It is no surprise that when the name, Bethesda Softworks is mentioned that instantly the words, construction set, modding and platform envy come to mind. It is very well known knowledge that the company encourage gamers to modify the very game they are playing and even present gamers with their very own editing tool that comes with the game.

This time however, Beth Soft have taken a different method towards modding. Instead of releasing the editing tool with the game upon release like they have been known to have done with Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, they have waited several months after release to announce the existence of one.

As it has been reported on Gamegrep, in December fans and modders will get their hands on the editing tool that has been ironically named G.E.C.K (Garden of Eden Creation Kit) which does feature in game as well.

Now this is old news but Fallout 3 saw its first user-made mod within a week of its release. Alright so the method isn't great and literally replaces the original files within the game but due to Fallout 3 using the exact same game engine as Oblivion, it is no surprise that some bright spark out there put two and two together and found out certain tools could edit Fallout 3 files.

In fact this is what this article is about. Currently I have witnessed many amazing feats by modders without the editing tool promised by Beth Soft (just check out the dance craze article for some great evidence). This starts from little tweaks like more gore, scarier enemies, sexier clothes and nudity to uncapping the level limit, readjusting and balancing leveling and items or even allowing the nuke launcher to not fire 1 mini-nuke, no not even 8 mini-nukes but 96 mini-nukes at a time.

My personal opinion? When modders get their hands on the editing tool, I doubt even Beth Soft will recognise their own game and the great thing about the ability to edit a game...well you can choose what to download and install. By this I mean, if you are a hardcore Fallout series fan then you can download the mods that change the game to accommodate for Fallout 1 and 2, if you don't care about that and just want one hell of a time while running around on a rampage, well then there will be many mods to enhance your game play.

Overall, modders have already knocked down the wall of unexpected without the editing tools. Like I mentioned their method is crude and does ask the end user to modify several files but if you are familiar with mods from Oblivion and the Archiveinvalidation.txt file then you will know how to handle Fallout's mods. Though help is on hand with several utilities such as Timeslip's Fallout Mod Manager. This is a variation of his own Oblivion Mod Manager but works with Fallout as well.

For more information about Fallout 3 mods or to even look at the current ones that are out now then head on over to http://www.fallout3nexus.com and if you do have the PC version, I urge you to start modding the game