Oh, creating real-time 3D content is still fun and there is still a bit o' the adventure, for sure. I suppose I just miss the attitude of the "new frontier" that many of us experienced back in "the day". At one time, when Quake and Unreal were new, there were level editors, model editors and WAD editors popping up everyone like crazy. The creators of these tools had a following and they freely offered what they created to those that wanted them. It seemed that many of us hung on with deep anticipation for each update so that we could try our hand at creating content for these new, evolving realities. Programmers were developing engines and actively looking for graphical help. Graphic artists and graphic artist wanna-bes were looking for ways they could help. It was like we were all on equal footing. It was like there was a sense of "brotherhood". If you were "daring" enough to join the adventure then those already on the trail would haply lend you a hand.

Most of that appears to be gone. Many are not developing an engine for the sake of the adventure, but in the hopes of turning a buck. Perhaps they can make the next GameStudio competitor or perhaps some big company will take notice and pay them to develop for them or purchase the rights to their engine. I certainly have no problem with people earning from their hard work. It just seems the spirit is missing that once permeated almost every aspect of real-time 3D content creation. The "esprit decor" of the early days of real-time 3D seems to have gone away.

I am not necessarily saying any of this is bad. I am just saying I miss this "spirit" and the original adventure. I just wonder if there will be something in the near future that will generate the same sort of adventure or if this was simply a once-in-a-lifetime experience.