Gaming on a Budget: 

Customizing Your Gaming Experience

By Cody “Micajah” Bye

May 7, 2007

Trying to ascertain your gaming budget is a difficult proposition. Your options are nearly endless. You can spend your money on monthly fees, games, or save it up for new hardware, and each of these categories have a whole selection of scenarios to run through. It’s a difficult task for any gamer, but often one that must be done if you plan on having any money left over for your golden years.

My goal with this column regularly requires me to advise gamers on what to spend their money on, and how it could go to good use. This time, I’m going to suggest a different tact. Instead of spending money on the newest, latest, and greatest, it’s my goal to help you save that money by getting the most out of your current game. We’re going to breathe life into your old games by giving them some modifications, using various tools to improve them, and by finding other free add ons to play with.

By customizing your gaming experience through these various mods and add ons, you can heartily enjoy your aging game and possibly become part of a larger modding community in the process.

Mods – A Shortened Way of Saying Modification

Mods are a distinct part of the RPG culture, both MMOs and single player titles. Downloadable mods typically adjust the “safer” side of your programs, adding various options to your gaming experience that may not have been included in the initial packaging of your new (or used) game. Since many gamers that read the articles at Ten Ton Hammer occupy both the single and multiplayer side of things, I’ll be discussing a bit of both.

The title for this section may be a bit misleading, for mods may not necessarily mean distinct modifications. Many single player titles use the term “mod” to describe modules that can be downloaded and added to their single player game. Unlike MMOs, which need to protect their server side securities and don’t want gamers cheating, single player mod designers are often free to change and interact with distinct elements of the game. For example, Oblivion and Neverwinter Nights modders have changed leveling schemes, in-game character graphics, loot drops, and more.

These two single player titles also feature a vast community that offers new gaming experiences every few days. Downloadable dungeons, geographic locations, and more are all available in vast assortments throughout the internet. Unlike MMOs, gamers have actually been granted the use of the level design tools (or at least a version of them) that the developers used to create the game in the first place. Creative gamers can create whole new worlds for themselves without paying a penny. There are multiple ways to find Oblivion and Neverwinter Nights add ons, but the easiest way would be to simply use your search browser to locate the numerous module and add on sites for your game of choice.

Modifying an MMO is a much more restrictive experience, but many gamers undertake the challenge because MMO mods are often used by many, many more players. Take the World of Warcraft mods for example. Titan Mod is the most prolific downloadable mod on the Ten Ton Hammer World of Warcarft Community Site, with over 21,000 downloads to its name. Titan mod is also available on other sites, so the amount of downloads for Titan Mod alone is enormous! The Ten Ton Hammer Vanguard Community Site also hosts a vast array of Vanguard UIs, so if you’re a Vanguard player, check them out as well! There are many other games with mods available, and the best way to find these modifications is by searching Ten Ton Hammer first, then moving on to the other MMORPG sites across the ‘net.

Modules for MMOs typically come in the form of User Interface (UI) customization. For those that aren’t familiar, the user interface is what you use to interact with the game world around you. It’s a rather simple modification, but in the end it can pay immense dividends to add this to your game. Think of the number of hotkeys that are currently available to you. Now add one, two, three, four, or more hotbars onto your screen. Think of the possibilities that you could possess with that many keys!

Not only is your number of hotkey potential enhanced, but a great deal of information that is otherwise tucked away can become available. Real-life time, money, XP per hour, XP for session, total play time, and more is all available at a glance rather than having to be searched for. Please, if you’ve never modified your client, try our mods at TTH. They may add more to your gaming experience than you could guess.

Making It Your Own

For the adventurous, I would recommend developing your own UI Mod. I’m not going to go into the details of creating a mod yourself – because that is an article in itself – but I will direct you to Krimm’s World of Warcraft AddOn Design page, hosted by the lovely folks at the Ten Ton Hammer WoW Community Site. This guide explores the finer points of mod making in World of Warcraft and provides a good explanation of XML goals and points that are useful for any mod crafter.

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the tools necessary for mod creation, start your AddOn experience by looking at some of the more popular examples. After you’ve mastered this, submit your mod to Ten Ton Hammer and get it posted! There’s nothing greater than showing off your work to the appreciative public.

By developing new customized options for your MMO or single player game of choice, you’ve expanded your realm of horizons and closed your pocketbook. Modifying games is not only appealing, it can also give you a sense of ownership in a game that you’ve only been a player in. By changing the rules to suit your needs, you can reestablish a positive relationship with your game again.

Comments, suggestions, ideas? Email me!

Ten Ton Hammer is your source for all Vanguard and WoW UI Mods!