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Modding’s impact goes well beyond the stigma of people cheating on online shooters. Let’s check out the benefits it’s had on games, the industry around it, and the careers it’s built.
If you’ve asked, ‘Why do people mod games?’ Well, why do people create games? Transferring the vision in your head into a tangible experience is a need for many people.
It’s part of the natural progression from consumer to creator. Their experience, what they like and dislike about games, and their creative mind push them to think of the kind of game they’d like to play. But they might not want to start something from scratch, they might decide to just build on the system of an existing game they already like. This is where mods come in.
Why mod existing games?
The ability to use an already-in-place framework makes it easier for people looking to get into video game production. There are going to be hurdles at every level of development but, when modding, you are able to use materials and concepts the developers have already laid out. It lessens the burden of setting up an environment as a sandbox, depending on where you are in the process. It’s more like walking into someone’s laboratory and going from there.
Often, modding is just about adding certain little things to enhance the experience. It could be something as small as palette swaps, changing the background animation, or changing sprites to be goofier in a horror game, adding some bizarre elements that the modder enjoys.
Sometimes, it’s not about simple addition. Maybe the game has a great foundation and more modern features, but some players find potential in different directions. This leads to entirely different versions of games like Project M, a mod of Super Smash Brothers Brawl to make it play like its predecessor, Melee.
Mods are breaking down barriers
An important part of modding is accessibility. Players don’t always have the time to meticulously learn every system and boss pattern, or grind to extremely high levels to progress through the game. Adding an assist mode to difficult games will allow people initially put off by the wall of learning to actually finish games. Repeated failures can be a great learning tool for a lot of people, but it might not be what some are looking for.
Through these mods people can experience stories and moments they otherwise wouldn’t have. Don’t worry, if you’re really into a brutal challenge, the intended difficulty curve is still there for you to enjoy. No mods necessary.
This doesn’t mean always making things easier, though. While it’s gotten better over the years, games aren’t always equipped to deal with every use case. There are mods that help people who deal with color blindness by increasing contrast, or adding entirely new signals through shapes rather than color. Similarly, there are mods that add louder signals for people who need the boost to identify situations at critical points.
Modding is so open that if someone has ever thought, ‘you know, I wish this game had X’ then all it would take is someone savvy enough to make it happen if the developers didn’t.
How has modding impacted gaming?
Modding is essential for innovation within the games industry. In fact, some of the most popular games on the planet would not exist if not for modding. Many started out as simple mods of already existing games.
Titles like DOTA, Team Fortress, Counter-Strike, and Garry’s Mod have defined their genres for years. Such pivotal games were only possible because people wanted something more and were willing to make it happen. The talented minds that brought us these games started out as just gamers like us.
We mentioned Project M earlier, a large scale mod for Brawl. This mod has resulted in a community as lively as any, that has fought constantly to have their game represented and brought to new heights. The competitive scene appreciates the blending of features from Melee and Brawl, and wouldn’t have another game to be so happy with if players didn’t decide to create the mod.
Smash has a long history with modding. Many ultimate players have modded their entire switch just to implement a training mode mod which adds many extra quality of life features. Even more in-depth mods exist for Melee’s training room. This is complemented by Project Slippi, a mod of the GameCube emulator, Dolphin, which allows for online play, using rollback netcode. It recently released a ranked beta test for VIP users.
Competition drives innovation
20 years after Melee was released, the need to accommodate its growing competitive scene has resulted in ground breaking developments. Melee isn’t the only retro fighting game with netcode updates founded through community efforts. Fightcade has rollback netcode available for much of their library.
The pandemic taught the FGC that rollback netcode is simply necessary in the modern era. Games that release without rollback such as Marvel vs Capcom 3 are relegated to having to use Parsec as a middle man to get close to a good connection, which is still unreliable and lopsided. Slippi revitalized the Melee community by giving it’s players great netcode. If a game that beloved received rollback, you’d see it more at offline events as well, just look at the registration numbers for Guilty Gear Xrd at Frosty Faustings 15 after the rollback announcement at CEOtaku 2022.
One thing competition does is force people to agree to a ruleset to standardize how we judge performance. Sometimes the pre-set rules of a game aren’t exactly what players are looking for if they want to get more serious. This space is where mods like Project M met their audience halfway, but it’s not reserved for just fighting games.
CS:GO, a series that started out as a mod, is another example of competitive scenes benefitting from changing the ruleset for smaller formats. For example, Red Bull Flick, a 2v2 event series hosted all over the world needed to use mods to create stages that made sense for the smaller player capacity.
Many games have a dedicated community that want to push the game to its limits, all with their own limitations and rules. Modding is even present in this sphere as well. Players will challenge themselves by modding the game to randomize certain aspects, such as item drops. Since it’s random, each time you boot up the game, it’ll be an entirely new experience
Two gargantuan series, The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon have spawned mass content from people willing to play and watch gameplay with this heightened RNG. Players receive a unique challenge while also vastly improving the replayability of their favourite games, changing a linear experience that will always be the same into one that requires on the fly thinking and problem solving. It spawns funny moments and sequences that can never be recreated.
Other ways players achieve this is through random warps to other parts of the map or unique challenges like Pokémon Nuzlockes, where your pokemon have to be set free if they faint in battle. Speaking of Pokémon, another way games are elevated by mods is by changing story elements. In fact, entirely new stories are often built using the framework laid out originally. Many fans appreciate the setting and gameplay, but have stories of their own to tell. Pokémon has spawned innumerable mods with new regions and plotlines.
Also, it’s not just AAA games that receive mods. Often, the less limited creativity of indie games has a chain reaction of players ready to put their spin on the initial work. The rhythm game Friday Night Funkin’ absolutely blew up after its demo released on Newgrounds in 2020 (yes you’re reading that right). The game's musical approach to challenging levels resonated with players, who quickly got to modding with ease due to the game’s open source decision. Players added their own levels, stories, songs, and visuals to go along with everything.
The cyclical nature of the industry
Earlier we outlined a few games that started as mods that are now leaders in gaming. It’s clear that mods are not to be taken as a sign of arrogantly thinking that the player can do better than the developer, but rather as a sign of admiration and appreciation.
That appreciation should work both ways, as gaming has heavily benefitted through mods. Not just in the products that are created, but in the personal development of the people working on said mods. Essential skills are gained as players pick up the tools to create rather than consume.
Not just in the pure manipulation of these tools, but in the informational search while getting the word out as well. Modders are actively transforming themselves into coveted developers by building a portfolio and delving into their interests. Studios value experience so much, and modders are doing nothing but gaining experience.
An example of the modder to “real” developer pipeline is someone we’ve already mentioned. The creator of the Super Smash Bros. Melee training mod, 20XX Tournament Edition, also created one of the most popular indie games ever, Doki Doki Literature Club. The original game exceeded two million copies in sales with the expansion selling over 500 000 copies in its first two weeks. In return, players ended up taking the game further and further by modding in new stories and routes. Disclaimer: don’t be fooled by the character art.
This game is not for the faint of heart. No, that's not a joke.
We’ve seen developers become much more accepting of mods throughout the years. Developers of Rivals of Aether have allowed Steam’s Community Workshop characters to be playable in the regular game. Bethesda has given in-game access to mods, even on consoles.
Modding is one of the ways the industry moves forward. In fact, you could say it’s one of the biggest factors, considering the giants it has spawned. Developers come from many backgrounds, but the key thing usually tying them together is the fact that they absolutely love games. What says more about your appreciation for a game than taking it as inspiration and building off it in your own way?
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