Sony has officially announced that it’s going to be hosting an event in June after all. It’s going to be of the State of Play variety, and it will be airing live tomorrow. Sony has, in recent years, made a habit of announcing those livestreams one or two days before the event’s scheduled date.
This June’s State of Play is no different, and it looks like it won’t be heavy on first-party games.
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This week’s State of Play will be live tomorrow, June 4 at 2pm PT, 5pm ET, 10pm UK. In the announcement blog post, Sony said we can expect “news and updates” on games coming to PS5.
“The show highlights a selection of great games from creators across the globe,” the blog post adds, which really doesn’t tell us much. It is clear, however, that this won’t be a first-party-focused show, though it is curious that Sony elected not to use the terms ‘first’ or ‘third-party’ in the announcement.
In any case, this State of Play is going to a little beefy, clocking in at over 40-minutes-long. As always, you’ll be able to watch it live on PlayStation’s official Twitch, and YouTube channels.
This week is going to be very busy with events and game reveals. Summer Game Fest’s live opening show is scheduled for Friday, June 6, and the first edition of IO Interactive’s IOI Showcase is taking place just a couple of hours later on the same day.
Then, on Sunday, June 8, Xbox will take its turn to host its own showcase, which will be followed by a dedicated The Outer Worlds 2 direct, so it’s all popping off. EA and Ubisoft are seemingly going to sit this one out, but we wouldn’t bet against some of their rumoured and in-development games showing up at one (or more) of these shows.
Boy, that escalated quickly. Elden Ring Nightreign, as I write this, has been out less than a day. So, of course someone’s already put out a video demonstrating a duos mod for it.
To be fair, I guess Nightreign’s devs had arguably thrown down the gauntlet to the FromSoft modding community when the game’s director admitted that duos play hadn’t been a big focus in development and would only potentially get some TLC further down the line.
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Anyway, modder Yui – that’s the same person responsible for Elden Ring‘s Seamless Co-op mod and its various siblings for other FromSoft games – is unsurprisingly the person who’s managed to whip this out in uber-quick fashion.
In the video below spotted by IGN, they demonstrate a mod that’d allow you to hop into a Nightreign session with just two players instead of the usual three or one plucky solo Soulser that’ll have a much easier time once the next patch drops.
“As the modification runs without connecting to the matchmaking server, it is possible to use additional mods during gameplay,” Yui explained in the vid’s description, adding that they “Made it for fun.”
As of right now, they’ve not released this mod to the public meaning you can’t play it. I’d imagine if they do intend to put it out that it’s currently a work-in-progress that’ll need a lot of extra graft to fine-tune the likes of balancing – that being the main thing FromSoft’s had to work on in order to make sure the game works just as well for solo players as it does trios.
After all, more stabby blokes, more stabs inflicted on bosses, therefore bosses need to be able to take more stabs to not die too easily, and vice versa.
If you’re going HAM on Nightreign this weekend, make sure to check out our bunch of handy guides to help you get to grips with it, and our ranking of every Nightlord, The latter’s based on key factors like difficulty, spectacle, and how often they brush their teeth.
The Borderlands Online archival saga continues, with the small group of people hoping to get the game playable putting out a call-to-action for those with coding experience (specifically with software like DNSpy and Unity Ripper) in order to break through the game’s character selection screen.
Previously, we covered YouTuber, game designer, and dataminer EpicNNG managing to get to the game’s class selection screen, but it seems he and his small team working on the archival project have hit a brick wall. Not in terms of skill, but in terms of time. They have a version of the game at their finger tips, they just need more hands to get the build working. He states: “Number 1: We know that we have the full game, we have confirmed we have the full game. Number 2: We know that we can get in eventually, it is just a matter of when.”
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In this call-to-action, a lengthy video detailing the journey so far, EpicNNG showed the perilous task as his small team went through old Chinese Borderlands Online websites in the search for a way to actually play the game. Doing so, they found ghost links and viruses, so it’s worth emphasising here that you should only really help out with this effort if you know what you’re doing.
