PC Game Mods

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For many PC games there is the option to download player made modifications. They can add new characters, missions, change the difficulty, and/or restore content. They are free and require that the player own the game. So would using those be moral? Also, does anyone know how game developers typically view these?
 
Mods are often viewed enthusiastically by developers. Some games even include tools from the developers themselves to make it easier on the modding community. So I don’t think there is anything wrong with them.
 
I think it depends on whether or not the developer has released a toolkit for just such a purpose. I know with games like the Elder Scrolls, there was a kit released and an official channel to upload them to. In a case like that where the developer has provided both the tools and the means of distribution, by all means.

On the other hand, mods that aren’t developed using such a kit means that in all likelihood, the modder had to reverse engineer the software to get at the source code. This is typically a violation of the End-User License Agreement (EULA), which everyone has to agree to before installing/running a game. So in that sense, you’re taking advantage of someone else’s lie. If any of that code is then re-used when the mod is released (which you can’t know but should probably assume), then they’re essentially giving away someone else’s work in the process. That’s stealing in the US.

If modded games are your thing, there are a lot of titles out there where user created mods are both encouraged and given the proper to tools to create in a legal and ethical manner. Seek those out, and leave the rest alone.
 
I don’t mod very often; it’s too much work. Mostly I’d want to mod the Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic games. Do you know anything about modding these? From what I can see no one has reversed engineered anything. I’ve heard some say that they wouldn’t make a mod that did that. On the other hand I don’t think mod tools were released.
 
C794 said:
I don’t mod very often; it’s too much work. Mostly I’d want to mod the Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic games. Do you know anything about modding these? From what I can see no one has reversed engineered anything. I’ve heard some say that they wouldn’t make a mod that did that. On the other hand I don’t think mod tools were released.
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There was a mod for KOTOR 2 that restored a lot of content that had been cut from the game’s official release. I think the mod was called The Restoration Project.
 
Do game developers usually address that issue in the game’s website or something?
 
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