Project Details
Projekt
Modding and Editor-Games. Participative Practices of Mediatized Worlds
Applicant
Professor Dr. Benjamin Beil
Subject Area
Theatre and Media Studies
Term
from 2014 to 2018
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 260152673
The present project understands modding as any player-made alteration or expansion of the content and structure of a computer game. The term editor-games describes digital games which - following such modding practices - focus on a 'game with the game', an editing of the game world. The enormous success of these types of games helps not only put established gameplay mechanisms of the computer game in question but also demonstrates the great importance of creative participatory practices in mediatized worlds. While nowadays many (supposedly) defining aspects of the so-called New Media have rather become historical discussions (e.g. the question of authenticity in digital images), the promise of a participatory culture remains a focal point of many debates - even when the 'participatory core' of many of these new practices often seems vague. Modding and editor-games are particularly suited for an analysis of participatory practices in mediatized worlds for two primary reasons: Firstly, in recent years computer games have become a mass media phenomenon which is paradigmatically shaping the use of digital technologies, e.g. certain forms of media interaction and interface design. Secondly, modding practices and editor games constitute a research object that illustrates different 'degrees of participation' particularly well - especially through the functionalities of the editor tools, which make the complex technical artifact that is the computer game available for participatory practices in the first place. The goal of the project is to reflect the complex interplay of technology and technique in mediatized worlds. These interdependencies of (digital) technological innovations and (new) forms of interaction require a critical analysis of existing and the development of new analytical methods. On the one hand, the project will make modding and editor-games accessible as a new research object in order to provide more conceptual accuracy to the discourse on participatory media cultures within the media and communication studies. On the other hand, the goal is to perform a critical evaluation of established methods within the game studies in light of these new creative gaming practices.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
