Game Mods

[Lord Nepenthean]

I'm just wondering if any of you have any experience creating your own mods or maps for games.  They're obviously all over the net, so somebody has to make them.  I've never really done any traditional mods, but I have created my own custom maps in StarCraft.

Or, if nothing else, are you one to play with mods and custom maps, or do you just stick to what the original developers give you?  Usually, I stick to what the game comes with until I get bored, and then I go out and find custom maps, weapons, mods, etc.  Return to Castle Wolfenstein had some great custom maps, Unreal Tournament had TONS of cool mods and maps, and StarCraft of course survives on custom maps.  One game - Warcraft III - I actually ONLY play modded versions of gameplay.  I was introduced to the game with tower defense games, and continue to pretty much exclusively play the game on that mode.

[thx1138]

Well, I do use maps quite a lot in some games, and not at all in others.
with GTA: Vice City, I got the map laminated in a shop in town, and stuck it to the wall by my armchair, so I could see at a glance where to go, without pausing the game.

I have made my own maps, but not for a long time. I mapped Jet Set Willy & Jet Set Willy 2 in the 80's. In fact I had no intent to try to finish Jet Set Willy 2, it was enough if I could actually map everything.

I sometimes make little sketches for bits of games, I did that with Phantasy Star, and last year with Summoner. Recently I made simple star charts for Elite on the NES.

[2D-Forever]

I think heroes really degraded the Warcraft III experience.  You can't just build up and conquer, you have to be super aggressive all the time; this makes it difficult to manage everything else you have to do.

I like Aeon of Strife maps more than Tower Defence, but TD is still quite fun.  Mucho money in starcraft is the only custom map that I can really think of.

[Antimind]

I did a model hack in q3 and I also have a series of maps for a game I invented but it's not technically a mod: BFG hockey! Basically everyone has god mode on and one player is the puck. The puck uses a rocket launcher to try not to end up in a goal. The teams use BFGs to try to push the puck into the goal. The maps are basic boxes with textures that somewhat resemble a street hockey rink and the goals have teleporters that drop the puck back down to center ice after a goal. I never did properly finish the maps...

[Antimind]

Oh, and my Tengen Pac-Man rom hack, Azz-Man.

[Hydrobond]

U4E - the most complete mod pack I have ever seen for a game.  The original, U4E for Unreal Tournament, was amazing.  However, I was let down by the U4E for 2K3.  Anyways, check it out.