Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five moments in modding that are extremely satisfying.

Needless to say, modding has long been a major part of what we do here at the NLSC. For nearly thirty years now, talented people in our community have added missing content, fixed and updated content that was in the games by default, made unofficial fixes for bugs and other issues, and created brand new experiences with amazing total conversions. These efforts have not only enhanced the virtual hardwood experience for a lot of people, but also been creatively satisfying for those who enjoy tinkering with video games. Indeed, some people mod the games more than they play them!

Naturally, modding can also be a frustrating and tedious activity. From repetitive data entry to tasks that are complex to complete and all too easy to mess up, certain parts of modding aren’t as enjoyable as others. The fun steps, breakthroughs, and technical triumphs along the way, are what keep modders going until the job is complete. As someone who has both successfully released major projects and unfortunately had others fall through for a variety of reasons, I’m quite familiar with some of the most satisfying moments in modding. To that end, here are five that I’ve experienced while messing around with some of my favourite basketball games throughout the years.

1. Suitable Assets for Missing Players

Back when I was a kid creating Michael Jordan in NBA Live 96, it was easy to make him and any other created players blend in with the original rosters. Sure, without the modding tools that our founders made he was missing some bio data, and he’d display the generic No Portrait Available headshot, but as far as his in-game model, he looked as if he’d been in the game by default. As games improved, graphically and otherwise, created players began to stand out more. Even if we furnished them with an excellent custom cyberface, they’d still be called by their jersey number, or be without their signature animations. There were limitations on just how authentic they could look.

That’s why it’s always appreciated when there are assets in the game that allow a custom player to blend in with the originals. In the best case scenario, that includes hidden art and models, player names in the audio files, and other leftover assets from older games. These all make for some thrilling discoveries when poking through a game’s files! Sometimes, a game will even include an animation package for a player that’s missing, albeit under a generic name to avoid any legal issues. Even a bank of common names complete with audio is helpful when adding players to a roster. It’s satisfying when games include assets that allow our mods to be far more authentic.

2. Handy Hacks & Workarounds

Because modding involves creating scenarios and content that a game might not have originally been designed for, absolute perfection is often an impossible goal. A retro roster is going to have some unsuitable commentary, or incorrect dates, or some other inaccuracy that we just can’t change. However, when we discover workarounds that let us come as close to perfection as possible, or avoid limitations that make it tough to edit or add new content, it’s immensely satisfying for our modding community. This includes ways to bypass limits on the number of created players, use dummied-out assets, and otherwise do something that may not have originally been intended.

This also includes taking advantage of mechanisms that were put in place to help the developers create and subsequently update the game. NBA Live’s switch to DBF files wasn’t done with roster modding in mind, but we benefitted from it nevertheless. The method of blanking out career stats for players in NBA 2K11 was likely done to keep the amount of data manageable, and possibly be a shortcut when replacing players in the official roster updates, but it’s something we can take advantage of, too. Whether we discover a method of achieving our goals without breaking the game, or we make use of a developer’s workaround, it’s satisfying to expand upon our modding toolkit.

3. Files That Are Interchangeable

When a modding project is ambitious and large in scope, any assets that are readily available – be they original files or mods we can reuse – are extremely helpful. This includes any assets that are originally from or for a different game in the series, but are either immediately compatible or quickly and easily converted. To state the very obvious, the less new content that you need to create, the quicker you can assemble a project that’s in a releasable state. So many roster projects for NBA Live and NBA 2K over the years have benefitted from files that proved to be interchangeable or reusable after conversion, with the ones that slot right in naturally being the most convenient.

File compatibility has also allowed us to quickly develop some unofficial fixes and workarounds for various games. For example, the Player Lock option is absent from the game setup screen in NBA Live 08, but the functionality is still in the game. Not only does the requisite menu file from NBA Live 07 work in 08, but it points to that function, restoring access to it. Compatible menu and cutscene files have likewise allowed us to modify starting lineup introductions and display statistics on the pause screen that aren’t shown by default. Even animations have been imported between games! It’s always satisfying to discover assets that can be used to mod multiple titles.

4. Confirming an Idea is Feasible

On that note, modding discoveries occur because someone was willing to try out ideas such as swapping files between games. The results aren’t always what we were hoping for, as tinkering causes crashes, undesirable effects, or simply no change at all. And so, when a new modding possibility or technique is discovered – especially if it’s an out-of-the-box idea that seemed unlikely to work and far more inclined to make a game crash – it’s undoubtedly satisfying! Whether it was intended by developers who are friendly to the modding community, or just a stroke of good luck with the way that the game was programmed, we’re not about to look a gift horse in the mouth here.

Now, not every idea will be feasible, or produce results that are good enough to make it worthwhile even if it is. Sometimes “it sort of works” is fine, but other times that just makes a mod feel half-baked, or worse yet, too unstable to properly enjoy. At the same time, interesting and exciting retro modding discoveries have been made several years later. It therefore becomes a balancing act between never saying never and thus shutting down ideas, and tempering expectations by noting the difficulty of making an idea happen and the lack of success or viable methods thus far. When you do make a satisfying modding discovery though, it’s like a gamewinner following a furious rally.

5. When a Modding Project is Complete

Modding can be a really fun and creatively satisfying activity. Ideally you’ll create something that you can enjoy when it’s done, but many of the steps along the way are satisfying as well. I’m sure most modders can relate to the joy of seeing a project take shape, in large part because of satisfying moments such as the ones outlined above. However, the ultimate satisfaction is reaching a point where you can release a project, providing both the community and yourself with something that’ll enhance your basketball gaming experience. As I’m sure roster modders can attest, with all of the fiddly and time-consuming grunt work, it’s nice to finally be done with a project!

Of course, “done” doesn’t always mean done. There may be further updates and fixes to make, but the mod has come together and is basically in a completed state. It’s far easier to add polish to a finished mod than push a big project through to completion, so naturally it’s satisfying to finally reach that point. Considering how easily major modding projects can be derailed – not just in our community, but for other games as well – you should celebrate it when you’ve overcome all of the obstacles, completed all the necessary tasks, and published your work to be enjoyed by everyone. Indeed, that satisfying feeling is why despite some burnout, I remained interested in modding.

Modders, what are some of the most satisfying moments that you’ve experienced while modding? Can you relate to the examples that I’ve given here? Have your say in the comments, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.