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78304-01 - Übung: Critical Game Modification: Practice and Theory (3 KP)
| Semester | Frühjahrsemester 2026 |
| Angebotsmuster | unregelmässig |
| Dozierende | Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal (ranjodhsingh.dhaliwal@unibas.ch, BeurteilerIn) |
| Inhalt | Video game modification, or “modding,” is an increasingly pervasive vernacular practice where players pick apart their favorite games and restitch them together into novel creative productions. Taking advantage of games’ nature as assemblages of varied digital media elements—graphic art, animation, music, sound, code, data, dialogue—“modders” will add, edit, and swap these elements in order to extend, alter, and remap the qualities and behaviors of their chosen games. In doing so, they develop novel insights about these games and their affordances beyond what may be gleaned through routine play. This course (workshop?) explores the critical potentials of modding as a scholarly practice for researchers engaged in the study of games, software, and digital media. Modding helps to reveal the implicit and explicit assumptions and design decisions made by developers about their game worlds, to explore how these manifest for players at the interstices of computational processes and aesthetic experience, and, crucially, to experiment with alternative possibilities. Moreover, interrogating the modding process itself—identifying what kinds of changes are more or less difficult to implement—can offer insights into the technical and social conditions within which digital games are produced, distributed, and played. In addition to a set of hands-on lessons in which students practice and reflect upon the process of modding a selection of historically significant and popular video games, we will contextualize modding within historical traditions of non-commercial and amateur game production, artistic hacks, and other design interventions, as well as academic methods and approaches including critical code studies, media archaeology, and critical making. For a final assessment, students will develop research dossiers on a game of their choosing, addressing existing community modding practices, its openness to and barriers against modification, and critical insights produced through their own efforts to modify it. |
| Teilnahmevoraussetzungen | The number of participants is limited. In case of over-subscription, students of Digital Humanities will be given priority. |
| Unterrichtssprache | Englisch |
| Einsatz digitaler Medien | kein spezifischer Einsatz |
| Intervall | Wochentag | Zeit | Raum |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Dienstag | 12.15-14.00 | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
Einzeltermine
| Datum | Zeit | Raum |
|---|---|---|
| Dienstag 24.02.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Fasnachtswoche |
| Dienstag 03.03.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 119 |
| Dienstag 10.03.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Dienstag 17.03.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Dienstag 24.03.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Dienstag 31.03.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Dienstag 07.04.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Dienstag 14.04.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Dienstag 21.04.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Dienstag 28.04.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Dienstag 05.05.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Dienstag 12.05.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Dienstag 19.05.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Dienstag 26.05.2026 | 12.15-14.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Seminarraum 106 |
| Module |
Doktorat Digital Humanities: Empfehlungen (Promotionsfach: Digital Humanities) Modul: Digital Humanities, Culture and Society (Master Studienfach: Digital Humanities) Modul: Humanities and Social Science Coding (Master Studienfach: Digital Humanities) |
| Prüfung | Lehrveranst.-begleitend |
| Hinweise zur Prüfung | Engagement in class and activities, and one brief (1-2 page) report on game modding processes constitute the minimum requirements for assessment. |
| An-/Abmeldung zur Prüfung | Anmelden: Belegen; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich |
| Wiederholungsprüfung | keine Wiederholungsprüfung |
| Skala | Pass / Fail |
| Belegen bei Nichtbestehen | beliebig wiederholbar |
| Zuständige Fakultät | Philosophisch-Historische Fakultät, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Anbietende Organisationseinheit | Digital Humanities Lab |