modding
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'Cyberpunk 2077' update fixes a save file exploit on PC
Hackers could have used malware attacks in mods to take over players' systems.
Breath of the Wild's minor characters are likely advanced Miis
For years, fans have theorized that Nintendo used Miis to build many of the NPCs (non-player characters) in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. A Mii expert with the handle HEYimHeroic has discovered that it’s possible to convert and import traditional Miis — the ones that you can craft on the Wii, Wii U, 3DS and Switch — into the game. HEYimHeroic has stressed that the Mii and UMii file formats aren’t identical.
Someone squeezed a Nintendo Wii into a Game Boy Color-like case
GingerOfMods used parts from various Nintendo consoles to make the Wiiboy Color work.
'Microsoft Flight Simulator' will have an in-game store for mods
Only approved partners can sell their add-ons in that marketplace.
Original Xbox's complete source code leaked online
The OS of the original Xbox has been leaked online, which could help to improve unofficial emulation of the console.
Valve releases mod-friendly CAD files for its Index VR headset
You knew that Valve was going to support modding for its Index VR headset when it included a "frunk" just for accessories, but now the company is offering some of the tools you need to make those mods. It's releasing CAD files that can help you model accessories for the headset itself, the base station and the controllers. They're not just basic blueprints -- there are "inclusion zone" models to help you avoid interfering with sensors, and sample accessories give you an idea of what's possible.
Android is (unofficially) coming to the Nintendo Switch
Ever since the Nintendo Switch launched, there's been a lingering question: can it run Android? It's a reasonably powerful ARM-based tablet, after all. Two years later, the answer is finally "yes..." sort of. Developers Billy Laws and Max Keller have managed to get an early version of Android Q running on the Switch. Bluetooth, WiFi and even the Joy-Cons are working -- theoretically, this could be one of the better Android gaming devices available.
BleemSync is back to put a SNES in your Playstation Classic
Sony's PlayStation Classic is essentially an emulator in a mini PS1 shell. Of course, that means you can overcome its shortcomings (chiefly its lack of great games) by using hidden settings and hacks -- albeit at at your own risk. Which is where BleemSync, the go-to modding solution for the PS Classic, comes in. Though it's been around for a minute, BleemSync has now launched its official build, which should make it easier to use. With it you can add your own games to the retro console, run other console emulators (including the NES, SNES, GameBoy Advance, Genesis and the PSP) and get more save states, among other features.
'Super Mario 64: Ocarina of Time’ is the perfect Nintendo mashup
Super Mario 64 is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time. Its large, imaginative levels and increasingly difficult challenges have defined the 3D platformer genre since its release on the Nintendo 64. Similarly, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time — the first in the franchise with 3D graphics — is considered a classic with a record 99 rating on Metacritic. Both have been celebrated with portable re-releases and a deluge of fan movies, artwork and soundtrack remixes. But never have the two games been combined in a fan-made ROM hack like Super Mario 64: Ocarina of Time.
GTA modding tool quietly reappears after legal threats
The popular Grand Theft Auto V modding tool OpenIV now looks to be back in action, just weeks after its creators found themselves in a whole heap of legal trouble. Last month GTA publisher Take Two Interactive sent the creators of the modding software a cease and desist letter, claiming that the tool allowed users to bypass the game's security features and violated the publisher's rights. Unsurprisingly, this forced OpenIV to remove the mod's download link from its site on June 14th, resulting in a huge community backlash. Now, that link is back up and fans can once again download the modding tool directly from OpenIV's website.
ICYMI: Watching plants grow and playing 'Mario Kart' with an actual car
Today on In Case You Missed It: The thought of watching a plant grow seems, well, boring. But researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology in Austria used lasers, fluorescent lights and a microscope to track the growth of a flowering weed's roots. The end result is a close-up 3D video that looks more like a glowing burrowing worm than a plant. The researchers also twisted the plate the plants are growing on to see how the roots adjust to changes in gravity, which could be helpful when we need to grow food in space.
Computex's most excessive PC mod is a cotton candy machine
Asia's biggest tech show regularly delivers on the PC case mods. If they're not labors of love courtesy of international case-modders, then it's a company producing the case mods itself. MSI possibly went too far commissioning this blood sugar-baiting monstrosity. PC modder Mike Petereyns was responsible for the MSI "Cotton Candy," made to coincide with the company's 30th anniversary, pairing the state fair diabetes trap with the PC producers' own GFX (GTX780Ti), camouflage motherboard and white liquid cooling system. Oh and someone was making cotton candy for everyone. Which always helps draw a crowd. Elsewhere,there was a vibranium-tinged Marvel tribute. Have a look at that in the gallery below.
