Reporting on the project development practices of total conversion game mod teams
Leônidas Soares Pereira, Maurício M. S. Bernardes · Creative Industries Journal · 2022
The activity of game modding has often been viewed as a fringe form of informal, hobbyist and amateurish software development despite its considerable growth in popularity in the past two decades. However, it is hard to see how supposedly free-form and unorganized groups of volunteers are able to successfully carry out projects of such magnitude as total conversion mods. Considering the small number of studies dedicated to understanding the mechanical processes of mod development, this research is focused on analyzing the project development practices of nine total conversion game mod teams. Relying on semi-structured interviews guided by the 10 knowledge areas of the Project Management Body of Knowledge, we aimed to develop an initial and clearer picture of the activities related to project organization, management, and software development that take place among these groups. Our findings point towards total conversion modding being an activity that, although highly informal, does tend to present recurring patterns that can be seen as preferred practices, thereby positioning it as more than just a collective and voluntary form of ‘lawless’ software development.