I just ran into this so Imma give some definitions here of what "modding" is and other similar game editing terms.
Modding : "Mod" comes from "Modification". A mod is any action that modifies the base files of the game. For example, ovewriting a model in the game with another one.
Some games force you to directly override files to mod, other games have mod support and allow you to place mods into a dedicated folder, that then the game treats as base game files to run (Minecraft, Sims)
Other times there are mod handlers that dynamically inject files into the game. That is, you place files into a mod folder, then when the game asks the computer for a file, the program goes "ah no, you don't get your original file, I'm swapping that with the mod file"
Save editing : This is for whenever you manually edit the save files of a game. For example, loading up your save data into an editor and giving yourself items you don't have, or just manually editing the binary too if you know what you're doing.
The general differences between these two are:
- Modding affects only your game. If there's any multiplayer component the other player would need the same mod to apply the effect you have. (Think Minecraft servers)
- Modding also is far more powerful than save editing. You can basically do anything with modding if you have the knowledge and determination (and time too). If you think about it, ROM hacks are basically what you get when you push modding to the extreme, changing basically every file.
- Save editing is global. Anything you save edit would be seen by other players. This comes with the drawback that you can only change the things the game allows you to change (that is, if it has to be a change that was programmed to be a dynamic thing that is different in each save) For example, in a game where you can save and load into any room, you can place yourself in any room you want, but in a game like Ocarina of Time where you either* spawn in the temple of time or link's house, there's no way in the save file to tell the game to load you anywhere else
* You can also load into dungeon entrances
There's also other types of editing:
Process editing/Memory editing : This is what cheat engine does. Once the game is running, you can hijack the memory space the game is using and change values there. This is very powerful, and you can do everything save editing allows you to do, plus everything that modding allows you to do. It's basically hacking. You're hacking the game.
While you never see save editing in any legal hot waters, and modding is in the gray area of legal/illegal depending on the company, hacking is the one thing that is just flat out disliked and not allowed by every company.
Think of all the cheaters online. They usually use process editing. Sure you can ALSO mod to cheat, but modding requires specific game knowledge and is more limited than just cheat engine-ing your way into editing things. Also modding is something transparent that anyone can see by looking at your files, while process editing is invisible to the game as it is a second program who does all the work.
On the other hand, this hijacking is what the mod handlers I mentioned earlier do.
So, basically, for a game like DQB2, you can use cheat engine without any issue because its not a game where online cheating would ruin the experience, but cheat engine is not a mod, and the game isn't "modded". The game hasn't been modified, just it's memory.
Some people might also know about ACE so I'll mention it here.
ACE : Arbitrary Code Execution. This, like memory editing, is not a "game" thing. It's something general to any program. Sometimes, programs have holes in them, that if you find, you can write your own code and have the game execute said code.
The main thing with ACE is that you use the game itself to edit the game.
So, for example, in modding you manually replace/add a file outside the game. In save editing, you manually edit the save file outside the game, in process editing, you manually change the memory outside the game. In ACE, you write code, WITHIN the game.
So it's as powerful as process editing in technically, the technically being that you can bloody code a whole process editor within the game if you want to. Or you can create files that you then inject like a mod.
ACE is not really important in the world of modding. It's more for speedrun territory, since of course speedrun rules state that no external editing. But internal IS valid. Unless it's manually banned out of a category.
Darn, I yap a lot. Anyway, I remembered another term:
Datamining : In game context, datamining is grabbing the binary files of the game, then figuring out what the heck they are.
Programs are stored in binary. Everything in a game is binary. The game knows what is what from context. We don't always have said context, so we have to piece together what each bit means.
So, datamining a game is extrating the files and figuring out what each file does.
You also have Reverse Engineering, which is similar but it is focused on the game structure instead of the game files. And also Decompiling, which is turning the game's binary back into the language it was coded in (for DQB2 it is C++ I'm 90% sure)
Those are them terms. I think i didn't forget anything important.
Anyhow. DQB2 has quite a lot of save editors, has had process editing for a while too, mods have been doable too but it's only recently that any sort of mod installer was coded, no ACE, we have, idk, about 30% of the game datamined, and we know a bit about the game structure, no decomp.
