Barney and Thomas the Tank Engine are in Resident Evil 8 thanks to modders

This story about unofficially modifying video games, boiled down, in 2:15 minutes.

What's the fuss?

When a game is finally released to the public, that doesn't mean the game can't change. By using special tools, the public can alter the game to their own desires and share it with others - such as adding Barney the Dinosaur to a horror game.

The situation

Resident Evil Village (aka Resident Evil 8) follows the protagonist as he traverses a rural village populated with mutants, zombies, and other creatures to rescue his kidnapped daughter. Tsuyoshi Kanda, series producer of the Resident Evil series, intended the game to be a "scary but fun experience for players". But unofficial additions from these modders are making the game a unique experience to say the least.

One of these modders is changing some of the monsters to resemble Barney the Dinosaur. Another modder has changed the face of one of the main antagonists into a creepy Thomas the Tank Engine-human hybrid. With already thousands of downloads for these two mods as well as others, it seems that fans love seeing and experiencing the unexpected.

Boiling it down

Virtually every video game is moddable. Although some games provide their own modding tools (making the game easier to modify), many games require independently altering the game's inherent files to mod them. Whether the goal is the make the game more frightening or comical, how modders can alter the nature of any game is only up to the imagination. But in any case, developing mods are a ton of work - and are usually given away for free.

Currently, modifying games is really only an option on PCs since the tools are readily available. On consoles such as the PlayStation or Xbox, the lack of modding support makes the scene much more limited. Although consoles are slowly becoming better at supporting mods, the ability to mod to your heart's content is certainly a strong pro towards PC gaming.

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