Video Game Modding

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A community to discuss video game modding.


While video game modding is typically associated with PC gaming this community isn't limited to just that aspect. Things like source ports/game engine recreations, emulation and ROM hacks, and even modding games on console all are neat avenues for discussion!


Guidelines:


!VideoGameModding@leminal.space

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
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OS Specific Wikis:

  • ProtonDB | Linux game compatibility checker. Fixes are often listed alongside reviews.

  • AppleGamingWiki

  • PCGamingWiki | Regularly has fixes for when games won't run (especially older titles) and QoL mod recommendations. Fixes that work on Windows typically also work when playing with a compatibility layer such as Proton.

Console Modding:

  • VitaDB | PS Vita homebrew and ports

  • Emulation Wiki | Has a section for emulators and source ports on consoles and handhelds

  • Console Mods | Instructions on modding consoles and things you could do with a modded console

  • XLinkKai | Remote LAN play

  • Insignia | Xbox Live recreation for the original Xbox

  • Hacks.guide | Guides for modding the 3DS, WiiU, Vita, Wii, and Switch

  • GameBrew | Homebrew for a large number of video game systems

  • Wololo | Console modding news

ROM hacking & Game Specific Mods:

Utilies:

  • ModOrganizer2 | A Highly regarded mod manager that works with several games

  • ROM Patcher JS | Online ROM patcher

  • OpenSpy | GameSpy replacement service. See this PCGamingWiki page for game-specific replacements

  • Nucleus Co-op | Adds local split screen to a large list of games.

  • PartyDeck | A Linux alternative to Nucleus Co-op

  • PortMaster | A tool for downloading and installing game ports on Linux handhelds

  • Wabbajack | Automated modlist installer

Related Lemmy Communities:

Other:


This list is not meant to be all-encompassing. The goal is provide links to other communities within Lemmy, some of the most mainstream resources for modding, and larger compilations of resources. I am unable to keep track of every individual project.

Comment below if you would like anything added or altered.

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You can check out the full list of supported games here but some examples are Minecraft, Skyrim, Elden Ring, and The Long Dark.

There's a Nucleus Coop Steam curator that can tell you what games on Steam are compatible.


Heads Up

I would recommend reading the notes behind the handler of the game you wish to modify before attempting to install them.

Handlers vary in how local split screen co-op is implemented. Some add it to a normally single player campaign (ex. Fallout New Vegas uses NVMP) while others add it to existing multiplayer modes (ex. Dying Light) or unofficial multiplayer modes (ex. Grand Theft Auto IV uses Grand Theft Auto Connected).

Due to this some games feel more polished than others. The complexity and length of setup also varies but it's generally pretty straightforward. I'd say setup usually takes 30 minutes. The most annoying part for me (besides how sluggish Nucleus Co-op's app feels) was alt-tabbing out of various game windows to configure the settings in game to work.


Linux

All reports I have seen say that Nucleus co-op does not work on Linux despite attempts at tinkering.

The closest alternative I have seen for Linux is PartyDeck. A GamingOnLinux article about it from May 2025 can be found here.

Other alternatives that I have seen recommended like Co-op-on-Linux haven't been updated in years.


Bonus

If you are interested in multiplayer mods in general FMHY has a tab dedicated to multiplayer mods and the website Unmoddable has articles about many of them.

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For example if I want to play Fallout New Vegas with DUST and switch to Nuclear Sunset.

I feel like having multiple installations of the same game is the easiest way if I have the space for it. They would both share the same FalloutNV folder for the INI files and save games and I'm wondering would this cause issues?

It would be easy enough to basically copy files back and forth when I want to play one version versus the other. Maybe a simple batch script that moves a FalloutNV folder into the My Games folder before running the game and, when the game is exited, moves the FalloutNV into the same directory as the game's executables.

I feel like the modding scene for Bethesda games is big enough that there must be an easy, more polished, solution to this.


I tried looking up solutions online but a lot of forums posts get wrapped up in Steam not easily allowing you to have two installs of the same game.

Some older posts recommend applications such as Skyrim Installation Swapper but it seems like people may have moved past them. There hasn't been a new comment in the post tab or update for years.

I imagine profiles and instances provided by managers could help but I don't know how well they do with hundreds of mods. Nuclear Sunset for example uses Tale of Two Wastelands as its base which I feel like could cause issues.

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Fallout 4 is what comes to mind for me. I hate the dialogue system with a passion. I want to know what my character is going to say. I don't want vague LA Noire-style prompts that are immediately going to go off the rails.

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Given the original's respectable modding scene and the remaster being out for nearly a year now I am curious what mods people would recommend.

They don't need to be vanilla or quality of life mods.

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Courtesy of Frederick Knudsen on youtube.

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Here is the Wikipedia page about Ship of Harkinian and some information from the article

Ship of Harkinian is an unofficial open source port of the 1998 Nintendo 64 video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that runs on Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch. It has also been ported to the Android operating system by a third party developer.

It was first released in March 2022 for Windows, four months after Ocarina of Time's source code was decompiled and released. Since then, Ship of Harkinian has received ports to Linux and macOS, and homebrew ports to Wii U and Nintendo Switch.

Updates to Ship of Harkinian have attracted media attention, as they often integrate options and features which aren't present in any official release of Ocarina of Time.

