RHDN Forum Archive - hacking vs modding

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hacking vs modding

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Topic: hacking vs modding (Read 1 times)

Next gen Cowboy
Guest

Re: hacking vs modding

« Reply #15 on: September 26, 2010, 02:44:31 pm »

Quote from: KaioShin on September 26, 2010, 02:14:16 pm

Some of you guys obviously never seen what kind of work goes into a good professional level mod.

I was under the impression we were talking about using the kind of editors found here on RHDN to make another Super Mario mod, not full scale changes to textures and maps, or game engine modification. It's ego plain and simple, and I have no problem admitting it, bit I stand by my statements.

Some things in life are just more complicated than others, and the statements that some mods (using basic tools like those found here on rhdn) are amazing and fantastic are very true. In my experience though, many are not; again this is just my opinion on the topic. As for the points of the original discussion, and original question; it's terminology. In reality they really do mean the same thing, but in the context we use the words, there are connotations associated with them, and as everyone pointed out, communities like this one tend to associate hacking with the unknown, and modding from working with an editor.


« Last Edit: September 26, 2010, 02:51:30 pm by Next gen Cowboy »

Sawakita
Guest

Re: hacking vs modding

« Reply #16 on: September 26, 2010, 05:08:33 pm »

Well, I make a distinction between "hack vs. mod" and "hacking vs. modding".
In fact (in my opinion) while a hack and a mod are pretty much the same thing (i.e. a modified version of the game), I see the act of hacking and the act of modding as something similar to yin & yang, i.e. opposite things.

You are hacking when you explore the game and understand how it works and figure out its routines and structure. Modding comes after hacking: once you have gained the information about the game you can finally modify it.
So hacking as an end in itself seems pointless to a modder, while a hacker hacks simply for the taste of hacking. Vice versa without the work of hackers modders couldn't exist since they couldn't have information concerning the games they want to modify.

If we now examine the human categories we can find three main groups:
- pure hackers: these people do so by their nature, without the will to make use of their research to produce a new game (as far as i know Tauwasser and IIMarckus are in this category)
- pure modders: these people's aim is to create a new game from an existing one. To do so since they don't care about how the game works, they use programs created by hackers, as well as documents about the game structure, to create modified version of those games.
- the third category is formed by people who are at the same time hackers and modders: they analyze the game and find out how it works. After that they don't stop like the pure hackers would do: they use their discoveries to create new games based upon the ones they hacked (Coolboyman and Hackmew can be considered in this category).

Obviously this is just my point of view.

P.S.: I'm sorry if some ideas are expressed in such a rude way, it's because of my lack in correct use of english language

Spikeman
Guest

Re: hacking vs modding

« Reply #17 on: September 29, 2010, 03:50:14 am »

To me modding implies a game for a higher level system - a PC game, or a PS2 game, etc. As far as hacking vs. modding on a high-level system, modding seems to imply either an addition on top of the game or a complete overhaul (yet still in the spirit of the original game), while hacking often takes things in a completely different direction.

So I think the fundamental difference is the spirit of the modification. If it's something that builds off of or extends the original game it's a mod, but if it's something you might not have expected it's a hack.

Also, as has been mentioned, there's a stereotype of hackers going more in-depth and therefor being more skilled, which may or may not have some truth to it. :angel:

jwurmz
Guest

Re: hacking vs modding

« Reply #18 on: September 29, 2010, 05:45:17 pm »

My gut tells me that 'modding' is just a subset of 'hacking' but I guess it all depends on context.

The technical concepts you (I) use and learn when 'hacking' one piece of software can, in most cases, be applied to 'hacking' another (completely different) piece of software. The same seems like it would be true for 'modding' but from an artistic standpoint, rather than a technical one. I have never fully "completed" a mod or hack, so really I have no say Lips sealed

One thing I know for sure is that hackers rule, and modders suck!!! :laugh:

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