It is probably not too much of a jump for me to presume that most of you reading this will be console gamers rather than those crazy PC players. Keeping up with the latest PC tech is very expensive and very quickly slips from top of the line. Having to manage all your games, the various digital platforms and not be able to play the latest titles on full specs is quite frankly a pain in the arse. Hence why consoles exist, plug it into the TV, put in a game and you know it's going to work. For all the added complications come some amazing benefits, not least the graphics. Seeing a game played at 8K with 120 FPS (Frames Per Second) is another world compared to say playing handheld on the Nintendo Switch. It’s like looking at PSone graphics!
Aside from those more obvious benefits there is one other area that stands apart. Mods. And I am not talking about the 60’s British subculture. Moderations are basically either minor tweaks or changes by players to alter the game in some way. They can go from an additional weapon right up to a full overhaul of the entire game. The only equivalent to this that I can think of in other media is fan fiction. Someone writing entire stories either from a different character's perspective or full on ‘what if’ stories. For example, what if Boromir gets the one ring and takes over middle earth. Being prevalent on the internet most tend to gravitate towards the sexual end of things… Though saying that mods can gravitate this way as well.
On the gaming side things are more interesting and inventive. Much like Linux and other open source software, mods are generally free. You obviously need the base game but otherwise you can just install it relatively easily, especially if it has been well made. The biggest issue being the varying quality with some things breaking the game figuratively, like making you invincible or giving you a weapon that kills everything in one hit. Though loading too many or if it hasn't been installed correctly will literally break the game, usually with a crash. And no one wants that.
Mod Support
As this seems so far from the norm, where is the best place to start? For me it’s Steam, the much derided digital game platform. They have a specific area for each game that has a mod - if the creators allow it - called Steam Workshop which I often peruse. Here you will find thousands of mods created by players, each broken down into different aspects of the game. It’s not for all games but the top ones tend to get it. The most popular tend to be ones that improve the graphics. Why have an extremely expensive and powerful PC if you are not going to make the most of it? Even on the top graphical settings players always want more.
There are several reasons why there are gaps like this to be filled. If you sell a million copies of a game on PC you will need to cater to as large an audience as possible in terms of computing power. Why put in the most effort for the top end PCs if only a thousand or so people will be able to use it? Better spread it as much as you can so many more people can play your title.
But why make mods? Surely not that many people are going to see them, let alone play them. Well it’s like anything really, you just do it for fun. If you come up with something really out there it might blow up on the internet. Others do it to showcase their talents in aid of trying to get a job in the industry. There have been instances of modders being so talented on a game that they get hired by that company, with one dedicated guy being picked up by Bethesda due to his mods on Skyrim.
As for Steam Workshop it is really easy to use and install any modifications. Every game has its own section broken down into Tags to help you find what you want. Due to the large number of additions every week it can be tricky to find the good stuff amongst the rubbish. Luckily users can rate each one so you can quite easily find the best mods for any given game, particularly a year or two after release of the base title.
One workshop I use a lot is for Football Manager. There are many quality of life mods such as new skins, face-packs and badges to make the game look a lot better. You can probably find every famous player from the last 30 years to add to your save if you so wished. The money ones can be a laugh, who wouldn’t want £1 Billion at Leyton Orient!? My favourites are the additional leagues that people create. The database has not changed for a long time and is rather limited (no New Zealand!?) so people will add in new leagues from addition countries as well as more lower leagues to current nations. The best I have found so far are by claassen, highly detailed, accurate and they work very well.
Why Play Mods?
Installing updates on your base game or save is risky, the most likely issue is your game crashing. It can get worse with some instances of save files becoming corrupt and thus unplayable. These are worst case scenarios, for the most part they work brilliantly and enhance your gaming experience.
Probably the most requested mods are those for making a game look way better than its standard version. Whether this is a full overhaul of the graphics, adding new lighting or even just more detailed character models.
One depressing but seemingly necessary reason to add a mod is to fix a broken game. It’s true that you cannot fix every defect in a piece of software so there will always be some bugs in games. Most companies opt to do as much as they can but it seems Bethesda have been taking a different track. For the last few years they have been expecting fans to fix issues that they seemingly can’t be bothered with. Unsung heroes will make sure that certain quests or levels are playable. This is especially harder in big RPGs where there are so many permutations that not all can be covered through testing.
We have all been there, spending 100+ hours in a game and for us to have completed all the main and side quests. The title is no longer being updated so what can you do? Fortunately people are out there making new levels, areas, quests, whatever they can add for you to do more in a game.
