I imagine this may work similar to how the modding worked for Unreal Tournament 3.

Modder makes the mod on PC, then ports it for the console (For UT3, a tool was used to 'cook it' for PS3) and then uploads it for users to download.

Like UT3, I imagine it'll be only simple mods that can be ported. ie: Someone adds a new town, puts a locker full of weapons somewhere or tweaks a few stats.

User made content (meshes, textures, etc) might not be allowed, may depend on what controls there are on content (ie:third party assets) and how to restrict someone from downloading a load of high res/high detail stuff onto their console that might fry it.

Anything requiring a third party tool (Script extenders, Wrye, animation updaters, etc) wouldn't be allowed sine the closed nature of the systems wouldn't allow their use.

It'll be interesting to know what sort of trouble shooting methods are going to be available for console users. Sorting load orders (It'd have to be done manually, since LOOT probably wouldn't be allowed) along with methods of removing the mods cleanly without impacting saves. Skyrim baked scripts into the save that persisted even after the mod was removed and could screw things up big time.

Texture mods is mostly out I agree, lots of the other mods will work nice.

About script extender. Its likely that paid mods will return at some points. Most of the great mod that most people are willing to pay for uses it.

Script extender functions is not included as they was not needed in making the game. The one who was was added,

Solution is pretty simple you add the typical script extender functions to the api.

Bingo... if I was one of the bigger mod developers I'd be totally flipping the bird at console lol...if I mod got uploaded to beth.net and then down to an Xbox and didn't work oh well... That's what's going to happen a lot of time I think

I was talking about this with a co-worker this morning. He's a huge console really devoted fan and is excited about it and I'm the glass is cracked and half empty kind of guy and pointed out that it's going to be a hot mess with a lot of broken games because of load order and scripts and third party programs like BOSS, FOMM, Python. I can't wait for console people's games to break because they are downloading everything.

They hate console gamers. GLORIOUS GAMECUBE GAMING MASTER RACE!

Do you guys think they called microsoft and said hi we want mods and they said ok and at this point theres no idea of a system in place?

How difficult/different if bethesda uploaded them as dlc items like they did for dawnguard or dragon age does for swords etc. couldnt they almost copy and paste the mod into the same area we download dlc from

^ all of this.

Without knowing how this is going to work, I'm simply not worrying about it for now. Hopefully we will get more information soon.

That's not the issue here - there's a huge difference between downloading and using a DLC and downloading and using mods. A DLC is created by the developers to be a "plug and play" add-on that just works all the time with the vanilla game - it has to be, since customers almost always have to pay for it. It only uses assets that are available in the vanilla game and adds to those. Each DLC is designed to be completely stand alone, meaning it has no dependencies on other DLC or other external assets. The developer has complete control over this.

A mod, OTOH, is a user-created add-on that can have as many other dependencies as the mod creator needs for it to have to work the way he/she wants it to. It can and often does conflict with other mods - this is why things like load order, merging leveled lists, creating compatibility patches and such are so important. It can use textures and models that are capable of pushing a console's hardware beyond its capabilities, which can render the game unstable or even completely unplayable.

UI mods are among the most popular ones with mod users. However, every single UI mod out there for every Bethesda game is dependent on scripting functions that aren't available in the vanilla game, and requires a script extender. And since script extenders are apparently not going to be allowed on XBox Live (due to the potential for being carriers of malicious code), there's one class of mods right there that cannot be used on consoles. And there are many, many more mods out there that require script extenders.

And as far as Bethesda and Microsoft having thought about how they're going to implement this, just take a look at the recent flap over paid mods, and ask yourself just how much thought was put into implementing that before springing it on us.

Bethesda Net is probably going to be how mods make it on consoles. It'll probably have a guideline of what the Xbox One/PS4 (Assuming PS4 also gets mods) specs are and what can go on it. To me that's the only way it doesn't turn into a wild west situation where you take a risk downloading the mod and hope it doesn't nuke your system.

The authors will have to submit them, if Bethesda start helping themselves to peoples work they won't be very popular and modders would likely take steps to make their mods incompatible with the Xbox. As for Bethesda knowing what they're doing, don't count on it, Steam Workshop has all sorts of problems and then there was the whole paid modding fiasco, as has already been said, Bethesda don't appear to understand modding or the modding community. And please stop comparing DLC and mods, they're very different.

I get that dlc and mods are different but lets assume that

Xyz creates a new gun in December on steam. Couldnt bethesda then fix it for consoles and put out on their website say in june for xbox. These downloads work like dragon age dlc and that they show in a storage chest in a set location. Or say new bandit type is created (couldnt this be implemented in a patch format like .
There is no way its a buyer beware system. That isnt going to fly. I just watched gophers channel who seems to know a lot on modding and speculation is we couldnt they do a script extender system
For those who say modders will sabotage their mods so they won't work on consoles why would they do this? You didnt even know that they were working with beth on paid mids so it seems likley you wont know when they work with beth on compatable xbox mods
Of note do we know if say new games like witcher 3 are pushing x1 limits. Graphic wise f4 doesnt seem to be matching those limits . I would think that frost fall/helgen reborn/immersive creatures etc which my mac can handle could easily work on ps4

You have to remember that W3 isn't running extremely well on the consoles its running well enough to play without major issues but in some cases barely (in terms of a comfortable amount of FPS) you are right that those type of mods would work well with consoles but even through Fallout might not be the most demanding game and will be able to run on a greater variety of hardware variations then most top tier games its still going to be beefy so console gamers are just going to have to avoid graphics mods because they can be a heavy heavy drain but once again you are right those type of mods that add content (quests, player homes) and tweak mods are going to be fine as long as they don't have too many dependancies, etc.

