My Modding Days

If you have been following me on LinkedIn, you know that in a recent local event here in Barcelona, I had the opportunity to meet John Romero, one of the pioneers of the FPS genre, one of the co-creators of Wolfenstein-3D and Doom. It was a surreal experience meeting the man himself after watching countless documentaries, videos and interviews about/with him. Meeting him also helped me to reflect on my experience as a game modder from high-school till now.

 

Around high-school when I was getting serious about getting into the industry, I came across a video on the differences between Dust II in CS:GO & CS 1.6, a very popular map that I personally also had memories of. I realized that not only these maps were made my people like me, but also software that was way easily accessible than a monthly subscription game engine.

I got Hammer Editor working and started making my very first map for Counter-Strike Source: de_konstantina

 

 

Not only I had my first map finished, but I also had the opportunity to test it with some friends and some time later even got a CS:GO version of the map working. The map was one of the best level design experiences I have had, and my friends also enjoyed playing on it. The map, while casual in nature, still was made to be balanced. I made a very simple sketch on paper and translated it into Source. After this map, I have made various other maps to play around in.

Making mods were more accessible than game engines and the base was already done for me, leaving me the "fun" stuff to worry about and encouraging me to make more things.

Fast-forward to the pandemic, in a Discord community server, I met some people in the voice chat trying to make some maps in Doom. While I did not map in Doom, I was intrigued due to my experience with Hammer and started chatting. They told me they needed some new sounds but did not know how to make any, so I showed them how and gave them the files as a gift. Days later I saw them again, and would help them occasionally, until I was sent an invitation to a server. Upon joining a voice-chat, I was told "Welcome! You are one of the developers now!" and that's honestly how my journey through VOIDsoft began.

We were fans of games, talented artists, skilled programmers with one goal: make something fun. Our theory and knowledge was mixed, but with sheer passion and curiosity we delivered one hell of a package: Project ENTRY

While I practiced with level design for Counter-Strike, in VOIDsoft my job was instead sound and graphic design, making pixel assets, textures and some sound files to be used in the mod. I learned about working with standards, limitations and a rough idea of a "pipeline" We did not know deep theory and mechanism, but we knew what was fun and what's not, and that resulted in an unbalanced yet engaging game experience that I am grateful for.

At the end of both of these experiences, I learned the true value of game modding. I see many people ask, "Why mod a game when you can make your own?" and after these experiences, I think the answer lies in the experience you get. Working with already done games help you to understand their systems like an archeologist. The game base is already there for you as well, so it leaves you with just pieces to work with, encouraging you to put the final piece into the puzzle and finally in a way it's sort of like "fan-fiction" Making levels for games you enjoy, telling your own story, adding your own twist.

Game modding is certainly a different culture, but it's one of the most valuable experiences of my life and I highly encourage anyone to try modding some games if you are interested in the industry or just starting out.