@DarthPungz the way I see it is, I don't want to waste people's time by requesting something and then having 2 people duplicate the effort if they're both earnestly working on it. But a lot of people say they'll do it, and then it turns out that they have other priorities or life happens or whatever. Which is 100% fine and normal, but rarely do they get a chance or take the time to let people know when they've deprioritized something... so you never really know until you see some kind of indication that somebody is actually working on something.

if somebody's fired up about having a helicopter or civilian aircraft model and they've got the money to pay somebody to make it I think it's silly to not allow someone to make it because someone has made a claim to a particular vehicle...

I'm certainly not suggesting that anyone shouldn't be allowed to make anything! I've been personally trying to get an AW-139 model for nearly a year, which is why I commented, because I've already talked to many people about that specific model. I'll be quite happy if somebody releases a quality conversion of it, whoever that may be.

@FoxtrotDelta I agree, Skyline's working on it, so it's gonna be great, but he's busy these days so we just need to be patient.

@FoxtrotDelta well about 5 different people have claimed they were going to work on it but never produced so much as a screenshot to indicate they were actually making any progress, hence why I've asked about everyone who does heli models if they were interested in it. But yeah, Skyline recently agreed to work on it and we actually found a newer model than the original FSX Icaro model I had previously requested on the forums. I'm not sure how far along he is, but I do know he checked the model, said it looks good, and plans to fully convert it.

AFAIK nobody is working on a Bell 412 model though, so if @DOGBAIT has a good model for that, it would be a good one to pursue. Also I'm still eager for that C-27J and am still happy to make a donation when that gets off the ground

@DOGBAIT not currently, but I will post an update to this thread when it is!

Somebody is already working on converting the 2017 FSX AW-139 model. I'm sure they'd appreciate a donation once it's released! I haven't yet seen anyone working on a Bell 412 though.

So we've got all these awesome helicopter models on gta5-mods, and many of them have wheels (as real helicopters often do). Unfortunately, GTA doesn't have any way built in to actually use those wheels though. This is a problem if you want to park your helicopter in a hangar, or if you want to taxi it around realistically. VTOL aircraft have a similar problem: they only have two positions (up or down), and in the up position they can't taxi either.

My new Heli Taxi plugin solves all of these issues by making it possible to taxi wheeled helicopters and VTOL aircraft. It also adds customizable additional angles to VTOL aircraft so you can choose a partial tilt. It uses normal helicopter controls and doesn't require any additional keybindings. It will work automatically with any helicopter that has wheels and any VTOL aircraft. You can optionally override settings for specific models by adding a configuration file for that model.

I started developing the plugin last week, and just released a beta version to members of my early access program. After I get some beta feedback and incorporate any necessary changes, I will be releasing it here on gta5-mods.com for you all to enjoy!

Special thanks to @SkylineGTRFreak for creating all of the excellent aircraft that I tested/developed this mod with and which are featured in the demo video below, and thanks for @DarthPungz for suggesting that I add support for VTOL aircraft. And a big thank-you to everyone who is a member of the Parks Benefactor Program for generously donating to support my development projects.

There's a native to set the traffic light color... but it doesn't change the AI behavior, so it's essentially useless.

First of all, modders have the right to lock their models if we want. It's our prerogative, and if you don't like it too bad. Now, I generally don't lock models that I work on, but if I wanted to it would be my right.

That said, your view is rather simplistic. Lots of models are actually purchased for quite a bit of money from 3D model sites. I've spent over $300 on various models. So to say they're just "swiped" from another source isn't accurate. Also, something tells me you haven't done much modeling, or if you have you probably haven't made very detailed models, because if you had you'd know just how much damn work it is. It actually takes a lot of effort to convert a model from scratch, especially if the model source is from some 3D model site and not from another game. Things like UV mapping, setting up proper LODs, enabling all the features to work right like lights, dials, seat positions, etc... it all takes a lot of work. If you think the changes are "slight" then you have no appreciation for how much work goes into making a good mod.

