When we talk about MODs, what are we talking about?

There are always some games that are exciting and memorable. There are always some games that can leave their name in history and be regarded as masterpieces. But the content of the game is limited after all, and it is impossible for a game to be updated indefinitely based on an old background. As a result, the "sequel" in the hands of game manufacturers has become a "gunpowder gun" in the new era -

It can revitalize the old games and usher in the new era. The arrival of the game; it can also allow interesting and popular or hard-core brain-burning gameplay to continue to circulate and remain fresh for a long time; it can also allow every player to start looking forward to the sequel after the game experience of the main game is over:

"Half-Life 3", which G Fat can't count; "The Elder Scrolls 6", which is still silent after the death of Bethesda in Fallout 76; I don't know how it made Rockstar earn a lot of money. "GTA6", which was only released at that time; Blizzard's "Diablo 4"; the soul-like "Bloodborne 2" which has been released for a long time; "Horse and Blade", which was released a few days ago and made the longevity lords sigh "Qinghui" "Kill" 2...

Players are always waiting, but some players can't wait any longer. So, they began to make their own things, and in these gorgeous buildings that were not dilapidated, they arranged a world that belonged to themselves and the players who were also unwilling to be lonely.

MOD is the abbreviation of the English word Modification (meaning modification). Nowadays, we can often see them in some games with a high degree of freedom. Among Chinese players, we often use the transliteration of " Module" to call this concept. In fact, it does have certain similarities with game DLC (additional expansions) - they are often built on an already mature game, adding additional game content or modifications to the original game.

But the original MOD was not a concept that emerged from computers. In the 1970s, punk culture swept the United Kingdom and the United States. Most young people who felt hopeless about society and the world came from their screams and expressed their innermost feelings with an extreme, naked, and even anti-authority and anti-social behavior. The dissatisfaction in the music set off a craze. And in this craze, self-awareness begins to develop and flourish, and everyone strives to express their personality in various ways.

And the color in these gloomy years has not simply faded away. Instead, its influence extends into the present. If you are interested in keywords such as "thinking" and "era", with an aesthetic spirit, you may be able to taste the "punk" in today's art works that are either subtle and restrained, or extroverted. demands. It exists not only in the movies and TV series we watch every day, but also in comics and novels of some years. The MOD we are going to talk about today may also be the result of personal consciousness and advocacy inspired by this trend of thought.

Just like motorcycle enthusiasts modifying their own cars: some players with ideas will take the initiative to use their professional knowledge to modify the game to add their own content-at first, this did not Rather than increasing performance or obtaining some actual game item, it is often just an avatar, a tank or ship camouflage (often seen in World of Warships and War Thunder), a character skin (The Elder Scrolls 》 series)... In short, the initial MOD is often a decoration. Although it is relatively simple to make, it is very interesting and eye-catching. Players will always be attracted by it because they add their own elements to the games they are familiar with. Extremely excited.

Later, MOD gradually became more in-depth, and players began to modify and add game content. The most representative one in this regard is "Minecraft". Although other games also have MODs that change the content of the game, some even precede "Minecraft" by many years. However, the creation of such a large amount of player MODs can be regarded as a miracle in the history of games. Many MODs born among them, such as Industry II, Mysterious Age and other MODs, have also become popular "masterpieces".

If you want to make a list of well-known MODs in online games, classify the influence of each MOD in order.

There is no doubt that there may be many games on the list that are no longer MODs (that is, games that have been independently operated or separated from the parent game and become a completely new structural content). Among these works, the one that impressed me the most was the excellent FPS game born out of V's "Half-Life" series - yes, we can talk about CS (full name: Counter-Strike) , Counter-Strike).

If the DND board game is the initial enlightenment for all role-playing RPG games, then the emergence of "Half-Life" has undoubtedly educated countless producers who make FPS (first-person shooter games). A very important thing: shooting is not only about pleasure, but also about other things, such as script performance, atmosphere rendering, and a story line with ups and downs. There are countless excellences in Half-Life, and it is no exaggeration to say that it will leave its name in history, but this is not our focus today.

Our focus is CS, the most outstanding MOD born under its open game architecture.

Due to the use of a very open engine, MODs have emerged in endlessly after Half-Life came out. In 1999, two modders who were unwilling to be lonely worked together to create a MOD for Half-Life with content between the two sides, hoping that this would allow players to experience the joy of traditional sports competition. The MOD was well received once it was launched. . After discovering and negotiating with V Club, they recruited two CS production staff into V Club and planned to make this independent MOD into a finished game.

