Throughout the annals of gaming history, few mods have been as important or controversial as the Doom 3 "Duct Tape mod" (well, aside from the "Hot Coffee" mod in GTA:San Andreas, but we're not here to talk about that). With the surprise release of the original Doom trilogy on Nintendo Switch, now is the perfect time to look back on the impact that this seemingly mundane fan mod has had on the game, the Doom franchise, and, perhaps, the gaming industry as a whole.

Demons Lurking In The Dark

When Doom 3 released in 2004, players were blown away by the visual fidelity the game offered. It had been 10 years since Doom 2 released on MS-Dos, and video game graphics had improved immeasurably in that amount of time. Not only was this the beginning of the era of "life-like" looking games, but first person shooters had evolved considerably by then. Half-Life 2 released later that same year to critical success. Video games and gaming culture were on the rise in the mainstream consciousness, and Doom 3 was expected to be the poster child for next-gen gaming (Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 were still over a year away.)

RELATED: The Fact That Doom 3 Is On A Handheld Console Is A Bit Mind-Blowing

Players were pretty surprised, then, when developers id Software decided to forgo the bloody demon carnage of the original games and make something slower and truly terrifying instead. Doom 3 is a horror game through and through and many long time fans of the series were less than pleased with the new direction. The greatest point of contention fans had with the game - and the mechanic that perfectly exemplified the shift to straight horror - was the Doomguy's flashlight. In the launch version of the game there was no way to use your flashlight while holding a gun. In order to see in the dark, Doomguy would need to put his gun away and take out his flashlight.

This is believed to be a technical limitation in the game, but id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead once spoke to Polygon about the design decision, saying: "For me, the purity of the game is that you could either have the flashlight, or have the gun, it was just a choice you had to make in the game. I think that, for the game we made at the time, that was the right decision. A lot of the gameplay was kind of built around it."

Whatever the reason, many fans felt the way the flashlight worked artificially slowed down gameplay, causing frustration when trying to fight demons in the dark. Many players simply wanted the old run-and-gun doom of their youth, and weren't looking for a moody horror experience. Enter: Glen "FrenZon" Murphy and the Duct Tape Mod.

A Single Roll Of Duct Tape In Space

On FrenZon's website for the mod, persevered online for posterity, he writes "Under the crazy presumption that a roll of duct tape has to exist somewhere on the Mars facility, the Duct Tape mod sticks flashlights to your machinegun and shotgun." The mod was created only 3 days after the game was released and was a massive hit with players. Suddenly, players were able to play the game at a pace closer to what they remember from the old games. Scripted events and jump scares were still part of the game, but the psychological effect of being able to see AND shoot the demons was exactly what fans wanted.

Id noticed the attention the mod was getting, which was downloaded 80,000 times in the first 24 hours, and eventually made the mod official. In the 2012 re-release of Doom 3, called BFG Edition on Steam, the game included an "armor mounted flashlight" for the guns. Now, with the re-re-release on Nintendo Switch, the Duct Tape Mod is a distant memory and one might be mistaken in thinking it was id Software's idea all along.

Our Game, Our Mod

The Duct Tape Mod was something of an inciting incident both for the Doom franchise and future Doom publisher Bethesda. In 2017, Bethesda launched the controversial Creation Club for Skyrim and Fallout 4, a somewhat confusing marketplace for mods made by "independent creators." The content was basically what you would expect to find on the Steam workshop page for the game. Only now, one would need to purchase Bethesda Bucks and buy them.

Perhaps less predatory but just as noteworthy is the Snapmap feature from Doom 2016. This was an in-game engine for creating campaigns and game modes for Doom that came included with the game. Sort of a Mario Maker with demons and shotguns, Snapmap was another effective way for the publisher to profit off of mod makers by integrating modding into the game client.

The success and popularity of the Duct Tape Mod was eye-opening as to the potential of user created content. It's interesting to think games like Dreams and Mario Maker wouldn't exist without a little roll of duct tape in space.

NEXT: Bethesda Fixing Account Login Issue For Doom Players On Switch