Sony would go for it I think if they have the necessary resources, as for your point about making the marketplace irrelevant, two Sony EXCLUSIVES LittleBigPlanet(1 and 2) and Infamous 2 have user generated content, and Sony offer content in the same calibre on their digital media service, so I think Sony if not Microsoft would be up for it, probably only if it was an exclusive PS3 feature though , which it would never be
Sadly we console men and women can only dream

I wouldn't hold my breath.

Even if it was very simple, I would enjoy it very much to just adjust damage and exp values.

Or is it just a more "popular mods will be transported to Skyrim" kind of deal?

yea they would I am a pc user and I love mods but I still buy all DLC and expansions.
And PC gaming is not dying. It is growing especially because the current consoles are getting outdated.

I can expect some kind of notion that Console users will all of a sudden be parasites of mods (but they are FREE) even though PC users that DL the mods are essentially doing the same thing but essentially all mod users would have to do is Plug and play and they cannot create mods (Beth would have to support some form of Mod management for both systems) and there would be total redundance on the part of the Users to buy a Skyrim for PC so that they can Mod on that PC and then transfer it to consoles so that they can play, completely and utterly redundant :lmao:




Beth would make a killing.....oh and this would usher in a New age of Console/PC harmoney and innovation, a Company letting their game get modded to the bones...

Fib? Its almost certainly an outright lie.... or as they say "Not intended to be a factual statement".

Anyway, mods have always been "possible" on the 360 and PS3. Its never been a technical question as much as its been an issue with Sony/M$ actually allowing such content on their systems. With the 360, its not going to happen. Period. Microsoft is extremely controlling of the content that passes through its network and there is no way they are going to allow user made mods... especially since modding kills DLC sales, and MS(as well as Sony of course) make a lot of money from DLC sales.

The PS3 however, is a different story. Valve for example has been allowed to put Steam on the PS3 and has promised that Portal 2 mods will be console agnostic. I'm still not sold that its going to happen on the 360.... but since Sony allowed Valve to put Steam on their system, it seems very likely mods will also be allowed. Sony also allowed Valve to include cross platform play between the PC/PS3... something else we all know MS would NEVER allow. So clearly Sony is more open to such possibilities, and should modding make its way to the console its almost certainly only going to be on the PS3.

A warning to the console gamers though: Developers have talked about how "possible" it is to do mods on the console for years now. Until you actually see it, don't expect it.

Another article from 'The Escapist' on the same topic.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109378-Bethesda-Wants-Skyrim-Mods-on-Consoles

I think what Todd means by mod is anything a user makes with the creation kit. If it it is made with the same tools as the rest of the game there is theoretically nothing that prevents it from working o consoles other than conflicts with existing files and hardware requirements.

You should put it in the OP so people can read both without having to skim.

Done. Thanks.

Does this mean skyrim script extender (successor of obse / fose) will be on consoles too?

Yes all pc and xbox 360 versions are almost the same.
Like said the only problem is that microsoft would not allow it to happen
There are a few technical/software problems with mods ported to consoles:
1. they might take too much resources. the xbox has only 512 mb ram
2. they would have to be compilated into DLC formats. DLCs are locked to your console ID and your live account XUID, so you would not be able to create on the PC and just port to the xbox. It would have to get approved by microsoft and then released on xbox live as free dlc

Actually in some cases you can bypass this but you would violate MS user agreement and for now this is considered illegal

So if in some mysterious way mods could be ported to consoles, they would be significantly less that the PC ones,. You probably would not be allowed to run most of the graphical optimisation mods and you might have a limit to all the mods that are run at once. This means that a menu has to be written for the consoles to chose which dlcs to Run ( much like the oblivion/morrowind launcher)
I think that neither Bethesda nor MS would bother doing all this hard work for a game that would most probably be a best seller!

User generated content is not equal to mods by definition. Think Halo 3 maps or better yet, Farcry 2. Those are user generated content but not "mods" persay. Totally user generated but with preset assets and some strict rules. Aka, maybe you could build your own castle in the mountains in the construction set and load it into your 360, but NOT with any assets that didn't ship with the game, and there will be a "memory/performance gauge limit" etc. to the system just like in Farcry 2. I think that's a pretty cool compromise, because it means more extra content that looks like the original game, SOMETIMES the mods look better, but lots of times they look out of place, forcing the assets to be the same for consoles will alleviate that. Maybe they could even support a new asset library on a submission basis for things like new swords etc. Quests, I don't know how they would handle.

Wait a moment is the 90 % of Bethesda audience on consolles? and PC Just 10% ??? That's the reason of consollization and simplification of the game?


Anyway the mod porting to consolles would be very easy .... every now and then the bethesda could pick a favourite mod among the ones submitted to get into xbox .... those that respect the quality and the standards for the consolles ....

I know for sure that high poly mods like armor/clothes, new structures and new races won't be able to run on consoles (i have all consoles just in case) , mabe balancing mods and stuff like that could run on a console , i would love to have the mods i have on Oblivion and Morrowind on my PS3 or 360 but i know even if there is a way the system won't be able to handle them :turtle:

It's not just about whether or not the system can handle the mods. It's how you decide which ones are allowed, and which ones aren't.

Say if someone makes a mod that spawns 1000 dragons at the player, then that will crash the console, as well as a PC. And the amount of complaints that Sony/Microsoft/Bethesda will get because a player that isn't very knowledgeable about technology wouldn't have know that the mod they just installed will cause the game to crash. This mod is obviously a stupid idea, but how do you decide it's not allowed on the console?? Who is going to sort them??

Other mods might contain material not suitable for everyone, so how do you sort through it?? Where does the money come from to sort them??

It's just not going to happen.

Unreal tournament 3 allowed console mods, though the modding in that game overall was limited, it still worked.

