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[uncreativename]

Honourable mention to The Sims franchise which might win if the question were which game has the most mods ever, and to Doom which still has competitions and a super active modding scene even though it's so old.

But for me the winner is Medieval II Total War. This game still has an active modding scene, because in terms of modability, it's still never been surpassed by another Total War game. The number of gigantic total overhaul mods that took a seriously huge amount of work to make for this game is insane. I'm pretty confident that there is no other game in existence with this number of high effort total overhaul mods, and it's not even close. I'm still discovering more all the time, and I've been playing this game consistently pretty much since it came out. The modding scene is all over the place, English speakers, Germans, Russians, Spanish, French, Poles, Chinese and probably more. There's mods for just about anything you can imagine, if you look hard enough on Twcenter and Moddb, from the Bronze Age to World War II and everything in between, and also Lord of the Rings mods, Star Wars mods, the mod that inspired the Total Warhammer games, a Legend of Zelda Total War mod, an Elder Scrolls mod, and much more. Some of the things people have managed to do are insane, using the scripting to add Crusader Kings style systems and other roleplaying mechanics. More recently people have discovered a way to let newer mods be able to somehow hack the game on the fly to be able to bypass the hardcoded limits in the game on stuff like number of provinces and units. Oh, and thank you in particular to one guy on the Twcenter forums, Gigantus, who's not only made a tool that makes modding much easier, but also went around updating a ton of older mods to work with the newer edition of the game.

My personal favourites are Tsardoms: Fall of Constantinople, Rise of Three Kingdoms, 1648: Thirty Years of War, Europa Barbarorum II, and For King Or Country, but like I said if you look hard enough you can find an incredibly detailed mod for just about any fantasy/sci fi or historical setting.

 

[GrayChild]

Half-Life.

There are fan-made campaigns and total conversions that are better than some full-fledged expansions or even games. Mods like They Hunger, Heart of Evil, Poke 646, Visitors, Echoes, Delta Particles etc. could easily be released as commercial products.

 

[MayauMiao]

Half-Life.

There are fan-made campaigns and total conversions that are better than some full-fledged expansions or even games. Mods like They Hunger, Heart of Evil, Poke 646, Visitors, Echoes, Delta Particles etc. could easily be released as commercial products.

It create the legendary Counter-Strike.

 

[Tobimacoss]

Probably Skyrim no?

 

[Guilty_AI]

Half Life, Doom or Skyrim

 

[Esppiral]

Grab theft Auto

 

[Gubaldo]

 

[uncreativename]

Oh right, I stand by my answer, but another honourable mention to Warcraft 3. The modding scene for that game was incredible, and probably still is

 

[Black_Stride]

Doom, Quake or Half Life.
Honorable mention to Unreal and Unreal 2.

So many series and developers even to this day can in some way trace their genetic code to those 4 games.

All these other baby mods are childsplay.

 

[winjer]

Skyrim and it's not even close.

 

[The_Mike]

Half-Life.

There are fan-made campaigns and total conversions that are better than some full-fledged expansions or even games. Mods like They Hunger, Heart of Evil, Poke 646, Visitors, Echoes, Delta Particles etc. could easily be released as commercial products.

That era was the best fps era and I am so glad I grew up with this.

Half-Life was the only game you needed.

Sven Co-Op
Team Fortress
Gang-Wars
Global Warfare
Firearm.
Day of defeat
The list goes on

Counter-Strike, obviously.

If you had Half-Life, then you had a million games for free at your finger tip.

 

[Laptop1991]

It's Skyrim, no other game comes close to the amount of mods made or used.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Warcraft III. It was used to create the first MOBA, and the rest is history.

 

[riko]

Quake 1 was the last time I was really deep into mods. It brought us Team Fortress!

 

[Paasei]

Bethesda games, primarily Skyrim. While modding scenes can be very big in other games, it's still peanuts compared to Skyrim.

 

[Esppiral]

WFT is that? I want it! Lol

 

[winjer]

The nexus mods page with the games with the most mods.
Mind you it's not the only mod site, but it's s good indicator.

 

[DaciaJC]

Medieval II was the game I had in mind reading the thread title but not the one I was expecting in the OP. Kudos uncreativename !

 

[Hadoukens]

Doom and Quake.

Nexus doesn't have it all but it's not even close. They had mods and map builders nearly right after release followed by Exe and gameplay hacks.

Doom alone probably has tens of thousands. Map making was very easy. I made several maps myself both single and multiplayer.

