hey guys!
i'm conducting some research for a paper i'm writing about ROM hacking and i was just wondering if any of you were interesting in telling me what difference there is (in your opinion) between "hacking" and "modding." i have my own ideas about the subject, but i'll keep them to myself for now for the sake of staying objective
thanks a lot

p.s. free free to email me, as well ljfrezza@gmail.com

I always count hacking as diving into ASM and messing with all the code that comes with it.  I count modding as just the skin of the game itself.  Like the basic graphics, colors, maybe some sound and very little to no major ASM.

For Hacking I always prefered the term reverse engineer. A reverse engineer is someone who looks at a bunch of 1's and 2's and tries to MAKE SENSE of it. A modder is someone who looks at someone else's definition of what these 1's and 2's mean and MAKES USE of it as best they can. Whether it's through the use of a tool or a file format specification.

We need both to make a mod for a game. We need people who can understand a file format and we need modders that can take that understanding to the next level. I personally am a reverse engineer (hacker). I am not a good modder. I hope that my efforts will encourage others to pick up the baton and run with it. My talents lie in understanding, but there others whose talents are far more entertaining (ie more sellable to the public). But enough sunshine up the a$$ hackers are more leet than modders. I will take the pepsi challenge on that any day.

Both are the same, the different terms just arose from the fact that the console hacking and PC game modding communities developed completely independently from each other and developed their own terminology. Still, both do the same thing.

(And it doesn't help that romhacking was basically founded by a bunch of 14 year olds who thought being a "hacker" was cool )

For me, what we do is broken down into investigation and implementation more than hacking and modding.

Investigators use whatever methods at their disposal to discover how games work.  They lay the groundwork for those who come later.  Implementors use the information investigators gather to make hacks, editing tools, and full-game mods.

This distinction touches on the unspoken code of the Rom Hacker:

"If you find something, the credit is yours, but the information belongs to everyone.  If you make something, it is yours and yours alone."

Investigation can take many forms, and many times an investigator will use or make tools to facilitate their work which blurs the lines between investigation and implementation if they release those tools.

Also, investigators typically work alone, but use forums to ask for help when needed and sometimes to dump their findings.  Implementors who intend to finish their mods usually work in groups, unless they are good investigators who will likely be held back by their "helpers".


From Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age:

“Hackworth was a forger, Dr. X was a honer. The distinction was at least as old as the digital computer. Forgers created a new technology and then forged on to the next project, having explored only the outlines of its potential. Honers got less respect because they appeared to sit still technologically, playing around with systems that were no longer start, hacking them for all they were worth, getting them to do things the forgers had never envisioned.”


The distinction I make between a hack and a mod is this:

A hack is something that alters the way the game is played, or which expands the amount and type of content that others can alter, but isn't intended to be used alone, with no other alterations.
A mod is a collection of hacks presented as is, intended to be played, but not necessarily to be used as a platform for someone else to add their own alterations.

&

Agreed. Hacking and modding a video game both can alter the product from how it originally was.



You forgot the <.,*)&  :laugh:
Looking at things like that can be a massive turn off, especially if you don't even know where to start.



Yes very true. Both require lots of work on different levels (thinking, testing, planning, ect...). However, I can't seem to help but notice that those "modders" are somehow made feel inferior to "hackers" in terms of skill level. Especially when one tries to justify that one requires more skill than the other. Not everyone is talented in the same way (like Valendian stated, he may be good at hacking and not as much as modding/editing).

Modders and hackers should not look at each other as inferior or superior because most video games are made by groups of people, not just single person. And those professional people have the proper tools and some are even trained as they go.

Usually people who use editors eventually get to the point where if they want to learn more, they'll have to dive into coding.  That's how it was at least for me and I know a couple of other people as well.  It all varies on how much the person wants to learn.

I don't think there's really an "inferior" or "superior" type of thing in the modding/hacking community.  We're all looking to do the same thing, so it's kind of odd in a way to call someone inferior for just using editors.  Hell, some people who just use editors have the greatest ideas.

In either case, doesn't matter if it's modding, hacking, or creating a game with RPG Maker.  Someone doesn't have to destroy the game itself and study it inside out to make it fun.  People can use the very basics and create something that's fantastic and beyond expectation.  Eye of the beholder I suppose, but anything great is possible if one knows there way around the game.