I’ve had my Steam account for a couple of years now, but I would never have called myself a true PC gamer until about six months ago. Seemingly out of nowhere, my Steam library went from four or five games to the current resting point of 54 games. This literally happened within about three months. I must admit, I’m not sure whether to thank or blame the Humble Bundle for the mass acquisition of games in such a short period of time. In my time with PC gaming, which is now my primary form of gaming pleasure, I’ve played a wide variety of games. The original Fallout games, Civilization, Tropico, a MOBA or two, and quite a few indie games. I must admit, the PC game selection is far superior to that of any major console currently on the market. This is largely due to Steam, and to user-created game modifications, which fuel a game’s life long past the same game’s life on the Xbox or Playstation.
So, calling myself a PC gamer, I realized that I had never tried any mods before. This of course is unacceptable, as many a PC gamer will tell you. Thus began my journey into the wonderful world of game mods. I decided to try out my first ever mods on a little game called the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
According to Steam Workshop, there are over 22,000 user-created mods for Skyrim alone. Obviously I’m not even going to make a dent in trying out the mods, which is a tragedy. After looking through pages and pages of mods, as well as asking my friends and members of the gaming community which mods are essential for Skyrim, I acquired them and booted up the game. I won’t go into the specifics of which mods I used, or which mods are “essential” as I quickly learned how sensitive of a subject that tends to be among PC gamers.
I will say though that after a few graphics and texture-enhancing mods alone, not to mention the ones adding actual gameplay features, Skyrim was a whole new world. The snow looked authentic, as well as the grass, the buildings, animals, and pretty much every texture in the game. With all the texture mods downloaded, there would be no need for an HD update of the game ever, because it already looks better than new-gen graphics. This world feels real, with far fewer graphics-related immersion breaks.
After the texture updates, I added in some new armors and weapons to the game. As they say, variety is the spice of life, and it’s also the spice of a rage-fueled murder spree. But, to truly increase immersion, I had to add some gameplay tweaks. One mod re-worked combat to be more strategic, making those new weapons all the more satisfying to use, and another was essentially Skyrim’s version of the Hardcore mode found in Fallout: New Vegas.
Due to the fact that I don’t start a war of the mods, I’ll simply say this: Before I tried mods, I saw them as something gamers used to cheat their way to victory in Grand Theft Auto Online, Call of Duty, and games like that. I never realized what a work of art they truly are, and how they can drastically alter a game, or hone the things you love about the game to make it truly unique. The best part about mods is that when you have the vanilla version of a game, you have the same thing as everyone else. When you add mods, your version of that game then becomes something entirely unique from what another gamer may be playing, simply based on the mods you choose. They open up a whole new world, sometimes literally, of opportunities to extend your play time.
If you’re on the fence about mods, I would definitely suggest dipping your toes in the water. If you don’t want to try them yet, at least go to the Steam Workshop, or another mod site, and see what users are coming up with. That alone might entice you to buy a game and download some mods. The only reason I got Skyrim on PC, in fact, is because I saw a list of mods for it and decided my Xbox 360 version wasn’t good enough.
If you take away one thing from this, here goes: Skyrim is nothing without the exploding chickens mod. Trust me.
Now, friends, I ask you what your favorite mods are. Be it for Skyrim, Civilization, or whatever game you’re playing, simply drop your favorite mod for that game in the comments below! As always, you guys are fantastic, God bless, and may the Force be with you!
Also, be sure to check out my Facebook page for independent gaming, BNP Gaming!
https://www.facebook.com/BitsNPixelsInc
Head there, give us a like, and be prepared for January, when we’ll be announcing our first full-length game, and for a clue as to what that game will be about!