How to Mod Monster Hunter Wilds and Thoughts on RE Engine Modding

Quick guide on how to mod the game:

• You'll need to RE Framework which can be downloaded and installed via Fluffy Mod Manager, or downloaded from NexusMods or Github.

• While inside the game with RE Framework running, toggle on the "loose file loader" feature.

• You can now install mods via Fluffy Mod Manager (or via other means as it's just a matter of copying files to the game directory).

There are no other known methods for modding file assets for MH Wilds. Unfortunately, Capcom is applying stronger and stronger protections with each major RE Engine game released. Dragon's Dogma 2 last year broke FMM's primary method for enabling RE Engine game modding by making it possible to load loose file without modifying game code. And this time another modding method became impossible, With Monster Hunter Wilds, there's now very strong PAK authentication that prevents the game from starting if there are unofficial or modded PAKs present.

And in addition to that, there's new anti-tamper added to the game code that tries to prevent the game memory from being modified. This is not easy to disable and some modders are thinking it could even be the cause of performance stutters.

Praydog, creator of RE Framework, was able to update his tool to get around the various new checks and make modding possible again. His tool has pretty much become the cornerstone of RE modding. Not only is it the only method right for now for loading modified assets, it also enables other avenues of modding. If you want to give him support, you can follow his Patreon here.

Personally, I think what Capcom is doing is complete overkill. They had a conflicting statement in the RE Engine presentation from 2023 where they said modding is very good overall but they have to try to stop it anyway since it overlaps with how some cheats work.

If they want to fight piracy, they should focus on a robust Denuvo implementation. This has been proven many times to be very good at protecting most games from being cracked for many months, or even years.

Trying to prevent modding at all is a mistake. Modding is extremely popular and a big reason why many people like to play games on PC.

I can understand wanting to stop cheating (and it's true there's some implementation overlap here with modding, though cheats are almost always done by modifying values in memory rather than modifying game assets), but this is an extremely hard thing to fight since there are so many ways cheats can be implemented. Unless you're completely certain you can prevent cheating (which Capcom has never done), then put those resources to better use. I hate cheating as much as anyone else, but it's nearly an undefeatable problem. I think one of the best methods is banning people as that will scare away many people from cheating. And for singleplayer and co-op titles, I don't think an anti-cheat is even worth considering.

Of course, you also have the problem that Capcom's anti-tamper will sometimes be so poorly made it hurts consumers who just want to play the game normally. RE8 is a very good example as that game's anti-tamper resulted in major stuttering each time you damaged an enemy and wasn't fixed for months after the game's release.

I am reminded of last year when a part of the RE fanbase blew up because Capcom added Enigma to RE: Revelations. That was a bad and unnecessary move by Capcom, but that protection is peanuts compared to what Capcom is doing with their RE Engine titles. I don't want people to start review-bombing MH Wilds, but if anyone wants to complain about Capcom being overly aggressive with anti-piracy to the detriment of legit consumers, then they should complain about the right thing.