As far as mods go, it was really simple from a technical perspective: a small map full of crates, and a PPM (plugin player model) that let players appear as crates, and no custom code or anything. In this case, I argue that modders predate AAA design practice by at least 19 years.ĬrateDM was a Quake 2 mod released on April 14, 1998, made in an hour by Chris 'Shatter' Holden. Arkane Studios' recent sci-fi shooter Prey (2017) cleverly commercializes this mechanic in a way that modders never could, and while it's nice to know they're paying attention to current trends, I think it's also important to remember the modders that usually get erased from game design histories. The prop hunt is interior design meets hide and seek, where hiders 'hide' in plain sight, disguised as the decorative clutter common in video game worlds, and seekers must guess what is inanimate clutter and what is sentient clutter. MOBAs, tower defense, realistic squad shooters, walking simulators, survival royales, all started as mods. (For those keeping score: Aeon of Strife for Starcraft 1 or DOTA for Warcraft 3, innumerable tower defense UMS maps for Starcraft 1, Counter-Strike for Half-Life 1, Dear Esther for Half-Life 2, Day-Z for ARMA.)Īdd the 'prop hunt' to the list.

This post contains minor gameplay spoilers for the first hour of Prey (2017).Ĭontemporary game design is built on the blood, sweat, and tears of countless modders.

Team fortress 2 prop hunt server