#ifmods

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MINECRAFTEDU

MinecraftEdu is an officially endorsed mod of Mojang's hit game "Minecraft". The mod adapts the game for educational use. It includes tools for students to connect privately together for a three-dimensional, digital classroom environment.

Unlike most educational video games, MinecraftEdu's sandbox environment and mechanics allow for an easily adaptable curriculum. Additionally, the game is accessible for students of most ages.

Joel Levin speaks with his colleague about their experiences using Minecraft as a teaching tool.

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Modding GTA to go Yakety: Interpretive Flexibility at it's finest! 

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A Game within a Game within Game within a game….

GMOD has spawned numerous fan-made game modes, such as Prop Hunt, GMOD Murder, and Trouble in Terrorist Town (TTT). Both Prop Hunt and TTT are winners of the developer’s contest to create a new game mode. These games use a programming framework that allows developers to make new game modes for Garry's Mod with the commonly required functionality already implemented, so that the developers can instead focus on the unique aspects of their game modes. These games are often then interpreted even further by YouTube let’s-players, which use the game as a tool for creating channel content, stories, and more.

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What is GMOD?

Garry’s Mod is a sandbox physics game made by Garry Newman that allows users to create games, films, and machinimas of their own. Originally created as a mod for Half-Life 2, GMOD became a standalone game using a modified Source Engine. Because the game in itself is meant for user content creativity, it is interpretive flexibility at its finest. A game created from modding a game, which allows its users to create games that can then be modded – what a brain twister! It allows users to interpret the world as they see fit, and create gameplay from it.

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A Game from a game?

While a vast number of mods have come Half-Life and Half-Life 2, the most notable fact from these games is that their modability has spawned whole new games of their own. Users have been able to change the meaning of the game so much that they created an entirely new experience. Games like Cry of Fear, a first-person dark horror game, features animated cut scenes, voice acting, unique textures, and environments, and usable items not seen in the source game. Even better, games that were originally made as a mod with the Source game engine, such as The Stanley Parable, became their own stand-alone games, which went on to be able to make money for their new creators.

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What does Half-Life have to do with modding?

Half-Life has been part of the modding scene since its initial release. The level-design tool, Worldcraft, was included with the game’s software, opening up the ability for users to change the game as they pleased. And Valve has only encouraged this further with a software development kit, which helped increase the game’s popularity with modders. Due to its ease in manipulation, Half-Life, as well as other Valve games, has opened up whole new worlds for users to interpret.

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"Steam," a computer program used to run/buy games added "Steam Workshop" to allow people to easily add mods to finished games instead of replacing game files which could possibly damage the game files.

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What is modding?

Interpretive flexibility could not be more perfectly exemplified than with modding. The act of “modding,” or “modifying” a game, software, or anything really, is to make said “thing” function in a manner not originally intended, or even thought of by the creator. By modding a game, a user is changing the game to function or look how they want it to. With something a simple as a physics change, such as lowering the gravity to 0, or design edit, like changing model to a famous cartoon character, the player can create a whole new experience not originally thought of by the developer.