Great topic - and as a creator - something I’ve thought about in this game as well.
There are a few things at play here.
First is, and, It dovetails into the whole AI art debate too; They are tool sets. Creators will always use tools to create their art, some master them better than others, but they are all tools. Are air-brush artists, or graffiti artists considered less of an artist because they didn’t use paint brushes made of horse hair from 2 centuries ago? But wait, all those renaissance painters? …hacks!! Why? Unless you’re dredging your hands in Red Ocher and smearing it on cave walls, you’re not a real artist.
So, using the tools to delineate what is or isn’t art, or what should or not should not qualify as art is wrong right from the start. It’s the same with AI debate in art right now too. They are simply tools, and I as an artist get slightly insulted at the insinuation that because an easy to use tools exists that allows people the ability to create what they can think of makes me lesser of an artist for using the same tool to create art out of my own head. …Unless I use my grand-pappys 1895 socket set, I’m not a real mechanic. …Knock it off.
And so: today when I see people that have obviously used methods that are against the rules in game to score big-time downloads while I plod along in an admittedly ‘old tool set’ slowly building cred one vinyl group at a time - it also sorta tics me off because I can certainly would use other tool sets I can use more efficiently to create stuff than this again - admittedly old tool set we get now. When you go and search some of the things that are top downloads, and see that… and or see very simple designs out-pacing labors of love using this tired of tool set - that hurts too. No preference at all is given to the amount of work that goes into anything around here. So what difference does it make?
Honestly, I feel like sometime making the big-liveries is more effort than it’s worth. I did a 2021 LeMans Ferrari for all the 48x ferraris in the game - took me the better part of 10 hours to create every single vinyl on it and assemble it. Only one of them (Pista) has over 200 downloads - meanwhile my simple, chrome black Countach has well over 400 downloads.
So yeah, the tool set is outdated, and what some people can do, (that really isn’t being cracked down on because ultimately you can’t) not everyone can do. I guarantee you I’d be a top creator if I was importing images into the game that I’ve created else where, especially some of the things I’ve done with AI. Importing logos for liveries instead of having to create every single one from scratch to then share my designs. Yes please! So, what else then - because well, admittedly again, the tool set is old and outdated.
One big issue is: It’s clunky and fits certain controller types better than others… For instance, I am a wheel user on PC. I cannot use the livery/vinyl creator with the wheel - I must use the key-board and mouse for it to be any where near fluid enough to not take a million years. I give mad props to people using this thing with a controller - it must really suck. If I could not use a keyboard - honestly, I wouldn’t use it at all. Just like - because the Event Lab seems designed to be easy for controller players - It’s nearly impossible to use with keyboard and mouse. I just gave up. So I’m not certain what to do here with the clunky implementation of this style of livery creator… I’ve 'gotten used to the tool I was given, and mastered it as it is …and I’m good at it.
But wait - there’s more. Lets just be honest about maybe the reasons it would not be in the best interest of the company to allow this: because we all know that you have licensing deals with companies to use their logos officially in game - and if anyone can just create / edit / import whatever they want - all that sponsor cash goes away. But - that happens already - we’re just forced to use some ancient tool set to do it - and if we do - only then are we “cool enough” how does this factor?
By the way, Might I ask a question of the Developers? What do YOU use to create the liveries that appear in this game? Is someone sitting behind this editor for the hours it takes to do all this?
No? Why do I have to suffer it if you don’t… prime example of expecting your users to use tools to do things even you don’t use - so it’s no wonder this thing seems clunky and not up to speed. Dev’s aren’t forced to use it exclusively to do what they do they really have no idea what it takes to master this thing I think.
And: listen there is some really poor design choices made with how you select car colors during the act of getting a car, and how seemingly every edit to any design or car wants to funnel directly to “Share” thus - by doing this every inconsequential edit ever made to a paint or any thing else is shoved to the top of the share pile by a far too excited aggregator.
This is why I basically again quit making paints and liveries at all. The ROI was simply not worth it, even for simple single color cars that are my top downloads. I don’t want to see that some color anyone can make is my most downloaded thing ever - while my long labor of a livery is seemingly buried behind - plain colors anyone can make easily. My vinyl groups have always been a huge hit - over 19k downloads among all my shares. And - another thing - barely any kudos/likes - 19k downloads totally just of vinyls - and maybe I’ve only gotten 150 likes out of all that. At some point, people that are good and that take time to build these downloads need to be given preference when searching and aggregation of suggestions. I feel like, at some point I see something I’ve created being used more than it’s being downloaded - should start equating to kudos regardless of if the user is prompted to like it or not. And the prompt requires far too long of a time period for a fair majority of people to even see before the garage the car and never go back to it. Beyond that what you show me so I can see what is best liked - is all broken and doesn’t work. And ever has. Maybe if those tools worked - the designer would feel a little less hit-and-miss with ROI.
But - I might have more if you could actually see masked shapes within the vinyls while selecting them because almost all of my creations feature masks - but you can’t see them and cannot tell tell you put them on the car. Also - car angles in AH and selection screens for choosing designs are hard some times to ever see what’s on the car. I do a lot of stripe kits and hood vinyl - but display angles rarely show the work I’ve done, and the AH is especially egregious as simply not showing the top of the car at all. I have a highly detailed set of stripes for the 1970 Corvette ZR1 - that in the share screens for the livery or the vinyls - you can’t see any of it because of the angle of the car.
So yeah - I don’t think any of this is a question of whether or not having direct import some how makes the content lesser than it is today. I’m not going to make less interesting designs, and or not take time to perfect my creations simply because a tool exists that allows me to direct import things. And I don’t think it really makes much sense to deny artists a tool they want to use and will master regardless, for the sake of people that will simply use it as a short-cut. Because Dan can only toss an open paint can at the street, that’s the same tool you all get to create with. Literally.
The way aggregation works makes it all sorta irrelevant anyway. You have no way to give preference to the artists that take time to create things, no way to aggregate based on complexity, or if the design was made in the editor or imported - the system of sharing and saving and how you basically just shove the newest things to the top of the line ensure that real work will always be buried, no matter what tools are used to create it.
Thus: just allow it, let us all import stuff - who cares.
I’m still as a creator going to produce better work than some of the other people and what they upload. I’m not going to take less time or use less effort for designing my works. I don’t care at this point - because this system beyond the “tool” makes it all inconsequential.