Game Modding

I play a lot of older video games in my spare time. Back in their day, these games were at the peak of graphic fidelity. As time has moved on, these games now look dated. One way to keep these older games looking fresh is to "mod" them. Modding is the act of editing the game files to improve graphics, gameplay or pretty much anything about the game. 

I taught myself to mod games, starting from simple edits in text files to replacing entire textures to improve a 3D model's look. Below, you can see examples of my game mods.

Here is an example of using edited text files to modify a game. I created a mod for Euro Truck Simulator 2, a truck driving simulator for PC, that adds additional engines to the game. I added two engines to this particular truck, which you can see at the bottom of the list on the left of the truck. These engines are created and added through the use of .txt files and contain code that the game can read and use to display the new engines in the game. The code contains the engines' names, performance figures and price.

 
Here is an example of using edited image files to modify the looks of a game. I created some new textures for the rear lights of some cars in Live For Speed, a driving simulator for PC. I have included pictures of both the original lights and the edited ones to show how large a difference these modifications can make.

Small Logos

Below is a range of small logos I created for a team I was a part of in an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game. The logos had to be small due to size restrictions in the game, so I focused on making the "P.Z" initials stand out from the background. These logos are still readable from a distance.

Marketing A Game Concept (Cont.)

Marketing A Game Concept

E.A.R. Epically Awesome Racing

Premise - High Concept

“Oil, check. Tyres, check. Fuel, check. Seatbelts, check. Guns, check. Destruction, likely.”

Player Motivation

The player will be motivated to complete the game 100%. Obtaining every gold trophy, collectable and unlockable as they progress. The player will also be motivated to play after the career mode has ended, in order to continue earning rewards from replaying completed races.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

-          Vehicular combat based on realistic physics.

-          Never seen before in the market.

-          Bringing two different racing genres and merging them into an enjoyable experience.

Target Audience

16-25 year old male racing gamers from a simulation background that enjoys vehicular combat too. The game will be aimed at fans from titles such as Gran Turismo and Destruction Derby.

Genre

Vehicular combat with realistic physics (simulation).

PEGI Rating

12+ - Violent warfare between vehicles and mild bad language. 

Target Platform and Hardware requirements

-          Playstation 3 console.

-          Offline single and multiplayer will require 2 control pads.

-          Online/LAN multiplayer will require the console to be online.

-          Steering wheel accessories compatible.

-          1080p HD enabled when using a compatible television or monitor.

Licence

All assets in E.A.R. are original works and require no licensing. Any resemblance to real life brands is merely coincidental and not intentional.

Competitive Analysis

Due to the unique genre given to E.A.R., there is no direct competition in this segment of the market. However there are some current generation vehicular combat games, although based on arcade physics, which may compete on the vehicular combat level only.

Burnout Paradise

-          Burnout Paradise is arguably the most popular vehicular combat game on the market today for home consoles. Although the combat is mostly pushing and shoving compared to E.A.R.’s arsenal of guns and missiles, Burnout Paradise uses a free roaming environment and online party modes. E.A.R. will hope to counteract this with the promise of car customisation and plenty of game modes to be used on and offline.

Mario Kart

-          Mario Kart is very popular among hand-held console gamers. The 8-player action makes for great competition online and in a room with friends and family. Power-ups are picked up during the race and can be used to slow down your opponents. Mario Kart’s high popularity comes from the multiplayer aspect, making it a fun and enjoyable experience for anyone who plays, even if they dislike racing games. E.A.R. will hope to counteract this with enjoyable multiplayer experiences across a number of game modes, although the experience will be different, players will find great pleasure in the multiplayer racing.

Goals

The expectations of E.A.R. are that players will want to play it because it’s different to anything else on the market at the moment. Simulation gamers will enjoy the realistic physics and have fun with the combat aspect built into that. Fans of vehicular combat will enjoy the greater challenge from the game, plus the spectacular dogfights that can occur in battle.