The video is covered in statements making it clear that this is purely for archival purposes, and that he nor his team are looking to infringe on 2K’s intelectual property as to avoid the possibility of a cease and desist. However, it’s made equally clear that this project may be nearing a dead end thanks to the release of Borderlands 4 and the potential actions of 2K’s legal team, unless it gets more people on board to help. It’s worth noting that this article was only written following an exchange of DMs with EpicNNG, in which he stated that he understood the potential risks of this call-to-action being further publicised and was happy with it being covered nonetheless.
In the video, EpicNNG acknowledges that time is of the essence here, pointing to Activision’s take down of the H2M Call of Duty mod in fears it would suck attention away from the next Call of Duty. The worry is that, unless the team gets the game working soon, 2K would fear a similar thing with Borderlands 4 and send out a Cease and Desist.
This archival project, if successful, would be somewhat of a white whale for the video game archival scene. Not only is archiving any game difficult, Borderlands Online is a Chinese-only MMORPG that has been dead for years. Getting it working is an admirable goal. Here’s hoping that folks that can help see it and lend a hand before it’s too late. Though, if you’re a greenthumb when it comes to Unity or video game software in general, maybe it’s best to leave it with the experts and wish them luck.
Yesterday, Build A Rocket Boy – the studio helmed by Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies – showed off some gameplay from the GTA-ish, Cyberpunk-ish, FarCry map editor-ish action thriller MindsEye, which is set to let you shoot a bunch of evil AI robots. Now, BARB’s co-ceo has claimed that there’s a real life “concerted effort to trash the game and the studio” going on, involving evil bots.
Yep, he seemingly just suggested these things were the case via some responses to players on the game’s Discord server, as you’d expect an exec to casually do.
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Mark Gerhard, the co-ceo in question, goes by the handle MMG in the server, and was asked during a bit of back and forth about the game with fans: “Do you think that all the people who reacted negatively were financed by someone?” He responded: “100%”
Naturally, folks were a bit taken aback by an exec at a studio seemingly suggesting negative reception for a game had been paid for in some fashion, but Gerhard went on to add: “doesn’t take much to guess who”. A user in the server was quick to comment: “a co-CEO for a studio implying another studio is paying previewers to talk negatively about your game is an absolutely wild comment to make in a public environment in any situation”, to which the exec replied: “Not wild when it’s true…..”
Image credit: VG247Image credit: VG247
Fans and content creators in the server who’d expressed criticism of MindsEye or Build A Rocket Boy then started to question whether Gerhard might be talking about them, leading the co-ceo to respond to such questions being asked about a user with the handle Cyber Boi.
“Folks I never said Cyber Boi was being paid by anyone,” Gerhard wrote, “I just said that there is a concerted effort by some people that don’t want to see Leslie or Build A Rocket Boy to be successful that are making a concerted effort to trash the game and the studio. Its pretty easy to see the bots and the repeated replies to any content that we put out.”
GTA YouTuber GameRoll then asked him directly: “So just to clarify – you believe that individuals, be it content creators or otherwise, have been paid off to criticise Mindseye?” “No I never said that,” Gerhard responded, “I do KNOW that there are bot farms posting negative comments and dislikes.”
VG247 has reached out to Build A Rocket Boy and MindsEye publisher IO Interactive for comment.
Are you keen to give MindsEye a go when it arrives on June 10? Let us know below!
Thrempshs npmopw apnn Oblmpmphon Rmphstrpmshrd mphd aphmt etmphing rshks. Sorry, I’ve finished chewing. There’s now an Oblivion Remastered mod that lets you, the almighty Hero of Kvatch and saviour of the empire (well, in the short-term), eat rocks. Leave room for dessert – there are gemstones too.
Yes, those of you currently shouting at your screen at home/on the train/in the car park of a supermarket, just like you could in Morrowind, the Elder Scrolls game that’s very good and also an endless source of interesting mechanics/quirks Bethesda should maybe bring back. Some people just like spears or having to search for key locations based on the kind of vague directions you get if you’re on holiday and ask a stranger who hates the fact you exist.
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Modder CephalonImp’s ‘Edible Gems‘ is one of those ‘does what it says on the tin’ sorts of mods. Inside that tin in this case are a variety of rocks, gems, and ores you’ll pick up as you roam around Cyrodiil like the fantasy equivalent of a gang of rambunctious teenagers on bikes.
