Why do we do it? Why do we subject ourselves to the risk of critisism over our creations?
After reading some of the critisism of some creations offered freely by some our our members, I wonder, why do we do it.
We could, afterall, create for ourselves and never share with anyone, but there seems to be some need to share what we've created.
Granted, some of the content that I see is very amateurish, but as with most art forms, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I believe that trainz creations are an art form.
We're not all equal and some are more accomplished than others, but all should be congratulated for their effort. At least they're trying. Each creator has taken the time to learn a 3d creation program which is no small task in itself. They must then texture the mesh, again an artform, and some are better than others. Even after this monumental effort, the creator must decipher how to write a config.txt file, and then get everything up and running in Trainz. Add animation or scripts to it, and the difficulty increases exponentially. The creator goes through all of this and then exposes himself/herself to the judgement of the community. It's much like the showing of new work that an artist goes through. It can be heartwrenching for some. I've developed pretty thick skin myself, so fire away.
So why do we do it?
Some would think for the fame. I think not. At the very heart of the creator is the need to share. A need to convey their interpretation of what they see and feel about the subject.
The young (not necessarily in age) creator has a limited skill set, but still has the desire to create.
My career was as an architect, and by very definition, I had a basic desire to create and share it with others. I wanted my creations to be something that others could use in their daily lives. With every creation, I was subject to the suitability of my design to the intended user. I did not always succeed, but I like to think that did a majority of the time. I won't deny it, there was always a little desire for some appreciation of what I had created, but the real pleasure was that I had created something useful and would continue to be useful for years to come. The only problem with my creations was that if they failed, someone might die. In Trainz, the content just won't be downloaded or used if they fail.
It's the same with Trainz creators. I firmly believe that the greatest compliment that can be paid to a creator is downloads and the use of the content in the end result of Trainz, a route or session. There is no greater feeling to a creator than seeing one of their creations in a screenshot which only confirms to the creator that he/she has created something that someone else saw as having value.
So, the next time that anyone thinks about dissing the creation of something uploaded to the download station, take time to understand that the creator is only trying to share. Their skills may not be as accomplished as others, but they have opened themselves to the community and deserve applause for their effort.
I will close with a footnote by saying that I did not write this as a response to any content that I have shared. It is solely meant as a general observation to some of the posts that I've seen in the forums recently on the creations of some other members. I respect all creators, no matter what their skill. Experience and practice will give us some great work in the future. Negativity will diminish our artform.
Mike
After reading some of the critisism of some creations offered freely by some our our members, I wonder, why do we do it.
We could, afterall, create for ourselves and never share with anyone, but there seems to be some need to share what we've created.
Granted, some of the content that I see is very amateurish, but as with most art forms, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I believe that trainz creations are an art form.
We're not all equal and some are more accomplished than others, but all should be congratulated for their effort. At least they're trying. Each creator has taken the time to learn a 3d creation program which is no small task in itself. They must then texture the mesh, again an artform, and some are better than others. Even after this monumental effort, the creator must decipher how to write a config.txt file, and then get everything up and running in Trainz. Add animation or scripts to it, and the difficulty increases exponentially. The creator goes through all of this and then exposes himself/herself to the judgement of the community. It's much like the showing of new work that an artist goes through. It can be heartwrenching for some. I've developed pretty thick skin myself, so fire away.
So why do we do it?
Some would think for the fame. I think not. At the very heart of the creator is the need to share. A need to convey their interpretation of what they see and feel about the subject.
The young (not necessarily in age) creator has a limited skill set, but still has the desire to create.
My career was as an architect, and by very definition, I had a basic desire to create and share it with others. I wanted my creations to be something that others could use in their daily lives. With every creation, I was subject to the suitability of my design to the intended user. I did not always succeed, but I like to think that did a majority of the time. I won't deny it, there was always a little desire for some appreciation of what I had created, but the real pleasure was that I had created something useful and would continue to be useful for years to come. The only problem with my creations was that if they failed, someone might die. In Trainz, the content just won't be downloaded or used if they fail.
It's the same with Trainz creators. I firmly believe that the greatest compliment that can be paid to a creator is downloads and the use of the content in the end result of Trainz, a route or session. There is no greater feeling to a creator than seeing one of their creations in a screenshot which only confirms to the creator that he/she has created something that someone else saw as having value.
So, the next time that anyone thinks about dissing the creation of something uploaded to the download station, take time to understand that the creator is only trying to share. Their skills may not be as accomplished as others, but they have opened themselves to the community and deserve applause for their effort.
I will close with a footnote by saying that I did not write this as a response to any content that I have shared. It is solely meant as a general observation to some of the posts that I've seen in the forums recently on the creations of some other members. I respect all creators, no matter what their skill. Experience and practice will give us some great work in the future. Negativity will diminish our artform.
Mike
