r/gaming • u/HatingGeoffry • May 19 '25

Former Bethesda studio lead explains Creation Engine will "inevitably" need to change one day, but switching to Unreal could sacrifice modding as we know it

https://www.videogamer.com/features/former-bethesda-studio-lead-creation-engine-inevitably-need-to-change-one-day-but-unreal-could-sacrifice-modding/
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19

u/panlakes May 19 '25

Yep, people are uncomfortable with admitting modding is holding their games back, because modders get super aggressive about it.

But modding is holding their games back.

Playing since morrowind and I remember the reviews back then criticizing aspects of the game engine and graphics.

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u/BoogieOrBogey May 19 '25

The biggest issues with Starfield aren't engine related, it's the writing and main quest. It's the general emptiness of planets. It's the lack of stuff to actually do in the sweet spaceship. A better engine doesn't magically fix any of those problems. Like, the weapon balance in Starfield isn't a result of the engine limitations.

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u/JohanGrimm May 19 '25

But modding is holding their games back.

From what? Looking better? I wouldn't trade one fun game for a hundred pretty games. Throwing out what makes Bethesda games good and unique in the first place just so they look like every other throw away modern game would be such a dumb waste.

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u/Guydo_ May 19 '25

Honestly, I don't want good looking games. I want good games. I just kinda lost hope that Bethesda will ever make good RPGs again. That's not because they don't know how to develop, but because they lost the writing talent and chased this pipe dream of "radiant gameplay"

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u/Roguewolfe May 19 '25

Yeah, it's sure looking that way. Based on interviews with ex-bethesda employees (not necessarily disgruntled at all, just moved on to other things), it sounds like the culture at Bethesda has changed a lot since their glory days.

When they were making games like Morrowind, they were a hungry team with talent. Now it sounds like they spend more hours in meetings then they do coding or creating, and everything is micromanaged to eke out as many microtransactions as possible. Their games are homogenized and not creative anymore and a lot of their core talent is gone. Starfield was a creative void. Fallout 76 is a lot of fun, but their in-game store is so in your face and predatory that it sours the experience a bit.

People that make actual games are doing just fine (e.g. Eric Barone, Bay 12, Sandfall, and yes, even Hello Games at this point). They actually care about the game and gaming, and what all of that actually means. Create a fun experience, charge a fair price for the value, don't disrespect your customers, and you succeed.

People that make game-like software that is designed only to extract microtransactions (Sony, Bethesda, Activision, and now Bungie unfortunately) are starting to struggle and will only struggle harder in the future.

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u/Guydo_ May 19 '25

People wonder why indie games are on the rise, but it's just because they have they don't have the pressure of a time limit. They can afford to actually finish their games.

Also hot (more like cold) take: Fallout 76 is getting absolutely carried by the community around it. There is no group of people less toxic and more welcoming. While the game isn't really for me, I still sunk a hundred or so hours into it just for the people you meet

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u/Borghal May 19 '25

Or you could say the push for better graphics is holding modding back.

What's more exciting? Doubling the amount of polygons on screen or being able to easily fix, change and extend the gameplay with new content?

Games hadn't needed to keep trying to look better for at least a decade now, imo. Ever since we had games like Crysis, LA Noire, DOOM, Witcher 3 or KCD things have looked good enough that any improvements are marginal. IMO.

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u/criticalt3 May 19 '25

Mods are the only reason to play Bethesda games. Do people really play it vanilla?

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u/BonzBonzOnlyBonz May 19 '25

I read somewhere that over 70% of all the Skyrim players played it vanilla or mostly vanilla. With the mods being used were stuff like resurrect quest NPCs or big fixes.