Gameplay modification

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Gameplay modification, often shorthanded as mod, is a blanket term for unofficial hacks and code alterations that change one or more aspects of the original, or "vanilla" version of a game. The term "vanilla" comes from a common terminology featured in the computing world. Mods range from cosmetic changes to engine and gameplay overhauls that result in the game functioning completely differently. The first attempts at modding involved Brawl, with such projects generally being viewed as novelties, palette swaps for characters and UI changes. Outside of this, forcing the Wii to load such mods was considered difficult, requiring use of the now-inoperable Twilight hack. The increasing complexity of game play mods and the discovery of the Smash Stack exploit, however, caused mods to develop considerably more attention with observers.

Brawl remains the most commonly modded game in the series, primarily utilizing the Smash Stack exploit, though alternate methods for loading them are available. Mods for Melee often require the use of applications available for The Homebrew Channel. 19XXTE, a gameplay mod for Smash 64, requires patching a ROM image of the game. Mods for both versions of SSB4 involve the use of kernel exploit chains on their respective consoles primarily using Layered File System (LayeredFS) patchers to overwrite parts of the game's filesystem. Mods for Ultimate require a Switch console released before July 2018 to utilize a recovery mode exploit left over from the development phase of the console, enabling the use of code hooking and file replacement via the Skyline executable patch.

Overview

Specific changes to the game depend on the preferences of the developers, as well as their ultimate goal. There are a few different categories most mods fall into:

Balance mods don't change the core gameplay and apply buffs and nerf to characters to reduce competitive inequality between characters.
Overpowered mods give every character huge buffs so that they are all equally overpowered.
Melee-inspired mods change the gameplay and movesets to be more fast-paced and technical like in Melee, sometimes adding mechanics such as wavedashing.
Competitive mods don't change anything gameplay-wise, but add features for players to practice their skill and/or improvements for tournament play, such as quality of life changes.
New character mods try to bring new characters into the game with new 3D models, animations and movesets, either replacing characters or being a new addition.
Skin Mods bring new Alternate Costumes to characters using File Replacement.
Silly Mods change characters or game mechanics in certain ways to result in humorous outcomes, like modifying Ganondorf's moves to stretch. Often times said silly mods fall into the Overpowered category.

Due to the Smash Stack exploit and relative ease of hacking the Wii compared to other consoles, alongside the popularity of Project M, modifications for Brawl are considerably more widespread than for any other game in the series.

Stages

In addition to raw gameplay, other portions of the game may be overhauled by developers to further change gameplay. The changing of stages is among the more common ways to do this:

In Brawl

Taken with Brawl's native screenshot support.

In Brawl-, the stage Temple has been significantly condensed compared to its vanilla counterpart.

In Project M, the same stage layout was used to make the Skyloft stage.

Brawl is the most commonly modded game in the series due to Smash Stack exploit, which makes modding the game much easier to the average player. In these mods, it is common to new stages, often replacing others, that have been made by fans. It is also possible to use newly created slots on the stage selection screen or alternative stages that load when holding a specific button when selecting a stage.

Brawl- and Project M, for instance, replace the ordinarily over-sized Temple with a smaller, more condensed version. Stages with transformations like Castle Siege or Pokémon Stadium are often changed to stay at the most competitive form of the stage. Outside of this, unpopular stages might be entirely replaced with others, such as how Project M replaces the highly non-standard Mario Bros. with a rendition of Fountain of Dreams from Melee.

Legacy TE added stages with the design of stages used for competitive play for each stage, using their theme in background models and textures and playing the same background music, that load when holding the Start, L, or Z button. Legacy XP added over 700 new stages into the game using new slots on the selection screen, as well as variants when holding down specific buttons. Button Shortcuts to quickly select popular Project M stages have also been added. Smash 2 added all stages that were in Melee' back into the game. Outside of stage layout changes, some textures and tracks may be replaced, particularly in the case of original stages.

In Melee

While one of the less popular entries in the series for mods, some have been created over the years. SD Remix, released in 2015, features 3 pages of stages: One for the vanilla stages, one with 1-player mode-only stages, and one for newly created stages, with some inspired from other games.

In 64

19XX modifies the stage selection screen to contain otherwise unplayable in versus mode stages Battlefield, Final Destination, and Meta Crystal. 19XXTE 's selection screen contains 11 instead of the original 9 slots for stages, and 19XXCE has 16 slots.

In 2018, modders found a way to change stages, first only replacing Hyrule Castle, but later it became possible to replace all stages. The mod SSBMSE replaces most stages in the game with more competitive stages modeled after their appearance in other Smash games.

Smash Remix is the most recent mod, and in Patch 0.9.5 it includes 4 pages of stages from newer Smash Games and Brand New Custom Stages.

In Smash 4

Creating new stages is possible in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

In Ultimate

Creating new stages is possible in Ultimate, though stage collisions have new properties that cannot currently be edited by the Smash 4 stage collision editor.

Gameplay adjustments

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The editor who added this tag elaborates: much more to say about it, especially PM; split into games; split into core engine - small character move changes for balance or clone chracter creation

Gameplay adjustments for the games are intended to, as their name implies, adjust how the actual gameplay works. Character movesets or even the core engine might be changed, techniques might be removed, altered or newly added.