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Kristophe
Obi-Wan Kermobi
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 4
Location: The Outer Banks of NC, USA |
| Side Quest: Bring On The Mods |
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In a day and age where good RPG games are about as hard a find as is an honest politician who actually listens to his/her constituents, and at one of those times when new RPG game development (whether good, bad, or just indifferent) seems to be the exception rather than the rule, I count my blessings in my familiarity with "the spice of life" that brings new life to an old and beloved RPG - known as the "Mod".
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<br>With the ever increasing sophistication and capability of modern computer hardware, coupled with the ever increasing number of "computer literate" people from all around the world, Mods, and their respective "Mod Engineers", are becoming more and more commonplace in today's gaming world - and mainly in the RPG gaming community (seeing as how RPG's tend to be much more conducive to "modding" than most of the other gaming categories). And Thank the Lord for that fact; as it actually does take some little time and effort, research, patient experimenting, and often personal finance as well (i.e. money for the various software utilities and licenses so often needed) for the Mod Engineer to create his/her own "game mod" for the free download and usuage by any one who knows where to look for such mods. IMHO, that's not only real dedication on the part of the Mod Engineer, but also real and selfless service to the gaming community in general.
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<br>Mods themselves can be developed in as many forms and styles as the individuals that create them in the first place i.e. they can be scripting changes, NPC or PC "skins", trainers and/or character editors, scenery or sound or even cutscene changes or additions, to even almost total conversions to the original game itself. Just as the occasional variety is essential to a good sexual relationship, so are mods essential to the enjoyment and "replayability factor" of a good RPG game, something that all too few game developers seem to either acknowledge, or to support. C'est la vie.
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<br>So where do these mysterious Mod Engineers find support and/or help in the creation of their works of gaming art??
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<br>That particular (and perplexing) question was what prompted the creation, growth, and development of the (generally) independent and varied "Mod Communities". These have been providing not only a haven for Mod Engineers to gather around and share (or compare) notes/techniques/news and utilities; but also provide both a "sounding board" for the various Mod Engineers to publicize their efforts and/or to receive feedback, as well as often providing a viable source in which these community mods could be displayed and made available for the general public to download for individual and/or server gaming enjoyment. A very small example of some of the various Mod Communities (to go into any real depth re the many available Mod Communities would require another "Side Quest" editorial) would be:
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<br>(1) The ever-popular <a href="http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/index.php" target="_blank">Sorcerer's Place</a> for a general potpourri of quality gaming mods.
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<br>(2) The famous (or infamous - depending upon your point of view) <a href="http://www.lucasforums.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=324" target="_blank">Holowan Laboratories</a> for all of your Star Wars KotOR & KotOR2 PC gaming enhancements.
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<br>(3) The biggest and best of the Morrowind "Modsites", aka the <a href="http://www.rpgplanet.com/morrowind/" target="_blank">Morrowind Summit</a>.
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<br>I should like to reiterate that these three examples are but a very infinitesimal "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to even beginning to list and describe the many (and most excellent) Mod Communities that are well worth the perusing by those of you who would desire to "add a little spice" to your RPG epic adventuring. So as not to leave the reader to his/her own devices in attempting to locate some of the better quality modsites, I shall (over the course of the next few days) finish up this particular Side Quest topic with a follow-on Side Quest editorial I shall entitle "A Few Of My Favorite Modsites", in which I promise to go much more in depth re the many Mod Communities and their locations within this virtual world we call the internet. |
Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:43 pm |
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Roqua
High Emperor
Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 897
Location: rump |
quote:
Just as the occasional variety is essential to a good sexual relationship, so are mods essential to the enjoyment and "replayability factor" of a good RPG game, something that all too few game developers seem to either acknowledge, or to support. C'est la vie.
I agree and disagree. In my opinion a good rpg is chok full o' choices that make replaying the game tempting. Such as Fallout 2 and Arcanum. Even if you use a walkthrough you can't do everything. I am currently playing through wiz 8 again with a gadgeteer, something I've never done. Ot take toee, I really want to see all the endings, and being evil or good presents two totally different experiences with very different content.
I greatly love the mod community for squad tbs's. JA and x-com are basically the same experience no matter how many times played through. But urban chaos and wildfire gave me more of what I liked. Mod is very neccesary for that type of game for replat value, but wierdly enough the rpgs I like rarley have mods that interest me. The ones I don't like do though.
