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Saturday, Jul 11, 2009
Player-created additions to computer games aren't a hobby anymore -- they're the lifeblood of the industry.
Apr 16, 2002 | The wall went down last month. From now on in computer gaming, there were to be no real barriers between creator and audience, or producer and consumer. They would be collaborators in the same imaginative space, and working as equals, they'd create a new medium, together.
That announcement was made, if you listened closely enough, at the annual Game Developers Conference in San Jose, when Valve Software founder Gabe Newell unveiled Steam, a broadband distribution network that would offer instant updates to recent Valve games and new titles from Valve and other companies. Listed among the new titles was "Day of Defeat," a multiplayer add-on to Valve's best-selling first-person shooter (FPS), "Half-Life."
But that last offering isn't a game at all, really, and it wasn't created by Valve or any other company. "Day of Defeat" is a mod -- a fan-made modification to a pre-existing game. Or, in modder jargon, it's a "total conversion," the most ambitious form of mod, in which all the graphics and gameplay of the original title have been reshaped by fans to create an entirely new experience. In this case a group of enthusiasts took the sci-fi trappings of "Half-Life" and transmuted them into a battle zone for ultrarealistic, squad-based combat set amid the ruins of World War II's European theater.
"We told ourselves this would be the most tactically realistic FPS war game ever made," says Kelly Thornton, one of "DoD's" main creators. None of them were members of the industry; like Thornton, many were college students. During breaks in his school schedule, for example, John Morello often plowed 40 hours a week into the project. While earning a master's degree in business, Thornton devoted about 20 hours a week, as did team member Travis Smith. (Even though, Smith adds, "I am still in high school.")
According to Newell, Valve's new service was built with mods in mind. "Steam will really help with the distribution part of creating a successful mod," Newell tells me by e-mail. "For a product that has a distinct audience (which "Day of Defeat" has, with its very strong World War II emphasis), I'd think they would benefit from this kind of approach." Not just for "DoD" but the other mods as well, "it will create a smoother transition between the amateur world and the professional world."
Considering the investment and risks, it's striking that Steam would feature mods so prominently. It's a for-profit network, bolstered by partnerships with companies like AT&T and Acer, including compensation provisions for modders who choose to go for-profit. When Steam officially launches this summer (80,000 gamers are already enjoying its public beta test), several other mods will join "Day of Defeat," along with the professionally made titles, all for a subscription fee of around $12 a month. Commercial prospects for this venture -- especially in Asia, where Internet cafes in countries like Taiwan and Korea have made online gaming phenomenally popular -- are enormous.
And Steam's success will depend in great part on modders like team "DoD." Which, when you think about it, is a little like HBO devoting its prime time schedule to action movies shot by high school kids in their back yard. And getting massive ratings as a result.
But it's possible to do just that. According to Jakob Jungles, another "DoD" developer, version 2.0 (released in February) soon attracted more online players than almost any other multiplayer action game. (All but Valve's "Counter-Strike," that is, which also began as an amateur mod.) That would make "Day of Defeat" more popular online than premium releases like "Medal of Honor" from Electronic Arts, and "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" from Activision -- two recent shooters also set during World War II.
"I had visions of success when I first saw some of the new professionally developed WWII first-person shooters," another "DoD" developer recalls. "[And] saying to myself, 'We're better than those guys, and we're just a group of dudes!'"
Mods have been with the game industry for at least a decade, but as the inclusion of "Day of Defeat" on Steam proves, they've truly come into their own. Many of the best game companies now count on modders to show them the way creatively and to ensure their own survival in a savagely competitive market. This stands in marked contrast to the music and film industry, which vindictively discourages fans from tinkering with their content and clings to an outdated interpretation of copyright. By fostering the creativity of their fans, their more agile peers in the game industry have not only survived but prospered.
In a sense, mods also represent the most visible success of the free software movement on the larger culture. For the millions who play computer games, the same ethos of volunteerism and shared ownership that characterizes free software has helped utterly transform the gaming experience and the $8 billion-plus gaming industry.
How they reached this peak is a story stretching back at least 20 years. What follows are a few select milestones on the way to the summit.
