Mods are a beautiful thing. Mods can have impacts as small as a new game mode to an existing game to having a dramatic change that it embodies an entirely different game from what it was once built from. Counter-Strike, Team Fortress Classic, Killing Floor, Defense of the Ancients, Tower Defense and other popular games all started as Mods of another game and eventually became mainstream titles that are either played competitively or sold commercially. Mods have become an acceptable doorway for independent game developers to start their career path and is a popular topic for those who want to create games or play fresh new innovations.
Source: Youtube Channel MermanIShouldTurn2Be
I remember playing The Specialist. It was relaxing, the community was courteous to one another (for the most part), and it immersed me into its own world. A lot of mods seem to have that effect. Mods can be simple additional contents to a game such as a zombie mode for Call of Duty 4, or it can be a complete conversion from the game that it used to be like Deathball. It's a gateway to new opportunities and experimentation. A lot of the times, the people who play the game and give feedback are the ones who contribute to a polished mod and a full retail release.
Advantages:
-Lots of free games to download and play
-Participate in new innovations for videogames
-Playing the mods and giving feedback helps the developer/modder improve it
-The mods that you play may one day become a huge retail success
-Have a chance in being part of a modding team and work on a game
Disadvantages:
-Some mods require the original game that it was modded from
-There are lots of bugs and problems within mods
-Lots of "fan-made" games with ripped sprites and popular topics (Naruto games, some good, most bad)
-Modders might get busy or decide not to work on the mod anymore and will not continue to update
-Some mods and custom campaigns can get the modder into legal issues (World of Starcraft)
Finding a good mod to try out and play can be difficult. Finding a serious mod with actual content is easier when looking for a mod to games like Unreal, Half-Life, or Battlefield 2. But for games modded or created using a game maker or engine like MUGEN, you're going to have to look through several 1000 bad games where the focus is on the content of existing intellectual property rather than gameplay. It's really no one's fault for it. When first given the freedom to create something, the initial thought is creating a game out of something that we already know (I've gone through that phase before). So if you can withstand all the searching, there may be a chance to find some really good games.
M.U.G.E.N. - MUGEN is an engine known for creating fighting games, and I have seen some of the most craziest and sometimes awesome creations come out of this engine. The most common trend for using the engine is finding pre-created sprites and move-sets from other fighting games and putting them all into one huge game. This will be one of the harder engines to find a good mod/game on.
Source: Youtube Channel StefanBandicoot
-Super Smash Bros. Showdown - This game's site no longer exists and the game is nowhere to be found (I still have it) possibly because of legal issues. But this video goes to show you that there can still be good games made with the MUGEN engine and still be found. I played a lot of bad MUGEN games, but the other few I found to be rather entertaining.
RPG Maker (2000/2003/XP/VX) - RPG Maker is a program that gives a set of easy point and click Graphical User Interface (GUI) windows to create a world, set the characters, and establish the entire RPG. It's set up to be a typical Japanese RPG with a turn-based battle system. I've worked with it in the past, but not seriously enough to create a full fledged game. I worked with a team back in college on creating an RPG using RPG Maker XP and never finished it. One of these days, I'll create something with it.
-Shattered Samurai - Shattered Samurai was one of the games that really stood out to me as being creative in the way the developers (if we can call them that) utilized the program and created an action RPG rather than sticking to the pre-set turn-based battles. It has a whimsical mood to it and is done rather well for an RPG Maker game. This game was done in the 2000 version and so there might be more up to date RPGs out there that uses the VX version.
Game Maker - This is a program that's free to download to develop PC games. Instead of being limited to a certain genre, it allows the user to create any type of game they desire. This in turn makes design and development more difficult. This is the program I used the most to create games so far.
Spelunky - I mentioned on Tuesday about indie games of a game called Spelunky. Derek Yu created the game using Gamer Maker. The randomly generated levels, money system, controls etc. were all done with Game Maker. This little program can do quite a lot, which is the reason why I've stuck with it for so long. Spelunky is free, but whether it's fun or not really depends on the player. I found it to be entertaining and challenging if not frustrating.
Starcraft 2 Campaign Editor - You're going to have to buy Starcraft 2 to play any of the custom campaigns. Starcraft 1 had an amazing campaign editor (which I created over 30 maps with) that became the catalyst to having me consider going into the game industry as a developer. The editor for Starcraft 2 is much more versatile and has proven to be an excellent engine to create all sorts of crazy games. Furthermore, all the custom games can be downloaded and played within the game itself (I really need to find the time to play Starcraft 2...).
Source: Youtube Channel HuskyStarcraft
Metal Slug Starcraft 2 remake - There is no need for an explanation. The video explains it all.
Source Engine - Developed by Valve, the source engine has been an incredible asset for the company and for the modding community. Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Day of Defeat: Source, and many other games have come out of using the Source Engine. Valve, whose members came out of a modding community, has always catered towards the modding community and supported the creative endeavors modders pursued. Counter-Strike came out of Half-Life, Team Fortress Classic came out of Quake, and Killing Floor came out of Unreal Tournament 2004. Valve even has a section on Steam for players to download mods directly to their computers to play (as long as the player owns a game with the source engine).
Source: Youtube Channel GoldenEyeSource
Goldeneye: Source - For those who love and miss the amazing first-person shooter "007 Goldeneye" for the N64, you have to check this mod out! The team has been working on it for years now and has created an accurate experience of the original classic with improved controls, graphics, and extra content. The game is solely fan based and won't be sold. So as long as you have a game that uses the source engine, then this game is open to you.
For each of the engines or games they're modded out of, look up other mods to try out. There's plenty of games to be beta tested, and playing the game could help a fellow modder/developer out. This is my favorite site to check out Mods: http://www.moddb.com/ Looking up "RPG Maker Games" or "Gamer Maker Games" and such works too on search engines. Good luck and enjoy.
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