hammy-bob mod Mod for Half-Life Mods of 2003 feature

With 2003 now behind us, it is time to look at the year that was the 'modification explosion' and scope out what captured gamers imaginations, hearts and of course many hours behind the PC playing that beloved mod over and over again!

But first, for the first timers here is a quick intro to modding. Mods (short for "modification") is simply a new game based on the game engine. The changes could be relatively minor, such as a mod that allows server-operators more control over death match game rules, or they could be so extreme as to make a completely new game (although these are usually referred to as Total Conversions (TC) or Partial Conversions (PC)).

These days mods are to games what butter is to bread. With that year we saw many game companies holding more mod expose to teach or share (the tools) on how to mod. We saw more schools offering scholarships to game design this year. Many game designers played one mod before they put all the imagination they had into moving onto games.

Mods they are fun, original and extend the lifespan of a game to be virtually never-ending. With making mods you the creator have the entire world in front of you to decide what to make. Some mods have been stopped for not getting permission and the mods below are proof of doing it the correct way.

Half life was released back in 1998. It was an instant success and won the title of best of game of the year by most of the reputable gaming magazines. Half Life is a first person shooter, with the goal of escaping from a giant complex, which had been infested with alien creatures from another world. Half Life also came with the ability to play against friends on the internet or on a LAN. This game, despite been *old* in computer terms is still fun to play, which can be 100% accredited to the modifications created for it. With the news of Half Life 2 and Day of Defeat and Counterstrike released as (PC) games with the help of the same developers of Half Life, everyone just sits and waits and upgrades computers to possible play Half Life 2 when it is released.

The world of Mods helps to illustrate the changing nature of the video game world. The same way that video game players have an interaction with the video games, the gamers now have an interaction with the game developers. Mods to video games help to underline the components of a game that gamers like the most. Mods underscore the fundamentals of the original game by bringing the best features of the original game to the lime light.

With we saw this year more mod contests for prizes and money. In 2003 we saw a mod based off a movie to help promote the movie Underworld: Bloodline Half-Life Mod. We have seen great looking mods with plenty still to come and yes we saw some die that just could'nt make it for some reason.

As I have said in the past mods go as far as 21 years ago. One such mod will be at its 20th year in 2003. Castle Smurfenstein, was a parody of Castle Wolfenstein, with the tools they used to create the mod makes mods today seem like a full time job.

DOOM became the first game to be non stop modified then Quake 1, and Quake 2 later on. Half Life was next and a mod could even be said to have surpassed the game. It is of course Counter Strike loved by many. Either way the team got paid and we didn't. With Half Life 2 and Doom 3 on the way we can only sit and wait to see what is made and if it's the next best thing to hit the mod scene!

The idea of this article is to show the world and you noobs who live under a rock that sexy mods exist and no they are not Counter Strike. The first group of mods I will explain are mods released this year in 2003. If I didn't list a mod that was out in 2003 I am sorry. We set up a forum thread and so many people posted mods. Many of them were not mods that released in 2003. Some mods are not out yet. The rest of this is mods everyone voted on to say they loved them or thought highly of them.