Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 'Second Wind' Expansion Mod Adds Age Of Calamity Boss And Mammoths

I love being able to play these expansions on my definitely capable and legal Nintendo Switch!

Thanks for encouraging this, NLife!

Although the practice of playing these expansions is questionable at best, I appreciate the dedication of the mod community to reimagine and retool assests in games, this being applicable even for Nintendo’s franchises.
Modders can become great devs one day to be recruited by any gaming company

Just got a 3090 finally achieved a stable reshade RT 4k 60fps for the CEMU BOTW. downloading this for CEMU right now. hope its not as boring as the main game

Stuff like this really makes me wish Nintendo would embrace the modding community instead of hating on them. I don't want to hack my Nintendo Switch or Wii U at all, and I don't want to risk my PC in regards to downloading a mod of the game. (I don't know how to rip the ROM from the Nintendo Switch cartidge either), so... I am stuck with just watching stuff like this, and having no way to play it.

Ah well... a girl can dream about a day that Nintendo might embrace modders.

Now my respect for modders has greatly increased with the inclusion of more stuff from Age of Calamity. I'm glad that game is starting to gain some traction.

That's cool! Maybe I'll play it someday, after all the other open world ARPG games I haven't played yet, like the Elder Scrolls games, most of the Soulslikes, etc.

I'll be downloading this later and can't wait to get stuck into it, I've played a lot of the original version of the game and looking into their changes it should make for a fresh experience. I'm curious about the shrines as whilst many were great, too often it was just that one boring enemy or the puzzle was simply finding it

@carlos82 i got a fair way into the game with about 35 or hours or so gameplay. finally the grind of the temples started to grate on me, and i dont think the game is that great. i really dont see it not becoming tedious after 50 hours. the temples became a bore, and the weapon breaking thing annoying as hell. idk, i enjoyed it for a while, honestly think OoT and Majoras are superior games by far.

@smithyo Ocarina is probably still my favourite, I agree about the weapon degradation and this could really do with some real dungeons. That said I really enjoy BOTW's open world and its one of the few modern open worlds that I can actually remember where places are rather than just chasing a yellow dot on a mini map. I enjoyed this just by dipping in an out every so often and exploring an area

Oh yeah. Looking forward to this. Mammoths?!

The amount of creativity and hard work that goes in to these projects is absolutely not “questionable at best” its simply super impressive and very appreciated by those who enjoy the art of game making. The time it takes to make something like this for free is wild. Cheers to these devs

@Damo you know what else history has taught us about game development?

People are doing it all the time in universities and high schools across the world. Love to see some University-related articles involving Mario in the future

@Coach_A Do you know the game League of Legends? I don’t play it, but did you know it started as a Warcraft 3 fan-made mod? I know, crazy!

@BloodNinja if this was a PC page about PC games that can be legally modded and enjoyed that makes a lot of sense.

This is a Nintendo news site that's popularity is entirely tied to the success of Nintendo's flagship device, the Switch.

It cannot play this "DLC"

@Coach_A it can legally be modded though. Otherwise Dolphine, CEMU anfd YUZU would have long been sued by nintendo.

@Coach_A also kinda ironic that you whine about the legality of modding games when your avatar is a game which is also on switch that is known for an active modding community.

Ah Mammoths, neat. I remember thinking it was pretty cool discovering woolly rhinos living in the mountain regions.

@Coach_A Okay. If you really believe what you are saying, go report all this to the authorities. Let me know what they say.

@diwdiws it's not really ironic. Modding on PC is actively encouraged by Hopoo games for PC.

Modding isn't the issue. It's that Nintendo games can only be modded on a PC where the games are illegitimately uploaded. The ethics are gray, the facts are not.

I only click on these types of articles to read the comments. Thanks guys, you never disappoint.

@Coach_A Modding is 100% legal. Ripping your own games is legal. Modding your Switch is legal, as long as you don’t connect to Nintendo’s online servers and let’s face it, you’re a moron if you do.

@Coach_A how is that illegitimately uploaded? What law exactly are you breaking? Honestly curious, can you enlighten me

@Coach_A there's nothing questionable about it. I own the game on a disc. I can play it however I want. Mods aren't piracy.

@BloodNinja LoL didn't start out as a wc3 fan made mod. But it was based on dota wich was made in the wc3 map creator (wich was included in the game, no modding involved).

@nessisonett @Nayr :
"Private copying of copyrighted material is illegal in the United Kingdom.[1] According to a 2009 survey, 59% of British consumers believed ripping a CD to be legal, and 55% admitted to doing it.[2][3]"

"U.S. copyright law (Title 17 of the United States Code) generally says that making a copy of an original work, if conducted without the consent of the copyright owner, is infringement. The law makes no explicit grant or denial of a right to make a "personal use" copy of another's copyrighted content on one's own digital media and devices. For example, space shifting, by making a copy of a personally owned audio CD for transfer to an MP3 player for that person's personal use, is not explicitly allowed or forbidden."

The above can be found on Wikipedia under "Ripping". Gray in the US. Seemingly pretty clear cut in the UK where this site is based.

