Fans That Fixed Major Problems In Games
Unfortunately, games don't always release completely perfectly. Some games — like "Cyberpunk 2077" and "Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition" — were highly anticipated releases that came out with massive, game-breaking bugs. While developers tried to fix things as quickly as possible for these games, not all titles get the same love and attention. This is especially true for older games or those with smaller development teams.
For games like this, there have been plenty of fans who have stepped in through the years to help people have a better experience. Sometimes this means fans fixing things like loading times or frames per second (FPS) problems. Other times, this means correcting gameplay issues that most people find annoying. Even games that are extremely popular or new can have mods that fix problems and make the title more enriching.
Here are some games that have quite the impressive fan-made mods that fixed big issues in the originals.
Grand Theft Auto Online
Before 2021, "Grand Theft Auto Online" was known for having incredibly long wait times. Long could be an understatement, as loading in times could take up to six minutes for some. One fan, t0st, discovered an easy way to fix loading times on PC with a few small changes. The fan was able to get loading times down to two minutes, a pretty impressive feat considering that's a 60% decrease in loading times.
Fans weren't the only ones happy. Rockstar used t0st's ideas to officially fix "GTA Online." The company didn't leave out the creator, though. Rockstar awarded t0st $10,000 for the help. Rockstar, among other companies like Riot Games, has a program that actually rewards fans for finding and solving problems with its games. Between the praise from the game studio and the money, getting recognized for finding and solving the problem probably looks pretty good on a resume as well.
Skyrim
Despite the fact that "Skyrim" has been remastered and re-released multiple times, the 2011 open-world adventure game has plenty of mods that help the game run smoother for PC players. While the game doesn't generally run badly, PCs that don't have the best of the best parts in them might struggle with things like framerates. This problem was also a more prevalent on older PCs. This makes sense, considering that 2015 PC builds didn't run the game as well as more powerful 2020 PCs.
Fan AKcelsior came up with a mod that actually boosted FPS by removing "insignificant" objects. While developers and die-hard fans might argue that any object in the game has relevance, there are some things in "Skyrim" that have to be loaded in constantly that players don't even see. This includes things like underwater flora that PCs attempt to load in even when the player isn't underwater.
With over 8,500 endorsements and 200,000 downloads on NexusMods, it's clear that the mod helped a large number of players enjoy "Skyrim" by fixing FPS issues.
Guilty Gear Strive
Loading times seem to be a pretty common problem for games, and "Guilty Gear Strive" wasn't an exception. The fighting game took so long to load into matches that one fan, optix2000, created a way for players to get around it with a program called Totsugeki.
On Github, the description of the program explains that it can increase loading-in speeds by three to four times. The creator uploaded a video to show off just how big of a difference the faster loading time makes. Another fan had the same idea, posting a video on YouTube that compared the times with and without Totsugeki. In fact, the user was able to play an entire match on the Totsugeki before the vanilla version of the game ever loaded in.
While faster loading times may seem like a small quality of life change, this can make a pretty big difference for players who just want to sit down and play a couple of games quickly.
Stardew Valley
"Stardew Valley" is one of the most successful indie games that's a great modern PC game that doesn't require a good computer. In fact, the game's available on every console and most mobile stores. The game was created by one person, ConcernedApe, and fans were quick to create mods to solve issues in the game or requests that were really popular.
There are a ton of in-game characters, and while there's a map for getting around, there was never a way for players to find the specific characters they're looking for. At least until two fans, Bouhm and Pathoschild, created a mod that let players do just that. The mod made it so that the map would show where NPCs are at all times, making it much easier for players to track down whoever they needed without having to search for a guide.
There wasn't anything wrong with the map, but it was something that players discussed when the game was released. Additionally, the mod has over 3.3 million downloads on NexusHub, making it clear that players were interested in the mechanic.
The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster games
Sometimes games have problems with accessibility, and the "Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster" games fell into this category. On release, the game's text was incredibly close together and thin, making it difficult to read for most players and impossible to read for others. The font was different than previous remakes of the same games, and it was perplexing for some players.
RPG Site's Scott White found a solution by tampering with the game's files. On PC, players can go into the files and change their names to include .en instead of .ja, then the font changes. Apparently, the font from the Japanese version of the games is slightly larger and much more accessible than any of the other languages that use a Latin alphabet (which is the alphabet that English uses.)
While this little hack only works on PC, it's something worth looking into. At the very least, it could help people who have vision difficulties or reading disorders be able to play the game.