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Tech

Why I Make Nude Video Game Mods

Vergil of Lustful Illumination stayed up all night to give you 'Dead or Alive 5' nude mods ASAP.
Lara Croft of Tomb Raider: Underworld, stripped by Vergil.

Last week we told you about Lustful Illumination, a website that provided user-made modifications that undress the characters in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round. The nude mods were released on the same day the fighting game launched on PC, and after publisher Koei Tecmo specifically warned players to be "good and moral" and not modify the fighting game to create nude versions of its characters.

Lustful Illumination, which similarly undresses several female characters in other video games, belongs to a modder who goes by the handle Virgil.

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Motherboard contacted Virgil to find out how and why he creates nude mods.

Motherboard: Tell us as much about yourself as you care to share, though I understand if you want to keep this pretty vague.

Vergil: Well, since I try to stay anonymous, I can tell you that I'm a 3D artist who lives in Germany. Yeah that's about it. Oh wait, I also love to drink milk. Mhhhh … delicious milk! Although, the poor cows are suffering because we milk them so hardcore. But that's another story.

What's your experience with 3D modeling and texturing? How do you know how to do this?
When I was younger, I sat on my chair in front of my computer when my attention was suddenly aroused by a picture of an attractive [computer generated image (CGI) of a] woman. I also think that she was naked. It was a DAZ 3D / Poser model [these are 3D modeling tools]. I've decided to have a deeper look. Not at the woman of course (I also did), but on how to create these sexy images on your own. This is how I got into the world of 3D. I've learned most of the stuff that I know about 3D by myself. While I was modding, my 2D skills improved a lot as well, since 2D is also very important for that.

How long have you been creating nude mods? How did you get into this?
Ever since I was young, I enjoyed to play a lot of computer games. One of the games was the first Sims. One day, just for fun, I explored the installation folders of the game and stumbled upon pictures that looked weird. On them you can see parts of the Sims. Like their clothing, skin, and hair. So I thought, if I edit such an image, it could also appear changed in the game. Thrilled by this thought, I opened up the good old MS Paint and started altering some pixels of one of the game's images. After I saved it, I started the game and saw that it worked. That was my first modification for a computer game ever! It was so exciting that I never gave up modding. I'm not sure, but I think I've been making nudemods for about 8-10 years now.

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How did you manage to release the skins/mods on the same day the game was released on PC?
While it was fun modding DOA5, it was a pain at the same time because it took the whole night to make that mod. A great help was Rathren, a friend that I know from Game Vixen Zone. Game Vixen Zone is the forum that I use the most regarding all the nudemod stuff. Rathren did not only helped me with some modding work, he also motivated me to get this job done without any sleep. We were both really tired as I uploaded the mod on my website early in the morning. It took only about one hour for the first article about my nudemod to appear. That caused a lot of traffic on my website. It was a great experience to see that happen. The only thing that keeps me making more nudemods for Dead or Alive 5 is the feedback of all the cool people that sent me a lot of comments and even donations.

Did you see that the producers of Dead or Alive 5 asked people not to create nude mods and to be "good and moral?"
Oh yes, I saw that and I laughed very hard. I don't know the real reason why they've made that comment. Maybe just because that statement would spread around the internet and increase their profit. Or maybe they really mean what they say, who knows. But the thing is, that some of my nudemods for Dead or Alive 5 require a certain official DLC [extra piece of downloadable content] for that game that you have to buy for money. A LOT of money. How can a DLC be that expensive anyway!? Well, as you see my and others' nudemods increase their profit as well.

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What would you say to people who think that these mods are inappropriate or immoral?
If people think that nudemods are inappropriate, or even immoral, then that's totally okay for me. If you use a mod like this, no one else will see you use it, except another person is in your room at that time. Maybe even laying it's [sic] penis on your shoulder and masturbating while saying 'Oh Peter, don't stop playing with this nude woman. Her hair is so sexy!' Peter was shocked, at first, then he suddenly began to like … oh well but again, that is another story. All characters appearing in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

What nude mod are you most proud of, and what are some games/characters that you hope to mod in the future?
Oh that's the one I'm most proud of:

Just because it was so hard to make it. But I did it to my satisfaction. Catwoman has, in Batman: Arkham City's further gameplay, scratches on her suit. These were made with two separate textures. So in-game, they appear like one damaged suit but on the technical side, they are two individual pieces. One for the whole suit without any scratches and one for only the scratches. It was very hard to manage that to make it look good. It is also very hard to explain what the difficulty is without using technical terms. But I think you kind of got the idea.

My next game to mod will be the next one which in I see beautiful women that are also moddable. I guess I will have a look at Grand Theft Auto V on PC, but I can promise nothing.