It turns 14 miscellaneous items into alchemy ingredients, meaning you can eat them to find out the new alchemical properties the modder’s added to them. Chow down on a gold nugget, and marvel at the aftertaste that’s a bit silency, a bit burdeny, a pinch weakness to shocky, and also packs just a hint of personality fortification. Then, ask Sheogorath to ring up Jamie Oliver, burp, and shout the words ‘Now that’s what I call real cuisine’ down the receiver.
Maybe have three course meal of pearls as a starter, madness and iron ore with a sapphire garnish, then for dessert – for something a bit different – shove a bear pelt down your gullet, because the mod’ll let you eat raw animal hides too. Think of all the nutrition.
CephalonImp’s even given several of these divine dishes the same cocktail of alchemical effects they had in Morrowind, because you can’t eat rocks in a fashion that isn’t lore-friendly (won’t somebody think of the immersion?).
“Flawless and Flawed gem variants have also been removed, but all gems are now worth their Flawless values,” the modder added. See, you’re only getting top-draw grub here and also probably eating something you could have sold for a pretty penny – now that’s RPG choice and consequence, even if we’re not quite at the point of getting mods that make the pointy stuff you ingest inflict health damage a day later, to properly simulate the inevitable chaser to your ill-advised shot.
Anyway, make sure you clean all the gravel off your plate, and check out the interviews we’ve been doing with Oblivion Remastered modders who’ve been pushing the boundaries and working on interesting stuff.
If there’s one thing us folks who love a good RPG can never have enough of, it’s quests. Oblivion Remastered has plenty in its base form – The Elder Scrolls 4 not being short on stuff to do – but of course modders were always going to add to that.
We’re still at a pretty early stage in terms of folks digging underneath the Unreal Engine second skin Virtuos has cocooned the classic game in and seeing what they can accomplish by pushing the boundaries. However, there’ve been plenty of mods that have already come out and had everyone going full Uriel Septim ‘I’ve seen you in my dreams’ mode.
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The latest of these, in my case, had been modder ColdTyrant’s “Infinitum” series, a bunch of mods released in rapid succession that overhaul Oblivion’s already pretty stellar faction questlines by adding in new infinitely accessible radiant quests and systems. They offer nice rewards in return for your character doing more of the job they signed up for – be it assassin, warrior, thief, gladiator, or mage – in a way that’s perfect for roleplaying.
So, having also been intrigued by his earliest works that made it possible to join the Mythic Dawn and become a necromancer in Oblivion Remastered, I decided earlier this week to reach out to ColdTyrant. We chatted about how the quest mods he’s created so far came together, what the next steps in Oblivion Remastered modding might require, and what his future modding plans are. Here’s that conversation:
VG247: What drew you to modding Oblivion Remastered, and has your previous modding experience come in handy when getting up to speed with it?
ColdTyrant: I’ve been playing Oblivion since I was a kid, in 2007 on the PS3. At that age I was absolutely astounded that I could do whatever I wanted, go wherever I wanted, fight, kill, or help whoever I wanted – the game absolutely blew me away and had a fundamental effect on myself and my creativity. I’ve been modding Bethesda games ever since my dad first let me play on his PC, and I was able to download the Construction Set for Oblivion and start poking around to see how things work and what I could make.
I had been following the rumors of an ‘Oblivion Remake’ since January of this year leading up to its eventual shadow drop, and was absolutely floored by the incredible visuals and gameplay overhauls made by the extremely talented team at Virtuos. They breathed new life into one of my all-time favorite video games, and it’s been so exciting to see everyone playing and talking about Oblivion again just like when I was a kid.
Naturally, after I’d already sunken about 100 or so hours into Remaster, I started feeling that itch to get back into the Construction Set. People were (and still are) pumping out mods, tweaks, and tools for Oblivion Remastered like crazy, and I really wanted to sort of get on that wave and see if I could contribute my own content to help enrich players’ experiences further.
Being back in Cyrodiil can do that to a guy. | Image credit: Bethesda/VG247
VG247: How did you go about creating your first couple of quest/faction expansion mods, Mythic Dawn Rising and Dark Path of The Necromancer? Was it a case of wanting more evil options and finding out what was possible, or did you go in with a set vision?