Very unlikely it will be implemented and in a way I hope it never will. I dont really want to generalize all teh console players out there, but they are known for their simplicity when it comes to understanding technical processes and installing mods really isnt for everyone. Some modders have near gone crazy already because of alleged problems some people where having only because they didnt read the readme or install the mod correctly.

Is there even something remotely similar to a PC's .ini files, on consoles?

I still Laugh when people say 'teh' I don't know what it is but it cracks me up
But you sure got that right buddy, I could install a mod and all but I would have no idea how to make one . Hoping to rectify this with time though.

This would be awesome...the more inclusive, the better....and then where could it all go from there?

I hope this happens.

:tes:

Nope. Script extenders work by accessing and 'slightly' modifying the exe. That isn't going to be allowed on the consoles.


In any case, just becuase mods would work on consoles, doesn't mean they'll be allowed. The big obstacle is Microsoft and Sony, both of whom are very wary about allowing modding of the sort of scale done in Bethesda games.

Were only talking about mods on Consoles and already people want to get payed... Do you people have no idea what modding is all about?

Quick note - someone was talking about PC becoming a niche platform, for MMO subscription gamers only. :shrug: Maybe. You're ignoring a couple factors. Elements of the MMO industry are moving towards a no-subscription model; witness Guild Wars, which has always been subscriptionless, and has done so well that it's developing a much more ambitious sequel; witness LOTR online, which transitioned from subscription to subscriptionless play. That makes the funding model you posited a moot point, and yet Guild Wars remains PC-only. Another important factor is indie game developers. The PC is an easier platform for them to break into, generally. They may not constitute the bulk of the market share, but they are, and will always be, important. Indie artists everywhere are important because they are the ambitious and creative people who pursue their own vision and succeed, which makes them an awesome force for change. And finally, I'm obligated to own a PC for other reasons (student in a technical field), and there is no reason for me to seek out and buy another platform on my modest pay; that makes me a PC gamer by default. I'm not the only one - my younger sibs literally could not complete their homework without a PC, but there's not much extra money in the budget for them to also own a modern console. There must be others like us, who own PCs for practical reasons and don't want to shell out for other platforms.

Anyways. I don't play console games, and don't care about them as such, but mods on the console would be good for Skyrim's sales, for gamesas, and possibly even for the modding community and the PC crowd. So, let's discuss.

Obviously some mods, like those that involve high-res textures and complex models, or a incredibly complex scenes, would be incompatible with consoles. That's fine; that leaves several genres of mods completely (or potentially) untouched. Rebalancing mods like Tamriel Immersion Experience may use no new assets, and yet construct a very different play experience, and provide a great deal of enjoyment to players. In technical terms, mods like this should be entirely compatible with console gaming. Similarly there are a lot of quest mods that use few or no new resources, and keep a very light footprint in terms of what new objects they place in existing cells. These, again, would not push the technical limitations of consoles. Does anyone know if there are specific reasons new resources can't be ported to consoles, new meshes/voice files/what have you, so long as they stay within some modest budget?

I may be wrong, but it seems to me like the primary technical limitations of consoles are mostly things that can be determined straightforwardly: only so many polygons, only so many actors, only so many pixels, things like that. These are things that an automated script might be able to check. If someone knows otherwise, by all means speak up.

And about distribution. This is a very imperfect solution, but it could provide a nice little ecology in which a limited number of high-quality mods made it to players and everyone was happy. (1) Mods are made for PC. The community sorts them, as the community does, nominating "mod of the month" etc. on various distribution websites (TESNexus, TESPlanet). (2) gamesas devs play some of these "best" mods. They chuck the ones that just add a suit of armor or involve lots of "advlt" content, the former b/c small mods are not worth the trouble and the latter b/c controversial mods are not worth the trouble. They try to weed out mods with major technical problems, hardware requirements, or external dependencies. (3) They pick out some mods they want to port, and contact the authors for permission. Technically I think they already have permission (how closely did you read your EULA?), but I'm sure they'd want to cover their proverbial tracks. They may, potentially, offer the authors some minor-ish financial compensation and/or and internship at gamesas. (4) The devs take the mod and polish it a bit, possibly with the original author's help. They make sure that it is bug-free and conforms to all the technical limitations of the consoles. (5) They sell said mod on the marketplace, possibly for less than a normal DLC. It has a big, yellow sticker next to it saying that it is "user-made" content and "may not be of the same quality as the published game", that sort of nonsense.

If the solution above works out, the modder ends up happy (recognition + money + opportunity), gamesas ends up happy (money, interesting content for the game, possible headhunting opportunities), and the consoles end up happy (there's money for them too, and it's not wild, ungroomed user content that hasn't had its shots).

Are there any other limitations I don't know about?

Just because a game pushes the consoles to the edge does not exclude the ability to add to whats there, its already possible now you just have to know what your doing.



Well considering 95% of all mods use assets that are nothing but Beth assets slightly altered its not an issue as the people who altered Beth assets have ZERO rights to them, just because you alter something does not mean you magically own it even most re-textures use the original base texture as a starting point which makes them also NOT THE PROPERTY OF THE MODDER !.



Heh?!? there is no reason that allowing mods would force them to open the console UI's to modification.



Clearly 3rd party programs will not be allowed -> though they are possible to get to work if you know what your doing.



Clearly, Not.

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Mods extend the lifespan of a game by multitudes of time keeping people interested in the game giving Developers more time to create better DLC's for a larger audience vs Developers being forced into a race with time vs players interest in a static game experience constantly losing interest for new releases one situation is vastly superiior to the other for all involved.

And since 90% of the TES fans are on Consoles, that gives us modders 10 times the fanbase to bring out mods too! That is fantastic!!!