I think open source eliminates one potential obstacle to modding, but having good interfaces is the main thing. If some open source code is unreadable spaghetti, then it’s gonna be hard to mod. Likewise if a closed-source game has well-documented interfaces available, it could be easier than a poorly-interfaced open source project.
I haven’t written video game mods but I’ve written a lot of code. Even in my own projects, ie where I have access and authority on all code, I want to be ignoring 99% of the code at any given time.
With good interfaces, you don’t need to look behind them. In that way, if the interfaces are good enough, it ceases to matter whether you can see the code behind them.
I think open source eliminates one potential obstacle to modding, but having good interfaces is the main thing. If some open source code is unreadable spaghetti, then it’s gonna be hard to mod. Likewise if a closed-source game has well-documented interfaces available, it could be easier than a poorly-interfaced open source project.
I haven’t written video game mods but I’ve written a lot of code. Even in my own projects, ie where I have access and authority on all code, I want to be ignoring 99% of the code at any given time.
With good interfaces, you don’t need to look behind them. In that way, if the interfaces are good enough, it ceases to matter whether you can see the code behind them.