Mods Bring New Life to Old Games

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, Apple Displays, MacBooks, iMac's, MacBook Pros, Laptop and iPod accessories and more. Apple A/C Adapters for laptops starting at $25.00 Call 1-800-941-7654 or Click Here.

OWC: NewerTech miniStack FireWire/USB 2.0 HD & Hub Up to 1.0TB of Performance Storage + FW/USB2 Powered Hubs - convenient & sleek 6.5" x 6.5" x 1.5" Featured: 500GB $169.99; 750GB $209.99; 1.0TB $339.99

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

MacPro Memory 667Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB $90 / 4GB $134 / 8GB $264. Click to Maximize your Macs...

Korin Hasegawa-John - 2002.07.12

If you're a gamer but don't love spending money (like me), mods are a great way to get new life out of an old game. Mods, short for modifications, are usually free software that customizes the game in some way or another. Most modern games support mods. Mods are also known as plug-ins or skins, but skins are a little different.

The largest collection of mods are available for Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena - not surprising, since these are two of the most popular games ever for the Mac. Many plug-ins are also available for the perennial favorite Escape Velocity and its sequels.

Mods can be divided into several categories:

Cheaters. These are the least fun, in my opinion. They can be fun for about two seconds, until you realize how pointless they are. Cheaters basically allow a player superhuman capabilities. Many games have cheat codes built in, which I'm not going to reveal, since they're more fun if you discover them yourself.
Complete Makeovers. These involve totally redesigning the game, changing physics, modifying weapons, adding weapons, designing new skins, and adding maps, among other things. This sort of mod is the most fun, because it essentially introduces a whole new game.
Added Features. Keeps game play roughly the same, but adds minor details. Useful if you're angry about not being able to carry two miniguns in Unreal, for instance.
Skins. This modifies the way characters and players look, giving you more choices for your player model.

On most new games, installing mods is relatively easy. Before installing a mod, make sure your copy of whatever game is updated to the most recent version. Check the game's website for updates.

Unreal Tournament

You need the nifty little UMOD Installer, available at <http://www.westlakeinteractive.com/download0013.html> and free. Once you have UMOD installer, drag any mod that ends in *.umod onto the installer and it'll be installed. For mods not ending in *.umod, follow instructions that come with the mod.

Quake III

First of all, set your preferences in Stuffit Expander to never convert text files to Macintosh format. Conversion to Macintosh format can corrupt text files. Then follow the instructions of whatever mod you have downloaded.

Marathon Trilogy

Follow instructions meticulously. Things can range from easy as double-clicking to firing up ResEdit and changing filetypes from shp2 to shpÉ. Be warned.

EV and sequels

Make sure your plug-in is compatible with the version you're using. Plug-ins will usually only work with one version of EV, but sometimes they are rewritten to work on subsequent versions.

After you download, just drag the plug-in to the Plug-Ins folder in the main EV folder. Make sure you have the EV Tuner plug-in already in the Plug-Ins folder. Multiple plug-ins can create conflicts, so be warned. Only use one plug-in at a time, unless the other plug-ins are specifically designed to work with the first.

Don't know what mods to pick? Next time we'll look at sources for mods and some of my favorites.

Not sure if you should upgrade your old Mac or replace it? Check the Mac Daniel index to see if we've already addressed your problem.

Recent Mac Daniel columns

Bringing G3 iMacs and other G3 Macs into the Tiger Age, Dan Knight, 12.07. Tips on hard drives, memory, WiFi, and getting Mac OS X 10.4 installed on G3 iMacs and other older G3 Macs.
Multiple users on the same Mac at work, Dan Knight, 11.15. How to set up a Mac so multiple users can log in and use it - and use the same pool of work files.
1 working eMac from 2 broken ones, Dan Knight, 11.14. A pair of matching eMacs, each with a different failure, results in one working eMac and lots of leftovers.
More in the Mac Daniel index.

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Mac Pro overclocking, Windependence with Darwine, Blu-ray for Macs, and more, Mac News Review, 07.04. Also more on running Leopard on non-Apple hardware, Ubuntu on a Mac mini, the first autofocus webcam with Zeiss optics for Macs, and more.
Wouldn't life be great with an iSlate?, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 07.04. PDAs and smartphones are too small for some tasks, full-fledged Tablet PCs are overkill, and ebook readers are too limited. Apple has the tech to own this niche.
Mac of the Day: Original iMac G3/233, Aug. 98 - The Bondi blue wonder that bounced Apple back to profitability and into the public eye.
List of the Day: Mac Pro List is for those using a Mac Pro.
July 5 in LEM history: 98: The iMac: First of a family? - iMac Perfect for schools - 00: Apple is not your friend - 01: 75 Mac Advantages - Do you trust me? - 02: The joy of X with Classic - The good, the bad, and the intrusive - 05: No Quartz Extreme for Pismo - A brief history of NeXT - 06: Education iMac - iTunes and the French interoperability law - TopXNotes - Apple's secret battery reset utility - Misleading hard drive capacity
The Macintosh Portable started a notebook revolution, Carl Nygren, Classic Macs in the Intel Age, 07.03. Before Apple introduced the Mac Portable, notebook computers were text-based and ran MS-DOS. Ever since, graphical interfaces have been the norm for laptops.
More links in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, PowerBook, MacBook, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.