Editing Video game modding (section)

===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.