Questions about UE4/UE5 modability

[31971207]

I am about halfway through Hogwarts Legacy and the developer really did an amazing job with its open world but the story/game play is just as shallow as typical Bethesda games. Hogwarts Legacy is UE4 and the sequel is supposedly UE5 and UE5 made open world sandbox a major selling point. Can someone enlighten me about the following:

 

1. What are the barriers, legal and technical, to mod commercial UE4/UE5 games with Unreal Engine being free for hobbyists?

2. What are the barriers, legal and technical, for a developer to make their UE4/UE5 game as easy to mod as Bethesda games leveraging off that Unreal Engine is free for hobbyists?

 

Hogwarts Legacy sold about 20mln copies I think and just imagine how many more it can sell if the game can be modded like Skyrim.

[Reginald_001]

Did you check the Nexus Hogwarts pages?

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/hogwartslegacy

[31971207]

56 minutes ago, Reginald_001 said:

Did you check the Nexus Hogwarts pages?

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/hogwartslegacy

 

Some very basic model swaps and reshade, nothing special I could see. Nothing like what modders could do with CK in Bethesda games.

[Reginald_001]

The point is more that people already are modding it. And the answer to your other questions is answered in the EULA of Hogwarts, which states you cannot reproduce or redistribute any of their assets. That's basically all the answers you'll likely find and should be able to extrapolate from there.

 

Locally there are 0 barriers, you can alter and change HW to your hearts content. But you can't redistribute their exe. You can add DLL's that mod and alter the game and ship those, but you can't ship their base or altered DLL's or files. You can ship your own textures and assets like sounds, but not theirs. e.g. 'basic copyright rules apply'.

 

You can make modding tools for it, or make a generic modding toolset for UE games, UEVR is similar in that regard in that it can mod/turn most UE4 and UE5 games into a VR experience. You can release those tools without issue and even ask money for them.

 

Also, smaller point, some of those mods on Nexus are really intricate and some alter the gameplay experience in a significant way. There is one that alters all the NPC behavior and gives them day/night cycles including letting them use their beds in Hogwarts, attend classes on time, and go for drinks in the evening in town.

 

As for CK like modding tools, almost no game developer releases those. And I expect Beth to stop doing so soon (e.g. 3-5 years) too, in favor for in-game content creation utilities shipped and consumed 100% in game.

 

 

Edited August 5, 2024 by Reginald_001

[31971207]

10 hours ago, Reginald_001 said:

The point is more that people already are modding it. And the answer to your other questions is answered in the EULA of Hogwarts, which states you cannot reproduce or redistribute any of their assets. That's basically all the answers you'll likely find and should be able to extrapolate from there.

 

Locally there are 0 barriers, you can alter and change HW to your hearts content. But you can't redistribute their exe. You can add DLL's that mod and alter the game and ship those, but you can't ship their base or altered DLL's or files. You can ship your own textures and assets like sounds, but not theirs. e.g. 'basic copyright rules apply'.

 

You can make modding tools for it, or make a generic modding toolset for UE games, UEVR is similar in that regard in that it can mod/turn most UE4 and UE5 games into a VR experience. You can release those tools without issue and even ask money for them.

 

Also, smaller point, some of those mods on Nexus are really intricate and some alter the gameplay experience in a significant way. There is one that alters all the NPC behavior and gives them day/night cycles including letting them use their beds in Hogwarts, attend classes on time, and go for drinks in the evening in town.

 

As for CK like modding tools, almost no game developer releases those. And I expect Beth to stop doing so soon (e.g. 3-5 years) too, in favor for in-game content creation utilities shipped and consumed 100% in game.

 

 

 

I am not asking for Hogwarts Legacy mods specifically but asking about Unreal Engine in general. From what I learned about Hogwarts Legacy not only WB locked down the assets the game is double locked with Denuvo so it's a non-starter as far as WB is concerned in regard to Skryim level mod support. UE5 makes developing open world box sandbox AAA quality games easier and most of those games could potentially benefit from Bethesda business model of mod friendliness.

 

I guess what I should ask is the difference of CK vs. Creation Engine and what legal and technical hurdles for a developer to release an Unreal Kit for hobbyists so to speak vs. Unreal Engine. CDPR's Red Kit is supposedly their full suite but obviously it took them a long time to package all the tools into a kit for modders but Unreal Engine is already packaged?

Edited August 6, 2024 by 31971207

[Reginald_001]

15 minutes ago, 31971207 said:

 

I am not asking for Hogwarts Legacy mods specifically but asking about Unreal Engine in general. From what I learned about Hogwarts Legacy not only WB locked down the assets the game is double locked with Denuvo so it's a non-starter as far as WB is concerned in regard to Skryim level mod support. UE5 makes developing open world box sandbox AAA quality games easier and most of those games could potentially benefit from Bethesda business model of mod friendliness.

 

I guess what I should ask is the difference of CK vs. Creation Engine and what legal and technical hurdles for a developer to release an Unreal Kit for hobbyists so to speak vs. Unreal Engine. CDPR's Red Kit is supposedly their full suite but obviously it took them a long time to package all the tools into a kit for modders but Unreal Engine is already packaged?

The CK is the creationkit and the Creation Engine is just the gamebryo engine. Do you mean CK v.s. Unreal? In that case the CK is far friendlier than the Unreal dev environment. Especially quest design, scene design and dialogue/animation are superior in the CK. But it's apples and pears. Unreal gives you access to base engine features, the CK most definitely does not.

 

You can make modding tools for Unreal specifically for HW, or you can make a generic modding toolset for UE games in general, UEVR is similar in that regard in that it can mod/turn most UE4 and UE5 games into a VR experience. You can release those tools without issue and even ask money for them.

Edited August 6, 2024 by Reginald_001