The product has the potential to be a successful game, as it would give players a new experience that perhaps they have never seen before on a video game.

By creating toys and models based on the vehicles, environments and characters in E.A.R., a great merchandising opportunity can be found. These products can be purchased as play-things or collectable items. Limited edition merchandise may become a good investment in the following years.

The game is targeted at the 16 - 25 year old age range. By using internet adverts and magazine adverts, E.A.R. will be exposed to its target audience in great numbers.

Game Design Document For A Game Concept

Working Title

E.A.R.

Epically Awesome Racing

Author

Rojer Mustafa

Overview

Executive Summary

E.A.R. (Epically Awesome Racing) is a vehicular combat game, very much along the lines of games such as Crashday and Destruction Derby. However, there is a genre-related twist in E.A.R. Instead of arcade physics, with exaggerated explosions and vehicle handling, E.A.R. will go along the realism path. Cars will handle a lot like a real car, weapons will fire like real weapons. Damage to the cars will be realistic and will not rely on a damage meter or health bar. The fun will be in the realism itself, giving players an actual chance to use strategy in combat, rather than spamming missiles or blindly ramming.

The E.A.R. competition is organised, with many teams competing. With the interest of public safety in mind, these events can only be watched via television or internet streams, viewed from a chopper flying over the action. The E.A.R. organisation don’t want spectators being injured by dangerous debris or runaway rockets.

All the teams share the same car chassis. However everything else on their vehicles is freely customisable, including weapons. New body shells, high performance engines, bumper mounted machine guns, headlight mounted rocket launchers and smoke screens are just a small portion of the options available for customisation.

Target Audience

16-25 year old male racing gamers from a simulation background that enjoys vehicular combat too. The game will be aimed at fans from titles such as Gran Turismo and Destruction Derby.

PEGI Rating

12+ - Violent warfare between vehicles and mild bad language.

Target Platform and Hardware requirements

-          Playstation 3 console.

-          Offline single and multiplayer will require 2 control pads.

-          Online/LAN multiplayer will require the console to be online.

-          Steering wheel accessories compatible.

1080p HD enabled when using a compatible television or monitor.

Story Overview

The game’s story revolves around a rookie driver, who’s gender is determined by the player’s choice at the beginning of the game. The aim for the rookie driver, for both genders, is to go through tournaments, leagues and special events of increasing level, to become the recognised professional they want to be.

There are gender specific storyline plots, to encourage players to play as both genders, which would also increase replay value.

For the male driver, who is of a hot headed nature (in-depth descriptions in the characters section), the teams who recruit him will be more rugged and tough looking, preferring brutality over finesse. This of course sparks disagreements within the team unit, causing the driver to either end up in a rivalry with a team mate, or to change teams.

For the female driver, who is more calm (again, more in-depth descriptions in the characters section), the teams who recruit her will be more smooth and elegant looking, preferring a clean victory over winning by force. The team unit would be most helpful in this situation, as your team mate may help you to win during races.

Game Objectives

The objective of the game, as stated in the story, is to start from the rookie level and rise up the rankings to become a professional. Secondary objectives are to obtain 100% completion. In order to attain this, every race in career mode must be completed with a gold trophy. Every vehicular asset must be unlocked. Every weapon must be unlocked. Every track must be unlocked and every mode must be unlocked.

Unique Selling points

The unique selling points of E.A.R. include:

-          Vehicular combat based on realistic physics.

-          Never seen before in the market.

-          Bringing two different racing genres and merging them into an enjoyable experience.