Probably one of the most impressive works is the addition to the amazing grand strategy game Crusader Kings II. Now seven years after its release there are thousands of mods you can play. The basic premise of the game is you take control of a nobleman and his family somewhere in Europe and try to navigate the royal courts to curry favour for yourself and your descendants. If you have an heir (and that is tricky) they can take over when you die. Though so many things can go wrong with assassinations, wars and plagues you never know what will happen next. Fortunately someone has managed to add in a Game of Thrones version, giving you the chance to live out your own dreams in Westeros!
Popular Culture
Mods tend to be for a small crowd on a particular game, maybe getting a quick mention on a website or two though usually this is because they have either done something extraordinary or something that is shortly going to be banned. There is now one regular occurrence that is very much in the public eye (though I am sure it still passes most people by!). I have one name for you. Thomas The Tank Engine. That classic questionable children's TV show beloved by many including myself as a kid. In the last few years he regularly pops up in games replacing an enemy. And I am not talking about train games. It is fucking weird but actually quite charming when you think about it.
It all started with, of course, Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim. WIth the mod support on PC someone decided to swap out the dragon for said steam engine. It looks amazing and ridiculous in equal measure, eventually turning into a meme and getting the creator into a lot of legal trouble with Mattel who own the rights to the TV show.
You would have thought that this would have been a one off and put others off but instead it is now a cultural phenomenon in gaming. This year alone saw the Resident Evil 2 remake replace the main antagonist Mr X with Thomas, which is frankly terrifying. Check it out! The other big addition was in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice with the Great Serpent being swapped with the really useful engine.
It’s brilliant to see such creativity that allows people to come up with things like this, you only have to google fan art of a game to show the love and care people have for these titles. This is no different. In fact it acts as a quality barometer. Making a mod look good is difficult and it's not like these people are just adding them to sequels. These are brand new titles and its impressive. Others will want to do this and I fully expect to see more appearances later this year and it will still make me chuckle!
Major Issues
For all my positivity there are further issues that need addressing. At the annoying end of problems is that modding is basically for PC only, it has barely touched the console market. There seem to be a few reasons for this. The big three console makers are extremely protective of their own IPs and don’t really want to mess with them. Consoles are designed to be closed and not mucked around with, making it harder to be able to import files and make changes (mainly to stop piracy).
And there just isn’t a culture of modding in console gamers. PC players have been doing it for decades so game platforms support this area. One company that tried to remedy this was of course Bethesda (back when they weren't fucking up quite so much). With a huge scene already mentioned for Skyrim and Fallout 3 it seemed sensible to transfer this across to the console versions to limited success.
The biggest screw up was the Creation Club that lasted only three days way back in 2015. The idea being that 19 specifically picked mods could be purchased with a pay what you want model within a few set prices that would be shared by Bethesda, Steam and the creator. The backlash was huge with all purchases being refunded not long after, the idea of paid mods are definitely dead in the water.
Mods in the mobile market are barely unheard of by most people and they tend to be an entire game changed rather than picking and choosing new options to add to the base title. You only have to look on any mobile store and see the sheer volume of rip offs.
The real issue is the fucking blight in multiplayer games of mods to aid the player to win. Whether this is auto aim, invisibility, invincibility, the ability to shoot through walls or any other kind that unfairly advantages one player over another. Multiplayer games are designed to be fairly level playing fields so in theory it’s a game of skill but this absolutely kills it. Games companies spend so much time and money trying to find and ban people that do this but it seems relentless. I just don’t get the point of winning by cheating, especially in something like Fortnite which you are going to do hundreds of matches. Sadly I don’t see these going anywhere and render a bunch of games pointless. Fucking bastards.
Overall there are a lot of positives and some elements are well worth looking into. One of the huge areas of streaming interest in recent times have been playing modded games that mash up the rules of a title hugely. Pokemon is particularly big on Twitch in this regard, with many games ditching the usual Pokemon you meet and making it completely random. Goodbye Pidgey. Hello level 3 Rayquaza!
Randomly generated maps can be ‘modded’, this is particularly seen in Minecraft allowing the player to pick themes rather than fully taking on the random roll. Seeding maps is great and so easy to do, just google great Minecraft seeds and have fun!
The biggest mods have been recreating entire games in new engines, such as bringing Fallout 3 to the Fallout 4 game. It’s huge, ambitious but could be brilliant. The thousands of hours of work being put into this for free by people in their spare time has to be admired. If you do any PC gaming I implore you to have a look at your favourite games and see what is out there. I bet that you can find something that will draw you back in!
Of course all I really want is a Brute Hammer added to Skyrim….
Next week a look at Player Protection
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