Some mods may not deliver on their promises, according to a thorough test of some allegedly performance-improving mods like anti-stutter ones for The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered. There are hundreds of mods for many titles that claim to make improvements on the way the game runs. Sadly, it's possible that some of these mods are nothing more than placebo effects, only making you think that the game is running better than it was before you installed the add-on.

YouTube creators Digital Foundry tested several anti-stutter mods for Oblivion Remastered, which claim to reduce the game's stuttering issues. By comparing how the game runs before and after the mod was implemented, the team at Digital Foundry found no difference in how the game runs with the mod. The final verdict on most of the mods they tested is simple: in most cases, the mod "isn't really doing anything."

Oblivion Remastered Mods Fall Short In Testing

A Side-By-Side Comparison Shows No Change In Performance

According to Richard Leadbetter of Digital Foundry, Batman: Arkham Knight is responsible for the rise in mods that try to improve game performance because it was "so so bad." Since then, nearly every game release that uses Unreal Engine has been accompanied by mods that attempt to smooth out the inevitable jitters. These often have "funny" titles that claim to do many things like reducing latency, eliminating stuttering, removing film, and more.

The mods, which are more like "tweaks," according to Leadbetter, try different ways to smooth out the games, from making changes to the games' INI files to changing loading behaviors and making visual changes. But it seems that no matter which method the mod uses, none of them actually affect the game's performance in any significant way. By placing an unmodded run of the game next to a modded one, it's easy to see that "the frame time spikes are still happening pretty much in exactly the same places," according to Leadbetter.

Modding Is An Important Part Of Games Like Oblivion Remastered

The Modding Community Keeps Games Alive For Years After Release

Oblivion Remaster plenty of excellent mods to keep the game fresh years after release.

Of course, not all mods that set out to improve the game are failing players. For instance, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remaster recently got the Unofficial Patch mod, which will iron out any bugs left behind by Bethesda just like it did 19 years ago for the original Oblivion title. But fans looking for a good mod may want to stay away from mods that claim to fix a wide range of issues, especially if they come out shortly after the game's release.

Source: Digital Foundry/YouTube