From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


GOG has put up some new additions to its list of curated MODs. While
not exclusive to GOG, by downloading them from GOG you can be assured
that they will install and run -with a minimum of hassle- with the
versions of the base games sold by GOG. (In many cases, it's a
one-click install through Galaxy, although they also have stand-alone installers). The mod developers get the benefit of guaranteed
compatibility, and no worries about having enough bandwidth to host
the mods. So it's win-win for everyone.

(And if you're a curmudgeon, yes, you can still find the mods outside
of GOG too, and fiddle with all the settings manually ;-)

Anyway, GOG recently added six new MODs to their collection:
* STALKER ANOMALY (for STALKER: Call of Pripyat)
* Ashes 2063 (for Doom II)
* Belzebub (for Diablo HD)
* Elite Force (for SWAT 4)
* RealRTCW (for Return to Castle Wolfenstein)
* Keeper FX (for Dungeon Keeper)

I'm only familiar with the first two (Anamoly is great; Ashes 2063 is Doom-meets-Stalker, good despite being held back by the Doom engine)
but I suspect none of them are terrible. The only disadvantage is that
to claim the mods (which are free) you must own the core game on GOG
first. You can't download them from GOG and then use them on a version
of the game you have on Steam or on CD-ROM. But that's fair, I think.
It's not like you can't get the MOD elsewhere in those cases.

Anyway, it's worth a look, I think. The full list is available here: https://www.gog.com/en/mods




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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 02 Sep 2025 12:14:17 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyway, GOG recently added six new MODs to their collection:
* STALKER ANOMALY (for STALKER: Call of Pripyat)
* Ashes 2063 (for Doom II)
* Belzebub (for Diablo HD)
* Elite Force (for SWAT 4)
* RealRTCW (for Return to Castle Wolfenstein)
* Keeper FX (for Dungeon Keeper)

Interesting that they decided on Belzebub for Diablo 1. I tried this
mod awhile back but I liked another mod, called the Hell 3, more. I
wonder what goes into their thinking to choose one mod over another.

Anyway, thanks for the link.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 02 Sep 2025 13:52:31 -0400, Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com>
wrote:

Interesting that they decided on Belzebub for Diablo 1. I tried this
mod awhile back but I liked another mod, called the Hell 3, more. I
wonder what goes into their thinking to choose one mod over another.

Anyway, thanks for the link.

I just got an email from GOG saying 'You own Diablo - now step into a
whole new game for free thanks to the Belzebub mod'

I am not the least bit surprised that I got this news from Spalls
first.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 02 Sep 2025 15:23:30 -0400, Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com>
wrote:

On Tue, 02 Sep 2025 13:52:31 -0400, Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com>
wrote:

Interesting that they decided on Belzebub for Diablo 1. I tried this
mod awhile back but I liked another mod, called the Hell 3, more. I
wonder what goes into their thinking to choose one mod over another.

I seem to recall an article that said it depends on three things:
1) somebody at GOG likes it
2) it gets a recommendation from end-users
3) the developer of the mod gives them permission

(and never forget the unspoken fourth item in every corporate
decision: "there's nothing in the MOD that will annoy the lawyers")

Other considerations doubtlessly are: how easy is it to get this mod
running (important for GOG's "1-click install initiative") and "how
much support is there for the mod" (important because mods hacked
together by a single, half-interested individual might not still work
in the future, while a mod with a larger, more dedicated team likely
will)

I don't think GOG's collection should be seen as the end-all,
best-of-the-best mods ever; they're just good mods that meet all the
criteria mentioned above. Hell3 might be the superior option, but if
nobody at GOG knows about it, or it uses copyrighted code (or
whatever) it might not get the nod from corporate.

I just got an email from GOG saying 'You own Diablo - now step into a
whole new game for free thanks to the Belzebub mod'

I am not the least bit surprised that I got this news from Spalls
first.

Knowing GOG's emails, it probably got delayed by spam filters because
of their lousy subject lines.

My posts are never mistaken for spam. Useless, curmudgeonly trash,
maybe, but not spam. ;-)


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