Mod lets you play Stellaris as a race of robots

This week on the Mod Roundup, we've got a mod that lets you conquer the galaxy as a race of robots in Stellaris! Also, an extremely welcome mod that lets you play Final Fantasy X and X-2 with Japanese audio and English subtitles, plus a mod for XCOM that pits four rookie soldiers against an unending wave of alien enemies. And finally, a mod that lets you quicksave while playing Fallout 4's survival mode.

Here are the most promising mods we've seen this week.

Playable Robots, for Stellaris

Steam Workshop link

As we learned back in March, researching technology to the highest levels in Stellaris may have its drawbacks, if you call destroying the entire universe a drawback. Robots, for instance, may use their newfound artificial intelligence to take revenge on all the cruel organics who have been using them as a cheap labor source. This mod from Delincious takes the concept a step further, allowing you to play your campaign as the robots themselves.

Japanese audio and English text, for Final Fantasy X, X-2 

Steam Workshop link

As Wes reported on Friday, the remaster of Final Fantasy X and X-2 arrived on Steam with dual langauge support, but no way to listen in Japanese while using English subtitles. Which is dumb. Luckily, modders are smart, like Kaldaien, who quickly created a fix that lets you mix and match your audio and text options. Nice work!

Wave COM, for XCOM 2

Steam Workshop link

In an appealing twist to XCOM 2, this mod creates an entirely new mode. Rather than fighting through a campaign, you can recruit four rookie soldiers and see how long they can last through wave after wave of progressively stronger aliens and advents. You'll still have access to engineering and research in this mod created by Maluco Marinero.

Thanks to Nathan at Kotaku for the tip!

Survival Quick Save, for Fallout 4

Nexus Mods link

My personal thanks go to modder Gopher, who has created a mod for quicksaving your progress while playing Fallout 4's survival mode. I get called a "save baby" everytime I bring this up, but bed-based checkpoint saves completely suck, not because they make the game harder but because they make the game more inconvenient. Sometimes, I just want to stop playing for a bit without having to scrounge around for a bed first, and now I can—without losing my progress.

Looking for more mods? Check out our list of the best mods for Fallout 4 and the best mods for XCOM 2.

Christopher Livingston
Senior Editor

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.