The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim's 'The Forgotten City' Modįamed for being the first mod to ever win an award from the National Writer's Guild, the success and acclaim of The Forgotten City inspired its developer, Nick Pearce, to pursue a professional career in video game design and adapt his Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim mod into an independent, standalone game.

Furthermore, developers are less likely file to injunctions against teams making mods for their older, less contemporary games, particularly when these mods form standalone gaming experiences. First of all, the longer a game is out, the more dedicated modders can learn about its engine code (Valve's Source Engine and Bethesda's Creation Engine being prime examples) and how to tweak it to their own ends. Most of the excellent video game mods listed below are for older titles released in the early 2000s or 2010s, and there's several good reasons for this. Related: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – Best Mods for 2020 (& How to Install Them)

In a way, the entire video game industry is composed of mods, with early video games like Pong, Spacewars!, and Space Invaders being emulated and enhanced by people looking to put a new spin on the games they loved. The following mods, transformations of AAA titles such as Left 4 Dead 2 or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, are notable for actually surpassing their source games in many ways, thanks to their insightful designs, attention to detail, and fun gameplay innovations.įor as long as video games have been around, programmers and gaming enthusiasts have been creating mods in order to fix bugs, correct subpar features, or add new ideas they think would be a good fit. Some mods are quirky, some mods are fun, and some mods, assembled by dedicated amateur programmers, wind up rivaling the video games they were built from.

Lords of magic special edition mods