Mods: "Lifeblood of Gaming Industry"? 281
Jadsky writes "Salon is is running a story about how modifications to games are now the lifeblood of the industry. It cites "Day of Defeat", an add-on to Half-Life, and proceeds to give an analysis of the history and current work on game mods. It also mentions Castle Smurfenstein and the Doom Construction Kit, which many of us played with before there was z-space."
Tuxracer (Score:2, Interesting)
TFC Rocks (Score:2, Interesting)
I know about one great mod (Score:5, Interesting)
It's a beautiful thing.
-Jim
What about the Quake3 mods? (Score:2, Interesting)
If fellow
~[e]Nosferatu aka :
A great example of this is Halo... (Score:5, Interesting)
Since Halo isn't (officially) online yet, there's no way to add mods or functionality. My use of Halo has started to taper off, while I still play Unreal Tourney pretty regularly. Not bad for a game I've had for over 2 years.
We buy our games in components and modules.. (Score:2, Interesting)
The saddest thing though is that mod workers are usually compensated by accolades alone: Urban Terror, as an example, represents an unbelievable amount of work and talent, yet while id is pulling in $50 from every player, The Urban Terror crew is pulling in nothing.
Mods increase the value of a title (Score:3, Interesting)
But I don't think that that's the same as saying that they are the lifeblood of the industry. They do increase sales of some titles, but mods also mean that you don't have to buy more titles because the one game you purchased turns into more games, magically, and for free! Eventually it starts looking dated, and you start looking around for the next pretty engine with some cool mods, it gains weight (the mass of subscribers, though engines do submit to a bloating process over time) and the cycle begins anew, as one might say if one was feeling wanky that day.
Basically, I bought half-life about when it came out. I played a lot of it. Then I played counterstrike, in the days before it was known as cheaterstrike; Before every asshole had an aimbot and transparent wall drivers - before the transparency drivers even existed. Now that it's been overrun by cheaters, I play Tactical Ops. I lost my HL CD key, and I don't even care.
So now I'll be able to pretty much just play games on UT for a while... If I want an entertaining special forces tactical game, I play TO, and there's a bunch of other mods. Of course, nothing has been modded as imaginatively as Quake1, but who plays that any more? Besides me. But the point is, I won't bother to buy another FPS until the new ver of UT comes out... whatever they decided to call it. Is that healthy lifeblood, or just stagnation?
Valve is right on the money (in many ways) (Score:3, Interesting)
If you've ever read the Clue Train Manifesto [barnesandnoble.com], I think you might agree with me that they follow some of the Cluetrain Rules. Open things up, allow players and developers to talk, etc. How many game companies run mail lists where their own coders get involved with discussions with mod developers? If you didn't look at the 900 pound gorilla [vivendi.com] behind them, you'd swear it's open source or something
Ambrosia Softeware (Score:3, Interesting)
Why aren't other companies learning this lesson? (Score:3, Interesting)
It would seem to me that other companies should be getting a clue just by watching other companies enjoy success as a direct result of mods. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Is there something intrinsically wrong with the system that other companies are so stuck in the cost/revenue/profit cycle they can't/won't step out for a minute and realize that they would be better off sharing development with players?
I would like to propose a user-driven move for all software to be more like this but my faith in our ability to do such is waning...
My first "mod" (Score:3, Interesting)
Then we discovered ehere in the disks were the sprites, and started to change them by trial and error. Not an ounce of artistic ability, too. So, we ended up with even crappier sprites. But "we made them".
Ah, the memories...
Aliens TC (Score:5, Interesting)
Anybody else remember the Doom II Aliens total conversion?
A friend of mine had found it, played it through, and told a bunch of us to set aside our Saturday afternoon for it. He was the computer attendant in one of the school's [rpi.edu] least popular labs and he told us he'd lock all four of us in while we played this game undisturbed. We were to bring headphones.
With the lights off, and the headphones in our ears (no music), it was very easy to immerse ourselves in the Alien world we saw in the movies. We had precisely one rule: No respawning.
I didn't find it extremely replayable, most of the enjoyment was based on having absolutely no way of knowing what would happen next. I was a decent Doom II player, but I didn't have a good familiarity with the maps -- I was roasted on maps that everyone else knew. This time was different, none of us knew the maps. It was the first time I played a co-operative game and had it actually work. And work it did! Looking like the dorks you see in the movies, we physically jumped back when some of those creatures came at us.
