Editing Video game modding (section)

==Development==
[[File:CJ, Kratos and Snow White in Guitar Hero.png|thumb|220px|right|Custom character models such as [[Kratos (God of War)|Kratos]], [[Carl Johnson (Grand Theft Auto)|Carl Johnson]] and [[Snow White (Disney character)|Snow White]] in ''[[Guitar Hero World Tour]]'' are a popular form of modification, allowing fans to come up with their own humorous [[fictional crossover]]s.]]
Many mods are not publicly released to the gaming community by their creators.<ref name=Poor/> Some are very limited and just include some gameplay changes or even a different loading screen, while others are total conversions and can modify content and [[gameplay]] extensively. A few mods become very popular and convert themselves into distinct games, with the rights getting bought and turning into an official modification, or in some cases a stand-alone title that does not require the original game to play.

Technical and social skills are needed to create a mod.<ref name="auto3"/> A group of mod developers may join to form a "mod team".

''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' (1993) was the first game to have a large modding community.<ref name="auto"/> In exchange for the technical foundation to mod, [[id Software]] insisted that mods should only work with the retail version of the game (not the demo), which was respected by the modders and boosted ''Doom''{{'}}s sales. Another factor in the popularity of [[Doom modding|modding ''Doom'']] was the [[History of the Internet|increasing popularity of the Internet]], which allowed modding communities to form.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Lukkanen |first=Tero |year=2005 |title=Modding scenes: Introduction to user-created content in computer gaming |url=https://tampub.uta.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/65431/951-44-6448-6.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128211333/https://tampub.uta.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/65431/951-44-6448-6.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=28 November 2018 |publisher=[[University of Tampere]] |place=Tampere |series=Hypermedia Laboratory Net Series |volume=9}}</ref> Mods for ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'' (1996) such as "[[Capture the flag|Capture the Flag]]" and "Team Fortress" became standard features in later games in the shooter genre.<ref name="auto"/> While [[first-person shooter]]s are popular games to mod,<ref name=":2" /> the [[virtual pet]] genre with games such as ''[[Petz]]'' (1995) and ''[[Creatures (video game series)|Creatures]]'' (1996) fostered younger modders, particularly girls.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Denton |first1=Abby |title=Artificial life finds a way: the legacy of Creatures |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/01/12/creatures-fans-mods-artificial-life/ |access-date=27 November 2018 |work=[[Rock Paper Shotgun]] |date=12 January 2018}}</ref>

A recurring trend with video game mods is the creation of user-made skins and/or character models replacing the default ones that came with the game, the most popular of which are [[Internet meme|meme]] mods such as those of [[Carl Johnson (Grand Theft Auto)|Carl Johnson]] from ''[[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]'' and [[Thomas the Tank Engine]],<ref name="Mathur">{{Cite web |last=Mathur |first=Moulik |date=2023-09-08 |title=Armored Core 6 Modders Thought It Was a Great Idea to Add Thomas the Tank Engine after CJ from GTA |url=https://in.ign.com/armored-core-vi-fires-of-rubicon/193571/news/armored-core-6-modders-thought-it-was-a-great-idea-to-add-thomas-the-tank-engine-after-cj-from-gta |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324131802/https://in.ign.com/armored-core-vi-fires-of-rubicon/193571/news/armored-core-6-modders-thought-it-was-a-great-idea-to-add-thomas-the-tank-engine-after-cj-from-gta |archive-date=2024-03-24 |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=IGN India |language=en-in}}</ref> though at least one modder received legal action from ''Thomas'' franchise rights owner [[Mattel]] for their unauthorised use of the ''Thomas the Tank Engine'' intellectual property in a ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'' mod.<ref name="Hernandez">{{Cite web |last=Hernandez |first=Patricia |date=2019-05-15 |title=Thomas the Tank engine mod got Skyrim player in legal trouble |url=https://www.polygon.com/2019/5/15/18625132/skyrim-mod-thomas-the-tank-engine-fallout-nexus-mattel |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712035801/https://www.polygon.com/2019/5/15/18625132/skyrim-mod-thomas-the-tank-engine-fallout-nexus-mattel |archive-date=2024-07-12 |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Tools===
Mod-making tools are a variety of construction sets for creating mods for a game. Early commercial mod-making tools were the ''[[Boulder Dash Construction Kit]]'' (1986) and ''[[The Bard's Tale Construction Set]]'' (1991), which allowed users to create game designs in those series. Much more successful among early mod-making tools was the 1992 ''[[Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures]]'' from [[Strategic Simulations, Inc.]], which allowed users to construct games based on the game world that was launched with the ''[[Pool of Radiance]]'' game.

