Modding as a path to game creation
Twenty years ago, I had a group of friends that were spending all their time playing one game: Counter-Strike 1.6. I’ve never been good at shooting games, so instead of contributing with an excellent KDA ratio, I decided to try my hand at making a new map for us to play together.
Like many games of that era, Counter-Strike provided modding tools that allowed you to make your own levels. So I downloaded a little tool called Hammer Editor — Valve’s official level-making tool. I read and reread every tutorial I came across, posted questions on forums, and struggled to get things working for well over a month.
But it was worth it when at a LAN party I unveiled a custom map that transformed the entire game into a match of dodgeball. It was a new way for us to experience the game together! And despite being an admittedly janky and ugly map, I felt a real sense of fulfillment. I made a map! That silly act of creation ended up being the spark that sent me down the path of technology and engineering which now makes up my full-time career.
That’s why it’s sad to see how few games put these types of tools in the hands of the community. Creation is a really empowering experience, and making levels and mods is a fantastic way to start learning how to make games.
Now, imagine what would happen if an entire game platform was filled with games that embraced modding and level-creation and awesome user-generated content. That’s what we want to do with Castle. We want to create a space where devs of all skill levels can share games of all sizes, each one fostering more creation in turn.
We’re still getting our start, so there’s a lot left to build and a lot of open questions to answer. But if any of this sounds interesting to you, please join our discord. The more the merrier!
