Last month in modding...

March was a big month for all involved in both mod development and indie games. Mod of the Year results started March off with a bang and the Game Developers Conference - which included the Independent Games Festival - rounded out March by awarding the best indie games of 2008. With everything going on around here at ModDB, we're still looking for a few good people to help us out with mod and indie games coverage. If you love the indie games or mods scene and want to share with the world the finer points of gaming that most mainstream sites gloss over, contact us.

Since the evolution of ModDB to version 4.0, one of the largest features to go missing was the Jobs/Help Wanted board. Well now its back and better than ever! ModDB's new jobs board supports both paid and free postings for everything from commercial studios to the budding mod team. Click the banner below for full details on the newest feature to ModDB and how you can use it to maximize your team's potential.

Our new staff member and resident RTS mod expert, Bird_of_Prey, has started off his tenure at ModDB with a couple of articles detailing his impressions of a couple RTS mods. MidEast Crisis 2 for Command and Conquer 3 and Slipstream: The Price of Freedom for Homeworld 2 both receive the official ModDB treatment, with Bird_of_Prey giving details impressions of both. These articles are well worth the look for any RTS fan.

Defense of the Ancients is the wildly popular online multiplayer map and gamemode for Warcraft 3 that's been played by more than 10 million people worldwide. One of its variants, DotA Allstars has been at the forefront of that success and has now even gone on to spawn a full retail game - League of Legends: Clash of Fates. The core team behind DotA Allstars has put together a post-mortem detailing their team's journey from mod to commercial game.

The official ModDB store has launched! To celebrate the event we are running a contest for users to have their own artwork sold in the store. There's still plenty of time to get your entry in, so if you have a witty design worthy of print, click the banner for full contest details.

The Modcast keeps humming along every week with all the mod talk you can handle, here's a catch-all for the episodes aired during the month of March.

Modcast Season 2:

- Episode 15 - MOTY Review
- Episode 16 - Rise of the Witch King, Fall of Mars
- Episode 17 - Nameless Frags
- Episode 18 - While You Were Away
- Episode 19 - Sensory Overload

Developer Banter produced another couple of sessions that peeked behind the scenes of the Jailbreak! mod for the Source engine and the long-awaited Nameless Mod for Deus Ex. Listen in and hear firsthand about the trials and tribulations of mod development for lessons you can apply to any projects you may have on the go.

Developer Banter is all about in-depth interviews with the developers behind mods and indie games. If you want to talk about your project on the show, send off an email to dave@moddb.com and we'll reserve you a spot on a future episode.

Essential Release List:

ARMA
- Hellenic Warfare Mod Addon #4

Battle for Middle Earth II: Rise of the Witch King
- RJ-RotWK v1.06

Command and Conquer 3
- MidEast Crisis 2 RC1

Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour
- Vietnam Glory Obscured v1.3

Crysis
- City Decedere Demo
- City Decedere - Darkness Demo

Deus Ex
- The Nameless Mod

Half-Life 2
- Decadence
- Eternal Silence v3.3
- Fistful of Frags v2.5

Homeworld 2
- Slipstream: The Price of Freedom v2.4

Indie
- Philip Muwanga's Hexy Trench

Neverwinter Nights 2
- Manta's Pulse v1.01

Spore
- BetterSpore v1.5.0

Unreal Tournament 2004
- Mars Wars v3.0

Unreal Tournament 3
- Project: White

As always, video footage from these mods can be seen in the Mod Spotlight - a quick 'n' dirty compilation of the best releases of the month. If you have a mod that you think needs a little bit more love, read up on how ModDB can help you promote your major releases. Not only will you receive the adoration of ModDB visitors but interest from outside parties as well. Mods and Indie games that show up in our headlines have been know to make the rounds of other popular gaming sites and magazines.

If you're interested in working with the ModDB staff to get some extra exposure for the project you've spent months/years crafting, contact us [insert email] and we'll see that your mod or indie game gets the love it deserves. Until next time, happy modding!

Change the game, play something different - ModDB