Sega to support modded Genesis games on Steam
Sega's Mega Drive console (or the Genesis, depending on where you lived at the time) still boasts an impressive library of 16-bit games. Many of those are now available on Steam and Sega, hoping to attract some new collectors, has developed a virtual playground for them called the Mega Drive Classics Hub. Notably, this also comes with Steam Workshop support, allowing PC players to share "modified versions" of their favorite games from the early 90s. That's pretty unusual, given most developers and publishers are opposed to fan-driven emulation and modification of classic games -- no doubt because of its relationship with piracy.
'Aliens: Colonial Marines' mod may actually make the game fun
When it released in early 2013, Aliens: Colonial Marines was an absolute garbage fire of a video game. There was a lawsuit regarding the wide gulf in quality between what developer Gearbox Software (of Borderlands and upcoming Battleborn fame) and publisher Sega showed prior to release and what customers actually got, and Gearbox's CEO Randy Pitchford remains ambivalent about Colonial Marines' quality and development process. Gearbox was eventually dropped from the suit, but it was a whole thing. The modding community sounds like it might've fixed some of the most egregious sins on the PC version, though.
'Minecraft' on mobile to get mods and command blocks
On the desktop, command blocks are useful tools for experienced Minecraft players. Enter a forward slash in the chat window and you can enter some pseudo-programming to teleport, change the weather and more. They're not available in the Pocket Edition, a separate version for phones and tablets, but that will soon change. In an interview with CNET, Minecraft lead developer Jens Bergensten confirmed that command blocks are coming to both the mobile and Windows 10 versions of the game.
Developers can now sell in-game items through Steam
The folks at Valve have introduced a new Steam feature called "Item Store" which, as its name implies, makes it easier for game developers to manage and sell microtransactions. Facepunch Studios has already jumped on board, creating a marketplace for its DayZ-inspired survival title Rust. It sits inside the Steam client and any items you buy are added to your inventory automatically. So what's the point? Well, this feature means indie developers no longer have to build in-game stores from scratch. They can also be used to manage user-made items -- as Eurogamer reports, developers can integrate their stores with Steam Workshops and set their own item prices. Steam handles the checkout process and promises to split the payments between Workshop authors "as appropriate." What's not clear, however, is whether the developer takes a cut on community-made items. Earlier this year Valve faced enormous backlash when it tried to introduce paid Skyrim mods -- hopefully it's learned from that mistake and really thought this initiative through.
Only thunder gods are worthy of handling this PC
Thermaltake's PC modding community often likes to do things to excess: Taiwan's biggest tech show is a huge opportunity for such excesses. The PC you see above, unashamedly modeled on a certain Nordic deity's blunt implement of choice, is a good example. Did we want to try to grab it and see if we were worthy? Sure. Were we allowed to? No.
Using 'Dark Souls 2' mods on PC? That's a dealbreaker
The Dark Souls series' relationship with PC gamers has been contentious at best. The vanilla versions of the first two games weren't unplayable per se, but if it weren't for the enterprising community of modders around the franchise it'd look and run kind of, well, crappy. This apparently extends to the recently released Scholar of the First Sin as well. But there's a twist this time: Players installing the popular "DS2fix" softmod that addresses weapons durability glitches and save corruptions have found that they aren't able to easily summon other players into their game for help or adversarial combat. As Kotaku reports, the players aren't hacking in a nefarious way, they're just using a patch that makes the game work better on their platform of choice. Instead of pulling "undead" (how the series refers to its protagonists) from a general population, it's grabbing them from a comparatively smaller pool of other players that've been deemed cheaters for using DS2fix.
EVE gives more market data tools to the mod community
EVE Online is such a mod-happy game that there's an official site for it, and it's on this site today that CCP said that it will be giving another valuable information-gathering tool to players with the advent of a new searchable resource. "We also are making available the MarketType resource. MarketTypes is a collection of all possible MarketType resources," the devs posted. Being able to search market history and orders will help modders pull in data from multiple regions and should be in the game with the Rhea content patch.
The DuMont: A 50's retro TV enclosure for iPad mini and Jambox
There's nothing Apple fans love more than dressing up their devices with some sort of accessory, especially when that accessory mimics something retro. In this case, Jeffrey Stephenson -- a computer modder and designer who has a list of awards a mile long for his ingenuity -- decided to turn an iPad mini and Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker into a tiny version of a 1950's-era DuMont console television. Regretfully, you can't buy one this unique enclosure, but if you're into woodworking or furniture-making, this should be a piece of cake for you to whip one up! Stephenson provided a gallery of images showing just how the DuMont was built. And now for something completely different -- a video of the DuMont in action:
