With just a few days to go until the game is released, there are currently over 50 mods available for Xbox One but none for PS4. I realise that many mods will simply not be available for PS4 due to external assets etc, but for there not to be a single mod available yet has me concerned.

Could anyone who is actively involved in mod creation explain this current imbalance? Before anyone says "the game's not even out yet", that doesn't really explain why there are plenty available for Xbox already. Are there specific issues preventing you from creating/porting mods for PS4? I'd be grateful for any insight. Cheers.

You probably want to watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6GMS6D6Sgs.

Short version - Mods for the Playstation are going to be really thin on the ground given the overwhelming restrictions placed upon them (No new textures, meshes, sounds, or scripts), and a lot of mod authors aren't even going to bother.

If you want to use mods you really need to get the game for either the X1 or PC

And to be honest, even the X1 is super limited compared to what you can do on PC, and barely seems worth the effort.

Thanks. For that particular mod creator the lack of scripts was the big issue.

What I want to know is, is the reason behind the lack of PS4 mods so far due to the extremely limited scope for mods on that platform, or are there other reasons? Any input from actual mod creators would be appreciated.

Possible that the CK hasn't been updated for PS4 uploads yet. Bethesda may be working on implementing a system that prevents a PS4 upload if it contains external assets.

Pretty sure you've been told several times its because of how limited they are, thus many mod authors are just not interested

Are you a mod creator? Because I specifically asked for mod creators to comment on the specific issue I mentioned in the OP. I didn't ask for guesses. Cheers.

Let's put it this way - PS4 mods are so limited there's absolutely no reason to invest the time and energy to create them. The lack of any external assets mean it's meaningless to make quest mods, because you can only use dialogue assets already present in the game. Sure, you can tell a personalized narrative with journals and visual storytelling, but let's be blunt - they aren't on the same level as say Undeath, Falskaar, or Wyrmstooth.

It makes weapon and armor mods non-existent.

It makes custom companions that much more lackluster, since most have unique dialogue.

The lack of scripts mean there's no alteration to vanilla game play.

Put simply, with the mod restrictions on PS4, I could make a custom fort or cave to wander around in but there's very little else to be made on the PS4. Why bother?

Actually the thing that blocks quests is that displaying or completing objectives requires a custom script, and they're not allowed. Quests therefore cannot progress.

Then all you can literally do on the PS4 is make vanilla locations and homes to explore.

Not exactly the most conductive enviornment for a vibrant modding community.

People need to have some patience and have realistic expectations and mods will come to PS4 in time. I can't speak for the modders who have the beta CK or why there are no mods yet, but I am waiting for the full release rather than signing up for a beta. I have a family and full time career not in the tech industry, so modding is a part time hobby, which limits how fast I can get things done and the scope of the projects I am willing to take on. I suspect there are a lot of people like me who may eventually get around to modding for PS4.


I have several mods that I am confident will work fine on PS4: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/71708/?, http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/72321?, http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/76517/?. I am also planing on doing a simple mod to stop random vampire attacks and a bug fix to stop the atronach stone/perk from breaking summoning spells and to prevent NPCs from dropping shields and weapons when they die (to prevent save game bloat).


As far as what other types of things are possible (but I am not promising any of these), the following are a few examples of what should be possible on PS4, given the restriction that a PS4 mod cannot include any external assets:

• Fixing many annoying bugs, like save game bloat from corpses that won't clean up and weapons and shields being unequipped on death, interior shadow striping, atronach perk/stone absorbing summons, marked for death permanently destroying followers, etc.

• Make destruction scale better.

• Add all sorts of new spells, enchantments, perks, etc. (no new scripted spells, enchantments, etc. but a lot of creative things can be done with Skyrim Magic without scripts)

• Make silver weapons and fur armor craftable and temper able.

• Add new weapons and armor's that look the same as an in game variety but behave very differently because the stats have been altered. An "iron sword of annihilation" that actually annihilates, for instance, because it's damage has been increased. Or a steel sword of the paladin that has a bonus against undead (by giving it the silver weapon keyword). These could be done through base stats leaving the player free to put an additional enchantment on it if they wanted.

