Editing Video game modding (section)

===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>