A Look At Successful Game Mods 287
Parz writes "Mods have been an important part of gaming for well over 15 years. Not only have they provided plenty of additional free gaming to players, but they've acted as a launch pad for independent and amateur programmers to show off their skills to potential employers. This Gameplayer article highlights the programmers who are doing it best, and what mods have made biggest and most enjoyable impact on gaming. The article not only provides details for each game, but also links to the downloads, and is a great resource for those interesting in getting up-to-date with this exciting scene."
Obviously, this list will seem incomplete to anyone whose favorite mod was omitted. What mods contributed most to your enjoyment?
Good Grief (Score:5, Insightful)
I know there is some kind of page click metric that people get paid on, but honestly, would it hurt to put a list on the first page so I don't have to try to click through a site that is probably already getting hammered.
Re:teh hell??? (Score:5, Insightful)
Best mod ever: nocd (Score:5, Insightful)
NoCD patches are incredibly useful.
I buy software. I don't abide most of the bullshit copy protection, though. I didn't carry a CD player in my laptop, I don't like the battery drain, and I don't like having to have the disk with me. NoCD patches made such games tolerable.
Re:Warcraft III (Score:5, Insightful)
What a load of crap (Score:5, Insightful)
"This Gameplayer article highlights the programmers who are doing it best, and what mods have made biggest and most enjoyable impact on gaming."
The biggest impact on gaming when, in the last 6 months? Seriously most of those mods can't even begin to call themselves the best when compared to some of the originals done in Quake, Quake 2, Half-Life, etc.
My guess is the author is like 12 years old or something like that.
Re:Warcraft III (Score:5, Insightful)
That was a horrible list. (Score:2, Insightful)
The list only covered mods for current games and games that are hardly old. There was no mention of Counter-Strike, the mod that exploded and practically brought millions of gamers back to half-life. There was no mention of mods for games like Diablo or Diablo II. It mentioned Doom, but didn't explore any of the fantastic mods that arose. Not even similar games like Hexen or Duke Nukem. Lame list. Period.
Rome Total Realism (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Warcraft III (Score:2, Insightful)
"Recent" and not "All Time" (Score:5, Insightful)
It's clear that this list is a list of recent popular mods, rather than a list of the most successful and influential mods of all time, since pretty much every game listed is a rather current game, and that the submitter clearly didn't even read his own submitted article.
It even says it in the article itself:
Gameplayer has scoured the length and breadth of the internet to find you some of the most promising game mods for some of the best games, and weâ(TM)re going to take you through each one. Some are new, some are old, some are finished while others are still very much a work-in-progress
Leaving off mods like Counter Strike (hello, most played FPS ever), DotA (played more than vanilla War3), Team Fortress and Enemy Territory (both have real-game sequels), and TWCTF (which introduced CTF to FPSes) completely disqualifies it from being a serious list of the most influential mods of all time. I mean, the first mod listed, "BFWoWMod" for BF2, is still in beta.
This is akin to listing the "Most influential programmers of all time" and excluding Don Knuth while listing "that kid down the street that likes computers."
The article itself isn't half bad once you realize that it's the "Current Best Mods Available" and not "The Best Mods of All Time."
Re:Warcraft III (Score:5, Insightful)
Otherwise this list would probably be very different and would include the original Counter-Strike and Team Fortress mods, amongst others.
Re:"Recent" and not "All Time" (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, it's worse than that. I made the mistake of reading the whole article. Several of the mods are completely unreleased. Several are clearly poor examples of vibrant modding communities. One of them is scarcely more than a *cheat* *mod* for an RTS of little note.
This list is an utter failure and completely fails to represent many of the brilliant and creative mods out there now, let alone recognize the influence of mods on the history of game development.
I have no problem with the author. He has his opinion and is entitled to post it as he pleases, but this is pathetic content to bring to the attention of the entire Slashdotting world.
For shame, Soulskill. For shame.
(So much for my excellent karma!)
Re:I'll vote warcraft III also (Score:3, Insightful)
Um... Doom predates Warcraft 3. And I was creating maps for my friends in Wolfenstein 3D before Doom was even released.
Re:Warcraft III (Score:4, Insightful)
Also, there's no other reason to name mods that are still in progress (The Crysis ones). A mod that is not ready and has been not played can't be called a 'best mod'.
Re:Counter Strike (Score:3, Insightful)
It's mentioned in the first page of the article.
Re:Counter Strike (Score:3, Insightful)
Counter-Strike is a case in point; a mod that turned the alien infested Half-Life into a detailed tactical shooter. It became so damned popular it overshadowed the original game engine it was built on, like the student outshining the teacher. Counter-Strike - like other big names in the modding world - only served to fan the flames.
It is indeed, and then after that build up, it isn't mentioned in the list of "best mods". You may infer that it is included given this paragraph, but it technically isn't in the list they posted. Instead, they feature a mod that hasn't even been finished yet and "looks great, even if it [might] play like crap".
Re:Warcraft III (Score:5, Insightful)
Mod Tools, And Total Conversions (Score:3, Insightful)
In my mind there are mods, and then there are total conversions. Mods alter aspects of the original game. A great example of this is Dawn of War. It's a really good RTS, but given the wealth of lore it was inevitable that the game would have to omit or modify a lot of material. The game also has strong mod support, and the number of mods designed to bring the game closer to lore, add more units, and so on is just absurd. On the other hand, Half-Life and Half-Life 2 are frequently host to total conversions, where people pretty much make their own games and just borrow the engine and some textures. I got Half-Life 1 for Christmas the year it was released. I really didn't feel the need to buy a new shooter for years after that thanks to the variety of mods available.
The common thread in both of the games I mentioned? They both released mod tools. In Dawn of War's case, there was even a menu in the game where you could choose which mod to start. I'm sure this has paid off for the developers. In Valve's case, they even hired some of the mod teams. I'm sure Counter-Strike alone kept Half-Life 1 selling years after it should have been forgotten. I know my family owned a second copy so my brother and I could play online together, something I don't think I'd bother with for the majority of the games I play.
Modding beyond Belief! (Score:2, Insightful)
Though it hasn't been developed further, as far as I can tell, in the last 4 years - the Heroes of Might & Magic III mod "Wake of the Gods" http://wakeofthegods.strategyplanet.gamespy.com/
really deserves a lot of credit. Not only does it extend the basic game play, but it *ADDS* a scripting language that the original didn't have in any form, allowing for even *MORE* expansion. Map and Campaign editors are almost a given these days - but this one dives deeper, making changes that would almost seem to require the original source code.
Re:My all-time favourite (Score:2, Insightful)