In the new revenue stream of triple-A game titles an initial
purchase isn't enough. With prices
upward of $60 and publishers announcing release schedules of paid DLC
(Downloadable Content) even before the original game is released, it's easy to think this is the way it's
always been.
Of course, it isn't...
Paid DLC is a marketing construct designed to keep the
revenue pump forever flowing for a given game franchise. Look at EA's Battlefield series or
Activision's Call of Duty for examples.
Even beyond DLC, these titles in
particular have added a paid subscription model to further enhance their
fortunes.
So is the only option to enhance a favorite game to continue
paying the publisher for new content?
They'd certainly like you to think so but a little time
spent in a Google search will show otherwise.
This is where we enter the world of game mods.
Game mods are just like DLC except they're usually created
by fans of the game and usually at no cost to the consumer other than a bit of
time. The motivations range from
extending the life of an old favorite to creating a completely new game built
on the bones of the original.
Pick any popular title from the past decade and you're sure
to find an active community of modders trying to make it better. In EA's original Battlefield 1942, for
example, a mod called Desert Combat completely re-imagined the game. It took
players out of the war torn Europe of WW2 and put them squarely at the center
of the Gulf War.
The mod was so successful that Dice (the development team)
was brought onboard to EA games and produced the follow up to 1942 called Battlefield
2. Dice continues to develop the
franchise for EA which to date has
spawned at least half a dozen sequels to the original for EA.
Valve's popular Half Life series has spawned dozens of mods
which in some cases evolved into popular games in their own right.
Unlike many publishers, Valve supports an active modding
community through their STEAM communities.
In the most recent case a new initiative called Greenlight has highlighted
a community effort to update the 1998 classic, Half Life. The mod is called Black Mesa and sprung from a
developer community known as Black Mesa: Source.
The video on this page shows an example of their work. Black Mesa: source updated the now dated look
of the original allowing fans of the franchise to experience the game
anew.
Other than the cost (Free) the differences between mods and
DLC are few. Mods come from fans and independent
developers. DLC comes from the original
publisher.
As such the quality
of the work can vary. A quick check of a
game's community forum is always a good idea before diving in. Also be aware
that Installation procedures aren't always a slick as a commercial offering, sometimes
requiring a few more steps to complete.
Support is generally only available from community forums and the
developers themselves.
In my examples the mods exceeded the original games and
afforded hundreds of hours of additional gameplay that otherwise would have
relegated them to collecting dust on the shelf.
Considering the escalating prices of new games and DLC, it might be
worth your time to see about breathing new life into an old favorite.
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