In November 2000, CS was officially released. Although there was no Steam platform or similar online game sales platform at the time, sales in physical stores were still very impressive. On September 15, 2003, "Counter-Strike" (that is, the CS1.6 version we are most familiar with) was officially launched as a non-game MOD but as independent game content. V's steam platform provided an online method for it ( Our country also has certain online platforms for pirated games), so CS battles have become popular all over the world.

And this is almost the highest treatment that games and producers who are born in MOD can bear - being absorbed by the parent company, not to mention that Valve also attaches great importance to this IP, and it is completely completed inside and out. Developed a "Counter-Strike" series. People have to admire their efforts and good luck. However, other modders are not as lucky as Half-Life creators Jess Cliffe and Minh Lee - they are in deep crisis. Not recognized, and even criticized by players. And this starts with the paid MODs of The Elder Scrolls.

Of course, the MOD industry had been developing for a long time before that, and many game manufacturers had also relaxed the threshold for MOD production, and even simplified editing tools to facilitate players to create extended content. The creative workshop of the steam game platform regulates this behavior. In the past, players would upload MODs on some spontaneous player communities and other websites, which always had the disadvantages of low feedback, high latency, inaccurate evaluation, and difficulty in accurate communication between creators and users. But with platform operation, these problems are gone forever.

Everything was moving in a good direction until 2015, when B Company cooperated with Steam and began to promote the paid MOD of "The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim" - although this was only a pilot, it was met with numerous criticisms. Player objections. Due to pressure, Steam quickly terminated its MOD charging system. If you are an old user of Steam and happen to be a player of "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim", perhaps you may be deeply impressed by this episode in the MOD production boom that year.

MOD producers have expressed their opinions one after another, discussing whether they should charge fees or accept other funding to continue the development of the MOD. With the addition of those who curse fees, this situation is undoubtedly Upgrade again. Many MOD enthusiasts have joined this discussion. The unsatisfactory attitude of Bethesda towards MODs has chilled those MODers who were wiping out Bethesda’s unreasonable game mechanics (and bugs), including the extremely failed “Creative Club” that later detonated this. The gunpowder pile adds even greater chaos to the already chaotic MOD circle.

As we said above - these living examples, whether it is CS or the MOD of The Elder Scrolls, whether it is MC Twilight Forest, or the riding and slashing Pendor, their emergence, development, and suffering The public treatment, the final outcome, everything allows us to see the essence of MOD: secondary creation.

And we all know that secondary creation is a double-edged sword.

On one side of the road is the convenience of secondary creation - it uses the already perfect structure to produce its own content, and with the popularity of the original work, it attracts excellent and specialized audiences. It can be said to be a station. On the shoulders of giants; on the other side of the road is the illegitimacy of secondary creation. It is not protected by law and cannot bring benefits. After the torrent of impulse and love, dedication will no longer gain pleasure, and distant ambitions are gradually drowned. There is only fatigue left in the creator's heart. I believe that every mod maker will have these two beasts wrestling with each other and fighting against life.

In short, in today’s game circle, MOD has become a carrier of free game creation. A large number of game MODs have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. It can be seen that MOD culture is booming in the game industry. Sometimes, you and I can even be a part of the creation, adding content and culture to the games we love, which is undoubtedly a good thing. But at the same time, MOD is becoming less and less like MOD. It begins to fill people's subjectivity and becomes a better work, rather than a simple add-on to the original work.

This current situation makes people think deeply about what MOD is.

Although there is no precise definition of everything, I am not an "expert" or "authority" in the field of games. But maybe I can express my inner thoughts as an ordinary player.

When I first came into contact with MOD, it was when I was tired of playing Minecraft - I didn’t have any intention of building, I was just a bit of a hoarder. When I found that in my game When I no longer face threats and the resources are just numbers and will no longer be used up, I completely lose interest in this sandbox game.

But you know what I found? Yes, that’s right, a MC MOD exchange forum. I have been following tutorials on the forum for a while, and with the help of a friend, I loaded the MOD he compiled.

It was a brand new world with completely different elements and styles, which was very fascinating. I was thinking at the time that the person who could make a MOD for this game might be the one who loves this game the most in the world. Game of people.

Let me say: MOD is love, it is individuality, it is art that even the poor can have access to, and it is the creative fire deep in the heart of every player.

Players who do not have the conditions to create independent art rely on their passion and games to continue their happiness. This is the MOD culture - everyone is creating things that belong to them, improving their own game experience, and at the same time striving to make every other "player" play more comfortably and happily, and occasionally pick up a little innocence in the impetuous world. of surprise and joy. This is the original intention of MOD and the original intention of the game.

As players, we always crave the joy of gaming; as authors, our desire to create never stops.