Though it comes as no surprise to anyone who regularly playsvideo games, one of the most exciting developments in modern PCtitles is the ability to modify the game to suit your taste. These”mods” sometimes do as little as add a new weapon ormap, or in the case of the Counter-Strike mod for the gameHalf-Life, radically change the play and theme of thegame.
Modding (modifying games) may not have technically started withDoom by id Software, but it was the first major endorsementby a game development studio for players to rip apart and change areleased game. Some of the first mods were infantile (like changingall the monsters to Bevis and Butthead), but others quickly becameclassics with unique additions such as grappling hooks, two 9mmBerettas in each hand, the ability to jump and multiplayersupport.
Fast forward to today and you’ll find hundreds of thrivingcommunities online dedicated to making mods for the hottest gamesavailable on the PC. There are sites like PlanetUnreal andPlanetQuake which freely host mods of many flavors.
We checked out Unreal Tournament 2004 and two mods whichshow the radical degree of change that a mod can affect.
Sci-fi shoot-em-up in a box
Unreal Tournament 2004 by Epic Games is a multiplayerfirst-person shooter set in the distant future after the end of agreat war between humans and an alien race known as the Skaarj andthe rise of intergalactic corporations bent on world conquest. Inthis future time, “consensual murder” is legalizedallowing for great tournaments pitting warriors from teams againsteach other (with appropriate corporate sponsorship). This game ispretty standard sci-fi fare by any measure.
Though there is a free-for-all mode, Unreal Tournament2004 has a heavy emphasis on team play and can best be enjoyedwith a group a friends working towards a common objective.
More information about Unreal Tournament 2004 can befound the official Unreal Web site (http://www.unrealtournament.com).
What Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament should be:
Dark Territory is a mod released this year by students inThe Guildhall program at SMU. According to the development team,they only spent two months creating it. Their mod converts the baseUnreal Tournament 2004 game into a siege style game set in afantasy medieval time period. There are three types of characters:Man-at-Arms, Marksman and Siege Engineers. Each class has specialattributes and weapons unique to that class. For example, the SiegeEngineers can lay traps for opposing players whereas a Marksman canuncover traps laid by an Engineer.
Gameplay revolves around two teams, attackers and defenders, andis limited to 20 minutes per scenario. The goal for attackers is tocapture three objective points within the time limit. Fromcatapults to ballistae, the defenders are well-equipped to stop theattackers.
This mod is fairly innovative and fundamentally shifts the feelof Unreal Tournament 2004 in surprising and interestingways. One of the most pleasing aspects of this mod is the length ofthe games and the size of the maps. Dark Territory reallycaptures the feel and intensity of laying siege and the resourcesrequired to take on an entrenched enemy.
Dark Territory requires Unreal Tournament 2004 anda few friends to play. If you want to download Dark Territory,visit http://www.planetunreal.com/darkterritory.
The long arm of the law:
Lawdogs takes Unreal Tournament back in time tothe wild, wild west. In this mod, you join the U.S. Marshals or aband of outlaws in various locations familiar to anyone that hasseen a spaghetti western. High noon on main street, riverboats oratop a moving train are just a few locations that the marshalstrack some of the scum of the West to before unloading hot leadinto their bellies. All in the pursuit of justice, of course!
This mod is replete with Bowie knives, Colts, Winchester rifles,Molotov Cocktails, Smith & Wesson Schofields, Cannons and allmanner of classic weaponry. If you have ever wanted to stand downWyatt Earp on the main drag of town or try your hand at gettingaway with the gold, then this is the mod for you.
Lawdogs is beautiful to see. It’s obvious the modteam spent a lot of time in nailing down the feel of old westernsand they mostly succeed. The character models are detailed and thevoice work is very good and really funny. You’ll be shouting”varmit!” at your computer in no time.
It is multiplayer only, so bring your friends, though it doeshave full bot support. Like Dark Territory, Lawdogsrequires Unreal Tournament 2003/2004 to play and can bedownloaded from the Lawdogs Web site at http://www.planetunreal.com/lawdogs.
The modding community continues to grow as more titles anddevelopers build support into games. There are mods or usercustomizable portions for most major releases. From The Simsto Doom3, modding is a major strategy for keeping game playfun, fresh and innovative.
The Guildhall at SMU is an intense 18-month program indigital game development. The curriculum was designed by expertteachers working with leaders in the gaming industry to providestudents with a solid foundation in game development. Visit
