The ability to mod video games lets folks to tinker with practically all of a title's components from the ground up until the base model has been remolded to either fit a player's liking, or simply to make wild, imaginative creations. Fortunately, Bethesda will allow fans to do just that with Fallout 4 mod tools after it releases. Prior to the developer's forthcoming entry, the modding community has put the post-apocalyptic series on the receiving end of mod-treatments many times over, as seen in videos like the Fallout: The Frontier mod trailer – a complete nuclear winter re-imagining of New Vegas.

As most of the gaming world would attest, Fallout 4 is arguably one of the most highly anticipated titles of the year, and fans are doubly excited about being able to make the game unique in their own ways, as mods were being developed almost immediately after the sequel was announced. Bethesda is all for players getting their hands dirty when it comes to altering the Wasteland, which is why the studio is putting out the game's Creation Kit out as soon as humanly possible.

During a recently released Bethesda.net interview recorded during E3 2015, Fallout 4's director, Todd Howard, touched on the game's new feature that gives players the chance to craft and customize weapons, armor, and settlements, likening the process to Minecraft. Even though the gameplay component is completely optional, Howard believes that purely giving fans the opportunity to do so automatically builds a rapport with the community, as it introduces even more freedom in the game. But for those who enjoy the capacity to create stuff outside of the title, the director says that Fallout 4's Creation Kit will be available some time in "early 2016".

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When it comes to Bethesda's views on open world design, Howard trusts that giving fans more options and more choices ultimately pays off in the long run. Regarding the matter, he says:

"The world ultimately becomes the main character of our games. A lot of stuff we do, we want to show you that world, and you immediately think, 'What would I do in that circumstance? Who would I want to be?' and that makes it much more personal to you, and much more of a different experience than other games, other types of entertainment. The more you can say yes to the player, the better we are."

For the most part, Todd Howard is right. Not only does offering fans the materials to produce original content for games give the titles a more individualized feeling, but it also teaches significant lessons regarding game design. Once mod tools are officially in the hands of fans, there's no telling what kind of interesting creations will be thrown into the mix. Certainly, the ingenuity of Fallout 4 fans will live up to Howard's ideas of what it takes to make better loot.

Fallout 4 is set to release on November 10, 2015 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: Bethesda Softworks (via PC Gamer)