IMED105: Intro to Game ModdingCharles Palmer – Spring 2016

Our Goals for the Semester• Gain an understanding of game production• Appreciate development practices used in the game industry• Understand the effects and management of graphics and

sound in multimedia games• Evaluate the user experience• Use and apply modding techniques to design game level• Understand and apply the concepts of project management,

including the documentation of the process

UnitsIntroduction

Wk 1 The History of Game Modding

PlanningWk 2 Pre-PlanningWk 3 The ProcessWk 4 Concept DevelopmentWk 5 Tools of the TradeWk 6 StorycraftingWk 7 Level DesignWk 8 Concept and Plan Presentation

ProductionWk 9 Implementation

Post-ProductionWk 11 TestingWk 12 Progress Presentation

ReflectionWk 15 Final Presentation

Introduction

What is a game mod?

IntroductionWhat is a “mod”?Mod or modification, when used in video games, refers to the process of altering a game’s design, graphics, narrative, or programming. It is utilized in all gaming genres but is especially common in first-person shooters, RPGs (role-playing games) and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer in an effort to extend the experience of the original title or to create a new standalone experience. They can include new items, weapons, characters, enemies, models, textures, levels, story lines, music, and modes of play.

Mods that add new content to the underlying game are often called partial conversions, while mods that create an entirely new game are called total conversions and mods that fix bugs are often called unofficial patches.

The History of Game Modding• Steve Russell’s 1962 Spacewar! = first digital game• DEC PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor-1)

at MIT as a demonstration of the new computer’s capabilities

Modern? ModdingGame Mod

Ms. Pacman Although not a user-generated mod as will be covered in class, Ms. Pacman is one the first successful mods of an existing title (Pacman > Crazy Otto > Ms. Pacman)

Castle Wolfenstein One of the first user-generated mods was a complete reskinning of Castle Wolfenstein (not Wolfenstein 3D) to ‘Castle Smurfenstein’ which was done by a single programmer with an interest in game design and hatred of little blue men.

Doom Fist Full of Doom – Complete revamp of popular PC first person shooter (FPS). New maps, sprites, enemies were just some of the additions; however the weapons remained the same.

Half Life Portal Challenge – came out prior to the ‘portal’ game and allowed user to experience what portal might be like (portal gun, opening/closing portals etc.)

Grand Theft Auto Allowed users to add on new maps, weapons, challenges – essentially creating a completely new experience for users.

Name some other examples…

Assignment 1If you have not done so, install and play the first five hours of Skyrim. Create and upload a MS Word document with the following information:

Your gameplay experience• Select one of your favorite games and create a Microsoft Word document

with the following:o A one paragraph synopsis of the gameo 2 screenshotso Describe

• What you enjoyed about the game• What you didn’t enjoy

o What is your favorite game genre