The title of the project is an allusion to the philosophical thought experiment Ship of Theseus, as well as the name of the King from The Legend of Zelda CD-i games, who was infamous for the internet memes spawned from the games.


Here are the respective GitHub pages:


Here is Game Banana page if you are looking for mods:


Here are the respective PCGamingWiki pages


Here are some GamingOnLinux articles about the projects:

Numerous other sources such Kutako, PCGamer, The Verge, Ars Technica, and GamesRadar also wrote articles about them primarily between 2022 and 2023.


Bonus:

If you are interested in this you might be interested in other PC ports of Nintendo 64 games like Star Fox 64, Perfect Dark, Doom 64, Dinosaur Planet, and Super Mario 64. It's worth noting many of these projects have Linux releases and run great on the Steam Deck or emulator handhelds (ex. RG35XXSP) using PortMaster.

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Basically I'm looking for a deck mod that has additional joker slots. I've probably modded in over 100 new jokers and want to try some over powered combinations.

I'm thinking a deck mod would be ideal because I could still play vanilla decks, I still want some level of randomness and don't really want to pick and choose which jokers I get, and if this was done with spectral/tarot cards I would have to go through the process of finding them.


Here are some links I used to find the Balatro mods I use now by the way

The Wiki is probably the best source I have come across because a majority of the time it lists exactly what the mod is adding. It does kind of take away a bit of the mystery but I feel like it's worth it if you want to know how well a mod is going to mesh with the game.

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For those that don't know GameSpy was responsible for a lot of online multiplayer services from ~2000 to 2013 when they were shutdown.

Some games were updated to accommodate for this and fans created game-specific solutions for certain titles such as SWAT 4 and Crysis and more universal solutions like OpenSpy.

The PCGamingWiki page is great if you want to see if your favorite games from ten to twenty years ago still have working multiplayer.

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I thought this was kind of neat. The GitHub page for DoomValley can be found here. It's worth noting that you'll need a Doom WAD and to make a tweak if you are playing on Linux.

There's also a Nexus mods page for it.


Bonus:

There is also a Doom reskin mod for Stardew Valley

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A bit of a long wordy title but I wanted to word it in a way to foster open discussion. By mod recommendations I don't just mean mods themselves. It would be good to share resources as well. A lot of older mods have been archived together but plenty are still hosted on independent websites rather than hubs like Nexus mods or Mod the Sims.


I was looking at mods for the original Sims not too long ago and it seems like the scene has been pretty quiet for a while now with the exception of a few holdouts.

I'm not too sure how hard it would be to create mods for either game.

I imagine outfit overrides for The Sims will be relatively common because of The Sims Creator and I have seen plenty of object reimplentations in The Sims with them being hacked for additional functionality or reskinned but I feel like I haven't seen a lot of mods adding brand new content or functionality.

I haven't gotten around to trying to mod The Sims 2.


The mod in the attached photo is "Starfleet Career for The Sims 1" by Corylea. I think it was posted in 2021. Seemed fitting for Lemmy.

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I am thinking of playing Breath of the Wild on my PC with Cemu and was wondering if any mods or tweaks were worth trying.

I'm mostly looking at quality of life stuff.

I know Game Banana has a lot.

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I've seen several YouTube videos talking about the Dreamcast recently so I thought I would compile a small list of videos/reviews covering these projects, links to them, and some other resources for homebrew/source ports on the Dreamcast.

Can you think of any others worth mentioning?


General

Grand Theft Auto 3

Doom 64

Minecraft-like

Super Mario 64

Postal

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Whenever I see impressive ROM hacks running on original hardware I think about how they would have been received if they were released during the console's generation. Talking about Sonic being in the original Super Smash Bros or being able to play Super Mario 64 with split screen would normally be pretty close to saying your dad works for Nintendo but if you could back it up with an actual copy of the game which would you choose to make yourself a schoolyard legend?

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I feel like there are a lot of games out there that feel like they would have a solid foundation for mods but don't receive attention because they weren't popular, they are older titles and maybe a newer entry in the series has been released, or the game is too challenging to mod for example.


I'd choose Starfield. I have been putting off playing it because I was hoping mods would fix some of the issues I've heard mention in reviews or add some interesting must-have content but so far it seems like all the game has received is an endless stream of small quality of life mods.

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I've installed a few Christmas related mods in the past to add things like decorations, outfits, and snow but I've never done anything for things like summer, Easter, and Valentine's Day.

I play a fair amount of ROM hacks for them though. I think it's the installation and uninstallation process that turns me off of mods for them. The ROM hacks also typically don't take very long to complete.


I'm playing Toads Christmas Quest this weekend.

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For me it was Fallout 3. I played exclusively on console growing up but after seeing a video on YouTube about custom player homes I felt like I needed to give it a try.

Fallout 3 did allow the player to theme their house but if you really wanted to fully decorate it to have a lived in/cluttered look you had to drop items out of your inventory and make them kind of awkwardly hover in front of you. If you wanted to rotate them you'd have to carefully push it against something like a shelf until it was oriented how you liked it and hope you don't knock anything else over while placing it. Having things kind of welded in position or pre-placed was a big time saver.

The photo attached is from the Underground Hideout mod. It was one of the first mods I installed.