The Future of Modding in the Transition to UE5

[B3ly1337]

As you know, now new games will be released on UE5, what does this mean for modding? Now we won't have the tools? Will modding develop even more slowly than it was? Ban modding? What can we expect in the future? Hope cdpr Will they get in touch in the future and give an answer about modding their games on UE5? Maybe I don't understand, and everything will be better than it was, and we will have mods, tools and so on, what do you think?


This applies to all new cdpr games on UE5. We are waiting for an official answer.

 

[John_Russell]

Since anyone can download the Unreal Engine for use I would think most things would be easier and would depend on any custom extensions CDPR uses. The Creator's Edition is free to download

 

[manoj_k30]

Modding was possible in UE4, so it is definitely possible in UE5 too, since the engine is open source, it might be more easier to make simpler mods than redengine.

 

[83427]

There are free tools for unreal engine available for years. even i made some modifications (more naked characters) for unreal tournament 3 about 20 years ago.

 

[B3ly1337]

I was just told that when switching to UE5, modding, creating tools will be more difficult than it was before, I don't know why people told me this, but we'll see.

 

[Hayte]

It can't be harder than modding Cyberpunk right now. Zero documentation. Proprietary engine with a tonne of blackbox middleware.

Every tool we have was created by a community tool developer and all the black boxes had to be reverse engineered. The game is still in active development so every major patch breaks all our tools, scripting frameworks and even some assets because they keep changing those too.

Up until a few months ago, you had to insert/replace bytecode to do appearance mods. And even as things currently stand, some stuff like material editing (reliably) still requires you to hex.

 

[Spockprime]

I don't know. There's a set of modding tools for UE4, that in theory should allow for quite a lot of mods. However, I don't think that any of the top games on Nexus are UE games. A lot of UE game mods that I have seen are graphics and/or texture replacements. I don't know what interpretation to put on any of that. Maybe harder than it should be? Or, maybe just not a lot of demand for modding in those games.

I guess that it also depends on how locked down the game is. It's still a long way into the future, so there might be a robust UE5 modding scene by then.

 

[Notserious80]

Think it depends on how the games are created tbh and how much of there "own" systems are implemented. Base engine should be fairly easy too mod but depending on how they add other systems it might become impossible without messing up something else.

Heck i can download the tools right now and try too make a game but it wont make it run under there engine. Could be a good step for better moddability or it could make it worse.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

However, I don't think that any of the top games on Nexus are UE games. A lot of UE game mods that I have seen are graphics and/or texture replacements. I don't know what interpretation to put on any of that. Maybe harder than it should be? Or, maybe just not a lot of demand for modding in those games.

I know a game which run on UE4 and offer a bunch of mods (at least more than graphics and/or texture replacements)
ARK Survival Evolved
(never use mods on this game, but I saw a lot of playthrough heavily modded. New maps, new Dinos, new "bunch of things". Maybe not as much as Skyrim/FO4, but still quite a lot)

 

[Spockprime]

I know a game which run on UE4 and offer a bunch of mods (at least more than graphics and/or texture replacements)
ARK Survival Evolved
(never use mods on this game, but I saw a lot of playthrough heavily modded. New maps, new Dinos, new "bunch of things". Maybe not as much as Skyrim/FO4, but still quite a lot)

I didn't realize that ARK was a UE game. Yes, I agree. Lots of mods for it. That's encouraging.

 

[peterf81]

Guys, do not abandon Red Engine. You engine is beautifull, and has its own soul, your games on your engine have soul. On UE5 they will loose a big part of their soul.

 

[Netrunner2go]

Guys, do not abandon Red Engine. You engine is beautifull, and has its own soul, your games on your engine have soul. On UE5 they will loose a big part of their soul.

is this serious or ironic?

 

[GrimReaper801]

Guys, do not abandon Red Engine. You engine is beautifull, and has its own soul, your games on your engine have soul. On UE5 they will loose a big part of their soul.

Basing this on what?

Here is a list of games using the Unreal Engine. Plenty have "soul". An engine is only a tool. "Soul", whatever your definition is, comes from the people working with these tools, not the tools themselves. The better the tools, the easier it is for developers to give their games a "soul" and the Unreal engine is a damn powerful tool that's also extremely user friendly.

I have no worries that UE5 will reduce CDPR's games' quality. It will allow them to focus on the games themselves, not having to worry about and invest into upgrading their own engine.

 

[zzzfrofzzz]

keep in my , UE5 is more friendly user , adding Fornite creator was a tech demo of what modding integration 'll be in other game
this way , game on ue5 can offer 2 options for modding
- use default tools / sdk
- use creator mode editing tools ( more friendly and need les deep knowledger on code/script ..)

 

[keik9]

Guys, do not abandon Red Engine. You engine is beautifull, and has its own soul, your games on your engine have soul. On UE5 they will loose a big part of their soul.

UE5 and previous generations was used by the 3rd of the industry. REDengine was made so it would be cheaper to develop games for a smaller studio CDP/R was ages ago, but since now they grew a lot, it's easier and cheaper for them to potentially switch to UE5 which is a very well made, streamlined tool. What does that mean for users? In short: less bugs, better performance, modding possibilities for those interested in modding scene among other things.

I absolutely don't get your sentiment towards technology getting obsolete or just aging, and I really hope, CDPR won't make same mistake as Bethesda trying to keep theirs 20+ years old game engine alive, despite struggling with what a modern game should handle (Fallout76's performance is a joke even on top 10% gaming machines).

 

[greeks]

All they have to do is to bake everything and good bye modding. Like they did with Alien Colonial Marines. Good luck finding any mods other than reshade.

 

[LadyMiseryAli]

I highly doubt CDPR would do something to prevent modding via UE5. They've seen what the modding community can do, like the guy who has managed to bring a little more life to the romances, made the game a wee bit more immersive. It would be foolish for them to play keep-away with the modding community.

 

[greeks]

All they have to do is to say that as much as they support modding community, they don't want people to interfere with their vision. Would you argue?

 

[zzzfrofzzz]

All they have to do is to say that as much as they support modding community, they don't want people to interfere with their vision. Would you argue?

when its come modding on game isn't about black and white .
to be honest on solo game some few studio keep an eye on modding community .
Witcher 3 NG was one the last best example , how they integrate on udpate some feature from modder community .

it always a be risk as you said CDPR won't any mods , and for some few case it 'll make sense but my feeling its about the statement : game support modding and add integrate tools for this and studio "accept" mods but there's no "support" for this

 

[GrimReaper801]

All they have to do is to say that as much as they support modding community, they don't want people to interfere with their vision. Would you argue?

They don't even have to say anything, it's their product, they do what they want with it. Regardless of what they say, people would argue because they've always said how supportive of the modding community they are.

Like @zzzfrofzzz said, TW3's recent update is just proof of this. REDmod, despite not being what we hoped for, is also proof of that. If anything, CDPR has only proven that they do support the modding community.

I get that you're more interested in bashing the game and/or CDPR than supporting them but, in this case, they certainly have not given anyone any reason to think they won't support modding going forward.