Sanctioned Mods - Wave 1
11 NEW SANCTIONED MODS
We're happy to announce that today, July 23rd at 15:30 CEST, the Sanctioned Mod feature is released as well as the first wave of 11 new Sanctioned Mods.
To ensure all your questions get answered, we are going live on Twitch today at 15:30 CEST / 06:30 PST with a Q&A regarding Sanctioned Mods with our developers Robin and Tom.
WHAT ARE SANCTIONED MODS AND WHY ARE WE DOING IT?
In short, these are Mods that have been approved by the developer and can be played on the Official Realm. To learn more, read our previous dev blog here.
WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR SANCTIONING?
The exact criteria will likely evolve over time as we explore this new space, but there are a couple of core values that will guide our way:
Mods are opt-in, so an unmodded user joining a random game should never be exposed to Mods that affect their experience unless they have chosen to.
Mods should not give a significant gameplay advantage over unmodded users or allow them to do something an unmodded user cannot. We don't want cheats or mods that cheapen the challenge of the game. If you have an awesome portrait frame earned by finishing a difficult challenge, you should be able to trust that people you meet will know you got it legit.
Mods that datamine and enable in progress features will not get sanctioned. If we're working on a feature and some modder finds it and manages to activate it, you're free to try it out in the Modded Realm, but we won't sanction that mod, you'll have to wait for it to get finished before it's released.
There will be grey zones in all three of these guidelines and we'll have to figure out as we go how and where to draw the line. There are also things like community created game modes, weapons, skins, maps, etc. These are all things we would be super excited to see, so it's going to be something we'll have to figure out good solutions for in the future. How other games have done this and what consequences that have had for the respective games will definitely aid us in this.
WHAT GETS SELECTED FOR SANCTIONED STATUS IN THIS FIRST WAVE?
We've started out with the low hanging fruit, those unobjectionable enough to test that the system is working as intended and to test the waters as this is a completely new thing to us.
We'll be taking the tougher calls as time goes on. Some have also not been selected for the first wave because they fix things for which we have impending fixes for ourselves, so for this first wave of review, we gave preference to other Mods.
CURRENT SANCTIONED MODS
In no specific order these mods have passed sanction review and are now available in the Official Realm.
BESTIARY
Creator: Fracticality
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1431393962
Ever wanted to have a chance to calmly check out all the enemies in the game without risking death? This mod is for you. It adds a completely new screen to the keep where you're able to check out all the enemies with stats, rotating character models, the works! Check out the screens, it looks amazing.
STICKYGRIM
Creator: Badwin
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1402835022
Ever dropped a grimoire by mistake while flailing through your inventory trying to get that panic nade thrown at that incoming chaos patrol? Well, then StickyGrims might be for you. It requires you to hold down the mouse button to drop the grim so you don't do it by mistake as easily.
WAYPOINTS
Creator: Badwin
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1402835023
Another mod from Badwin, this one allow you to paint waypoints on the ground to other users who have the installed mod for maximum teamplay.
UI IMPROVEMENTS
Creator: Grasmann
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1391228174
This mod intends to improve the overall UI of the game, so far it adds the ability to change the gear of any of your characters and careers without having to switch character. A nifty convenience feature to be sure.
LOCKEDANDLOADED
Creator: Badwin
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1402962846
I'll just repeat what the description says, short and to the point:
"Adds a small UI element to indicate if your range weapon is currently loaded or not. Never switch to range just to reload again!"
NEEDII
Creator: Tomoko
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1402971136
This shows you what characters are in need of a certain pickup the most when you look at it. Never pick up that ammo at half load only to notice poor Kruber is completely out ever again!
SKIP INTRO
Creator: bi
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1395453301
Do you get annoyed having to watch the shark crash into the screen every time you start the game? Well, with this mod these videos as well as the intro is automatically skipped, sending you immediately to the keep loading screen.
NUMERIC UI
Creator: Necrossin
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1397265260
With this mod the HUD gets numbers next to ammo and health as well as adds icons to show when teammates are wounded and will insta-die the name time they go down or if they're using Natural Bond.
SIMPLE UI
Creator: Grasmann
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1389872347
This mod doesn't affect the game on it's own, but it instead provides an easy to use simple framework for setting up UI so modders that need UI in their mods can to it more easily.
SOURCE VIEWMODEL
Creator: SkacikPL
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1431627364
From the creator of the (now famous) Photomode mod comes a more modest mod. This one basically changes the first person rig to emulate how it looks in Source games, making your weapon closer when you look down and further away when you look up.
VERMINTIDE MOD FRAMEWORK
Creator: grasmann, UnShame, bi, Aussiemon, Siku and IamLupo
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1389872347
The Vermintide Mod Framework is not only a mainstay from Vermintide 1, it's also the most commonly used mod in the Workshop simply because just about every other mod in the workshop uses it to build their features.
Is there a mod you're missing? Well, we'll factor in how popular mods are when we choose what to evaluate next. Do you see a mod that's applied for sanctioning that you really like? Give it a thumbs up in the workshop as that helps guide us in the many mods we have to review.
This is the first wave, there will be more. Stay tuned!
/Robin Hagblom - Technical Director, Fatshark Studios