Game Mods and their potential

For PC gamers, you may come across a game that is stunningly wonderful. You then realise you wanted more content and you are faced with two options. You can wait for the developers to make more content or you try out some mods made by independent developers. If you aren't convinced on taking up a mod or two, we'll give you the good and the bad of modding.

What is a Mod in Games?

Source: Steam

Mods are generally an extra feature put into a game. It could be something as simple as number tweaks to extra characters, maps or quests. Games such as Skyrim or Darkest Dungeons have well known modding communities. If there is something you are a little irked about in your favourite PC game and wish that they would tweak or change it, then chances are, there is a mod out there for you to take advantage of.

Not all gaming studios are against the idea of modding. In fact, some of them actively encourage their communities to take advantage of modding their games. Steam had provided special tools for both developers and modders to take advantage of (aka Steam Workshop). As such, it had encouraged modders to build their own content and share it with other players and potentially providing unlimited content for games.

What makes modders an amazing part of the community, is their ability to provide any kind of content within their own mind. Whether it be extra characters, quests, maps or cosmetics, it has the potential to be endless. You could even end up playing as anime girls in a Call of Duty game or iconic game characters in a completely different fantasy setting.

Downsides of Modding

Source: Steam

Despite the endless possibilities of modding, there are a few things modders and other players must keep in mind. Whenever an official patch for the game is released, it may end up having undesirable effects due to mods. For example, updated maps may affect mods that were implemented on those maps and causes bugs or glitches to occur.

This may sound a massive inconvenience as players would generally have to uninstall or deactivate mods to avoid potentially game-breaking bugs. However, modders generally tend to be up to date on those patches and if needed, will update their own mods to ensure conflict is avoided.

Another downside would be pointed to those who use multiple mods at the same time. Especially if the mods aren't created by the same modder, then conflicts are more likely to occur. Usually, the modders among the community will work to see if their own mods can be compatible with others. If you intend to use multiple mods, always ensure to keep an eye out for compatibility (modders generally warn players if their mods can work with certain types of mods).

Do you have a particular game that you love using mods with? Are you interested in trying out new things made by players of the same game you play?