What are your views on ROM Hacking Groups and Teams?

[Cartmic]

What are your views on modern day hacking groups and teams?

Back when I first got into ROM Hacking I remember there being about 5 well known groups BG, ER, Neo, Colosseum, and Spunweb Translations, along with a few slightly less known groups like TT Translations, MB Translations, GH Translations and AR Hacks, unlike a lot of today's groups all had released some form of demo hack.

These days it's a completely different landscape with 100+ groups around with most of them fizzling out as soon as they were created. Are teams benefiting the creation of new ROM hacks? Or have they just created an air confusion?

 

[EdensElite]

The reason that teams seem to 'fizzle' out, Is because ROM hacking can seem daunting to newby, especially to those who are not familiar to programming. They wish to seek help as they believe it to hard for themselves. Creating teams appears the easiest way to get help from the community. Because most teams are only created to try and give an attempt to a newb's first, half-hearted attempt at hacking, they don't last as the leader puts little effort into it.

I think teams like that would stop if there was a some form of help request thread, where one may post some sort of request 'This is my hack, need scripter lol' etc etc. and then they could recruit help that way.

 

[DaleFails]

Creating ROM hacking teams can be a very good idea. But in my opinion, I believe that having one individual creating the hack themselves is the best way.

However, instead of doing it all alone (As its hard to be a pro in all fields, creating OW's, mapping, scripting etc.), you should request help for smaller bits. For example, ask someone who is good with OW's to create some for you, or if someone is a beast at inserting tiles, just get them to do that, and so they get credited and a reputation for little work :)

Creating ROM hacking teams can be a very good idea. But in my opinion, I believe that having one individual creating the hack themselves is the best way.

However, instead of doing it all alone (As its hard to be a pro in all fields, creating OW's, mapping, scripting etc.), you should request help for smaller bits. For example, ask someone who is good with OW's to create some for you, or if someone is a beast at inserting tiles, just get them to do that, and so they get credited and a reputation for little work :)

 

[masterquestmq]

Every new hacker will try to create a team when they start however over time they will learn that its best to work alone. Although it is ok to ask for help in some areas from time to time.

this is my experience. The forming a team thing is a rite of passage for new hackers but ultimately u will end up wanting to be a one man team.

However there are exceptions to this flawed theory.

 

[Missingyep]

ROM hack teams? I've seen a similar phenomenon in the Halo Custom Edition mapping scene. Actually, I haven't seen it in action -- I've only seen the relics, but that's really my point.

Virtually every hack team dies out within days or months of its formation. On rare occasions, the members of a team will have enough skill and spare time to work together. When that happens they produce some amazing stuff and start to build their rep. They release a lot of promising videos, screenshots, maybe even a few interesting finished works.

Eventually, though, they meet one of two ends. It's always one of these two.

The most common end is that they grow apart. A few members of the team move on with their lives, or run out of spare time, or lose interest. Depending on how critical these members were, the team may try to replace them -- unsuccessfully, as people of that person's caliber are usually already in rival teams -- or the team may just collapse instantly. They may be truthful and say that they're coming apart, or they may just try to pass it off as an "indefinite hiatus". But dead is dead.

Occasionally, a team will fizzle out in a different way. There'll be some kind of idiotic drama between two or more teams, with fanboys on all sides acting like screaming manchildren. Teams will be sabotaged -- assets or work stolen -- or they'll just get sick of the drama and disband. This is the rarer end, but it does happen.

The inevitable result of all of this is that a team produces some interesting finished works, and produces abundant evidence of amazing unfinished works... And that stuff -- the stuff people really want to see -- never gets done, because the team always dies first. People may look back on it and say, "Wow, I wish they'd get back together someday," but usually, the team is just forgotten or rarely thought about. Depends on their rep and their skill.

In other words, it's the System of a Down effect, every time. :(

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Well it depends on the team...
I think it's good if you have team of 3 or 4 guys with one "leader" which does the most and the others just help leader with things leader don't know or does not want to do.
But having BIG team with 3 people on each position leads in cases of inexperienced hackers only to doom for hack.

 

[Cartmic]

<snip>

Nice analysis. So how does one find the true good hacks and hackers in a forest where all the trees look the same?

 

[Skizzieren]

In my opinion, the best, most-functional team structure would the be the following:
Member #1: Leader - Mapper, Scripter, Storyline
Member #2: Spriter

That's it. 2 members. If a team gets any bigger than 2 people, the logistical side of things get in the way. It's too hard to keep everyone in the loop and to know what others are doing if the team size is big. With 2 people, it's just easier to bounce ideas off of each other in an efficient manner.

That being said... If you were to form a team of people that you know in real life, and you saw them everyday to work on the hack, I think that a team of 6 or 7 would be great! You could multitask so much easier, and communicating would take about 0.7% of the time it does online.

 

[EdensElite]

I think everything everyone has said is true. Especially DavidJCobb, Ultimately, Teams are doomed to fail. Unless they complete their aim and close down deliberately which rarely happens. Team last much longer when people are actually friends and not just Team Members. But this is also a rare occasion. e.g I'm one of two people in my year that likes pokemon, the other one, my mate, is such a nintendo fanboy that he despises ROM xD.

 

[teejermiester]

I remember making MY team... I agree with who-ever-said-something up there. Team creating is a rite of passage for most newbie hackers. Once you've done that, you realize to make your own ideas and you learn perseverance. Most hackers from PC that don't go into that stage never accomplish anything at all.

Teams are destined to fail, some more than others. There are, of course, some outliers, but those are outliers.

Most hacks that are made are formed by a team actually. After all, what are you doing when you give someone credit on your hack? Nothing is accomplished by just yourself in hacking.

 

[Kevin]

Eh... I like working solo better since it helps a hacker work on their own ROM hacking skills instead of depending on others. Not like having a team is bad, but you can work on your own pace and it's just easier for me.

 

[~Anbuja]

Hacking teams????
I don;t think that way kinda.....If someone would find PC tonight because of a hack he found randomly in Google search he would probably end up in the emulation forum and would download a tool or soooo....thinking he or she is able to do the same as the creator of the hack he/she played....Than they realise that it's not able how they thought and go to the Team discussion forum to find other people to do the things he want them to do...
Thats why those teams dies really fast...faster than they're created....And those threads have usually a sentence like this >"I will accept all so or so"...yeah i mean it....i wrote the same sentence too....
Or they accept 5 Mappers than the team thread gets spammed with "Something to do for me?Im bored" sentences...etc etc etc....
I really didnt want to be rude or offend someone else with those words....I did all of those things that's why im saying this stuff....
People learn to make a hack solo.....or just getmax. 3 friends...close friends who know the things you dont know or want to learn soon and do a hack....

 

[Spherical Ice]

PC isn't mature enough to work together, true fact.

 

[shinyabsol1]

Working together is a great idea, but as others have said, ROM hacking teams fall apart too easily to be very effective. Also, coordinating online is more difficult than in person...

 

[The Author]

ROM hacking teams can be hard to coordinate (trust me I made one), but I see it as a great way for inexperienced hackers to rise up. For a single game, you don't need to many people, but for research and development I see an area for a lot more people.

Anyway, before I confuse myself, it really all depends on the leader. Some leaders are great, whereas others could build up a team and leave, leaving their teammates behind like stale bread. (Stale bread???)

But honestly, I can't say much considering I'm still working on building my team (Rain River).