Anyways, nobody owes you anything. The other reason people lock models is because self-entitled people show up, take unlocked models, actually change only one little thing, and claim it as their own amazing invention. Similar to what you're describing, but more true, because somebody already did the hard work of converting it to GTA and they're just adding 1 little change or something. And then that person goes and either claims they did all the work... or worse yet, they make some abomination out of the original model, completely mess it up, no LODs, glitches, and it causes crashed for people. This makes the original modder look bad if they're listed in the credits, and it's rude if they aren't in the credits, so it's a lose-lose proposition.

I agree that it would be nice to have more unlocked models. And some people do release unlocked models, which is great. But nobody owes you anything, and people like you who don't appreciate how much effort and money go into making good mods are exactly why so many lock their models.

@Dark0ne said in How do I link a page when you hit download to install mod on different page?:

On a personal note, I've decided to start donating to mod authors who, each month, are the most active and popular mod authors on 5Mods based on our internal database statistics. I know that Rappo used to donate to mod authors from time to time, but I'd like to make this a regular occurrence. I have already done the donations for this month and, from now on, I will do this around the start of each month moving forward.

I'm just getting caught up on this now, and was actually going to suggest exactly this. It might be nice to have a more formal revenue sharing program, similar to how YouTube shares with creators, but I know that comes with a whole host of technical and community management challenges, so your current approach is a great alternative.

I think a lot of the resent around money in the GTA V modding community comes from a feeling of being left out or taken advantage of. Yes, some devs are just greedy people looking to make a quick buck (cough cough LSRD), but let us not immediately dismiss everyone who is interested in receiving some form of compensation as fitting that mold. Modders often feel like they aren't getting compensated proportionally to the time they put in vs. other people making money from their mods. YouTubers and modding communities/download sites make at least an order of magnitude more money than modders do. Not to trivialize the real time and effort those groups put into maintaining their channels; developing, hosting, and managing sites like this; etc... but at the end of the day, without modders putting in hundreds of hours of effort to actually make the mods themselves, the rest of it couldn't exist. And in my experience, the vast majority of those profiting off the backs of mods are quite stingy. Several YouTubers I've spoken with have been quite offended by the mere suggestion that they contribute something back to the modders who make their channels possible. (To give credit where due, a few have actually been quite generous, but that's the exception not the norm.) I think your idea to donate to modders on a regular basis helps address some of that inequality. I wish YouTubers would do the same.

For me personally, I do provide early access during the beta development period of my mods in exchange for modest donations. I don't do work for hire, and I don't do private mods – once they're up to my standards and are sufficiently stable for the average noob to install and use without issues, my mods are released to everyone. But the key thing is, I would be making these mods even if nobody wanted to pay, because I make them for my own enjoyment too. At a high level, I only make things I want in the game for myself. I'll add features that other people request, but I'm not going to make a mod that's completely uninteresting to me. I wouldn't expect 5-mods however to let me use it as an advertising platform for that! IMO, once you put something on 5-mods, that should mean you're ready for the masses to use it, for free.

I have thought a great deal about putting commercial use restrictions on my future mods – stipulating that any YouTuber or other person who wants to use it for commercial recording/broadcast must get my permission and arrange some sort of deal first. This of course relies on either the honesty of YouTubers to comply with that license, or YouTube's willingness to take down videos reported for using unlicensed mods. But, it also gets tricky if the mod itself uses unoriginal IP. Obviously this is much easier for script mods than for vehicle mods, especially as script mods tend to be "original creations" to a much greater degree, and are less encumbered by potential trademark/copyright issues.

I think it's very important to keep mods free and accessible for people who just want to play with them for their own fun. But it's quite true that there are a lot of folks out there who are profiting handsomely off the labor of modders and giving nothing in return, and I know how frustrating that can be.

Well, I did find out recently while doing some map modding research that it is possible to have YDR props that have some water behavior. I haven't tried making a custom one yet - not sure how that would work with the shaders and such. It's an area of ongoing research. I have still been thinking about this though. It's not going to happen overnight, but maybe eventually.

On the contrary, if he did steal somebody else's code, that's sort of proof of why obfuscation can be beneficial. There are people who steal code and pass it off as their own. Personally I prefer not to take the risk of having my code stolen, so I do obfuscate my plugins. If people don't want to use them because of the obfuscation, that's their prerogative.