Best game mods 2012

Over 70 volunteers worked on mod, creating brand new models, textures, quests and gameplay features - including over 70, lines of re-recorded dialogue. And come on, as if we were going to talk about mods and not mention one of the biggest and most popular: Counter--Strike.

With a simple premise of two teams of terrorists and counter-terrorists looking to eliminate one another it became an international hit and impressed Valve so much the two were hired and Counter-Strike remade as a proper standalone game.

One such game was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, and with its original campaign having ended so abruptly, a group of dedicated players worked tirelessly to restore the quests, locations and characters that were cut by developer Obsidian due to time constraints.

The result was The Sith Lords Restored. The additional content patches in longer questlines, alternate endings, extra dialogue and more. It even fixed a handful of bugs that dogged the original version. Enter Long War , a partial conversion that effectively extends the length and breadth of the game in almost every way. Squad sizes are increased to eight, customisation was increased tenfold and the ability to retake countries by assaulting multiple alien bases was introduced.

Its four core members were assisted by 29 modders, 20 voice actors and even some members of developer Firaxis as well. It became so popular Firaxis hired the main modders and formed a new studio to work on the sequel. Tonemapping, digital vibrance, luma sharpening and other neat effects got thrown into the mix, giving us the power to customise the look of most modern games.

It's also one of the most reliable, no-nonsense screen capture tools: just hit your assigned hotkey and a lossless image plops into the game's folder. Christian Jensen's SweetFX is the next evolution. Popular presets for these injectors include the Mass Effect 3 'Illumination' mod and James Snook's work with Borderlands 2 and Dishonored.

This mod lets you add more than three traits at a time: you just need to type a quick cheat code including the name of the desired trait to add it to your Sim. With the new Create-a-Sim tool in The Sims 4, you can spawn Sims of many different widths, but you can't alter how tall they are. This height slider from GODJUL1 lets you adjust the height of your Sims so that the world looks more naturally varied: just click and drag their feet in Create-a-Sim to stretch or shrink them.

The second version of Xmiramira's darker skin tones pack comes with some improvements on original colors and new makeup. No longer will you suffer a greyish pallor for your darker skinned sims.

The skin options available in the Melanin Pack add a ton of vibrant options. After the base game update that's added a bunch of default skin tones and a brightness slider, Miramira's modded tones all appear in the "warm" tones section". Technically this is actually a Live Mode mod, but because it affects your Sim's appearance we'll let it hang out in Create-A-Sim.

With this mod, your sims will grow a beard over time. If you don't want to wait for nature, there's even a beard tonic to speed things up. Once it's too long, your Sim can shave and style their facial hair in the mirror. We all know The Sims 4 needs more personal chores, right?

This is a big must-have for players who like constructing intricate scenes. Placing clutter items naturally in The Sims 4 can be a bit of a headache. Even if you've gotten good at using your ALT key for free placement and the 0 or 9 keys to change an object's height, you can run into snapping nightmares. The OMSP shelf helps you add clutter to just about anything by acting as a placeholder surface while you clutter to your heart's desire.

This mod expands the number of rows while browsing for objects and makes using filters easier too. The real biggie though is how easy it makes hunting for debug items—the neat items that exist in The Sims 4 but can usually only be revealed for use via cheats.

Debug items have color swatches too. Ravasheen's working bunk beds made a real splash back before The Sims 4 added bunk beds of its own. Even though bunk beds are official now, Ravasheen's bunks are a great modular option for saving space.

You can also put Ravasheen's miniature desks beneath a lofted bed and Sims are still able to use them, unlike a lot of base game items paired with standard Sims 4 bunk beds.

You'll probably want to grab Ravasheen's bunk bed updates to go with the regular set as well. This Sims 4 mod is all about adding more complexity to character romance and interactions, letting you tweak the traits they find attractice in others, dating preferences, and even attitude towards birth control.

Wonderful Whims adds a whole extra layer to the Sims 4 dating experience, giving it a little extra depth and less superficiality. Life's Drama adds a dash of controversy to every neighborhood, with 11 new dramatic scenarios for townie NPCs, some of which you can intervene in.

Your Sims might peer out their window to see a couple embroiled in a huge argument, a robber trying to pick a pocket, or a bride running away from her wedding.

You can cause some drama yourself via the new "Exposing A Loved One" action, which works on Sims that have partners. Drop the bombshell, and grab some popcorn.

Full installation instructions are here. This mod from KawaiiStacie adds a bunch of rabbit hole actions—activities your Sims can do on their own without you following—that activate buffs or improve your Sims' relationships with those closest to them. Once your Sims have visited the DMV for a license or bus pass, you can send them exploring just by clicking on them, which brings up a radial wheel of options.

You can send them shopping they'll come back with new clothes , to dance classes, to local attractions, to gambling spots, to take on some part-time work, and more.

Their skills and motives will change based on the activity you choose, and you can tell your Sim to "Explore With" another character if you want to improve relations. Sims will also randomly explore if you don't intervene, which is neat. The mod works with the base game, but some options rely on specific packs: you can't send Sims for take-out ice cream if you don't own the Cool Kitchen Stuff pack, for example.

A mod pack containing some of prolific Sims 4 modder roBurky's best work, all aimed at making your Sims feel more human. If you've used Emotional Inertia or True Happiness—both previously on this list individually—then you'll attest to the quality of roBurky's work, and both of those mods are in the package alongside other must-haves. Make sure your sims look awesome with the best gaming PCs right now. Emotional Inertia, redesigned just for this collection, stops your Sims' moods flipping on and off like a light switch.

In the base game, simply having a good meal in a well-decorated room fills them with joy for a few hours, but then the feeling vanishes. Emotional inertia makes moods less predictable, but more stable: they'll change less and last longer, making it more difficult to game the system.