Truth be told, PC gaming is not the absolute end-all, be-all of gaming. It’s a difficult statement to admit, as I’ve more than cemented myself as an advocate for PC gaming consistently throughout the past few months, but various consoles and even mobile devices are continuing to bring an ever-growing slew of offers and inclusions that make them that much stronger. It’s ideal to see, even if they still have a bit of way to go in terms of accessibility.
There’s one aspect that consoles will likely never catch up in though; modding. Modding is the absolute customization tool that allows fishing in Skyrim, hunting wagons in Red Dead Redemption 2 (no modding what Rockstar might add, or they’ll sue you), and makes fishing easier for my aging butt in Stardew Valley. While Skyrim’s popularity with mods ended up bringing many mods over to consoles, the mods must still be crafted on PCs, often conceding certain features to fit within the consoles.
It’s absolutely no secret that modding breathes life into games for a near unlimited amount of time, and developers that take advantage of eager community members typically receive a constructive community surrounding the title. Some developers even go so far as to offer financial support for eager and intrepid mod developers.
Traveling back September 2018, a title released called Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Featuring a bastardization of the ruleset found in Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, which has split into the Pathfinder ruleset, colloquially D&D 3.75, the title featured combat balanced around making the most out of every turn, as the turns began. It turned into a relatively stressful ordeal as managing the unique classes and their abilities was a fast and furious task.
Our last statement on Turn-based combat:https://t.co/8KO7sMB04G pic.twitter.com/SEWq9WV4j4
— Owlcat Games (@OwlcatGames) February 13, 2020
Enter a mod called Turn-Based Combat, created by a user on the NexusMods forum as Hsinyu. The mod brought turn-based combat to the title in early 2019 and is readily referenced by many as the singular greatest mod to come to Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Give a quick glance to the PK reviews on Steam, and count how many make reference to the mod.
It took the real-time aspect and brought it to an unwavering halt, allowing players to think through their turns in a more classic D&D style. It is likely no exaggeration to state that this mod kept the title in positive review on the Steam platform.
Never to be one to make the same mistake twice, Owlcat Studios took to the Kickstarter page for Pathfinder: Path of the Righteous to announce that the mod will be incorporated in the base game, allowing users to decide if they want to try their hand at real-time combat, or the more classic (yet admittedly slow) Turn-Based Combat.
It’s obviously a smart move to implement community-desired features that there is clearly an audience for. The announcement saw a marked uptick in Kickstarter backers for the project, which has now reached well past $1,000,000.
