Skyrim map mod provides in-game street views
We’ve been keeping a close eye on Skyrim Nexus for our Skyrim Mods post, but this one impressed us so much it deserves its own post. Not so much a mod as a set of tweaks, Map in full 3D shows you how to modify the game’s ini file to make it possible to zoom the in game map right down to the ground. The result is essentially a free camera mode that lets you roam anywhere in the world. It’s like the google street view team was let loose in the frozen north.
We’ll be adding this to our list of Skyrim mods in the next update. In the meantime, if you want some cool locations to explore with it, why not try our Skyrim tourist guide?
The 11 best Skyrim mods so far
Skyrim is a wonderful game. It’s so good that Tom gave it 94% in our Skyrim review, but as good as Bethesda games are, they’re always a little bit better once they’re modded. Amazingly, despite the fact that the game has only been out for a few days, there are already over a hundred mods on Skyrim Nexus. We’ve rounded up the best of the first wave – they’re not game-changers, but some of these are worth taking a look at.
We’re planning to regularly update this page as more mods come out. New mods will be added and old ones will either be updated or fall by the wayside.
The 25 best Minecraft mods
Minecraft has the best modding community in the world. Despite no official mod tools being released, players are constantly expanding and adding an astonishing amount of new content.
We’ve tracked down the very best Minecraft mods to transform your game into something extra-amazing. This list combines the up to date mods from our previous installments and ten new ones into a list of the top 25 Minecraft mods the internet has to offer.
Lord of the Rings Last Days mod released for Mount and Blade, looks amazing
The Lord of the Rings Last Days of Middle Earth mod for the original Mount and Blade has been released after five years of work. The mod lets you fight and command all the factions of Middle Earth, no less, with some top notch custom armour sets, new textures and new locations designed to bring Middle Earth to Tale World’s medieval rags to riches pillaging sim. Find out more and see some fantastic screenshots of the mod below.
The 10 best Dead Island mods
Despite being slightly broken on release, Dead Island has scored legions of fans who enjoy nothing more than slaughtering zombies in its open-world island. We liked it. Thanks to a Halloween tie-in sale it’s currently sitting at number five in the Steam charts, and it’s already got an impressive number of mods for such a recent game.
This is partly due to it being fairly simple to mod, and partly due to bits of it not working on release. Open up its PAK files in WinRAR, then tweak certain settings with notepad to your undead heart’s content. This simplicity has resulted in mods which do everything from make zombies’ heads come off every time you hit them, to changing the game to make it more like Crysis.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution ENB mod augments visuals. Lighting improved. Fist-chisels shinier
Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s dark, golden cityscapes are a beautiful place to wander around fist-chiseling people at the best of times, but the ENBSeries mod adds an extra sheen of cyber-loveliness for those running the game on an Nvidia card. The golden filter is toned down, colours are richer and the lighting tech is kicked up a notch or two. Even Human Revolution’s corridors are moodier, smokier places with this mod installed.
Your framerate will take a certain hit, but it’s worth an install if you’re curious to see what Human Revolution could look like with every graphical setting maxed out. If you’re running Deus Ex on a monster rig, you might just be able to play through the entire game at a reasonable frame rate. This is only the first version, too. We’re can’t wait to see what else can be done to boost the Human Revolution engine.
The tiny file can be downloaded for free from the ENBSeries site. To install, simply unzip the contents of the downloaded folder into the Deus Ex: Human Revolution directory that holds your Deus Ex: Human Revolution .exe file. I’ve hopped into a few saved games with and without the mod to grab some before and after pics, which you’ll find below. Unmodded images are first in the sequence.
Deus Ex Unreal Revolution mod brings Human Revolution to Deus Ex 1
We recently posted the video above as part of one of our end of day links posts. We thought it was just a clever parody of the new Deus Ex, complete with comedy wrist-chisel take downs, yellow object outlines and a sly dig at Human Revolution’s extensive web of pre-order bonuses. Now we learn from RPS that the video was in fact a trailer for a full Deus Ex mod, which is out now.
The mod gives JC some Adam Jensen style five o’clock shadow and a pair of AR goggles. Activating these casts the world in a black and gold sheen and outlines objects. The mod also adds iron sights to the assault rifle and fit JC with a pair of arm blades. You can download the mod now from ModDB. You’ll need to install a custom DirectX 10 or OpenGL renderer first.