And regarding modding:
"This means that mods are “legal” only insofar as game developers suffer them to be so; the moment a developer finds a mod distasteful, it can be found to infringe copyright. Mods, no matter how well-respected or validated by developers, can also be found to infringe copyright through statute."

We know Nintendo don't allow use of their IP so it is copyright infringement.

I saw the title and thought “Oooo new DLC for BotW?” and then opened the article to be disappointed. Thanks for broadcasting the wonders of illegal mods again, NL.

@Coach_A I don't live in the UK. Nintendo is not based out of the UK. We have no reason to suspect these modders are based in the UK. So sorry, UK law is not a concern of mine.

Creating mods doesn't harm Nintendo. Nintendo isn't moving to shut these down. if anything it has been shown across the industry that a vibrant and active modding community generally increases sales of games. The developer gets a free value add.

Not sure why you're so butthurt.

@Coach_A making a backup of a game is legal in the UK under Section 50(A) of the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, it states "(1)It is not an infringement of copyright for a lawful user of a copy of a computer program to make any back up copy of it which it is necessary for him to have for the purposes of his lawful use."

I still haven't finished BotW despite getting it in early 2019, but after I have (I restarted recently) I'm looking forward to trying this. BotW is a great match for mods since it has that kind of Bethesda feeling (a lot more soul and less jank, though) where it feels like a backdrop for things to happen rather than a more focused, directed game. Like, for example, I wouldn't be interested in modding Skyward Sword or FFVII, yet I can't imagine playing an Elder Scrolls game without them.

Anyway, always great to see talented and dedicated fans creating stuff like this.

I would also like to know how to play this. NintendoLife men and women, would you be so kind as to post a tutorial sometime?

@Coach_A Video games are computer programs therefore fall under what @smithpa01 has said in regards to UK law. I’m not sure why you’re simping for a billion dollar corporation, the right to copy these programs for personal use is massively important to consumers otherwise we don’t really own digital copies at all.

Average people that get butthurt over piracy either have extremely stalwart morals or have financial ties to the industry. They feel piracy affects their bottom line. To those people I would ask, "Did you get your paycheque last week?". Everything will be alright.

@smithyo Felt the same way after four hours. Never went back. Never will.

@Damo I love to see these types of articles, even before I had the hardware to take advantage of them. Its great seeing the love and imagination the gaming community has with these games.

I can't see why anyone could possibly be against modding and its proven to be a very important part over the industry over many years. Look at the Doom modding community still going strong, a new version of Skyrim with 500 mods included, the new port of Quake which had MVG as a senior programmer and he himself was a huge part of the og Xbox modding and homebrew scene or even Sonic Mania

@nessisonett Boots taste exquisite, apparently.

@Clarice If you want to get custom firmware, look up Manito on YouTube.

@Nintenbr0 no I think the Nintendolife crew could do a far better job. Hopefully they will!

@nessisonett I know you didn't mean to offend, but I've modded Three Houses and SSBU on my Switch and can still play online and buy stuff. I don't think I'm a moron for doing that.

@Nintenbr0 Connecting online while running CFW is a sure-fire way for Nintendo to ban you. Absolutely do not open yourself up to that. You have to be very careful.

That is an amazing collection of mods backed up by some inexplicable changes to the foot sound effects that are REALLY annoying to listen to.

2 steps forward, 1 step back.

I wonder hypothetically whether something like the Steam Deck is ever really going to be capable of running a mod like this for a Switch title. Because I feel it would take something accessible like that for this level of community modding to become popular. If it's always going to need beefed-up gaming towers to achieve it, it'll always be niche.

Love this mod project. My favorite is the Linkle mod, it’s so high effort. 😳

@ModdedInkling username checks out

I'd purchase "Switch Up" it it alow us to add mods like this in a MicroSD and play with genuine games in a stock system.

@nessisonett I appreciate your concern, but I've been using CFW online for 7 months, including playing quickplay in Ultimate (there are also plenty of others in the SSBU modding hub Discord server who do the same). Piracy and online cheating are the main reasons for bans (as it's the only way Nintendo can tell you're modding), but unfortunately there's been a lot of misinformation. Anyway, I didn't mean for this to be so drawn-out, so I apologize for that.

@Nintenbr0 ‘Everyone else is doing it’ really just isn’t a good mindset to have when you’re dealing with things like this. Especially since bans come in waves, typically in a group of people all having used the same method. If you’ve modded your sysnand, instead of setting up emunand and turning off internet when doing anything suspect, then it’s considered ‘dirty’ and could be used as grounds for a ban as you’re breaking the online TOS every time you connect online. Best case scenario, you’ll get banned closer to end of life and there’s a new console coming soon. The minute you’ve connected online with a dirty sysnand, you’ve sent evidence to Nintendo’s servers that you’re running CFW. Just depends when they bother to act on it.

@kducky11
Ironically, I've only modded older consoles and avoided emulation as much as possible.

