dnovraD: How do you feel about source ports and things of that nature; where an entire game might be reconditioned into a better codebase though the efforts of one or more people?
I'm not sure I've ever run across the term "source port" before, but it sounds kind of like what has happened with Transport Tycoon Deluxe, which has been completely reverse-engineered and rebuilt into OpenTTD. From there, the community has added uncountable features and fixes, all while retaining the basic gameplay of the original. In general, I try not to use anything that may exist in a legal grey area, but in situations like OpenTTD, where the original seems largely abandoned and forgotten, I'm more open. I quite enjoy OpenTTD, though I haven't updated my version in quite some time.
I would do the same if a similar community were to recreate and improve Star Trek: Birth of the Federation. I have always wanted a better version of a Civilization-style Star Trek game to play. There is a relatively recent one I forget the name of that mostly fits into that category, but running it is beyond the capabilities of my ancient computer.
dtgreene: One thing I've encountered, when it comes to bugfix mods, is that:
* Sometimes, they make changes that I consider undesirable. (Some arguably are bugfixes, but sometimes I don't want certain bugs to be fixed, while others make changes that don't really belong in a bufix mod.)
* At the same time, the mod isn't modular, so you can't pick and choose which fixes to apply.
I have run into this as well. When other changes are made, I will consider all aspects. Most often, I am willing to live with other changes in order to use the bugfixes, as long as the other changes seem to fit the game without changing anything fundamental. That being said, I do prefer the modular style of bugfix mod. I know I have used a number of those for games, but I can't think of them specifically off the top of my head.
dtgreene: * I believe Baldur's Gate 2's fixpack may make changes like not allowing certain effects to stack with themselves, when they do stack in (Classic Edition) vanilla. To me, this is too much of a gameplay change for a bugfix mod that I might not want when just wanting gameplay fixes.
* Skyrim's unofficial patch does a lot of controversial changes. Examples include things like adding an extra room to a building (just so that a certain NPC has a place to sleep) or changing the materials found in a couple mines.
The Skyrim one is one I'll have to consider someday, when I replace my computer and can actually play it. The two examples you cite for it probably aren't dealbreakers for me.
dtgreene: * The Morrowind Code Patch is nice in that it's not affected by that second point; you can change some things bug not others. For example, I could enable more critical things, or perhaps something like Fortify Health affecting max health (not having it affect max health is an interesting mechanic that happens, perhaps unintentionally, to model drug withdrawal, but the in-game sources of the effect aren't balanced for that), while not enabling the blind fix (I find that this sort of bug, where blindness increases accuracy instead of lowering it, can give the game an interesting character).
Like I said above, I prefer this kind of modular fix where you can pick and choose, but I'm enough of a realist to know that more often than not I'll have to take everything or take nothing. Generally I come down on the side of just being grateful a bugfix exists so that I have the chance to MAKE the choice; in gaming I can think of few things worse than discovering a game-breaking bug that has never been fixed.