ColdTyrant: When I decided it was time to start modding Remastered, I really wasn’t sure where to start. I’ve always been fascinated with the villains Bethesda has created, and I know many players (including myself) have a desire to explore the idea – what if *I* was the bad guy?
I started re-learning Oblivion’s scripting and quest system, and ultimately decided I wanted to create an alternate path to the Main Quest, where the player could decide to explore what it would be like to actually be a member of Mehrunes Dagon’s Mythic Dawn cult. This mod was sort of a test of what I could get away with mechanically – a proof of concept to myself, and it’s a bit light on content and needs a big update (I’m working on this!).
After I released Mythic Dawn Rising, I just kept playing around with scripts and variables and seeing what could be done. When I discovered the different types of systems I’d be able to create with what I’d discovered, my ideas really began to run wild.
Dark Path of the Necromancer started as just a mod that would add an alternative way for players to create Black Soul Gems, but as I’d finish one feature I’d think of another, then get to work on it – then another, then another. It quickly sort of snowballed into this big project with multiple necromantic-centered systems, and I really love how it turned out. Sort of accidentally, I’d wound up creating another mod that allowed the player to explore membership with another previously forbidden faction.
Who wouldn’t want to join a group of folks who can cast armour illusions this cool? | Image credit: Bethesda/VG247
VG247: I’ve noticed that in both of those mods’ descriptions you note that you’re hoping to add more to them once more advanced Oblivion Remastered modding tools are out there. What kinds of tools are you most keen to see emerge going forwards and can you paint me a picture of what the ‘ideal versions’ of those mods might look like?
ColdTyrant: So, with modding the original Oblivion, it’s a lot simpler – anything you put into the game world will just be there when you load up the mod. No requirements, no difficult installation instructions, just plug and play. If I dropped a new NPC named Bob the Mage into Anvil, he’d just be there!
Oblivion Remastered is a bit more complicated. Virtuos has created an incredibly remarkable hybrid engine that combines both Gamebryo (an earlier version of Creation Engine) and Unreal Engine 5. Gamebryo handles the scripts, quests, and gameplay mechanics, while Unreal Engine 5 handles all rendering – meshes, textures, menus, lighting, shadows, effects, lines of text, pretty much anything and everything the player sees on their screen.
What this means in layman’s terms is that if I dropped Bob the Mage into Anvil in Remastered using the Gamebryo Oblivion Construction Set, well… that’s not enough to make him show up. At best, a visit to Anvil will result in him being completely invisible, and at worst, a game crash. This is because Gamebryo no longer handles rendering.
Unreal Engine needs to be told by Gamebryo via strings what actually exists and what to render into the game. Everything needs a table string entry that connects back to Unreal, or you’ll have problems.
Fortunately, some incredibly talented modders (I like referring to them as engineers) have created tools like TesSyncMapInjector or the Fix & Port Script for xEdit that do this job for us – so Bob the Mage can exist in Oblivion Remastered.
Ok, so this particular mage isn’t called Bob, but you get the picture. | Image credit: Bethesda/VG247
However, this means players will be required to install these tools on their end to experience mods that add new items and systems to Oblivion Remastered, and it can be frustrating for new people that want to get into modding their games, but feel intimidated by all these requirements and specific installation instructions.
So ideally, we’ll get to a point where either Bethesda/Virtuos release official modding tools for the remaster or talented mod engineers are able to create tool(s) that make mods fully compatible with Unreal, without the end user needing to install extra requirements. For the ‘Oldblivion’ versions of my mods, they are all plug and play – no requirements. But for Remastered – for now – you’ll always need UE4SS and TesSyncMapInjector.
VG247: What inspired you to take on your Infinitum series, how was it putting together each of the radiant quest systems and deciding on the unique twists you were going to give each faction’s system? One of the things I found most interesting about the Dark Brotherhood one was the gacha-style Dark Token reward system, so how did the idea for that specifically come about?
ColdTyrant: The ‘radiant quest system’ I’ve designed was actually initially a side feature in another currently unnamed mod project regarding the Blackwood Company, as my original intention was to continue the ‘join and play evil factions’ genre of mods I’d released so far.
