Can All PC Games Be Modded?

[Signette]

Hmmm. What I mean to ask is if a game dev that does not want their game modded have legal options to stop any circulation of mods on the net for their game. Lets assume Bioware wanted to stop mods for ME3 from being offered on this site. Could they? I mean can I expect to see mods on offer for the new ME? I'm thinking yes. Because if they do not even acknowledge mods- as suggested (a mistake on their part imo), then why would they seek action against them. Surely they or other devs could cite copyright infringement (or something) against sites hosting mods for their games if they wanted to. Couldn't they? Well, with that being said- this may be a case of "better to let sleeping dogs lie". :geek:

Any developer realistically can't do nothing to prevent modding their game. If they come to Nexus, for example, and demand to remove mods, they will pop up on another site and so on. It will be impossible to find and punish everyone doing it. For example: GTA V, it has absolutely no modding support and creating them is almost impossible, but users go such incredible lengths so game probably breaks world record for number of available mods. There are still games that are technically impossible to mod, but those aren't too many, it really all depends on popularity and demands. If game sucks too much, you won't see many people trying to hack into its code to make content.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Signette

[Ethreon]

Anything can be broken and hacked, therefore modded. It just depends on the amount of time, skill and work it requires. Having a dedicated support for modding makes it infinitely easier.

[PeterMartyr]

The rule that loose files overwrite archives,(BSA type files) is universal & not exclusive the Bethesda games.

[MessyGames]

No, they're only moddable if the developer provides mod support.

[Ethreon]

No, they're only moddable if the developer provides mod support.

Anything can be modded, whether the devs allow/support it or not.

[RatB0Y68]

Some games are harder to mod than others. Fable 3 for example has very modder unfriendly code (I hear).

[Deleted3897072User]

The first port of call is the game's end user licence. It may allow modifications (perhaps with some restrictions), prohibit them or say nothing about them. That establishes the legal position.

 

If the licence prohibits modifications, you can still, in practice, do it in private provided you don't publish anything (because no-one will know or care) but you are on your own.

 

Making modifications almost always requires software tools. If you are capable of developing them yourself, fine, but otherwise you are dependent on other people making them and publishing them. However, if a game is "closed" (that is, not designed to be modified) then you are likely to need some quite specific tools to crack it open and unless the licence allows modifications, those tools cannot legally be distributed. In that case, unless you are a member of a covert clique dedicated to cracking the game, you won't have access to the tools and your ability to create modfications, even for personal use, will be limited.

 

tl;dr - it depends.

[allen2691]

depends on the games coz mostly high end FPS games can't be modded as it played online