@Bentendo1609 the only doubt I have is that it's using an AMD GPU and in my experience they haven't been as good running the likes of CEMU and Citra. The reality is that pretty much any Nvidia GPU from say a 1060 upwards should easily run these emulators well, you don't need anything close to a high end gaming PC to run these

@Bentendo1609 CEMU is actually very efficient. my work issued laptop which has specs weaker than the published specs of the steam deck can comfortably emulate BOTW at a stable 30 fps.

@Bentendo1609 really puts into perspective that the switch really is made out of very old hardware

And these are the people Nintendo should be employing.......
Modders are doing what Nintendon't

@Coach_A so dose Nintendo pay you to ride there cotails and fight so hard for them to maintain there draconian ip control or are you just white Knighting it for free? Modding with no profit gain just to do it and enjoy a game is harmless why are you going so hard on here to argue in some foreign companies defense? What harm is this doing to you or them for that matter. Jeez, dude get off your high horse you will get hemorrhoids riding it so hard.

@Coach_A

Good to see someone taking on these people but I am afraid these people are as much of the problem as the person that made this mod. And I have never seen one comment from them that justifies any of it, quoting things like preservation or like the comment from Damo 'History has taught us that modding is a legitimate route into game development' Well then that makes it all okay then .

The biggest thing they seem to ignore is the patreonage, all these fans that do it for the love of the game, my arse!

@dew12333 so you view these people as what bad guys? For what modding a game? Why? Seriously i really feel bad for you and dudes doctor your rears must really be tore the hell up riding those high horses so hard. Jeezus attacking people for what adding content to Nintendo games and releasing it for free? Even if they get patron money who cares its not hurting a damn thing they aren’t damaging anything well maybe im wrong seems to really hurt your ego

@Williamfuchs420 Stop crying over someone having a different opinion to you! So these holes they create in order to mod the games, would I be right in thinking the 'hackers' use the same for whatever they want to do?

@Damo They make it for their love of the game, they sell it for the love of money!

@dew12333 im crying hmm didn’t notice seems more like they are the ones crying and treating modding like the biggest crime against humanity that needs punished by the masses. But ok.

Seen a lot of discussion about the legality of the mod, so I figured I'd pop in since I have a good amount of experience actually modding the game. We do everything we can to keep copyrighted assets out of the mod file, and it's gotten quite a lot better these past few years. Using BCML, the mod loader, Second Wind cuts out about 5 or 600 MB of copyrighted assets it would otherwise need to distribute. It's pretty much at a minimum right now, there's not much that can be done to cut out the tiny amount of vanilla assets that still have to be included for technical reasons. If anyone is curious, I can elaborate about those reasons.

I always wonder why those insanely talented people spend so much time on a project that will eventually be taken down instead of creating something original. Make a freaking game on switch so we can give you the money you deserve!

@Coach_A I'm with you on this one.

People keep telling themselves that it's perfectly legal, but almost everyone who played BOTW on pc never bought the game.

Defending the legality of emulation is like saying P2P is perfectly fine. It is legal, but most people use it to avoid paying for something.

People should stop being so hypocritical. They defend emulation because they want free stuff.

@Rhaoulos yeah, it's sad but true that there are a lot of pirates out there...I dumped all of my games legally from my consoles, but a lot of people just downloaded it. I was kinda on the fence about it, I was pretty close to going and downloading a Wii U copy instead of having to pay $80 for a game I already owned on Switch. I ended up buying on the eShop though.

@Rhaoulos I've heard this a lot, I'm not sure it will get taken down. It has only a few vanilla model files, and you'd need to already kinda know what you're doing to get them out. Plus, it already requires you to have a copy of the game, so Nintendo is getting extra sales if anything.

@Envy Yikes. Name-calling already huh? Look, tearing open your game's software and modding it on a PC for others to download and use is - most of the time - not legal. Not legal at all in Japan, and not inherently legal in the USA. Pretty sure many games actually have a notice on the packaging or in the game boot-up sequence to that effect. Anyway you missed the point of my passive-aggressive comment from before... NL shouldn't use clickbait titles. The main title said nothing about fan-made work, and it is decidedly misleading.

@Williamfuchs420 So you don't think that hackers use the same holes to break the games as the modders, no/yes? Or are you still crying cause I don't agree with you? Or maybe you could make a comment arguing your point in some way, or go away!

@Damo If this thing made £10m for this man via his patreonage account do you think Nintendo would go after him? But let's face it, it's a grey area, so lets just agree to disagree.

@dew12333 and your not crying because i dont agree with you? And you tell me to what make a argument to go against you when your argument is maybe a mod might cause a hacker to do something bad ok bud go ahead continue to white Knight for nintendo demonize fan modders i dont care if you agree with my opinon or not im not the one whining here or raising a commotion attempting to demonize mods… lol your funny

@Damo
I don't think for one minute that you have not seen the link to patronage they are running for this project, and I have no agenda to stop people modding and doing as they wish. If modders choose to use other people's work to promote themselves then they will never get any respect from me, and if they keep asking for money in whatever way they choose then I will keep thinking the same.
But I NEVER want my opinion to effect or change what other people do, and I respect others opinions even if I do not hold the same. So rather than just going on I would rather just agree to disagree.

@aznable okay