Sometimes mods are essential. When the vanilla game is 'wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle', mods are the metaphorical Mariana Trench by adding some much-needed content. In extreme cases, mods even add completely new game modes, including working multiplayer.
multiplayer mods for single player games
In the past few years, we have seen co-op and multiplayer mods for games that were purely a single-player experience at launch. It is a revolutionary concept, although its execution varies from 'buggy and mediocre' to 'brilliant fun'. Here are the ten best multiplayer mods for single-player games.
This mod spawns one or more clones of Liara that can be controlled by other players. There are also options for player-vs-player combat, and the mod supports up to 16 players. Although there are bugs and glitches, it remains an achievement that even a 20th-century single-player game can still receive a working multiplayer mod.
Skyrim's multiplayer mod is better and allows you to play with up to eight players on a local server. While there are bugs, it all feels worth it once you gang up on your first dragon or giant together, or send Nazeem to the cloud district by eight players simultaneously using Fus-Roh-Dah.
The Cities: Skylines multiplayer mod takes some time to get to work, and is far from perfect. But there are not exactly a lot of co-op city builders out there, especially not with the same quality as Cities: Skylines. Building a city together, or each person building their city adjacent to each other, is a delightful experience.
Just like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout's latest installment Fallout 76 is purely an online experience. While Fallout 76 recovered somewhat from its controversial launch, again there is a certain charm to being able to play Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas in multiplayer.
There is even a mod that allows you to play Tale of Two Wastelands in multiplayer, which means that you can freely travel between the Capital Wasteland of Fallout 3, and the Mojave of New Vegas. Ergo, you can blast through the Pitt with your friends, then walk the Lonesome Road together, and finish off by getting abducted by aliens in Mothership Zeta. While these mods do not come with sixteen times the detail, they do have sixteen times the fun of Fallout 76.
An interesting bit of trivia is that one of the developers of the Just Cause 2 multiplayer mod ended up getting hired by Avalanche Studios Group, the developers of the game itself. The Just Cause 3 multiplayer mod was then made by a completely different team. Which one is better? You will have to judge that for yourself.
The Sims 4 may not be the best game in the Sims franchise, but it is the only one with an excellent multiplayer mod. This mod was possible thanks to the extensive online components that were already included with The Sims 4.
On your second playthrough, however, it could not hurt to invite a friend. You can go base building together or even go hunting for leviathans if you are that brave. The Subnautica multiplayer mod, despite being an early version, works wonderfully well and breathes some new life into this game.
Interestingly enough, the developers of Euro Truck Simulator 2 must have been paying attention to the multiplayer mod, because they eventually introduced an official multiplayer mode into the game in update 1.41. While you no longer need a mod to play multiplayer in this game, the original mod was so influential that it still rightfully deserves a spot on this list.
Half-Life 2 plus Episode One and Episode Two are all playable in co-op thanks to the excellent Synergy mod. The original games have aged remarkably well, so if you are looking for the perfect excuse to start another playthrough, this is it. Thankfully, Synergy also increases the enemy spawns if another player joins, so the difficulty of the game is not affected much by playing it in co-op.
If you want to play Grand Theft Auto online without any microtransactions, then look no further than the multiplayer mod for GTA San Andreas called Multi Theft Auto. Even today, it is still quite active. There are multiple modes, such as a Race mode or Deathmatch, which is set in the giant sandbox that you know and love from GTA.
Everything is better with friends--drinking, travelling, starting a cult, but mostly gaming. Of course, not every game is meant to be played with others. Titles like BioShock Infinite and Resident Evil 4 are great single-player experiences because they were designed that way.
But what happens when you take a game meant to be played alone and open up the Pandora's Box of multiplayer? Savvy game-modders create shared experiences in massive worlds like Skyrim, or entirely new game modes for strategy titles like Mount & Blade. Games like these didn't need multiplayer--they weren't meant to have it--but got it anyway, thanks to the mod community.
Just Cause 2 is a study in vehicular insanity--few games let you leap from a plane in mid-flight, pull out your grappling hook, and zip into the cockpit of a different plane. That grappling hook, in fact, leads to some of the most insane, nearly game-breaking moments you can have with Just Cause. You see, the grappling hook can attach to anything, letting you zip toward an object or attach two things together. This leads to pure chaos in single-player.