When I discovered during testing how much fun I was having just doing infinite quests, I thought to myself – I need to adapt this to the main factions. From there, once again, my ideas started to kind of run wild.
I ‘extracted’ the radiant quest system from my Blackwood project, ported it into a new project, and reworked it for the Dark Brotherhood. I think a lot of people feel this way, but Oblivion’s Dark Brotherhood is by far my favorite questline in the game, and I say that while really loving all of the major factions. I wanted to be able to take contracts to assassinate people forever, and I hoped others would too. In the end, Dark Brotherhood – Infinitum was born, and the series kicked off.
Creeper, gacha master of the Dark Brotherhood. | Image credit: Bethesda/ColdTyrant
As far as the ‘gacha reward system’, I wanted to create a unique way for the player to get random rewards, but also be able to choose what type of reward they’re interested in. Creating a gacha that may or may not give the player something good for their Dark Tokens I thought would be a fantastic way to motivate the player to keep doing infinite contracts besides just the fun of sneak killing and gold.
If the popularity of certain gacha games is any indicator, people really love being able to take their chances and roll for rewards, even if the odds are stacked against them. Fortunately, however, Creeper does NOT charge the player any real-world money!
Some players complained that Creeper being in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary is not immersive (hence my ‘No Creeper’ optional version), and I totally get it – but I love Morrowind just as much as Oblivion and Skyrim, and I’m sure any Morrowind player is aware of the “meme” of selling Creeper hundreds of sets of Dark Brotherhood armor. Why wouldn’t he show up? He wants more of that stuff! It was just a fun reference in the end, and I was hoping people would get a kick out of it!
VG247: What are your personal plans and general hopes for Oblivion Remastered modding going forwards, especially when it comes to quest mods – are there any complex ideas you’ve not tried yet that you’re keen to give a go once the tech’s there and do you think there’s a high ceiling in terms of what people might eventually pull off?
ColdTyrant: Similar to what I mentioned earlier, the ideal situation for Oblivion Remastered modding will be the release of official modding tools to ‘grease the wheels’ on the mod development process – but given the complexity of the hybrid engine, I’m not sure if this will happen. It would be really nice, though, so our friends playing on console can hop on the hype wave of Remastered modding too.
As far as my plans – the next (and final, for the major factions) mod in the Infinitum series will be Mages Guild – Infinitum. This mod will feature an endless Creature Research system, a brand new Elixir-crafting system separate from regular Alchemy, and radiant quests to deliver those Elixirs to the various Mages Guild Halls. Additionally there will be an endlessly-available staff-crafting system.
Since we had our chat, ColdTyrant’s released his Mages Guild mod, so you can try it right after you’re done reading. | Image credit: Bethesda/ColdTyrant
Since the Mages Guild is a bit different, and focused more on scholarly endeavors and magical power, I’m hoping people really enjoy it!
Once the main Infinitum Series is complete, I’ll likely shift my focus to a big Mythic Dawn Rising update, and a secret project I’ve been writing up, that I think people will really love!
As far as whether or not I’ve tried certain ideas due to current limitations (I consider Remastered modding to currently be in its infancy), there are certainly a few. I try not to lean *too* heavily into NPC dialogue, for example, since we can’t use custom voice files yet, or have an elegant solution like ‘Elys Universal Silent Voice’ which exists for Oldblivion.
I think there is a high ceiling for learning and getting into more complex scripting if you’ve never done it before, but really, the sky is the limit when it comes to Bethesda modding – there are hundreds and hundreds of mod authors far more talented than myself that have created incredible content for all of Bethesda’s single-player masterpieces.
As time marches on, I’m really excited to see the things people continue to pump out for Oblivion Remastered. It’s really exciting to see what people can come up with!
The company’s decided to ditch the “and friends” tag it had given to different bits of its business, and form a fellowship, as it does yet more corporate shuffling around. It does also plan to actually release some more games.
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As announced by Embracer, the bit of previously dubbed Middle-Earth and Friends will now be known as Fellowship Entertainment. As you might have guessed, that’s the part that looks after The Lord of the Rings, as well as housing the studios behind likes of Kingdom Come Deliverance, Tomb Raider, the Metro series, and Dead Island.
