I don't know how it compares to the modern scene, but there was definitely a large amount of RTS modding and mapmaking going on long before 2005. Particularly for the old Command and Conquer games, which were much more accessible to modders than modern, full 3D titles. It's much easier to plonk down some 2D or isometric tiles, carve a vehicle model out of voxels, or edit the "ini files" of those games than it is to create a similar experience with a full fledged 3D modeler and modern toolset.
It may not have really been programming, but modding Tiberian Sun and making simple websites from plain HTML were my childhood "I can make the computer do what I want?!" moments. They were such limited environments, but the ease with which a kid could do interesting things with them really opened up new worlds to me.
People talk about the "little coder" problem a lot. I wonder if it's better to start a child with "making your own pong," so that they are confronted with actual programming from the beginning, or to give them a powerful but inflexible tool so that they can do impressive things right off the bat, before starting to think "why can't I do this? If I had made it, it would be like this..."
> I don't know how it compares to the modern scene, but there was definitely a large amount of RTS modding and mapmaking going on long before 2005. Particularly for the old Command and Conquer games, which were much more accessible to modders than modern, full 3D titles. It's much easier to plonk down some 2D or isometric tiles, carve a vehicle model out of voxels, or edit the "ini files" of those games than it is to create a similar experience with a full fledged 3D modeler and modern toolset.
I recall giving Tanya the cruiser gun via those .ini files. Good times.
"""I think one of the very interesting things about modern single-player game development is that it creates exceptionally expensive content designed to appeal to everyone and be played exactly once for 8-10 hours. As anybody who plays European board games will tell you, making a game (read: the body of rules, the mechanics and dynamics) is cheap - all you need is creativity and a lot of playtesting. AAA videogames are entirely different, though - millions are spent on voice acting, scripting, graphics, etc. This is why I'm excited for moderate-budget games like Bastion that can publish interesting and challenging gameplay with a budget lean enough that it doesn't have to sell to absolutely everybody."""
It may not have really been programming, but modding Tiberian Sun and making simple websites from plain HTML were my childhood "I can make the computer do what I want?!" moments. They were such limited environments, but the ease with which a kid could do interesting things with them really opened up new worlds to me.
People talk about the "little coder" problem a lot. I wonder if it's better to start a child with "making your own pong," so that they are confronted with actual programming from the beginning, or to give them a powerful but inflexible tool so that they can do impressive things right off the bat, before starting to think "why can't I do this? If I had made it, it would be like this..."