Train2Game blog regular readers will be aware that custom creations and modding can be a great way to not only improve your skills, but can also possibly help to find work in the industry.

In good news for aspiring game developers, the next add-on for Portal 2 will allow players to create levels using “an easy-to-use in-game map editor” which will let users “design, build and share their own single-player and co-op test chambers with the community.”

Last week, Portal 2 won the Ultimate Game of the Year award at the Golden Joysticks.

Portal 2 developer Valve introduced community created levels and items into Team Fortress 2 over a year ago, and as reported by the Train2Game blog, the creators have made $2 million between them thanks to the virtual item store.  Could Train2Game students therefore potentially not only see custom created levels played by others, but also monetised? More details will be revealed when the Portal 2 add-on is released next year.

In a recent interview with the Train2Game blog, Valve’s Chet Faliszek told us that modding is a “really good way” to get noticed in the industry. The same could also be said for creating community levels. The developer has a reputation of supporting  their community, and activity encourage modding using the Source SDK.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the prospect of creating levels for Portal 2? Is it something you’d do? Can you see it as something that’d help improve your skills?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Gamasutra]