• Add missing Skyforge weapons to Eorlands vendor list (just use the in game steel mesh).

• Make greater use of in-game meshes that are rarely used like the ancient nord armor sets by making new sets of player armor with these meshes and making them craftable or hand placed or added to leveled lists.

• Make a perk (or add it to an existing perk) for improving iron, hide, fur and leather "twice as much" (or any increment of improvement you want).

• Completely redesign the gameplay mechanics for crafting weapons and armor, including the crafting recipes, changing the temper bonus for individual tiers of armors, reorganizing the perk tree, completely rewriting it if you want.

• Completely overhaul the skill trees, perks and tiers of weapons and armor, changing the weight, the amount of protection provided/damage done, swing speed, range, etc of every armor and weapon to rebalance the whole thing into something quite different from vanilla.

• Completely overhaul all of the perk trees, with new perks or by editing existing perks to make them better and more interesting. (but no scripted perks)

• Not to mention more traditional things like player houses, expanded/decorated villages, towns and cities, with new vendors, etc. but only using vanilla assets.

Yes I am

Thanks Turija, informative reply there. Looks like PS4 mods will be capable of a little more than I thought.

This is why I've said that mods for the ps4 is nothing more then a token gesture.

You are welcome. Yeah, the no assets thing is disappointing and it does eliminate a lot of what can be done with mods. Without scripting, there can be no true survival mods and without new meshes and textures, you cannot make cool new looking armors, weapons and other mods that re-skin things. There is a pretty long list of what you cannot do without assets, but there is also a fairly good list of things that can be done. So, I am taking a glass half full view of it, since no asset mods are still better than no mods, which is the situation I was in back when I played PS3 back in 2011.

As an example of something significant that can be done with just an esp file, take a look at the major cities only versions of http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/61035/? or http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/71018/?. These revamp the five major cities in a significant way, including some new vendor NPCs, and they only need an esp file. Its hundreds of hours of work to create something like this, so its not something I would have time to do myself. But I currently use JK Lite in my game and enjoy it very much. I don't know if the author of either of those will decide to port them to PS4 or not though, but at least its an example of what is possible.

What's the point of implementing mods if it's half assed then?

Some people prefer some mods to no mods. Go take it up with Sony if you don't like it. They are the ones who won't allow external assets on their system.

I know it is Sony's fault, but why didn't Beth just tell them to kick rocks? The casual fan will probably think it is either Beth's fault or both of their faults and it's honestly not a good look with how limited this is.

I still think it's partially Beth's fault: not the restrictions, but advertising mods before hashing out the details. They worked with Sony on Fallout 4 mods before they announced remastered Skyrim, so they must have been aware it wouldn't all go swimmingly.

It may also simply be a case of dealing with a multinational corporation. Dealing with regional management that is receptive to the idea may give a false opinion of what the outcome is going to be, especially when something has to pass through so many regional management teams to say nothing of the upper echelons of the company.

https://mods.bethesda.net/#en/workshop/skyrim/view-all?platform=PS4


5 mods are up

Seven now. Should at least reassure some that at least some mods other than 'cheat stats' for weapons and armor will be made. It's just not going to have any of the more elaborate stuff.

9 mods now! Much relief. None of them are particularly exciting but it's a start.

Well, Sony must have been okay with how things worked at some point as mods were being beta'd on PS4 with uploads and downloads and were apparently functional to a point. So, Sony must have agreed to things and then something changed. Maybe Sony wanted to charge? Maybe there was a security threat that made Sony revert to their usual paranoid? (And we'll probably learn in five years time that everyone's PSN details were hacked)

Or maybe, whoever agreed the details with Bethesda initially hadn't bothered to read up on what modding would entail?

It's nice to see some of the mods now showing up on the site.

10 now.


2 actually seems interesting to me (Scroll Crafting and Manor Roads). (no offense to the other mods and the creators, just the others are not even going to make me blink). Still, much gratitude for those supporting the official Skyrim PS4 Mods.


Still a purchase for sometime next year when the price comes down. Just not enough there to justify getting it now.