Why Game Modding Is So Popular Today?

 

Isn’t it obvious?

We’ll if you’re new to the modding community; I bet you’ll ask the same question.

To understand the popularity modding is gaining right now, we need to unveil a brief history that makes it more relevant today.

Some mods are just trying to improve the aspects of Gameplay, while others just want to change the aesthetics. Whatever your goal as a modder there only one singular goal mods created, and that is to add quality of life to the title, that the creators think should have been in the base game when others have created massive expansions.

The success of the modding spectacle is, at first glance, a little counter-intuitive. After all, taking a company’s trademarked intellectual property and modifying it for other gamers to enjoy the masterpiece.

A Brief History of Modding          

Modding games in the world of the gaming industry are the most vibrant scenes, with a rich history of phenomenal games that have been modified, improved, and expanded by creative starters and professional developers alike.

With its growing community that has been consistently spawning some of the weirdest and most inspiring creations in the gaming world.

Tracing back the history of modding the original mods starts in the early ’80s with a total conversion called Castle Smurfenstein being widely considered the first. It is a classic arcade-style shooter designed for Apple II is known as a parody of Castle Wolfenstein.

According to its first 'Official' Castle Smurfenstein website, (https://www.evl.uic.edu/aej/smurf.html):

“Castle Smurfenstein was a parody of Silas Warner's original Castle Wolfenstein game written for the Apple] [ and the Commodore 64 and several other computers in the early 80s. Castle Wolfenstein was a terribly fun and addicting game but something was missing. Nazis just didn't seem that threatening to a suburban high-school kid in the early 80s. Smurfs. That was the real threat now.

So we changed the game. The nazi guards became Smurfs, the mostly unintelligible German voices became mostly unintelligible Smurf voices. We created a new title screen, a new ending screen, a new opening narration, and an opening theme, and changed the setting from Germany to Canada. (I'm still not too sure why we had this Canadian fixation, but then growing up near Detroit does expose one to a fair degree of Canadian culture.)

The conversion was pretty straightforward, needing only a paint program, a sector editor, and Muse Software's very own 'the Voice' to add in the new audio. I think we did this during the summer of 1983 but I'm not completely sure.”

The relationship between game developers and modders is not always that good; however, its only history can tell how they made it work and find the real essence of teamwork and passion.  

Let's take a look at some of the most influential PC gaming mods that kicked off throughout modding history

Counter-Strike is another example of how an individual is using mods to channel their creativity and passion for games; likewise, their talent for coding that makes this project an ultimate way to get the attention of the gaming industry that provides a route to employment. It’s a relationship that is beneficial to both parties.

Watch it here: Valve/Youtube

Skyrim mod, Falskaar – is one of the greatest modding achievements of recent years by Alexander Velicky. It takes Skyrim players to an entirely new land that is roughly a third of the size of the base game with 30 hours of additional gameplay, 26 new quests, plenty of fully-voiced new characters to interact with, along with new weapons, armor, books, and recipes. Oh, and there’s an original soundtrack to boot.

Watch it here: AlexanderJVelicky/Youtube

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V has been extensively overhauled by fans. The ability to hijack a cop car and take on police missions that we saw in GTA III and GTA IV was notably absent in GTA V, then few fans created the Police Mod to address the mission. Then, another group of modders felt that there is something missing, guess what they add? It’s the zombies so the horror continues. lol. GTA V players who want added graphical fidelity need only to download the R*hancer Photorealism mod that lends an authentic sheen to the game’s environments, weather, and vehicles.

Watch it here: Dehan Mathew/Youtube

Team Fortress 2 - Valve’s mega-popular, and free-to-play, based on the Quake engine and released in 1996, is yet another game with mod roots, and yet another case of assimilated Valve the creators originally mod. Valve hired awesome developers to rework the game as a Half-Life mod called Team Fortress Classic, which has since evolved to its current Source engine-based form.

Watch it here: Team Fortress/Youtube

Innovation continues as the future of modding is bright like a star, and the remnants of success remain in the eyes of the gamers and modders alike.

History Speaks for Itself, a Brighter Future Ahead

From relatively humble beginnings, Modding became popular mainly because of its awesome and intelligent community; we will not be seeing these phenomenal games right now without these insanely creative people. I mean, modding a game is not a joke; it takes a lot of hard work and a sleepless night. Passion and dedication are indeed their tools in making it possible.

Video Game modding has exploded like a big bang in popularity, with a thriving fan-driven modding scene surrounding most major video game releases, and popular sites covering news and providing downloads of the best mods out there. Millions of eager video game modding fans worldwide are visiting these outlets (ModDB.com and nexusmods.com).

You can find the list of the year’s best mods – voted by the huge community of readers, enthusiasts, and the site’s editors, well-known as the “Golden Spanner Awards”, Mod DB’s Mod of the Year competition.

The modding community is very alive and kicking, yet to make another history in the gaming industry. Thanks to these years of growth and improvement, aided by an ever-growing acceptance of the practice by developers and players alike worldwide. Indeed, it is an indication of the community’s future trajectory that seems to develop further going forward.