Console games that have been modified in some manner have been called "hacks" here. However, I propose that we stop calling them that and use the more accurate term "mods" instead.
"Hack" is a much more generic term that can mean a lot of things. Modding a game can be considered one form of "hacking", but "modding" is a much more specific and therefore accurate name for it than the more generic "hacking". Also, "modding" is a quite established term in gaming.
The standard term is ROM hacking. Modding may be more popular in other game modification contexts, but not when it comes to the console games that dominate here.
It could be the "ROM Glorious Ballsack Community", wouldn't change anything. What they've chosen in their own community as consistent is not consistent with terms in the computing community at large. Since TASVideos is outside that community, we have to deal with ambiguities that arise from the conflicting terminology. We don't call game mods Glorious Ballsacks and I don't think we should call them Hacks either.
TASVideos is not outside the ROMhacking community -- there's substantial overlap between the people who play hacks and the people who watch TASes. Switching up our terminology for no good reason will just create confusion.
Pyrel - an open-source rewrite of the Angband roguelike game in Python.
Hack: A modification of a game that was not programmed explicitly with that possibility in mind.
Mod: A modification of a game that was programmed explicitly with that possibility in mind.
Hack: A modification of a game that was not programmed explicitly with that possibility in mind.
Mod: A modification of a game that was programmed explicitly with that possibility in mind.
Hack: A modification of a game that was not programmed explicitly with that possibility in mind.
Mod: A modification of a game that was programmed explicitly with that possibility in mind.
I agree. This is exactly what my connotations with these words are.
Hack: A modification of a game that was not programmed explicitly with that possibility in mind.
Mod: A modification of a game that was programmed explicitly with that possibility in mind.
You may want to define them like that, but I don't think that's how it works in reality. Many mods are made to games which were not really designed to support modding (and in many cases it actually requires some level of hacking of the game). And as I commented in my original post, "hack" is a much broader and generic term than simply "modifying a game".
Using the same word to mean both "use computer-technological expertise to figure out how a system works, usually without the system creator's support or consent" and "modifying a game by hacking it" can be confusing. A generic term is used for a very specific purpose.
(Edit: How about a compromise: "Hack-mod", or something similar? Yes, I know that it will never catch on, but just throwing some ideas.)
"Hack" is a much more generic term that can mean a lot of things.
None of which are used with the context of speedruns, afaik.
Warp wrote:
You may want to define them like that, but I don't think that's how it works in reality.
It's not my definition, it's what's it is called in reality. In my experience, low-level modifications of console games have always been called "[ROM] hacks", and high-level modifications of PC games have always been called "mods". (Even the word choice hints at the usage: "hack" sounds like a massive, previously unimagined change, not as harsh as "mod(ification)".) It's also not ambiguous because console game modifications have to be hacks (the whole point of consoles is to have locked software and hardware content). When Windows TASes become more present here, I don't think the runs using modded games will get a "(Hack)" in the title.
Warp wrote:
Many mods are made to games which were not really designed to support modding (and in many cases it actually requires some level of hacking of the game).
Somebody else may call that a mod, I call it a hack. Who's right? My definition makes more sense, imo.
It's also not ambiguous because console game modifications have to be hacks (the whole point of consoles is to have locked software and hardware content).
I did not disagree at all with the concept that modifying a console game requires hacking. My objection was simply to using the word "hack" for an extremely specific form of hacking which in other contexts already has another name.
It's a bit like someone asked how they can make a TAS, and someone answered "use a program." That's not very descriptive. The more proper answer would be "use an emulator." An emulator is indeed a program, but there's no reason to use the more generic term when the more specific term exists and is more descriptive.
TASVideos is not outside the ROMhacking community -- there's substantial overlap between the people who play hacks and the people who watch TASes. Switching up our terminology for no good reason will just create confusion.
This.
Also, I used to be part of the Doom community which had both hacks and mods galore. They can be interchangable. In fact, in the Doom community we usually just used the term "wad" based on the fact that the file extensions for such mods was ".wad." Terminology can be based on weird things. Just go with what the popular expression is so there isn't confusion. It doesn't have to be a perfect encapsulation of the concept down to the dictionary definition.
Just go with what the popular expression is so there isn't confusion.
I can't help but to notice the irony here. It was precisely the confusion that the term "hack" caused that prompted me to start this thread...
But I've never seen anyone else get confused. Sure the terms may not be perfectly accurate, but people adjust to the language as it is used, instead of worrying about the precise meanings of words.
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I just say "rom hack" like everyone else does.
But on the japanese 2ch rockman dicussion thread that i've been hanging out at for years.. everyone always uses 改造 most of the time.
I think most ROM hacks would be covered under the banner of "total-conversion mods," such as The Nameless Mod for Deus Ex, as they fully convert one game into another. Most "mods" that are referred to as just "mods" do not make such drastic changes, although there are of course exceptions.
As another aside, I don't know of any total conversions that replace files from the original game the way IPS patches replace bits of code in a ROM.
And the word 改造 (Kaizou) has been dirtied by a specific hack of Super Mario World, and now refers to traps that trigger after you would have otherwise cleared the level.
And the word 改造 (Kaizou) has been dirtied by a specific hack of Super Mario World
But only in English. And only the spelling "Kaizo".
In Japanese, 改造 means reform/remodel, or in the context of video games, game mod/ROM hack. It doesn't mean anything more specific than that.
And the word 改造 (Kaizou) has been dirtied by a specific hack of Super Mario World, and now refers to traps that trigger after you would have otherwise cleared the level.
No, that's a Kaizo TRAP.
Kaizo on it's own on this side of the pond just means f*cked up level design in general, of which the Kaizo Trap is one example.