Minecraft Pokémon mod, a blocky peek at you
Another day, another amazing Minecraft mod. This one finally does when Nintendidn’t and turns Pokémon into the free-roaming, critter subjugating adventure players of the series have been waiting to see for years, admittedly without the ‘battles’ part as yet. For now, you can convert your spare stone into a Pokedex and set of Pokeballs, capture and name some creatures, and wander around dreaming of the day you’ll be able to respond to a Creeper with a confident cry of “Charizard, I choose you!”
You can download the mod from the Minecraft forums.
Minecraft mod adds terrifying tornadoes
Youtuber “Cordon Freeman” has thrown up a video of the scary but awesome tornado mod he’s working on for Minecraft (spotted on Reddit). It dynamically snatches blocks, fire and even pigs from ground, wraps them into a central funnel and then scatters them across the landscape, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
Cordon says that he’s released an early version of the tornado mod for people to play around with. We haven’t had a chance to test it out yet. To be honest, we’re slightly scared of it. Its creator says he might work it into a bigger weather mod. We’d quite like to see some volcanoes. What do you think?
For more amazing Minecraft mods, have a browse of our roundup of twenty of the best, here’s part one, and here’s part two. You’ll find Cordon’s instructions for installing the mod below.
Minecraft mod EvilMinecraft features giant chickens and exploding pigs
While Notch continues to quietly freak us out with his upcoming Endermen mob, some people in the Minecraft community have come up with some less subtle creations. The EvilMinecraft team have just released their first public version of the mod, available for download here, which features a whole host of new mobs and features intended to create a more dangerous, varied world than can be found in the basic Minecraft experience.
This initial release brings us chickens that when punched can transform into giant fire-breathing beasts, trick chests that attack the player should they try to open them, and ‘creepigs’: insidious monster pigs that explode like creepers. As well as new mobs, the dungeons and terrain have also received some attention, with the mod creating enormous underground temple ruins for intrepid players to explore.
Fly through Liberty City using this incredible GTA 4 Superman mod
Without a single official modding tool, Grand Theft Auto IV’s community have quietly been tweaking and expanding the game in every possible way. There’s the beautiful iCenhancer graphics mod that makes it look like a game from five years in the future, or the trainer that adds a gravity gun, and the ability to turn every car into a frictionless missile.
And now there’s a mod that makes you look and fly like Superman. I’ve explained where you can get it and how you can install it before, along with more videos.
The best custom leagues for Football Manager 2011
Do you find yourself getting bored with the usual league systems present in Football Manager? Have you always wanted to see a British Superleague or have the chance to play in a league based on the USSR circa 1991? If you can say yes to any of those questions then this list is what you need. Inside you can find five of the best, or most bizarre, custom leagues ready for you to play right now.
GTA 4 ICEnhancer mod enhanced, new trailer released
Recently we highlighted the remarkable ICEnhancer 1.2 mod for GTA IV, a visual overhaul that had us all reaching for the “install GTA IV” buttons on our Steam accounts. Redditor dfkjsd posts with news that the mod has now hit version 1.25. The mod creators have put out a lovely new trailer to celebrate, with lots of driving and some occasional slow-mo hyperviolence. You can grab the latest version of ICEnhancer now from GTA4-mods.com.
Five essential Football Manager 2011 mods
Football Manager 2011 has plenty of custom leagues and new skins, but mods themselves are pretty scarce. Still, we’ve selected the top five Mods to customise and streamline your Football Manager 2011 experience. Click through for the mods, and details of how to download.
GTA IV mod makes incredible graphical overhaul
Parts of the above trailer for the ICEnhancer 1.2 GTA IV mod look as though they could come from a GTA V. The fan made update, spotted by RPS, builds on a selection of GTA IV mods, like RealityIV and DKT70 road textures, and then adds updated shaders to make this three year old game look as though it could be coming out next year. Improved lighting, weather effects, depth of field and more combine to transform GTA IV into the video you see above. GTA IV isn’t well optimised under the best of circumstances, it might take a hefty PC to run this one, but we can’t wait to try it out.
For another way to see Liberty City as you’ve never seen it before, check out Dead End Thrills where friend of PC Gamer Duncan Harris uses a series of mods and texture packs to create photorealistic images of the mean streets of Grand Theft Auto IV.
