This week,CD Projekt Redannounced thatThe Witcher 3is getting an official mod editor.
“It will allow you to create your own experiences in the game by making something completely new or editing existing quests and content,” CDPRannounced via the official Witcher Twitter account. “We’re planning on releasing it for free in 2024.”
This is cool news, especially given that we’re getting it eight years after the game’s initial launch, long after most single-player games would have stopped receiving support. The extent of my experience with this kind of tool is opening upHalf-Life: Alyx’s level editor, playing around with it for a few hours, then dropping it, alongside any illusions that level design is the best fit for me as a creative outlet. But, I’m always stoked when the tools are available for other people to do this kind of thing. The Witcher 3 is a great game and its fans getting an official tool to make big, new quests for it is exciting.
But, I’m more excited about the potential of this kind of tool coming to other games. CD Projekt Red has done a good job redeeming its other big RPG,Cyberpunk 2077, with the quality-of-life improvements and new content it added with Phantom Liberty. But as much as I liked that expansion, I still felt likeNight City was frustratingly closed off. A mod editor that gave players official tools to build out building interiors and add quest givers within them would go a long way toward realizing the dream of living it up in a heavily populated futuristic city.
CD Projekt Red’s announcement also had me thinking about my favorite game of the year,Baldur’s Gate 3. I’ve always been jealous of the kind of player that can return to a role-playing game over and over again, seeing all the different paths the game can take as a result of different decisions. I’m jealous, but not jealous enough to become that kind of player myself. I rarely replay games a second time and, when it’s a 100+ hour RPG, that number drops down to never.
As much as I love Baldur’s Gate 3, and as much as I would want it to be an exception to that rule, I know that there are some (lengthy) sections that would make the decision to start a new playthrough daunting. Act 1 is some all-time good gaming and, so far, Act 3 is just as rewarding. But, I really began to lose patience with the game in the back half of the second act as I journeyed through the Shadow-Cursed Lands. There’s great stuff there, too, but I was frustrated by how constrained it felt after the freeform roleplay and exploration of the opening 40 hours.
This is where a mod could come in. The Shadow-Cursed Lands feels, appropriately, a little barren. Though there are some great fights out in the darkness (I especially enjoyed and was challenged by Thisobald Thorm), there are far fewer NPCs to encounter in the gloom. Again, that’s thematically appropriate, but it makes the middle-section very combat heavy. I would love for my second trip through Act 2 to be bolstered by more quests.
Unfortunately, in Baldur’s Gate 3’s case, this kind of update is extremely unlikely. Larian CEO Swen Vincke has said that the studio hasno plans to bring these tools to Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s a bummer, becauseDivinity: Original Sin 2had a GM mode that let players build whole campaigns for their friends to play through.
The world ofD&Dcomes with its own challenges though, like Wizards of the Coast’s own in-house virtual tabletop that is currently in the works and which a BG3 DM mode would undoubtedly cannibalize. I guess I’ll just have to dream about a more populated Shadow-Cursed Lands. Or pray that Larian adds more content for the inevitable Baldur’s Gate 3 - Definitive Edition. In the meantime, maybe it’s time to head back to the Continent for another go ‘round with the Wild Hunt.
NEXT:Larian’s “Next Big Game” After Baldur’s Gate 3 Isn’t Necessarily Baldur’s Gate 4