The Doom FTP and Newsgroup sites had 100 uploads a day for a very long time. Maps, music, graphics, Total conversions, you name it, it was there.

Name an IP or genre and it probably had several Doom mods.

WAD CDs were even in stores and traded by friends. You had to be there I guess.

I fell off participating in mods after Doom but still had some interest in Quake. Same thing there.

 

[Jack Package]

It's DOOM, and all other answers are objectively wrong. Engine is nearly 40 and still games get made on it, and mods for the Reginald games still get made.
More importantly, most are fun to play!

 

[Guilty_AI]

It's DOOM, and all other answers are objectively wrong. Engine is nearly 40 and still games get made on it, and mods for the Reginald games still get made.
More importantly, most are fun to play!

My only argument against doom is that it got to a level where its questionable if its even modding.

We have had full access to the engine's source code for a long time, full usage rights under GPL, people went on to modify and improve the engine in various ways, then others took that improved engine and made games from scratch like any other third party engine. Is that even a Doom mod anymore?

 

[IAmRei]

skyrim, or elder scroll in general
or fall out
or GTA V

my personal is star wars battlefront 2, especially with remastered, battlefront III, and harrison fog
Monster Hunter series also had lot of mods

recently lot of unreal engine J-RPG have lot of modding these years as well

 

[Hadoukens]

My only argument against doom is that it got to a level where its questionable if its even modding.

We have had full access to the engine's source code for a long time, full usage rights under GPL, people went on to modify and improve the engine in various ways, then others took that improved engine and made games from scratch like any other third party engine. Is that even a Doom mod anymore?

Ultimate Doom Builder makes maps for Doom, Doom 2, Heretic, Hexen, Strife, ZDoom, and GZDoom.

Total Chaos, Sigil 2, and Sonic Robo Blast 2 are all Doom under the hood.

There is advanced scripting and 3d tricks sure, but the base is still the Doom engine and Doom WAD format. It's undeniably Doom while being a total conversion in assets and gameplay.

Sonic itself is a total conversion that has tons of mods using it as a base.

This isn't even scratching the surface. There are still annual Cacowards on Doomworld and it got a new episode when Doom I and Doom Ii Nightdive port released.

Doom mods are endless.

 

[Guilty_AI]

There is advanced scripting and 3d effects sure, but the base is still the Doom engine and Doom WAD format. It's undeniably Doom while being a total conversion in assets and gameplay.

Most actually use .pk3 format now, especially for ZDoom. And 'advanced scripting' is severely under selling it. ZScript is marginally inferior to what you'd see in a normal third party engine, not to mention the ability to modify the engine itself.

Total Chaos, Sigil 2, and Sonic Robo Blast 2 are all Doom under the hood.

The problem with this logic is that its like saying all unreal engine games are Unreal Tournament or Fortnite under the hood. Fudamentally, the only thing they share in common with Doom (apart from sigil) is the rendering tech, and even that only partially.

 

[Sentenza]

Bethesda games only lead in sheer volume of output, but when it comes to quality several other games run circles around them.
Mostly because the starting point is fucking abysmal.

 

[Hadoukens]

Most actually use .pk3 format now, especially for ZDoom. And 'advanced scripting' is severely under selling it. ZScript is marginally inferior to what you'd see in a normal third party engine, not to mention the ability to modify the engine itself.


The problem with this logic is that its like saying all unreal engine games are Unreal Tournament or Fortnite under the hood. Fudamentally, the only thing they share in common with Doom (apart from sigil) is the rendering tech, and even that only partially.

I just downloaded and unpacked Sonic Robo Blast 2's Zones.PK3 file (it's just a zip) and opened the first map of the Campaign which was a Doom WAD file called MAP01.WAD.

Still works normally. Lines, vertices, sectors, floor heights, ceiling heights, textures, this is quite literally still all Doom.

Even the gameplay itself, you can feel Doom under the hood. Sonic Robo Blast 2 is a Doom total conversion.

I dunno man, you tell me. What's the line between what is Doom and what isn't Doom? What is Sonic Robo Blast 2's source? Should we call it a GZDoom game? An UltimateDoomBuilder game? Not a mod at all? I may not agree with your reply, but I'm open to at least reading suggestions as to what things like this are.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I just downloaded and unpacked Sonic Robo Blast 2's Zones.PK3 file (it's just a zip) and opened the first map of the Campaign which was a Doom WAD file called MAP01.WAD.

Still works normally. Lines, vertices, sectors, floor heights, ceiling heights, textures, this is quite literally still all Doom.

