealed. As for what you said about the rated M part of that one game, I can handle some rated M games pretty well (need I start talking about Turok?). But because of what the mod did, I'm not clicking that link. And as for the official Giraffe being cartoony not being a bad thing, I've actually seen the other animals in the game look worse. The Elephant is pink, Tyrannosaurus is losing to Velociraptors in fights (I'm not joking, trust me. Even Ankylosaurus gets killed easily, even though it's armor practically makes it unhurtable), and some of the animals are merely se-skins of other animals. That and all the Theropods walk with their backs hunched up. While not noticable as easily in T-Rex, it's easily noticable in Carnotaurus. And sometimes usermade downloads aren't very good, because many of the good animals will erequire some rigging skills. The Brachiosaurus download had to suffer because it had to use Giraffe animations, which made it's legs look weird. However, there are people who know how to rig, which can easily be seen in Simba's god-like Sauroposeidon. If you look at the pic, you can see the very realistic Brachiosaur like movement in the legs. But because Simba isn't the one who made the one Brachiosaurus, it never got this deluxe treatment. Though Simba know's how to rig, he can't make new animations for animals, though he can modify the bones to make them move correctly. I hope that he can make this beauty move like a real Theropod.

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