Introducing Second Wind, A "Free Large-Scale DLC" Expansion Mod For Zelda: Breath Of The Wild (2024)

I had a freaking heart attack reading that title at first, I didn't see the word "mod"

Wow, that’s insanely impressive. The modding scene is incredibly important to the PC ecosystem, I’ve had so many hours of fun from them and it’s a real shame that they haven’t been allowed to shine on consoles. If I source a Wii U copy of BotW then I’ll definitely check this out.

Nintendo takedown coming in 3.....

@sanderev Original comment coming in... oh wait.

I'm just waiting for the YouTube click bait titles... "The Expansion Nintendo Doesn't Want You To See"

@Wilforce the “TRUE” BOTW 2. Or “BOTW 2 gameplay revealed”

I love stuff like this, though I’m not into BOTW. I hope N lets it stay up long enough to be completed. 50 people for a mod is a lot of work to just go down the tubes. Ah, thank goodness I grabbed AM2R.

NINJA APPROVED

@Wilforce Nintendo devs HATE this mod! See how modders play NEW DLC with this one weird trick!

Knowing Nintendo they will download it, play it, hate that they didn't create it, and push their "release the lawyers" button 😄

@Miu what's wrong with cfw?

As someone with a cfw installed I cannot wait to get my hands on this

I would actually like this. Problem is, it's a mod. :/
I don't really wanna mod my main systems. I'd rather buy a spare system to mod.

You just had to make it sound like it was a Real dlc download.

@Snatcher It is real and it's DLC. It is just not official

No affiliate link for this one NL?

@nessisonett Don't get me wrong, I think these people are talented. They should put their work into creating new games, that I would love to see and play on the Switch. (Starting your own indie dev studio isn't that hard)

Stealing from Nintendo (or anyone else) is just not done.

No no no no no no no. Making articles on a major news site highlighting these projects is the WORST idea if we ever want to see this thing completed. Nintendolife what are you doing...

@sanderev I see this comment a lot but I don't really get the logic behind it. I'm not looking to make new games, become a game designer or make my own studio (at least not now). I just want to do something cool in Zelda and share it with others who also want to experience that.

Not sure who stole from Nintendo though, the files we distribute don't contain any game files, we specifically got a format made to avoid that.

@Chandlero That what I meant but still, I don't want to mod my switch and ruin it.

@TeeJay If it gets taken off I'm blaming NL.

Fan contributions like these are great. I wonder what differentiates this from AM2R in such a way it won't get C&D'd.

Wow. This is a super misleading title surely you should put "Fan made mod" or " emulator" in the title

@sanderev My Nintendo overlords are ruthless when it comes to such things. Can't have grubby Micky Dee fanboys from overseas touching their games with their waifu weeb fantasies.

@CEObrainz Nintendo does own "The Legend of Zelda", "Link", "Zelda", "Breath of the Wild". So yeah, even if you would make a game entirely new and call it "The Legend of Zelda: My own game" it would be stealing from Nintendo.

If you want you can go the route they did with Crypt of the Necrodancer. Make a new game that is very similar to Zelda but with it's own unique twist and then ask Nintendo if you could include the Legend of Zelda in it. Like how we got Cadence of Hyrule.

Looks great no looks brilliant

This why sometimes multiplatform can lead to wonders. Nintendo itself instead being such ass, maybe allow for limited game modding like how Microsoft and Sony allows for some games.

@sanderev I feel like you didn't read anything I said. We're not making a new game or selling anything. It's literally just a mod.

It is a shame that the switch platform is so bereft of new games (real games) that fan mods for an old (Wii u port) launch title is considered news. I know, there are some rereleases of old gamecube/wii games on the horizon and monster Hunter, but that's it. I haven't bought a proper AAA in years. I spent AAA money on 3d all stars and link's awakening, but these are not AAA games.

Sharp intake of breath when I first read the header.

My son watches people playing Relics of the Past on YouTube and would dearly love to play it (he's put well over 600hrs into BotW!) but I wouldn't know where to get started.

@CEObrainz "it's just a mod" doesn't make it legal.

Also "we're not selling anything" doesn't fly here. You are advertising it on Youtube, also you have a Patreon running to support it. That is all "selling" your game / mod / fanfic / whatever even though you are not asking direct money for it.

You are "selling" it under names that are protected by Nintendo. Nintendo does not allow mods to their games (like most big publishers). And if their legal team notices your mod they will try to stop you.

So I suggest to rather be on the "good" side of Nintendo's legal team. Like they did with Crypt of the Necrodancer.

Forgive me if that wasn't terribly interesting. They were able to do a few neat contextual things, but it seemed to be within the capabilities of the vanilla game engine.