By the mid-1990s, modding tools were commonly offered with PC games,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Burger-Helmchen |first1=Thierry|last2=Cohendet|first2=Patrick|title=User Communities and Social Software in the Video Game Industry |journal=Long Range Planning|date=October 2011|volume=44|issue=5–6|pages=317–343|doi=10.1016/j.lrp.2011.09.003}}</ref> and by the early 2000s, a game that launched with no modding tools was considered more worthy of note in a review than one that did.<ref name="auto2">{{cite journal |last1=Coleman |first1=Sarah |last2=Dyer-Witheford |first2=Nick |title=Playing on the digital commons: collectivities, capital and contestation in videogame culture |journal=[[Media, Culture & Society]] |date=2007 |volume=29 |issue=6 |pages=934–953 |doi=10.1177/0163443707081700|s2cid=154832086}}</ref> [[Maxis]] released the modding tools for ''[[The Sims]]'' (2000) before the game itself, resulting in a suite of fan-created mods being available at launch.<ref name=":2" /> The advertising campaign for ''[[Neverwinter Nights (2002 video game)|Neverwinter Nights]]'' (2002) focused on the included [[Aurora toolset]].<ref name=":2" /> The [[Warcraft III World Editor|''World Editor'']] for ''[[Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos|Warcraft III]]'' (2002) allowed a variety of custom scenarios or maps to be created for the game, such as a number of [[tower defense]] and [[multiplayer online battle arena]] maps, the most notable of which was ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Walbridge|first=Michael|title=Analysis: Defense of the Ancients - An Underground Revolution|url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/109814/Analysis_Defense_of_the_Ancients__An_Underground_Revolution.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510135818/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/109814/Analysis_Defense_of_the_Ancients__An_Underground_Revolution.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 10, 2012|access-date=2020-09-07|website=www.gamasutra.com|date=12 June 2008|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=How Warcraft 3's modding community paved the way for League of Legends and Dota 2|url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/warcraft-iii/warcraft-3-mods-dota-league-of-legends|access-date=2020-09-06|website=PCGamesN|date=26 March 2018 |language=en-GB}}</ref> The provision of tools is still seen as the most practical way that a company can signal to fans that its game is open for modding.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Poretski |first1=Lev |last2=Arazy |first2=Ofer |title=Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing |chapter=Placing Value on Community Co-creations: A Study of a Video Game 'Modding' Community |date=25 February 2017 |pages=480–491 |doi=10.1145/2998181.2998301 |publisher=ACM|isbn=978-1-4503-4335-0 |s2cid=18600910}}</ref> Fans may also use and create [[open-source software]] tools for modding games.<ref name="auto4">{{cite book |last1=Scacchi |first1=Walt |series=IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology |title=Open Source Systems: Grounding Research |chapter=Modding as an Open Source Approach to Extending Computer Game Systems |volume=365 |date=2011 |pages=62–74 |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-24418-6_5 |language=en|isbn=978-3-642-24417-9|s2cid=8934352 }}</ref> [[Generative AI]] is expected to make developing for hobby projects easier,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lumb |first1=David |title=Generative AI Is Coming for Video Games. Here's How It Could Change Gaming |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/generative-ai-is-coming-for-video-games-heres-how-it-could-change-gaming/ |access-date=31 May 2024 |work=[[CNET]] |date=4 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref> particularly with assets such as textures and voice acting (which traditionally requires hiring capable voice actors, thereby presenting a [[barrier to entry]] for amateur mod teams), though this also led to [[Ethics of artificial intelligence|ethical issues]] over its use especially with voice actors who expressed concern regarding their characters' voices being cloned without their consent.<ref name="Stokes">{{Cite web |last=Stokes |first=Ian |date=2021-04-20 |title=Witcher 3 mod uses AI to create new voice lines without Geralt's original voice actor |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/witcher-3-mod-uses-ai-to-create-new-voice-lines-without-geralts-original-voice-actor/ |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=gamesradar |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Dinsdale">{{Cite web |last=Dinsdale |first=Ryan |date=2023-12-22 |title=The Witcher Voice Actor Doug Cockle Calls AI 'Inevitable' but 'Dangerous' |url=https://za.ign.com/the-witcher-3/188055/news/the-witcher-voice-actor-doug-cockle-calls-ai-inevitable-but-dangerous |access-date=2024-06-05 |website=IGN Africa |language=en-za}}</ref>