For instance, a big mod came out for nwn, a recreation eob with new content. But in order for me to play it I would have had to buy all the expansions of a game I never liked. Same for that huge mod released for morrowind. Ds has a lot of mods also. My point being that none of these games in my opinion are very good. The mod community might have taken mediocre games and made them great through mods, but the truely grat games are great to begin with. The content mods for FO2 build on preexisting greatness.
But I also agree. Mods are great to get some free extra hours out of a game, especially if you loved the game. I wish i liked nwn because the fans have made plenty and plenty more of it.
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Vegitarian is the Indian word for lousey hunter. |
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Sun Sep 11, 2005 8:18 pm |
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Kristophe
Obi-Wan Kermobi
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 4
Location: The Outer Banks of NC, USA |
Indeed - my thanks for the feedback...and perhaps, a small tip?
I do intend to follow up on my Side Quest with a more in depth guide to the better modsites...and I did notice you had mentioned ToEE...are you familiar with the (IMHO) premier ToEE modsite, the Circle of Eight??
Link: http://www.co8.org/
Lots of really good stuff there to "spice up" your ToEE gaming experience:-)
And when I do my follow up editorial - I'll be sure to talk about the premier Arcanum modsite as well, keeping you in mind 
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Memories that forgotten, cannot be... |
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Sun Sep 11, 2005 8:24 pm |
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Roqua
High Emperor
Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 897
Location: rump |
Thanks, I did use the ToEE mods as well as the arcanum mods. I even used some wiz8 mods. But added together they pale in comparison to DS's, Morrwind's, and especially NWN's offerings.
What do you think about fan patches? Are they mods? Most fan patches now seem to change things as well as patching bugs, like co8's patch. Or the latest bloodlines fan patch.
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Vegitarian is the Indian word for lousey hunter. |
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Sun Sep 11, 2005 8:44 pm |
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Kristophe
Obi-Wan Kermobi
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 4
Location: The Outer Banks of NC, USA |
Quite frankly, I would call those dedicated fans who create fan-made patches to any game (ToEE and VtM: Bloodlines come to my mind right at the moment) both Mod Engineers, and very highly deserving of the gaming communities' respect and admiration for their long and tedious efforts. And yes, the fan-made gaming patches they make I would also classify as "mods" - after all, they did go out and take the same time, trouble, effort, expense, and dedication to cause to correct that which the game developer failed to do for whatever reason:-)
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Memories that forgotten, cannot be... |
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Sun Sep 11, 2005 8:51 pm |
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Guest
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quote:
Originally posted by Kristophe
And yes, the fan-made gaming patches they make I would also classify as "mods" - after all, they did go out and take the same time, trouble, effort, expense, and dedication to cause to correct that which the game developer failed to do for whatever reason:-)
Time and effort has nothing to do with whether we should call them mods. I think Roqua's point (and excuse me if I am wrong) is that a lot of the fan patches (esp. Bloodlines) don't just correct bugs - they change aspects of the game that the 'patcher' thinks should be different merely due to opinion.
It would be nice if the BL patchers actually produced two versions - one that fixes the genuine bugs (e.g. spelling mistakes at the most trivial end of the scale) and ones that "improve" the game but are more arguable as to being bugs (e.g. adding/changing humanity loss or masquerade penalties due to them having a different opinion about the morality/vampire-code than the developers).
As the BL fan patches stand, they definitely drift into the domain of 'mod'. I would rather see genuine fixes that enable me to play the game as the developer's intended. Keep the more arguable 'fixes' separate pleeeze |
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Sun Sep 11, 2005 9:53 pm |
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Guest
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quote:
Originally posted by Roqua
I even used some wiz8 mods.
Wizardry 8 is one of my fav games. Couldn't play MW without mods, so...
What mods did you find that were worth using for Wiz8? The game is eminently replayable without them, so I didn't bother. |
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Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:01 pm |
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Roqua
High Emperor
Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 897
Location: rump |
If you go to flamstrike (sp?) page he has some, as well as wolfy. Some mods add new content as in items, spells, and even a playable npc. Some found unused artwork and added that in, etc. No real content mods. One did remove a lot of mobs from roaming or decrease their numbers and in general sped up the game.