There is already a shop that requires an exchange of materials and rupees together to craft new items, the jewellery shop in Gerudo Town.
The Great Fairy upgrades are also technically the same thing, minus the rupee costs.

Just makes me want Nintendo games in 4K even more. Especially Zelda!!!

@ceobrainz I'd not try to say anything reasonable to @sanderev. He's just going to call you a liar and a criminal because no matter what you say, he's gonna back a giant billion dollar corporation and pretend like you're in the wrong morally.

@GalacticBreakdown thanks for the heads up, I did figure that out myself as well haha.

@RupeeClock actually you can't use the crafting system in-game to make food. Food uses a cooking system instead, this happens when you speak to NPCs as well, they "cook" the food they give to you.

@CEObrainz
Does it really matter? What exists are three different menu systems of exchanging materials to acquire a new item.
The definitions for each menu just have item IDs, and you get something in exchange with a new item ID and modified values for things like the variable effectiveness.

There are already NPCs that will hand you cooked food or potion items in exchange for things like beetles or rupees, something that takes 10 luminous stone for 1 diamond or 2 diamonds the first time, etc.

The point is, the existing functionality can just have some parameters changed to do something new.

@RupeeClock It's not really the same. If you wanted to make an NPC that sells foods for example (like a restaurant) you wouldn't be able to do it with the current systems in place. It requires a hybrid solution to get that working.

Also the importance isn't in the fact that we can craft potions but rather that this way of doing things adds other possibilities.

BotW modding has evolved to crazy extents. With that discovery of Mii functionality to create NPCs, there's an incredible amount of potential that modding can bring, such as this expansion.

That being said, Nintendo has a whole library of ideas here that they can use. However, I'm not setting my expectations too high.

@CEObrainz
So if Nintendo tells you guys to stop, which is highly likely, what are you going to do?

@Medic_Alert @locky-mavo In the event that Nintendo does do something about it we can just do things differently. Second Wind doesn't need to be one big project; it's like that currently because it's easier to make. Different people can release different parts of the projects under different names.

That being said, I'm just doing it for fun. Even if we can't share it I'll still do bits and pieces privately for myself.

@CEObrainz
So basically, Nintendo tells you guys to stop, you guys will just do it anyway? Kinda scummy, but you do you.
Good luck with that.

@locky-mavo It's like Nintendo telling the modding community to stop making mods, unless it becomes illegal it won't stop.

@CEObrainz
So the systems in place are more rigid than they appear?
I guess that the video provided in this article doesn't explain that too well, it looks like just any other transaction but with modified variables.

This looks really cool, impressive effort all round. Though looking through the detailed changes, I’m not a fan of the Endgame Updates, which seem to just equate harder with better.

I mean yeah it's cool, but it's a mod so it is kinda irrelevant.

Also, Nintendo will shut it down before it nears completion anyway since they went public so it doesn't really matter.

If you want to release mods for Nintendo games, you stay silent until it's done, release it, let as many people download it as possible, then remove the download link and allow the community to share it with the world so you don't get bombed by the Nintendo ninjas.

i enjoyed the video actually, looking great!

@RupeeClock It's certainly a lot more restrictive than it appears.

Tbh the video wasn't meant to blowup the way it did, rather it was just a small way of showing how to give the impression of crafting meals. It wasn't even meant to be a showcase of Second Wind but there's not much to do about it now.

For real why don't these fans get jobs developing games (if they don't already)

@ModdedInkling

I'm pretty sure they don't need the modding community to give them ideas.

This thing will be nuked the moment Nintendo sees this no matter how the modder(s) try to spin it.

Why announce it before releasing it? Nintendo hates homebrew so much.

Can I run this on Wii U with a game copy? Just wondering, like the Project Zero 4 fan patch on Wii.

Too bad Nintendo is such a backwards company in many ways and hates stuff like this instead of embracing it and being better because of it.

@GalacticBreakdown So true!

@CEObrainz I encourage you to do it if you like doing it, the only thing that Nintendo and these holier-than-thou posters will ever achieve is that only you and your friends will enjoy it so that's why I would have announce it when it was completed if you want more people to play it. I own Breath of the Wild on Wii U so zero regrets.

That's why I'd ask you what @Blizzia did, "if you want to release mods for Nintendo games, you stay silent until it's done, release it, let as many people download it as possible, then remove the download link and allow the community to share it with the world so you don't get bombed by the Nintendo ninjas".

