Ghost Ship Games has further expanded Deep Rock Galactic modding support and made it easier than ever with a new in-game menu in today's update.
Deep Rock Galactic is a game that's all about a group of dwarves going on mining expeditions. The twist, however, is that these are dwarves in space. You'll also have to deal with your fair share of foul aliens; fortunately, you happen to have just the right tools for the job.
The developers have had ambitious plans for post-launch content and have generally been working on delivering new things for players to do, although things occasionally get delayed every now and again. Expansions to Deep Rock Galactic modding support were announced back in February 2021 and finally arrived a few months later, but Ghost Ship Games still had some work to do. Now, the fruits of those labors are available in the game in a new update.
How Deep Rock Galactic Modding Works
Previously, players would have to install Deep Rock Galactic mods by manually dropping files into the game's directory. That has all changed with today's introduction of the Deep Rock Galactic modding menu that's integrated right into the game (seen above).
Deep Rock Galactic are split into three categories, one of which has two sub-categories:
- Verified (for Base Game) - Quality of life mods that only make cosmetic changes to the game.
- Visual - Changes up the graphical look.
- Cosmetics - Adds in custom cosmetic items that do not affect progression.
- Audio - Unsurprisingly, these mods change up the audio (either in terms of music or SFX).
- Approved (for Progression) - "Challenging or alternative game modes" that make changes to gameplay elements.
- Sandbox - Mods that will change rewards or mission payouts, such as by unlocking items earlier than expected.
All of these Deep Rock Galactic mods are hosted on mod.io, a decision which was explained by the developers in a previous Steam Community news post.
Why Mod.io and not Steam Workshop
Steam workshop was a good option when we looked at developing modding support. We also looked at other platforms, each with its strengths and benefits. The key reason for choosing Mod.io was the Unreal SDK integration, support for the approval categories system we are planning, and solutions for uploading mods to the platform. While all of the platforms we looked at had different benefits, Mod.io was the best fit for our work. Mod.io also supports Windows 10 and Xbox, which provides interesting opportunities for expanding modding support to more players, but that is not something we have planned.
Aside from the new modding menu, this patch also features a ton of miscellaneous small changes to the game; you can read about everything new in this patch in the associated Steam Community news post. If you haven't yet jumped into this game, you can buy Deep Rock Galactic for 35% off on Steam at the price of $19.49 or your regional equivalent. There's plenty to enjoy with today's update, although we're going to be waiting a little while to play the next one.
What do you think of how Deep Rock Galactic modding works? What's your favorite way to play the game? Let us know in the comments below!