I disagree that wiz8 is infinitly replayable since it is pretty linear, but I'm having fun with the gadgeteer and his creations. Pretty similar to the bard, but the upgradable weapon is a good fun factor.
It would be great if a mod came out for wiz8 (or 7) like the one for bg2 that was huge and was like a seprate game or expansion.
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Vegitarian is the Indian word for lousey hunter. |
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Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:53 pm |
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niteshade
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 09 Jul 2005
Posts: 100
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I should probably checkout mods more then I currently do. I remember reading a list of changes in a popular Arcanum mod and thinking that they were really thought out and helped solve alot of the balance problems in the game, while making some of the more useless character development options actually reasonable. But I never actually tried it. I guess I tend to go with the developer version for better or for worse, even though I often think the fans are the ones who know best what the game needs.
Maybe I will check out some of those mod sites more closely in the future. |
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Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:08 pm |
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Guest
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quote:
Originally posted by Roqua
I disagree that wiz8 is infinitly replayable since it is pretty linear,
I didn't say infinitely (I know it's not that repeatable ), I said eminently; as in it is worth replaying without mods just to try different characters and try and do things slightly different.
quote:
Originally posted by Roqua
but I'm having fun with the gadgeteer and his creations. Pretty similar to the bard, but the upgradable weapon is a good fun factor.
Yeah, the gadgeteer was great. I used to argue with a friend about which is better to take, the bard or the gadgeteer. We never agreed on that one!
quote:
Originally posted by Roqua
If you go to flamstrike (sp?) page he has some, as well as wolfy. Some mods add new content as in items, spells, and even a playable npc. Some found unused artwork and added that in, etc. No real content mods. One did remove a lot of mobs from roaming or decrease their numbers and in general sped up the game.
I'll have a look. You never know, there might be enuff life in it for another go yet  |
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Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:20 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
I'm surprised little mention has been made of NWN and the thousands of mods available for it which have made it probably the most modded game ever. If you don't believe me, join in on our own RPGDOT NWN games server and play in our PW mods or our scheduled games with DM's available as required!! (Blatant Plug!!  )
_________________
If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:27 pm |
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Lucky Day
Guest
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NWN is a great game because of its mods. NWN is a mod builder with a game thrown in not the other way around.
Case in point most of the great fan made mods out there are actual games, NWN's greatest is in fact a collection of toolset add ons: the CEP.
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One musn't forget the dedication of the Baldur's Gate modders as well which were likely the inspiration for Bio to build NWN. Dark Side of the Sword Coast and The Darkest Day were huge fan made mods. |
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Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:28 pm |
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Mystery_Guy
Village Dweller
Joined: 31 Jul 2005
Posts: 20
Location: U.S. |
That's why I'm a PC Gamer. Oh, I do play console RPGs (Grew up on Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy, after all) but PC RPGs are my bread and butter. I mean, let's face facts here...you take an RPG that has come out on both a console and the PC (Such as KotOR), and what is the main difference?
Modability.
Sure sure, Bioware released some new items via Xbox live...but look at what Holowan has "released". Heck, just look at the two versions of Morrowind. I made several monk-themed mods myself, and installed well over two dozen more (So much that three of my saves became corrupted).
My point is this: Mods are important to me. Important because they allow me to bend the game to my will. Make it something that is tailored to my own gameplay style. If I want adjusted difficulty, a more balanced monk class, more of a certain weapon type, or whatever...I can have it. Plus, there is always some really talented guy who will create fan-made expansions or updates, which can make you dust off old games and play them like new. (Which is what I did with ToEE thanks to Livonya's mod)
Mods are the reason why I love PC gaming. Mods are not just "extras", they are very important aspects of the PC RPG. Long may they live!!! |
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Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:49 am |
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theUnguru
Guest
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My longest running (and first) affair with mods was Diablo2. I remember discovering them before the Lord of Destruction? exp came out ... and being blown away. I hadn't played d2 in a while before then ... and the mods brought it alive. I have only just the last few months stopped playing d2 mods ... mainly because of world of warcraft.
But still, they remain in my experience, a true testament to modding. Very cool. The site is Phrozenkeep, http://phrozenkeep.it-point.com/.
Nice stuff. |
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Mon Sep 12, 2005 4:16 am |
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