Now imagine what grappling hooks can do in the hands of dozens of other players. People hijack speedboats, attach cargo to planes as they take off, and chain their friends to moving vehicles--that's just part of what this multiplayer mod allows. Others get into vehicle races, but these quickly devolve into clusterfraks of people latching onto the jeep in front of them, while racers in jets above just crash into each other. It's basically Michael Bay's wet dream.
"It's like a single-player Diablo!" was the cry of many a Torchlight player when the original hit Steam in 2009. They were right--this randomly generated dungeon crawler lets you level a class, sling spells, and grind for sweet loot. It was everything Diablo-ites could want, but it only let them play alone.
Not so with Oblivion and Skyrim Online, two mods that are exactly what they sound like. These take dozens of your Cyrodiil- and Skyrim-bound heroes and throw them together in their respective games. Jumping through Oblivion gates and screaming Fus-Roh-Dah at dragons never feels as cool as with a party of fellow dragonborn. The best part? Both mods preempted Elder Scrolls Online--way to go, modders!
Elder Scrolls isn't the only Bethesda series to get the multiplayer treatment. If you're more into post-apocalyptic sci-fi than wizardry, look no further than the Fallout 3 multiplayer mod. Remember that cancelled Fallout MMO? Looks like we didn't need it after all.
Oh, was none of that interesting to you? Then what about doing it all... with friends? Yes, with the Euro Truck Simulator 2 multiplayer mod, you and your driving buddies can haul the goods together Or, you know, just turn the thing into bumper cars and blast some Adele on your custom radio station.
For RPG buffs who would rather swing swords than sling spells, there's Mount & Blade: Warband, which forgoes all fantasy elements for a more authentic feel. It's action-oriented--you battle in fields, forests, and forts--and you spend a lot of time on horseback. Makes sense that the multiplayer mod would let you take on other players in full-on medieval warfare, right?
These games were never meant to have multiplayer like this, but savvy players made it happen. Now, those crazy single-player moments can be shared with others. Do you support these sorts of game-changing mods? Do you think it's nothing more than cheap hacking? Let us know in the comments below.
Want to dig into some more mods? Check out these 8 hilariously ridiculous mods for games you know and love (opens in new tab). If you're in the mood for more shooting with others, check out the best FPS games (opens in new tab).
How do you make a single player game into a multiplayer one? For example: SA-MP San Andreas Multiplayer and the new Just Cause 2 Multiplayer. Before making the mod, did they need permission? How did they even know what to code without having the games source code? I have some ideas but I have no idea where to really start.
Lets look at a high level, simple example. Say two people have a single player game called Box Game on their computer. Box Game is just a screen with a number of colored boxes. Fun game. Now someone figured out how to mod the game, the mod allows you to add new boxes to the screen with any color you want. Sweet.
This month, however, the modding community hit a unique milestone. The team behind Skyrim Together Reborn has finally released the mod to the gaming public, and players are more than happy with the results. The rehashed Skyrim multiplayer mod is enticing players to return to Tamriel long before The Elder Scrolls 6 is even set to release.
The team behind the Skyrim multiplayer mod first started posting updates around 2018. This included UI updates and bug fixes. There were even livestreams showcasing what the game would look like with the multiplayer mod. Then, in January of 2019, the modding team announced a closed beta, which was immediately followed by an open beta for Skyrim Together.
On July 8, 2022, Skyrim Together Reborn was published on Nexus mods. The Skyrim multiplayer mod got over 50,000 downloads on the first day of its release, easily climbing the list of the top mods of July. Gaming outlets and Skyrim content creators have also made sure to share the news, emphasizing how well the mod works in practice, especially compared to its predecessor. Suffice to say, Skyrim Together Reborn is a hit.
Even though The Elder Scrolls 6 is still a long way away, fans will have plenty to do with Skyrim multiplayer as well as the countless new mods being released. Chances are the Skyrim community will die down once the next installment is released, but until then, the iconic title is going to continue to stay relevant, and innovative mods like Skyrim Together Reborn are to thank for that. 2ff7e9595c
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