That mistake was why Ben Colcough's work dropped the original project. I know that a remake is not the same as a mod, but still it's sad when fan-made things disappear before they are born, especially this Goldeneye remake that was years in development.

https://www.engadget.com/goldeneye-007-fan-remake-goldeneye-25-james-bond-163309378.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHWy14yF15hjLIuggLg2s-e6Kfma4A3QH1tIVehN0ACa7cFMePu-V_oMydc5EfBTiDPZCd7JzsiP68lJzEkFIbJv8jOwQ20rLkpYL95Y89qRDOnlIiDTzegSYa8KeTG3dfL_Fy_9IsKSwoVWlfR5_3PIqBsP4HzidMo6MRKhFl8z

@JuiceMan_V
Like I said, I'm not expecting much. This would easily be a target of Nintendo.

@ModdedInkling

Understood

@ModdedInkling
These sorts of mods actually often are.
If you browse contents on Gamebanana's directory of BotW mods, some embedded YouTube videos have been claimed and blocked by Nintendo.

Can the stigma around modding games and developing those mods just stop already? It's pretty stupid.

They should make sure to increase the inventory of how much you can store as well otherwise it's a wasted effort if you have to loose inventory you took many Amiibos and Trials to get.

@GalacticBreakdown I am not "going to back a billion dollar company" (even though they are one of the best, but that's beside the point) I only state that it's illegal. According to the law. Not a billion dollar company, but the rules by which we live.

Also I am just giving a suggestion.

Aaaaand... cue the cease and desist order.

While this will most likely get shutdown by Nintendo, I would love to try it out. It looks incredible!

Legend of Zelda Wind Breaker?

My favorite part was when the NPC said, I hope someone shoots you out of the sky. Lmao. I guess we better buy stuff instead of wasting the apparent valuable time of said NPC.

@VoidofLight breath of the wild 2 release date

@Jojo_Frekote No it's not.
In the US you should read the DMCA legislation.
Europe has similar copyright protection legislation.

In Asia I don't really know, but I think it's similar. Elsewhere, well that's up to the country. But most countries in the world have legislation that prohibits creation of "mods" for games if the publisher of said game doesn't allow it.

But I can send this to Nintendo's legal team, they should be happy to check it out for you.

Or simply read this article, it explains perfectly the legality of mods.
https://www.koburgerlaw.com/blog/2020/7/29/thinking-before-moddingplayers-dont-own-what-they-make

Basically only if the publisher allows it. So for instance you are free to make levels in Super Mario Maker 2, Nintendo allows that. But you are not free to alter / mod Breath of the Wild.

@sanderev Modding isn't illegal like at all, Bethesda even made it possible for Skyrim and Fallout 4 to support mods on PS4 and X1. As for Nintendo being one of the best? Nah they are the most anti-consumer of the big three and constantly make stupid and greedy choices.

What these guys are doing is legal because mods are legal so much that its encouraged by Publishers and Devs for PC games.

@CEObrainz
I think this project looks so cool, thanks for your work!

The cluelessness of some posters here when it comes to mods is astounding.

Mods are not "stealing." You're working with assets from an existing game, but it's a very creative field. You're also not affecting the original game's sales, because you typically need the original game files to even run the mod. Nintendo might not like it, and that's a risk the mod's creators are taking, but that doesn't say anything about the conceptual validity of the mod scene. (Valve, id Software, and Bethesda owe many millions of dollars to it, incidentally.)

Also, the claim that modders lack creativity or should be doing something else with their time is weird when you look at the actual history of mods, and realize some entire genres — like the "walking simulator" — emerged from (Half-Life 2) mods. The only reason we're even having this discussion is because mods aren't established in the console space. I can't imagine this discussion happening in the Rock, Paper, Shotgun comments, for example.

@Beaucine Agreed.
Just look at some of the most played games and some modes of others at the moment. The Battle Royal craze can be linked back to an Arma 2 Mod. MOBAs got their roots in a Sctar Craft mod. And Autochess games stem from a Dota 2 Mod. And finally we have Half Life that gave birth to countless mods and at least one of those became one of the bggest game ever and that one spawned more games.
Around 50% of the most watched games on Twitch right now would not exist without modders.

@sanderev What's wrong with fangames or mods by fans to extend the life of a game - if Nintendont the fans should.

Your comment and opinion is VOID.

@sanderev YOUR LIFE IS VOID.

@JuiceMan_V who cares if Nintendo Nuke it? Like everything else, when one is taken down, 1000 uploads take its place.

@CEObrainz don't listen to sandervoid. He's a troll.

@sanderev I don't understand what joy you're getting out of being so against creation? So much so as to adamantly try and turn other's opinions and actively try to ruin the project.

@Beaucine I was also thinking this... If it was easier to mod the games (without cfw or a high power pc) then I bet the naysayers would give a mod or 2 a go, anyway.

Would love to see fist weapons be a thing in Zelda

I saw "Introducing Second Wind, A "Free Large-Scale DLC" Expansi..." and a picture of BotW but its just a mod.

How do we download and install this?