Gaming Skyrim Moddability (Speculation)?

[Deathscreton]

So with Homebrew and the such now skyrocketing at an unbelievable pace, how likely is it that we'll see some type of game moddability in terms of mods, patches and the such, Skyrim included of course? What form do you think it might take?

I imagine that this might be something people will look into once CFW releases. We can already view the internals of game packages. It could be very far off could it?

 

[RyanAnayaMc]

Viewing is much different than patching. Code must run alongside the Switch OS to look for replacement files and load them, and it also needs to have SD card permissions (which was one problem with some Wii U games on SDCafiine). This is probably going to be looked into, as everybody loves mods - we have Riivolution on the Wii, (SD)Cafiine on the Wii U, Luma3DS (and others) on the 3DS, and I'd be surprised if a similar mod tool isn't released on the Switch later on.

 

[Deathscreton]

Viewing is much different than patching. Code must run alongside the Switch OS to look for replacement files and load them, and it also needs to have SD card permissions (which was one problem with some Wii U games on SDCafiine).

When I mentioned viewing, I was leaning more into the "what format do the files take, are they similar to PC/PS4/Xbone formats (in regards to Skyrim)? Will there be a need for restructuring?" column. I totally understand there being a difference though.

As for the code and needing to reference/replace them, most, if not all of that functionality will be handled by the CFW, or at least a Homebrew program that can facilitate the launching of the games similar to how NTR works with it's plugins and patching without being a full blown CFW. Am I correct in assuming this?

 

[RyanAnayaMc]

When I mentioned viewing, I was leaning more into the "what format do the files take, are they similar to PC/PS4/Xbone formats (in regards to Skyrim)? Will there be a need for restructuring?" column. I totally understand there being a difference though.

As for the code and needing to reference/replace them, most, if not all of that functionality will be handled by the CFW, or at least a Homebrew program that can facilitate the launching of the games similar to how NTR works with it's plugins and patching without being a full blown CFW. Am I correct in assuming this?

I am not sure as to whether or not the file types will be the same, but I think that they will at least be similar to that porting will be easier. I can't imagine that Nintendo can get this kind of third-party support if the developers would have to completely rewrite their games. Any differences would likely be slight.

As for file replacement, the CFW could possibly replace files on its own like Luma3DS can (I think I also saw similar plugins for NTR that handle patching, but I'd rather use what's built into my CFW). We don't have full-blown Switch CFW yet, but based on what I am seeing, I feel like it could take this 3DS route. At worst, homebrew itself seems to be powerful, so a program similar to SDCafiine or Riivolution can be used if the CFW can't patch stuff.

 

[bahamut920]

With how rapidly the Switch softmod/homebrew scene seems to be evolving, I would not be surprised in the least if some sort of modding tools are made for more popular games. But I highly doubt we'll see anything even close to Skyrim's PC modding scene. Expect what we have now for the 3DS at most; some translation patches for non-localized games, a firmware plugin to allow cheat codes, and maybe a few simple graphical mods.

 

[Deathscreton]

With how rapidly the Switch softmod/homebrew scene seems to be evolving, I would not be surprised in the least if some sort of modding tools are made for more popular games. But I highly doubt we'll see anything even close to Skyrim's PC modding scene. Expect what we have now for the 3DS at most; some translation patches for non-localized games, a firmware plugin to allow cheat codes, and maybe a few simple graphical mods.

The thing is that I don't believe there will need to be much work for Skyrim to accept mods if the proper container format is kept. The version the Switch got was the Special Edition. Provided they didn't change the engine much, it could be simple to get it going. Fingers crossed.

 

[bahamut920]

I don't think it will be nearly as easy as you say to mod Skyrim Switch. Remember that the Switch has a different processor architecture than a PC, ARM vs. x86. This means different CPU instructions, which means programs need to be written for that CPU architecture. Skyrim may use the same engine on Switch as it does on PC, but all the code needed to be rewritten for the Switch port. Bethesda probably doesn't include the code that causes Skyrim to look in specific places for external mod files in ports where they don't intend to allow modding, to save space and to reduce overhead. That would force potential modders to approach modding Skyrim as if they were modding any other Switch game, rather than allowing them to use many of the existing Skyrim modding tools. There's also the matter of needing to rewrite existing mods for compatibility with the Switch version, and the fact that many mods require the Script Extender, which is only fully implemented for the original game. There's an alpha build for Special Edition for the PC, but it's obviously nowhere near complete.