There are also free content delivery tools available that make playing mods easier. They help manage downloads, updates, and mod installation in order to allow people who are less technically literate to play. [[Steam (service)|Steam's]] "[[Steam Workshop|Workshop]]" service, for example, allows a user to easily download and install mods in supported games.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Letzter |first1=Rafi |title=Online communities are changing video games to make them better, weirder, and much more wonderful |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/video-game-modding-2015-7?r=US&IR=T |access-date=22 February 2019 |work=Business Insider Australia |date=21 July 2015 |language=en |archive-date=22 February 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222152029/https://www.businessinsider.com.au/video-game-modding-2015-7?r=US&IR=T }}</ref>

===Game support for modifications===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Audi Vice City.JPG|thumb|250px|An example of game modification in ''[[Grand Theft Auto: Vice City]]'': a 2005 Audi A8L W12 car. Real-life makes and models are not included in the game but can be created and added by modders.]] -->
The potential for end-user change in game varies greatly, though it can have little correlation with the number and quality of mods made for a game.

In general the most modification-friendly games will define gameplay variables in text or other non proprietary format files<ref name=Sihvonen2011p37>{{cite book |last1=Sihvonen |first1=Tania |title=Players Unleashed!: Modding The Sims and the Culture of Gaming |pages=37–86 |date=2011 |publisher=[[Amsterdam University Press]] |location=Amsterdam |jstor=j.ctt46mt37.5 |chapter=Cultural and Commercial Appropriation|isbn=978-90-8964-201-1}}</ref> (for instance in the ''[[Civilization (video game)|Civilization]]'' series one could alter the movement rate along roads and many other factors), and have graphics of a standard format such as [[bitmap]]s.<ref name=Sihvonen2011p37/> Publishers can also determine mod-friendliness in the way important source files are available, such as ''Doom'' having its art assets separate from the main program, which allows them to be shared and modified.<ref name=":2" />

Games have varying support from their publishers for modifications, but often require expensive professional software to make. One such example is ''[[Homeworld 2]]'' (2003), which requires the program [[Maya (software)|Maya]] to build new in-game objects. However, there are free versions of Maya and other advanced modeling software available. There are also free and even [[open-source software|open-source]] modeling programs (such as [[Blender (software)|Blender]]) that can be used as well.

For advanced mods such as ''[[Desert Combat]]'' that are total conversions, complicated modeling and texturing software are required to make original content. Advanced mods can rival the complexity and work of making the original game content (short of the engine itself), rendering the differences in ease of modding small in comparison to the total amount of work required. Having an engine that is for example easy to import models to, is of little help when doing research, modeling, and making a photorealistic texture for a game item. As a result, other game characteristics such as its popularity and capabilities have a dominating effect on the number of mods created for the game by users.