Characters

Player Characters

Character Name	The character’s name will be determined by the character upon starting a profile. In cutscenes the player will be referred to as “rookie” or “kid” in the game.
Character Gender	Male.
Animations	Steering animations in car. CG animations.
Biography	From a young age, the male character was always interested in cars and racing. After passing his driving test, he immediately started illegal street racing. After becoming the most notorious street racer in the city, he was soon arrested by the police for numerous driving offences. After paying his fines and finishing his jail sentence, he vows never to street race again. Still hungry for speed, he turns to the legal race scene.
Abilities	Early access to high-power/low-budget teams in career mode.
Concept Art

Character Name	The character’s name will be determined by the character upon starting a profile. In cutscenes the player will be referred to as “rookie” or “kid” in the game.
Character Gender	Female.
Animations	Steering animations in car. CG animations.
Biography	Influenced by her older brother, the female character becomes interested in cars. After passing her driving test, her brother takes her to a race track and the two enjoy a friendly race. Inspired by the experience, she aspires to become a professional racing car driver.
Abilities	Early access to low-power/high-budget teams in career mode.
Concept Art

Non-Player Characters (NPC’s)

Character Name	Sven Loliko
Character Gender	Male
Animations	Steering animations in car. CG animations.
Biography	Sven is an experienced driver who serves as one of 4 selectable team mates. He is from Sweden and enjoys the challenges of the E.A.R. competition. His cheery nature increases team morale.
Abilities	Driving  – 5/10 Combat – 5/10 Rage – 5/10
Concept Art

Character Name	Michelle Hamilton
Character Gender	Female
Animations	Steering animations in car. CG animations.
Biography	Michelle is a semi-pro driver who serves as one of 4 selectable team mates. She is from America and enjoys rubbing it in when she beats the guys. Her competitive nature often annoys her team mates.
Abilities	Driving  – 7/10 Combat – 3/10 Rage – 8/10
Concept Art

Character Name	Robert McGee
Character Gender	Male
Animations	Steering animations in car. CG animations.
Biography	Robert is a world-class level driver who serves as one of 4 selectable team mates. He is from England and has the capabilities to win the E.A.R. Championship, although he has no desire to as he enjoys the thrill of racing in the middle leagues. His aggressive yet controlled racing often endangers his own team.
Abilities	Driving  – 9/10 Combat – 10/10 Rage – 3/10
Concept Art

Character Name	Danielle Cook
Character Gender	Female
Animations	Steering animations in car. CG animations.
Biography	Danielle is a new driver who serves as one of 4 selectable team mates. She is from Australia and is still new in the E.A.R. contest. Her high temper causes arguments within the team unit.
Abilities	Driving  – 1/10 Combat – 2/10 Rage – 10/10
Concept Art

Enemy Characters

Character Name	The Judge
Character Gender	Male
Animations	Steering animations in car. CG animations.
Biography	A highly aggressive driver who has spent years racing for the E.A.R. organisation. He comes from Australia. He enjoys causing the drivers around him to wreck spectacularly. He’s not friendly with anyone and takes a particular dislike for the player.
Abilities	Driving  – 7/10 Combat – 9/10 Rage – 10/10
Concept Art

Character Name	MC Crash
Character Gender	Male
Animations	Steering animations in car. CG animations.
Biography	Rapper turned racer. MC Crash was known as one of the best local rappers until he decided to pursue a racing career. Although born and raised in America, his family originates from South Africa. He uses his intimidating looks to put pressure on his opponents before they even get in the car. On track, his skills are as sharp as his tongue.
Abilities	Driving  – 8/10 Combat – 3/10 Rage – 1/10
Concept Art

Character Name	Pinky Lee
Character Gender	Female
Animations	Steering animations in car. CG animations.
Biography	Professional cosplayer by day, deadly racer by night. Born in China but moved to England at a young age. Her cute looks gives her opponents the false impression that she’s harmless, but once she’s got missile lock on your bumper, consider your race over.
Abilities	Driving  – /10 Combat – /10 Rage – /10
Concept Art

Character Name	Crazy Ivan
Character Gender	Male
Animations	Steering animations in car. CG animations.
Biography	Russian born and raised, Ivan earned his nickname “Crazy Ivan” after a bar fight against several men. After successfully defeating his attackers, he moved to America to become a cage fighter. Instead, he ends up racing for the E.A.R. organisation. On the track, his nickname sums up his driving. Crazy. There’s nothing he wont do or dare to do in order to win.
Abilities	Driving  – 9/10 Combat – 9/10 Rage – 6/10
Concept Art

