Tag Archives: Skyrim
Steam drops paid mods plan
The headline says it all, however if you’re not familiar with Steam, I’ll give some background and explain just what that headline means.
Steam is a digital software distribution platform developed by Valve, itself a well-known and well-respected developer of computer games such as the legendary Half-Life, and founded by former Microsoft employee and now-billionaire Gabe Newell. Steam has become the standard for digital distribution of software, and although there are others such as Electronic Arts’ Origin service and Ubisoft’s UPlay, none have had the impact or influence of steam.
Another function of Steam is to allow mods, or additions to games that have been created by fans. They may be upgrades to graphics, new items, levels, characters, sounds, or numerous other tweaks. Steam allows for the easy, one-click install of these mods through what is known as the Steam Workshop, whereas installing them any other way would require manually manipulating the files.
Unreal Engine 4 is now free
The Unreal Engine, a game-creation toolkit developed by Epic and used to develop a wide range of games from Clive Barker’s Undying in 2001 to the truly terrible Thief in 2014, is one of the standard game creation engines out there. You can see the list of all games created using the engine at the related Wikipedia page.
If you’ve ever wondered how games are made, or if you ever wanted to dabble in game creation, then today is your lucky day. The Unreal Engine 4 is now available for free download. You’ll have to register, but there are no costs associated with it, and it has a MASSIVE amount of features.