I still tip my hat off to those copyright infringing guys. You are truly talented.
The only reason HL still lives (Score:1, Interesting)
I don't like that mod, but I can say for it's sake that's it's one of the only reasons HL still lives and people make more mods for it. CS is the most popular game online, hands down.
After CS became so popular or while, Valve spent time helping others make mods and like a magic circle, everyone jumped on the wagon and made alot of mods..
Also, the fact HL is good for low end computers so people with P2 450 and Voodoo3 can still play it great and not like the MUCH more advanced Q3 engine which is only good for average computers and above.
Re:Imagine that. (Score:2, Interesting)
Civ III on the other hand is crippled by shortsighted design. Sure it has a cool built in front end to modify the game rules. But the map creation utility is poor to point of un-usability. Add to that the inability to place starting cities and armies, and the Civ III scenario community basically can't exist.
They learned the lessons, and then threw it out the window for unknown reasons.
Speaking of which... (Score:2, Interesting)
http://www.lik-sang.com/catalog/news.php?artc=2552 [lik-sang.com]
Not a mod, per say, but this kind of amateur development is important, too.
Re:We buy our games in components and modules.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Its a SIMPLE CONCEPT, but Lifeblood? (Score:3, Interesting)
Game Design
So you have people that can ignore the months of engine building a tweaking, but, instead, spend those months on plot, balancing, and gameplay.
Like DeusEx [deusex.com]? That's nothing more than a heavy UT mod.
But I don't think this is necessarily a good thing. Now the gaming industry can't do what its done for years. They (meaning the publishers, ie - EA) always want a copy of the latest hit, for example, everyone wanted a "Doom" clone. This evolved to using the same system with a twist, like Doom with a plot where the plot isn't to kill things, but to sneak around (Thief).
Now, they can't do that, cause some kids will do that, and release it for free.
So, for the gaming industry to survive, they need to really innovate games, make them mod'able, and hope for the best. This is quite a new turn.
It'll either kill the industry, or we'll see some majorly different games in a year or two....
Quake1 MegaTF (Score:3, Interesting)
Know what? It's based on the Quake1 engine. But it's a heck of a mod and the community kept it lively. Gameplay is king over graphics. Even 33.6'ers could join in and still participate in matches without fear of being owned by LPB's.
God I miss that game. Sadly, after 6-7 years of development, someone discovered bunnyhopping and ruined it. Perhaps one day I'll return...
Garage Games (Score:2, Interesting)
They allow you to buy the source code to the engine that powered Tribes 2 [tribes2.com] for $100.
Not only that, but they have released a project called Realm Wars [garagegames.com]. This is a game that the community contributes to. If you bought the source code, then you can contribute source code. If not, you can still download the demo, and contribute SCRIPTS, artwork, models and more.
It will be extremely interesting to see how this pans out.
(as long as I don't get any UE errors)
Re:Half-Life, Half-Life... (Score:2, Interesting)
Civilization II (Score:5, Interesting)
The reason it was modded so often was that Microprose made all the data files open (hmm, almost Open Source, in a way). While the engine was still closed, players could edit plaintext files to control it's behavior, as well as that of the units. The graphics files, for units, terrain, cities, even leaders, were simple GIF's that could be easily modified. Later, Microprose even added a rudimentary macro language for scenario builders.
I have seen many truly remarkable Civ2 mods. Some people overhauled the ENTIRE game, replacing everything. Forget scenario editors, this goes way beyond.
~Chazzf
Re:My first "mod" (Score:3, Interesting)
Hated that damn bird. And the first time I ended the game (three of my friends eagerly watching) I had the nastiest surprise... anyone remembers what happened if you approached the princess in combat mode? >;)
****SPOILER********
Yeah, she killed you with a well placed kick. We figured out it might be the fighting stance that motivated her, and I had the dubious honor of playing the game again (no save files) and enter walking, to actually save the princess.
But I've never forgotten the shock of getting kicked in the throat by the princess exactly when I was feeling the rapture of conquering Karateka
It's all about the Navy Seals. (Score:3, Interesting)
Once a couple problems get taken care of (speed whores, for example), it will be a masterfull game.