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.