With Asmodee, the second of the three bits Embracer divided itself into last year, having spun off from the company as of February this year, it’s the turn of the third bit formerly known as Coffee Stain & Friends to do the same. Now named Coffee Stain Group, the subsidiary that includes the dev teams behind the likes of Deep Rock Galactic, Valheim and Goat Simulator is being released into the economic wild as a separately stock market-listed company.
“The games industry is more competitive than ever, but also more rewarding if you do things right, and we believe this move gives us the clarity and control to navigate the landscape better on our own terms,” Coffee Stain Group CEO Anton Westbergh said, “We can now focus even more on what we do best—supporting our developers, staying close to our communities, and building an even brighter future for Coffee Stain.”
Right, that’s enough on the corporate shuffling of people’s livelihoods. In the financial results it’s published alongside this spin-off announcement, Embracer says that it’s got “76 different games” it plans to release in the coming financial year. There’ll be “a mix of new IPs, sequels, and remasters”, including Killing Floor 3 and the recently delayedMarvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, with Embracer expecting the latter to “drive notable revenues but to have lower margins due to shared economics with several other partners”.
Another as of yet unannounced AAA game that Embracer things will have “financial dynamics more similar to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2” is also in the works, but the company reckons it’ll have to be pushed back to the 2026/27 financial year to allow for more “polish”
The rest of the lineup for the upcoming is being filled by the likes of Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core, Metal Eden, and “the next SpongeBob SquarePants game”. Spongebob Squarepants tries to get to the Bikini Bottom of where Embracer’s friends have gone, maybe?
Helldivers 2‘s Galactic War arrived on Super Earth earlier today, with the Heart of Democracy update deploying the divers on their first missions to defend the mega cities of their home planet. So far, it’s all going down well with players, especially one new feature – the AI SEAF squads.
To be fair, you can see why. With the latest major order requiring folks to casually kill 2.5 billion Illuminate as they work to activate the cannons they’ll need to see off the squids’ invasion of the planet, every helping hand on Super Earth’s side is a welcome addition.
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Before we get into all the SEAF love, Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani has made it clear this was the thing he was talking about when he teased something was coming to the game that would lead players to defecate in their drawers. Sticking his head above the pulpit in Helldivers 2’s Discord server not long after the update went live, the exec simply asked: “What’s the pant situation soldiers????”
“Evaporated” was one of the first responses he got.
Image credit: VG247
Naturally, it’s the new biomes and big war twist that’ve done a lot of that evaportating, but if you take a look at the game’s subreddit right, you’ll find the AI SEAF squads folks can run into as they run ops on Super Earth getting a loadoflove.
Basically, they’re members of the Super Earth Armed forces you can find running around the streets and enlist to help you take on the Illuminate of you chuck out the right emotes. Naturally, if you drop a salute, they’ll salute back, and they can even be persuaded to follow you around. Depending on who you ask, they’re either surprisingly effective in combat – below is a clip on one helping someone take down an Illuminate Fleshmob – or just cannon fodder.
Players like them so much that there are already calls for Arrowhead to give us the ability to arm the SEAFers with support weapons, become bunker door opening buddies with them, and drop a Warbond that lets folks dress in their trademark blue armour.
As one player with the handle Excelsus328 put it: “I don’t care if they showed the SEAF dying to friendly fire in the trailer, anyone who shoots these soldiers gets the kick”. “Oh god, now I want an emote to sing [the] Super Earth anthem and have them sing it with us like in Earth Defense Force,” added another going by Deathzeis.
Has Helldivers 2’s Heart of Democracy update filled your breeches with something super stinky yet, or are you waiting on tenterhooks to dive in later? Let us know below!
Oblivion Remastered modders continue to drop more and more interesting mods by the day, with an ever-advancing set of tools at their disposal to pull off whatever tweaks or additions strike their fancy.
There’s a deluge of interesting stuff arriving as the boundaries continue to be pushed, and depending on what you’re looking for, different stuff will catch your eye.
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One of the mods that made me personally do a double take when I came across it on Oblivion Remastered’s Nexus Mods page earlier this week was NaiadGirl’s ‘Martin Septim and the Terminator Gambit’, for obvious reasons. It’s a mod that sees you and Sean Bean be pursued wherever you go by a killer level 70 Terminator. From the moment you leave the sewers, there’s a murderous machine which only becomes defeatable once you finish the main quest right on your tail.