Also the only real way we'll know how fallout 4 is graphically pushing the limits as when we say PC footage because obviously the console versions will be visually downgraded to accommodate the hardware of the consoles and depending on the differation between quality of the two versions we'll have a rough idea of how much fallout 4 is to the limits of the console.

Edit: Sorry misread just re-read then and realised that you said witcher 3 is pushing the limits sorry mate.

If Gopher says that they maybe can do some sort of script extender for consoles, then they may very well can, assuming they can get Microsoft on board with it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

As far as Witcher 3 is concerned, the Xbox version seems to be the most troublesome in terms of bugs and glitches, based on player reporting so far. I'm playing the game on PC myself and have had no problems with it beyond a few wonky textures. I can't come anywhere near playing on ultra graphics settings, but the game still looks great. But Witcher and Fallout have their own different demands on hardware; Witcher's engine really hammers the GPU while the CPU gets off much easier, but Bethesda games tend to be much more CPU intensive.

I don't know why some people are concerned about the security. Unless the consoles can be "fried" with overloading of scripts or big textures, security shouldn't be much of an issue.

These consoles can't run unsigned native code. Hackers may try to attempt to exploit the parser of the mod files, but that isn't very different than them trying to exploit the web browsers or media players of the consoles. And the kind of people that do that usually do it for other purposes other than destroying people machines, so noworries for that.

Also will be interesting to see how they are integrated with dlc.

There are a number of mods that require you to have DLC installed, as they use assets from them.

I imagine what's going to happen is that Beth's going to use their new Bethesda.net or whatever as a platform for console users to download a select list of mods from, that have already been ironed out before hand.

I'd like to hear more about this Bethesda.net, beyond the "we must integrate our synergies on a going-forward basis" corporate gobbledygook we've heard so far. Is this for consoles only, or does it include a new PC client that will have to be installed? I mean, for Pete's sake, I've already got Steam, Origin, GOG Galaxy and some Game Stop client installed on my system. Is Bethesda planning to use their own client for DRM/digital distribution, and if so, does this mean that Steam will no longer be required to play their games on PC?

If you are playing on PC and you hate/detest/despise/loathe consoles or otherwise consider yourself to be superior because of your platform choice, then you won't be playing this on console and you have nothing to worry about.

For those of us who prefer to play on consoles (for *whatever* reason) WE (not you) will deal with things as they happen. I, for one, do not need your concern about how mods will work on my Xbox One. It's cute but pointless.

Frankly the whole PC superiority thing that goes on here is revolting and depressing at the same time.

You really should consider coming over to the dark side and join us in the PC Master Race. You have the proper attitude.

[censored] we're everywhere aren't we Its going to be interesting to see how much support will give to mods down the track and what tools they'll give to console gamers to get everything to run fine if they give any tools maybe it'll be automated (which presents a lot of problems).

Some of us play on both.

My wife doesn't like PC, so when we play games together it's on console. I play by myself on PC.

I would like the option of using mods on console, even if they're simple mods that only make balance changes, changes to leveled lists, or repurposing existing game assets for new things.

The thing is, I'm only concerned about the mods I make, and am not interested in making them available for everyone just so I can use them myself.

If I can't move it from my own computer to my own console, I don't care about it being possible any other way.

Don't misconstrue what others are saying about the limitations of mods on consoles to mean that consoles are inferior. However, mods are something that PC players understand well in most cases... console only players may not have that same understanding of what kinds of problems and conflicts can arise.

.02

This may come as a surprise to some, but there actually are people out there that own a PC AND one or more consoles. These are the people that will be making mods for consoles, because they actually will be interested in it. They are also the only ones that could even make a good mod for a console because you will need access to a console to PROPERLY TEST that mod.

If you are going to be making a mod and testing it (and you damned well better be testing it), you need a way to get your mod from your PC to your console that does not involve uploading it to the internet and then downloading it to the console. There WILL be a method of bypassing any curating scheme that is put into place because if there isn't the first PROPERLY TESTED mod to hit the XBox One will arrive around the time Microsoft starts shipping the XBox Twenty.

There is a fear that the console players don't have any idea what they can do with mods. That some of them will believe that any mod that works on a PC will work on a console. Guess what, that level of stupidity ain't restricted to just console gamers. We of the PC Master Race have our own boneheads. Like people that believe they can get a 4k gaming experience on their 1GB gfx card by simply downloading a ultra high-def texture pack.

Where are the console gamers going to go for help? Where to the PC gamers go? The modding community. Sure the console modding community is very small right now, but it will grow, just as the PC modding community did. Just how large do you think the PC modding community was when the first mod was published?

Should the people that tried to give us paid mods be trusted to do this? Sure, why not? The technical aspects of distributing paid mods may have had some kinks in it, but it was fairly solid. That isn't where they screwed the pooch, they totally missed on reading the market. That may not be the case, this time. Because the console gamers are such a weird bunch, they may actually accept the concept of free mods.

I am pretty sure Bethesda understand the mechanics of modding considering they use the exact same tools creating the game that we do modding it. They know what will and will not work. I am just very interested to see how it will work. There are so many mods out there that can instantly corrupt a save. Mods that are not compatible. I am guessing that there will be some place where mods will be uploaded and there will have to be some rules set for the console players.

This is part of my rationalization that you can transfer mods from pc to xbox, the mod has to be tested on xbox before it can be put up at an official portal.

It can be something so simple as GUI differences and performance issues.

However most who make mods don't have an console, they might just add an note not tested on xbox can somebody test, then leave that part up to somebody else.

I made a few mods myself, most was jevelery and hair for khajiit, I also made an farm everywhere mod, this require script extender so would not work but the others as simple items.

I agree with you in the console users are stupid and don't know how to handle mods, well I guess its plenty who just download an bunch from nexus or workshop too with no idea that they are doing.

They learn pretty fast.