A game that allows modding is said to be "moddable". ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'' (2011) as well as its predecessors, ''[[The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind|Morrowind]]'' (2002) and ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion|Oblivion]]'' (2006), are examples of highly moddable games, with an official editor available for download from the developer. ''[[Daggerfall]]'' (1996) was much less moddable, but some people released their own modifications nevertheless. Some modifications such as ''Gunslingers Academy'' for ''[[Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy]]'' have deliberately made the game more moddable by adding in scripting support or externalizing underlying code. ''[[Supreme Commander (video game)|Supreme Commander]]'' (2007) set out to be the 'most customisable game ever' and as such included a mod manager which allowed for modular modding, having several mods on at once.

The question as to how much the game industry should embrace the players' contribution in creating new material for the game or mod-communities as part of their structure within the game is hotly contested. Some software companies openly accept and even encourage such communities, with some games even having the capacity for modifiability as a contributing factor to the games' success. Others though have chosen to enclose their games in heavily policed copyright or Intellectual Property regimes (IPR) and close down sites that they see as infringing their ownership of a game, an action which can have an equally detrimental affect on the sales of the game(s) in question.<ref>Flew, Terry and Humphreys, Sal (2005) "Games: Technology, Industry, Culture" in Terry Flew, New Media: an introduction (second edition), Oxford University Press, South Melbourne 101-114.</ref>

===Portability issues===
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2011}}
For cross-platform games, mods written for the Windows version have not always been compatible with the Mac OS X and/or [[Linux]] ports of the game. In large part, this is due to the publisher's concern with prioritizing the porting of the primary game itself, when allocating resources for fixing the porting of mod-specific functions may not be cost-effective for the smaller market share of alternate platforms. For example, ''[[Battlefield 1942]]'', ported by [[Aspyr]] for Mac OS X, had file access issues specific to mods until the 1.61D patch. ''[[Unreal Tournament 2004]]'' does not have a working community mods menu for the Mac OS X version and, until the 3369 patch, had graphics incompatibilities with several mods such as ''Red Orchestra'' and ''Metaball''.

Also, mods compiled into platform-specific libraries, such as those of ''[[Doom 3]]'', are often only built for the Windows platform, leading to a lack of cross-platform compatibility even when the underlying game is highly portable. In the same line of reasoning, mod development tools are often available only on the Windows platform. [[id Software]]'s Doom 3 Radiant tool and [[Epic Games]]' [[UnrealEd]] are examples of this.

Mod teams that lack either the resources or know-how to develop their mods for alternate platforms sometimes outsource their code and art assets to individuals or groups who are able to port the mod.

The mod specialist site for Macs, [[Macologist]], has created GUI launchers and installers for many UT2004 mods, as well as solving cross-platform conversion issues for mods for other games.

===Unforeseen consequences or benefits of modding===
In January 2005, it was reported that in ''[[The Sims 2]]'' (2004) modifications that changed item and game behavior were unexpectedly being transferred to other players through the official website's ''exchange'' feature, leading to changed game behavior without advance warning.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Knight |first=Will |title=Supernatural powers become contagious in PC game |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6857-supernatural-powers-become-contagious-in-pc-game/ |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US |date=7 January 2005}}</ref>

After the [[Hot Coffee (minigame)|"Hot Coffee" mod incident]], there were calls from the industry to better control modders.<ref name="auto"/>  There is concern about mods that show [[nudity]], and [[Bethesda Softworks|Bethesda]] does not allow mods with such content to be uploaded on its website. Nexus allows for mods which allow nudity as long as nudity is not present in the preview image. One of the most popular mods of this type is Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Edition, which allows for body modification in Bethesda's ''Skyrim'' and ''[[Fallout 4]]'', and has been downloaded at least 8.2 million times.<ref name="auto8">{{cite journal |last1=Kretzschmar |first1=Mark |last2=Stanfill |first2=Mel |title=Mods as Lightning Rods |journal=[[Social & Legal Studies]] |date=17 July 2018 |page=096466391878722 |doi=10.1177/0964663918787221|s2cid=149824659}}</ref>