I was curious how much work had gone into pulling such a cool concept off at this still relatively early stage of Oblivion Remastered modding, so reached out to NaiadGirl. We talked Terminators and how she’s been finding modding the remaster as she’s made this mod and also tackled making the game’s iconic Oblivion gate battles and goblin wars more dynamic. Here’s my conversation with her:
VG247: What drew you to modding Oblivion Remastered? Did you have any previous experience modding classic Oblivion or other games?
NaiadGirl’s been venturing into those pesky gates for a good while. | Image credit: NaiadGirl
NaiadGirl: I’ve been a fan of Oblivion since I was a little girl, and the same goes for my wife. At first, we were skeptical about the remaster, but soon, we couldn’t help but be drawn in. I’ve been modding Bethesda games casually for over a decade now, but only recently took to making mods myself.
My only previous modding experience was with Deep Rock Galactic, another game that involves Unreal. My wife, on the other hand, has been making mods for years now! Since we both love Oblivion so much, we took to making mods for the remaster.
VG247: How have you generally found modding the remaster so far and getting to grips with tools like UE4SS and TesSyncMapInjector?
NaiadGirl: Modding the remaster has been a rollercoaster of emotions, with highs and lows. The old tools still work, more or less, but there are limitations. There are many features we still can’t work on or with, due to the lack of a proper modding toolkit for this new version of Oblivion.
UE4SS, OBSE64, TesSyncMapInjector; I can go on about the awesome tools people in the community have made. They’re all insanely impressive, and they make things possible that wouldn’t have been without them. I wish some of them had more in-depth documentation, but what can you do? Modding has always been a challenge, and part of the fun is hunting down answers to problems.
The last thing you ever see…provided you don’t make good use of that new sprint button. | Image credit: NaiadGirl
VG247: What inspired the premise for your Martin Septim Terminator mod and what was the process of putting it together like? Were there any elements of it that proved tricky to pull off, or anything you had to cut?
NaiadGirl: My inspiration for my Martin Terminator mod came from a game series I hold close to my heart: Resident Evil. It was originally going to just be the Pursuer itself, its name being ‘Nemesis’. I love the idea of something big and scary chasing you down while you’re already crushed under the pressure of saving the world. Eventually, I switched gears, and made it into a mod that included Martin.
What’s better than just you getting hunted by something scary? You and a friend getting hunted by something scary. Terminator rocks (at least two of them do), so I came up with the idea that Mehrunes Dagon had sent back in time a killer to save his butt at the end of the game. Putting it together had me looking at the code for the Conjurer that chases you down at the start of the [OG Oblivion] Spell Tomes DLC. After I had made a new NPC with the help of UE4SS and TesSyncMapInjector, I put together AI packages & two quest scripts to watch over everything.
Modding is a constant learning experience, and it’s so much fun, even if you can run into walls at times. Frustration quickly gives way to new inspiration. In the end, I didn’t have to cut anything! It’s a simple mod at the end of the day, but one that was incredibly fun to put together.
VG247: Aside from cheesing and running away, is there any other advice you’d give to players trying to beat the Septim Terminator challenge, even if it’s just to invest in spare underpants?
The thread of prophecy has been severed. | Image credit: NaiadGirl
NaiadGirl: I’ve been doing a lot of messing around with the Terminator in my latest playthrough. It’s tough, but not impossible to defeat (at least after the MQ is over!). Until you beat Dagon, you have to always be one step ahead of this machine marvel. It doesn’t care where you might be, because it will find you.
I was doing the Mythic Dawn Shrine quest, and by the time I had cut my way through the dungeon, freed the prisoner, and slept an hour to level up, there it was. The Argonian I worked so hard to protect was dead at its cold feet. I had no choice but to cut my losses and run. Plan your journey, hit stores up when you can, and always keep moving. It will kill indiscriminately if it finds you!
Once you finish the main quest, you have a few options: Dungeon traps, boss NPCs, crowds, or a duel to the death! You need to be at a fairly high level to defeat it! I would think there’s feasibility in taking it on at around level 25 on, if you plan your build well. The Terminator regens health, so always keep the damage on it!
