Mods are created almost exclusively by fans of a particular video game. While there are some exceptions (kids looking into video game design will often practice by making mods) they are very rare. Video games are a recreation still dominated by males, especially younger males. While some say that males 18-25 are the largest gaming group, I would argue that this is only the case because of older males having more disposable income. Personally I would say that the largest group is males 12-18 years old. Including that teenage males tend to have a large amount of free time, and are often creating large projects individually for the first time, and it's not really surprising that most mods are created by teenage boys (note that I did not say "best" mods). Unfortunately having mods made by boys who are struggling with puberty leaves you with a problem that you might expect.
For every enhanced light shading mod you'll find three that add larger breasts. For every new area with content, there's a high chance that the new will include some type of brothel. Teenage boys are not the only ones to blame for this content, as males even before puberty often get such ideas in their heads, and if the content is homosexual in nature, odds are pretty much five to one that the creator is a teenage women (If you don't believe me check out the numbers on homosexual fanfiction for something like Harry Potter !FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY DO NOT DO THIS!).
Beyond these problems you'll find the inexperienced coders often have buggy code that leads to memory leaks or other game halting problems and it is rare to find a mod that isn't rife with spelling errors. Despite these difficulties, mods can add a tremendous amount of content to video games and extend their lifespan far beyond the usual six month maximum (most players get bored of a game in six months or less). Personally, I can't wait to play with the tools that Blizzard has announced will be released alongside Starcraft 2 when it comes out sometime in the next 6-32 months.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
A Whole New World
Apologies for the late post, excessive heat plus too many cheese sandwiches turned me into a moron rolling around on the floor in agony.
As I said before, mods come in all shapes and sizes, one of the smallest and most common comes in the form of a cosmetic change.
The above image would is on the higher end of what one might consider a cosmetic change. In this case, the modder created unique models in a 3d modeling program and tied them with unique items the modder created within the video game's world-editor (in this case, Oblivion). Remember that most video games do not include a world editor or other modding tools. For each item that the programmers include, the easier it is for modders to add new content and the more likely it is that a healthy modding community will develop.
When the developer goes through the effort, and adds modding tools for their playerbase to use (especially one as relatively easy to use as Oblivion's world editor) modders can add wonderful (if copyright infringing) content like this to their games.
While this is a very impressive modification, and it represents at least a couple of weeks worth of work if not more, it is not as far as mods can go.
The above video is a sample video of gameplay in Half-Life 2. This doesn't include everything you'll see in Half Life 2 obviously, but you can see what it generally looks like. Note the first person perspective, and the realistic graphics, these are consistent throughout the entire game. The video that follows is a mod for Half-Life 2.
Obviously mods can add a ton of greatf content to video games, but there are dangers to such freedom. Tomorrow I'll give you a slight glimpse into the dangers of modding.
As I said before, mods come in all shapes and sizes, one of the smallest and most common comes in the form of a cosmetic change.
The above image would is on the higher end of what one might consider a cosmetic change. In this case, the modder created unique models in a 3d modeling program and tied them with unique items the modder created within the video game's world-editor (in this case, Oblivion). Remember that most video games do not include a world editor or other modding tools. For each item that the programmers include, the easier it is for modders to add new content and the more likely it is that a healthy modding community will develop.
When the developer goes through the effort, and adds modding tools for their playerbase to use (especially one as relatively easy to use as Oblivion's world editor) modders can add wonderful (if copyright infringing) content like this to their games.
While this is a very impressive modification, and it represents at least a couple of weeks worth of work if not more, it is not as far as mods can go.
The above video is a sample video of gameplay in Half-Life 2. This doesn't include everything you'll see in Half Life 2 obviously, but you can see what it generally looks like. Note the first person perspective, and the realistic graphics, these are consistent throughout the entire game. The video that follows is a mod for Half-Life 2.
Obviously mods can add a ton of greatf content to video games, but there are dangers to such freedom. Tomorrow I'll give you a slight glimpse into the dangers of modding.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Mods
For "hardcore" gamers, purchasing a video game is a decision with a lot of thought behind it (not including those oh-so wonderful impulse purchases). While video games are cheap when entertainment when you look at how much "fun time" you get out of your dollar, they are a significant up-front investment. It is the rare person who can regularly drop $60, especially when they know that in six months you can get the same game for $20-30. This cost forces gamers to research upcoming games in order to determine exactly what games look like they're worth the money, a tool that becomes even more necessary when one accounts that most AAA titles drop within a couple weeks of each other. On top of this most video games are released on every console possible, and eventually everything ends up on PC's in one way or another. With gamers like me often owning both a major console and a PC (and sometimes more) when one finally decides that a video game is worth their money, they then have to decide exactly what platform to get it for.
At the moment for me this is a very easy choice, as my PS3 is currently out of commission I have to rely on PC alone to carry my gaming weight. Assuming that my PS3 was not broken, there is suddenly a very important choice. Do I go for the console version, having gamepad controls, a full TV for viewing and the inherent stability of the console version? Or do I go for the PC version, with a full mouse and keyboard, a larger online group to play with, but might not work because my graphics card isn't one the developers support?
There are many more variables than these to weigh, but the factor that often decides it in the PC's favor, despite the risk that the game may not run at all is modability.
Modability refers to how easy a game content can be modified. Whether adding a new hair style, weapon, lighting option, or level these home-brewed additions and changes are collectively referred to as mods. A good mod can turn a nigh-unplayable game into something truly spectacular, but mods aren't easy to make, and modding communities only really thrive when they have tools at their disposal. This is why if you search for Oblivion mods (a AAA game which currently has a tool-kit for adding new game content) you'll find thousands of pages of mods, but if you search for Mass Effect mods, you'll find very little if any at all (another AAA title, but no tool-kit). Extending this further, games that aren't very popular or good to begin with are likely to fail to create an extensive modding community.
Tomorrow I'll show you just what mods can add to a game, so check in if you can!
At the moment for me this is a very easy choice, as my PS3 is currently out of commission I have to rely on PC alone to carry my gaming weight. Assuming that my PS3 was not broken, there is suddenly a very important choice. Do I go for the console version, having gamepad controls, a full TV for viewing and the inherent stability of the console version? Or do I go for the PC version, with a full mouse and keyboard, a larger online group to play with, but might not work because my graphics card isn't one the developers support?
There are many more variables than these to weigh, but the factor that often decides it in the PC's favor, despite the risk that the game may not run at all is modability.
Modability refers to how easy a game content can be modified. Whether adding a new hair style, weapon, lighting option, or level these home-brewed additions and changes are collectively referred to as mods. A good mod can turn a nigh-unplayable game into something truly spectacular, but mods aren't easy to make, and modding communities only really thrive when they have tools at their disposal. This is why if you search for Oblivion mods (a AAA game which currently has a tool-kit for adding new game content) you'll find thousands of pages of mods, but if you search for Mass Effect mods, you'll find very little if any at all (another AAA title, but no tool-kit). Extending this further, games that aren't very popular or good to begin with are likely to fail to create an extensive modding community.
Tomorrow I'll show you just what mods can add to a game, so check in if you can!
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