Character Name	Skirt
Character Gender	Female
Animations	Steering animations in car. CG animations.
Biography	A first class model from Italy. After being caught in possession of a class A drug, she was banned from modelling. Luckily for her, her agent got her a position to model for the E.A.R. promotions. After a year of modelling she decided to try out racing for herself. Within months she was competing for top positions and earned her place with the best.
Abilities	Driving  – 6/10 Combat – 4/10 Rage – 3/10
Concept Art

Vehicles/Units

Player Character Controllable Vehicles

Vehicle Name / Type	E.A.R. 100Z (Can be later renamed to whatever the player wants.) / Chassis
Information	The base of every car in E.A.R. The player builds their custom cars over this chassis framework. Both friendly and unfriendly NPC’s also use the chassis in the same way the player does, ensuring a fair advantage for everyone.
Abilities	The chassis is the only indestructible part of the car. Keeping the driver safe inside it’s safety cage. The engine, drivetrain, body, weapons and any other additional extras to the chassis are considered extra modifications and do not factor in the chassis’ base abilities.
Concept Art

NPC Vehicles

Vehicle Name / Type	The Goat
Information	The Judge’s car.
Abilities	Chassis: E.A.R. 100Z Body: Goat LS2 Engine: 6.0 V8 Drivetrain: RWD Offence: 8000 Defence: 990 Durability: Extra high E.A. Rating: 10*
Concept Art

Vehicle Name / Type	Beatbox
Information	MC Crash’s car.
Abilities	Chassis: E.A.R. 100Z Body: Cube 999 Engine: 2.4 Boxer-4 Drivetrain: 4WD Offence: 5000 Defence: 1000 Durability: High E.A. Rating: 8*
Concept Art

Vehicle Name / Type	Cute Coupe
Information	Pinky Lee’s car.
Abilities	Chassis: E.A.R. 100Z Body: Super GT Engine: 3.0 Inline-6 Drivetrain: RWD Offence: 6670 Defence: 800 Durability: Medium E.A. Rating: 8*
Concept Art

Vehicle Name / Type	The Terminator
Information	Crazy Ivan’s car.
Abilities	Chassis: E.A.R. 100Z Body: Pony FR500X Engine: 5.0 V8 Drivetrain: RWD Offence: 9001 Defence: 950 Durability: Extra High E.A. Rating: 10*
Concept Art

Vehicle Name / Type	A.O.N.N.O.G.
Information	Skirt’s car.
Abilities	Chassis: E.A.R. 100Z Body: Stallion Custom Engine: 8.1 V12 Drivetrain: RWD Offence: 5000 Defence: 500 Durability: Low E.A. Rating: 7*
Concept Art

Levels

Game Mode	Function	Goal
“Normal” Race	A pre-determined amount of laps around a closed circuit.	Finish the race in 1st place.
Drag Race	A point-to-point race.	Finish the race in 1st place.
Last Man Standing	Damage your opponents until they are immobilised.	Be the last competitor still capable of driving.
King Of The Sky	Force your opponents off a roof or cliff.	Be the last competitor still standing on the roof or cliff.

Level Name / Type	The Oval / Closed circuit
Information	A smooth oval track. Competitor’s maximum speeds and high-speed stability are tested to their fullest here. The only element of the track to avoid is the walls, they’ll always win when you try to crash into them.
Race Types Held Here	“Normal” Race.
Concept Art

Level Name / Type	Formula Death / Closed circuit
Information	A complex race circuit featuring many high and low speed corners. Good driving skills and a well-balanced car is the way to go here. Track hazards include the gravel trap which will slow you down significantly and the unforgiving barriers.
Race Types Held Here	“Normal” Race.
Concept Art