You’ll need powerful equipment or a massive numbers advantage. I’m thinking I’ll slay my dragon at Cloud Ruler Temple, the place I have been keeping it away from at all costs. The Blades and I will make a final stand against Oblivion! I wish only the best of luck to would-be challengers. I love to hear stories about this fella.
VG247: What’s the Oblivion Remastered modding scene been like community-wise from your perspective so far? Have you had any interactions with other modders where you’ve gotten any helpful support/feedback on your mods or learned things you might otherwise not have?
NaiadGirl: The modding scene is filled with incredibly talented people. Many are willing to offer a helping hand, in my experience (within reason, of course!). Getting feedback on my mods is always greatly appreciated, and seeing the kind things people have said makes my day that much brighter.
Like I’ve touched on, modding is a constant learning experience, and you’re always finding something new that you didn’t quite know yet. Margaret, my wife, has quite a bit of Bethesda modding experience, and even she learns things through me as we work together. Modding is a beautiful, delicate dance, and it’s not one to be rushed. Take your time, do your research, and make something amazing with the community at your side!
We could end up dealing with even more terrifying modded threats than this, Grandmaster. | Image credit: VG247
VG247: What are your personal and general hopes for Oblivion Remastered modding going forwards? Are there any complex mod ideas you’re keen to try and make or any tools you’re hoping will pop up to make certain things easier/possible?
NaiadGirl: I have immense hopes for the modding scene going forward. Bethesda may be saying that mods aren’t officially supported, but I still hold onto the hope that we may one day get a proper Creation Set for Oblivion Remastered. They haven’t dropped the ball yet, and I would hope they wouldn’t now, with one of their all-time best creations. I truly believe a new kit is on the way, sooner or later.
If we do get official tools, modding is going to really pop off. You look at what we have now, and it’s only going to get bigger, and more accessible to the masses. Access to official tools will make a world of difference, and change things for the better. I’m hoping for an expansion on the Oblivion Remastered Script Extender (OBSE64) if the official tools give way. That won’t stop me from trying to make something crazy, though.
My next mod is focused on a pandemic outbreak. I’m very excited to continue my work on it, and share it with the world. I’m even more excited to see what the rest of the community can cook up. The community is insanely resourceful, and official tools or not, we’ll be making something beautiful together. Never stop making what you love.
Fortnite developer Epic recently suggested the game might become available on iOS in the US for the first time since 2020 soon, but it’s now looking like that won’t be happening. Why? Well, Epic’s accusing Apple, its long-time sparring partner in an ongoing legal battle, of storeblocking.
As we reported last week, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney had launched a fresh effort to get Apple to agree to re-admit the game to its App Store following a judge issuing a pretty damning verdict against the fruit company in the latest legal skirmish between the two. This is all about payment options and the cut Apple takes of them via its store, with Epic having decided five years ago that this was something it wouldn’t stand for.
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Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has claimed it originally submitted Fortnite for Apple to review on May 9 and then resubmitted a new version on May 14 in order to include a fresh update to the game. Now, the publisher’s put out the following statement via the official Fortnite Twitter account:
“Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.”
Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.
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Sweeney himself has also been tweeting, declaring in one post: “Apple’s App Review team should be free to review all submitted apps promptly and accept or reject according to the plain language of their guidelines. App Review shouldn’t be weaponized by senior management as a tool to delay or obstruct competition, due process, or free speech.”
This all comes after that aforementioned court verdict, which saw Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rule that Apple was “in wilful violation” of previous court injunction that it had to allow purchases made for iOS games and apps through outside web links. It did, but then instituted a 27% commission on such purchases.
“Apple’s response to the Injunction strains credulity,” the court’s verdict read, “After two sets of evidentiary hearings, the truth emerged Apple, despite knowing its obligations thereunder, thwarted the injunction’s goals, and continued its anticompetitive conduct solely to maintain its revenue stream.”
We’ll just have to see how things go from here, as it looks like this fight is nowhere near a resolution that would see one victor left default dancing, or more realistically a bunch of suits going back to whatever else it is they do with their time.
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