18 years ago today, on December 1 2004, Valve released the Source SDK.
Game modding was extremely different back then. Most games didn't come with SDKs or scripting capabilities.
For games that did have SDKs, mods were often very simple. They might make your crowbar glow and not do much else. Other mods like Counter-Strike aimed to create something new.
But many mods were just for dumb fun.
Also 18 years ago today, on the same day as the Source SDK, jb55 released JBMod. The initial build just took the physgun that was still included in Valve's code and added it back into the project.
jb55 released a few updates on the very same day, all the way up to 0.4. JBMod quickly became a community favorite for dumb fun.
About a week later jb55 released what turned out to be his final update, 0.5. It added new constraints and various other features.
He didn't think he could add anything else to the mod and decided to hand it over to HL2World to let a team continue its development.
Feedbag, the founder of HL2World, put together a team of the world's finest Source modders.
Over the next weeks the team worked hard on maps, models, art, and code for JBMod 0.6.
I had discussions with Valve and legal challenges arose that inspired changes like needing to re-imagine the sticky launcher as a leaf blower.
We started putting out teasers showing off 0.6's new features. Prop freezing, combine dancing, leaf blowers, VGUI menus. 0.6 had it all!
Over time team members simply lost interest and deadlines were missed. JBMod 0.6 never saw a release.
It turns out when you take a bunch of teenagers and turn their hobby into a job they stop having fun. Go figure.
Any of the features that aren't in the Steam release today have been lost to time.
We never had a central repo. Development took place primarily over IRC by sharing links that are long gone.
With Feedbag as the project lead, and myself as the development lead, we kept the dream alive for the following months and years by continuing to promote upcoming features and updates even without any active development.
Years later a new website was built, which at the time was an inside joke and a satirical take on another mod's community.
But time went on and less and less people were in on the joke and what we once made fun of them for has somehow become a part of our identity instead.
18 years later JBMod is finally back for good. And as always, 0.6 is coming soon.