Even the gameplay itself, you can feel Doom under the hood. Sonic Robo Blast 2 is a Doom total conversion.

I spot several 3D floors and slope handles on that map, those features alone weren't in the original doom and were added later by fans in more modern iterations of the engine. Lines, vertices, sectors, floor heights, ceiling heights, textures are simply elements the doom engine uses for its rendering tech and calculations. You'll find terms like that in any engine.

Pk3 isn't just a zip, its a format (originally from quake 3) that replaces the original IWAD format that doom used because it organizes the data in more easy to understand ways and is more flexible. PWADs (WAD or maps) are still used since its the format doom's rendering engine uses to create the scenario, not that different from a .umap in unreal engine.

 

[Hadoukens]

I spot several 3D floors and slope handles on that map, those features alone weren't in the original doom and were added later by fans. Lines, vertices, sectors, floor heights, ceiling heights, textures are simply elements the doom engine uses for its rendering tech and calculations.

Pk3 isn't just a zip, its a format (originally from quake 3) that replaces the original IWAD format that doom used because it organizes the data in more easy to understand ways and is more flexible. PWADs (WAD or maps) are still used since its the format doom's rendering engine uses to create the scenario, not that different from a .umap in unreal engine.

And those themselves are small changes to the code. Let's follow your logic. Sonic Robo Blast 2 is not Doom then, do I have that right? What is it then? What's the line and where is it crossed?

 

[Guilty_AI]

And those themselves are small changes to the code. Let's follow your logic. It's not Sonic Robo Blast 2 is not Doom then, do I have that right? What is it then?

Its a game built on a heavily modified version of id tech 1. Are Hexen, Strife and Heretic doom mods? Because their fudamental nature isn't any different from a SRB2, a Total Chaos or an Ashes 2063.

 

[Strategize]

Anyone not saying Skyrim is simply wrong. It's absolutely ludicrous what people have done with it over the years.

You can spend a lifetime playing and barely even scratch the surface of that games modding scene. There's alot of slop to filter though of course, but the amount of output is so insane you'll definitely find alot of quality aswell.

 

[Hadoukens]

Its a game built on a heavily modified version of id tech 1. Are Hexen, Strife and Heretic doom mods? Because their fudamental nature isn't any different from a SRB2, a Total Chaos or an Ashes 2063.

Ok, so what is a Doom mod?
Is Legacy of Rust not a new episode for Doom 2?

You started this, so keep going.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Ok, so what is a Doom mod?
Is Legacy of Rust not a new episode for Doom 2?

You started this, so keep going.

If it requires the original game to work, its a mod. If it works idependently of it (legally at least), its its own game.

Legacy of Rust requires Doom, uses Doom assets and even keeps its mechanics mostly intact. Its very obviously a mod, plus a map pack.

 

[Hadoukens]

If it requires the original game to work, its a mod. If it works idependently of it (legally at least), its its own game.

Legacy of Rust requires Doom, uses Doom assets and even keeps its mechanics mostly intact. Its very obviously a mod, plus a map pack.

But it expands the code and the original limitations.

To play it outside the official Nightdive Studios port, you must use a modern source port that supports the ID24 or MBF21 standards, such as GZDoom, DSDA-Doom, or Woof.

So Legacy of Rust would not be Doom, according to your own standards.

Aliens TC from the 90s would also not be a Doom mod to your standard, since it uses all different assets.

 

[amigastar]

Falcon 4.0 with Falcon BMS Mod, i know its not big in quantity but quality.

 

[sono]

Unreal tournament and quake 2

 

[Guilty_AI]

But it expands the code and the original limitations.


So Legacy of Rust would not be Doom, according to your own standards.

My own standards are whether it requires the original game or not.

Freedoom for example its very much its own game, even thought its a straight copy of Doom except for using its own original assets and levels.

 

[nkarafo]

DOOM 2 mod scene is an industry by itself. To the point where you can just have this one game for the rest of your life and still enjoy plenty of new stuff.

 

[Hadoukens]

My own standards are whether it requires the original game or not.

Freedoom for example its very much its own game, even thought its a straight copy of Doom except for using its own original assets and levels.

So then Legacy of Rust is not a Doom mod according to your standard. It will not run on Doom or Doom 2.

It requires this or other source ports to run:

 

[Guilty_AI]

So then Legacy of Rust is not a Doom mod according to your standard. It will not run on Doom or Doom 2.

It requires this or other source ports to run:

It still requires Doom to work, having other dependencies doesn't change that.