Level Name / Type	Airport / Open Space
Information	An abandoned airport, which housed many E.A.R. events in the past. The runway serves as an improvised drag strip. Acceleration and handling are the most tested parts of the car here. There’s no real track hazard, except the fact you cant hide from your opponents.
Race Types Held Here	“Normal” Race, Drag Race.
Concept Art

Level Name / Type	Dockyard / Closed circuit
Information	An abandoned dockyard, which has been extensively modified for E.A.R.’s amusement. This track features spike traps, explosive barrels, indoor routes and water. Similar to the film “Death Race”, the track is just as deadly as your opponents. Use it as an advantage.
Race Types Held Here	“Normal” Race.
Concept Art

Level Name / Type	The Coliseum / Stadium
Information	A coliseum made to resemble the old Roman gladiator stadiums. Featuring a closed area in the middle for some good old-fashioned demolition derby. There’s no way out and the last man standing wins. Around the edges of the stadium, the King Of The Sky event is held on the roof’s of the spectator stands. If you don’t fall off, you don’t lose.
Race Types Held Here	Last Man Standing, King Of The Sky.
Concept Art

Level Name / Type	London / City
Information	London’s busy roads have been evacuated and barricaded to create a long city route touring the landmarks of London. The urban areas and tall buildings make it difficult to fire long-range weapons.
Race Types Held Here	“Normal” Race.
Concept Art

Level Name / Type	Desert / Open Space
Information	A drag race from one end of the desert to the other. If you get stuck, you lose. If you get lost, you lose. If you get blown to pieces, you lose. The only way to win is to endure the heat of the desert and make sure your opponents eat dust.
Race Types Held Here	Drag Race.
Concept Art

Level Name / Type	D*Mart / Car Park
Information	After closing time at D*Mart, E.A.R. get to work preparing it for a car park demolition derby. Lamp posts can stop competitors dead in their tracks and the shopping trolleys can act as temporary shields against spikes and low-mounted weapons.
Race Types Held Here	Last Man Standing.
Concept Art

Level Name / Type	Desert / Open Space
Look And Feel	Pure sand from as far as the eye can see. The sand is soft and the terrain is bumpy.
Main Areas	The main area is entirely made up of soft sand.
The Main Goal	To get from the start to the finish in 1st place.
Story Relevance	Certain high level events are held here.
NPC’s Encountered	8 randomly selected AI drivers, excluding your team mate.
NPC’s Actions	All NPC’s excluding your teammate are aiming to finish before you. NPC’s will attack you and the rival NPC’s in order to get ahead. NPC’s may lose their way and fail to finish the race.
Vehicles Encountered	NPC controlled vehicles. Vehicles will be suited to off-road driving, although the specifics are dependent on the NPC’s themselves.
Music	A 3-minute loop of an original composition. Genre: Rock.
Sound	The sound of sand being run over and various lizard sounds.
Dialogue	NPC’s outbursts of happiness or sadness depending on their current situation in the race.
Triggered Events	If the player travels too far off course, they will automatically get stuck and fail to finish the race. Similarly, if the player drives too slow or comes to a stop, they may get stuck in the sand.
Race Types Held Here	Drag Race.
Concept Art

Control Systems

Car controls

Button	Function
Up	Toggle primary weapon
Down	Toggle primary weapon
Left	Toggle secondary weapon
Right	Toggle secondary weapon
X	Accelerate
Square	Brake / Hold to reverse
Circle	Handbrake
Triangle	Map
Start	Pause menu
Select	Change view
PS button	PS menu
L1	Primary weapon
L2	Gear down
R1	Secondary weapon
R2	Gear up
Left analogue stick	Steering left/right
L3	Horn
Right analogue stick	Camera movement
R3	Default camera position

Menu controls

Button	Function
Up	Move up menu selection
Down	Move down menu selection
Left	Move left menu selection
Right	Move right menu selection
X	Accept
Triangle	Back
PS button	PS menu