In 2015, members from the ''Grand Theft Auto'' fan site GTAForums reported instances of malware being circulated through modifications written for ''Grand Theft Auto V''.<ref name="Seppala">{{cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2015/05/15/gtav-pc-mods-malware/|title=A few 'GTA V' mods are installing malware on PCs|last=Seppala|first=Timothy|date=15 May 2015|work=[[Engadget]]|access-date=16 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rad |first=Chloi |date=2015-05-14 |title=Grand Theft Auto 5 Mods 'Angry Planes' and 'NoClip' Infected With Virus |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/05/14/grand-theft-auto-5-mods-angry-planes-and-noclip-infected-with-virus |access-date=2023-11-17 |website=[[IGN]] |language=en}}</ref> Two of the modifications in question, namely "Angry Planes" and "No Clip", came with code for loading a [[Remote administration software|remote access tool]], and a keylogger for stealing [[Facebook]] and [[Steam (service)|Steam]] account credentials.<ref name="Chalk">{{cite web|url=http://www.pcgamer.com/gta-5-mods-angry-planes-and-no-clip-contain-malware/|title=GTA 5 mods Angry Planes and No Clip contain malware |last=Chalk |first=Andy |date=14 May 2015 |work=[[PC Gamer]]|access-date=16 May 2015}}</ref> The modifications in question have since been taken out of circulation, with affected players being advised to change their social media account passwords and disinfect their computers.

The National Crime Agency of the UK has indicated that modding can act as a pathway to cybercrime for some people.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications/6-pathways-into-cyber-crime-1/file|title=Pathways Into Cyber Crime|author=National Crime Agency|year=2017}}</ref>

===Motivations of modders===
The [[Internet]] provides an inexpensive medium to promote and distribute [[user created content]] like mods, an aspect commonly known as [[Web 2.0]]. Video game modding was described as remixing of games and can be therefore seen as part of the [[remix culture]] as described by [[Lawrence Lessig]],<ref name="auto6">{{cite journal |last1=Scacchi |first1=Walt |title=Computer game mods, modders, modding, and the mod scene |journal=First Monday |date=3 May 2010 |volume=15 |issue=5 |doi=10.5210/fm.v15i5.2965|doi-access=free}}</ref> or as a successor to the playful [[hacker culture]] that produced the first video games.<ref name="auto2"/>

Mods can be both useful to players and a means of self-expression.<ref name=Olli2010>{{cite journal |last1=Sotamaa |first1=Olli |title=When the Game Is Not Enough: Motivations and Practices Among Computer Game Modding Culture |journal=[[Games and Culture]] |date=July 2010 |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=239–255 |doi=10.1177/1555412009359765|s2cid=59364177}}</ref> Three motivations have been identified by Olli Sotamaa for fans to create mods: to patch the game, to express themselves, and to get a foot in the door of the [[video game industry]].<ref name=Olli2010/> It has been noted that these motivations encompass [[Motivation#Types of motivation|intrinsic and extrinsic motivations]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thiel |first1=Sarah-Kristin |last2=Lyle |first2=Peter |title=Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Communities & Technologies - Transforming Communities |chapter=Malleable Games - A Literature Review on Communities of Game Modders |date=3 June 2019 |pages=198–209 |doi=10.1145/3328320.3328393|isbn=978-1-4503-7162-9 |s2cid=150367691 |chapter-url=https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/177771828/C_T19_IdentifyingGameModdingCommunities_cr.pdf}}</ref> Poor suggests becoming a professional is not a major motivation of modders, noting that they tend to have a strong sense of community, and that older modders, who may already have established careers, are less motivated by the possibility of becoming professional than younger modders.<ref name=Poor/>