The Dildo Factory Mod, Etc.

The last Alpha update for Prison Architect last year finally opened up the game to mods.  Clever people had already figured out a way to hack mods onto the game, but by opening up the gates PA's fans were finally allowed to go buck wild with their imaginations.

1. The Dildo Factory

When I sent a tweet to @IVsoftware notifying them of this mod, all they had to say was "surprised its taken them this long".  

2. Star Wars

Awwwww yeaaaah.  This is what modding was for right?  Those custom Stormtroopers are just plain adorable.  They have R2 droids too!

3. British Boarding School

Fancy playing a top-down version of Bully?  Well you're in luck! Coms complete with plush carpeting and everything.  Surely a Hogwarts mod is on the way.

4. Seasons Mod (4 seasons, get it? GETIT?)

This was one of the first mods that came out when the Alpha was released, and the aim is provide a different mod for whichever season we're currently in.  This was winter, so it featured snow on the trees, Snowmen as your workmen, and Santa Wardens.  Winter lends itself to this kind of modding, so I'd be curious to see what they do with spring (Easter Bunny Wardens?) and summer (Baywatch Prison?).

5. Clearer Needs Mod

This mod gave me the most pause, because it's very obviously critiquing my own work.  Specifically it takes issue with the iconography I used to describe the prisoners' needs.  If the mod were badly done I could laugh it off, but the thing is I sort of agree with this modder that the icons I made are unclear, especially at smaller sizes.  I got caught up with the idea of the body language of my prisoner icons helping to inform the icon and neglected the fact that at smaller sizes a lot of the detail would be lost.

I'm no stranger to critique and indeed I'm happy that someone took the time to think over the same design problem that I did.  However my built-in insecurity about the worth of my work reared its ugly head.  I had been paid to create those icons, and the guy that made this mod did arguably a better job than I did. So he should get my job, right?!?!?

But looking at the other mods I realized that essentially every modder thinks that he can do a better job than the original designers.  It's the very nature of modding!  So people will tweak the code, the settings and the art and make it something they think is "better".  It might be, but better is usually a matter of personal taste, in the same way that I'm using a launcher that completely changes the way Android works because I thought it was cool.

The moral of the story?  Just work as hard and as smart as you can and stop worrying so much about other people.  Looking forward to some more amazing mods!