Garry’s Mod and Source Engine Mutualism

As stated by Anne-Marie Schleiner, “modders infiltrate a wealthier ‘host’ game system,” and compares the process of modding to a city rat that infiltrates houses to steal it’s cheese. Although, in some cases, rather than being strictly parasitic, mods can become mutualistic. Garry’s Mod is a bit of an oddball in terms of popular games mods, as it assimilates so much from many Source Engine games that it garnered enough content so become it’s own game, published by the same company that made the engine its modded. Furthermore, tools directly from Valve, the creator of Source Engine, perpetuated invested interest in those modded games and helped grow the Steam platform as a whole.

Garry’s Mod the Source Engine, as well as the assets from most all of it’s games, and dumps it all into a sandbox game with no inherent objective. Tools are provided to upload additional maps, spawn objects and enemies, and even develop entire gamemodes, include maybe Garry’s Mod’s infamous Trouble in Terrorist Town. TTT uses many Counter Strike: Source assets, including maps, weapons, and player models, and turns it all into a hidden role game, much like Mafia or Werewolf. Gamemodes like this would then inspire the community to create their own maps, additional mods, and servers tailored to whatever they chose. The Garry’s Mod Steam Workshop is one of the platform’s most active, and drew audiences towards the platform and all games associated with Garry’s Mod.

Citation: Schleiner, Anne-Marie. The Player’s Power to Change the Game: Ludic Mutation. Amsterdam University Press, 2018.