ok,

I may be a bit more qualified to give you advice on this specific situation, since I'm actually in your exact same boat, but a couple of years into the project, and with videos and screenshots to show. We're also in closed internal Alpha.

Just look in my signature.

So, your modding, and using the SDK to make your own unique features and assets.

Your essentially asking if this is a good use of your time, vs. just going pure indie, and making it all from scratch.

I'd have to agree with all the others who said, it's hard to say, until you have those plans into the engine.

The main way you will differentiate yourself, is with solid content, that not just shows your skills, but shows your pushing the limits of the game your modding.

This means in art, code, design, audio,lore, across the board.

Can you bring new perspectives on the existing IP?

Can you unlock the hidden potential of the IP and engine?

Can you set yourself separate to, but connected to the original game/ IP?

You should also have a banked in community with the game your modding, figuring where you are in relation to all the other modders of that game will really help you, are you sure what your doing hasn't been done before? what makes your mod different and better than all the others?

The #1 hardest issue all indies and startups have, is getting their brand out there. With modding, you can latch onto the existing brand, for awareness, which can actually boost your popularity by several orders of magnitude.

Your also able to drastically up your scope, far beyond the reach of most indies.

Obviously, the down side, is your not able to make money with it, so depending on your stage in life, you may or may not have buffers.

Your core question, is, will it be "enough" to prove your talent?

That depends on how hard you work, and how much you sacrifice, and how long you dedicate to getting it done.

It also depends on how professional you treat it, in terms of your work ethic, your communication, and the tools you use.

Build a team.

That will be one of the key ways to show it is good experience.

If it all turns out great, could you get AAA full time position interviews on it alone?

Yes, I have, for production, said to be one of the toughest and most competitive.

Feel free to ad me as a contact, and send me a PM, and we can discuss this in detail, if you'd prefer to do this privately.

It all depends on you, and if your able to make a team.

Teams are critical, not just for the experience, but it differentiates you from all the other modders, who have a small team, or who are single people.

From everything I've seen, my team is one of the largest, and most professional in my modding category.

Can you get excellent transferable skills?

Yes.

Just this past month, I did a professional career workshop.

I had a lot of interviewing experience through all the people I've interviewed for my project.

I was told by all the professionals who were running the training and many of my fellow classmates that I was one of the best interviewers and interviewees they've ever had, both in mock and in the real world.

But you will only have that potential if you build a team, and go through the fire of team management.

So what if there isn't a big community or big modding scene?

There used to be one in mine, for Command & Conquer, but it really stagnated due to lack of official support over the years.

It's very common for there not to be that many tutorials, it is an SDK after all, not a mainstream engine.

You know your community best, so IDK if your standard concerns are correct or not, but regardless, it's good you want to keep quality at a high level.

Most volunteer projects have to balance working with newbs, and working with experienced people, just because you sometimes take what you can get, doesn't mean your compromising your standards.

It's your project, and how big you are able to make your team is your thing, but no matter the case, motivation is a lot easier when you have a team, that's just how it is.

Depending on the compatibility of and how old the game your modding is, you will have the hardest time with finding coders that are so specialized, and maybe artists that are willing and able to use custom plugins (if your engine requires it).

Given your self stated scope, you would be wise to get core team members in as soon as possible, so they can be more invested, and help you shape the spin up. Good advice for anyone starting a project, but even more critical, since your not using a mainstream engine, thus you will need specialized help.

Even if you get in contact with a legend in the industry, if they don't have the intrinsic motivation or skills for that game/ genre, it won't matter.