Game developers make games and then consumers play them, but this transaction isn’t a one way street. These days, game developers often fall in love with videos and mods for their own games that were created by the fans themselves. Gamers are beginning to entertain their entertainers. Over the years, the Just Cause series has developed a sizable and passionate fan base that has helped contribute to this wealth of fan content, so we chatted with the Avalanche team and they gave us a hit list of some of their favorite mods and YouTube clips.

Superman Flying Mod Version 4

There are few dreams as visceral as the ability to soar through the air. With this classic Just Cause 2 mod, I spent hours exploring the world at different speeds, dodging trees as I shot low through the valleys then calmly taking in the beautiful vistas high above the mountains. The epic scale of Just Cause 2 combined with the amazing draw distances, mix in the ability to fly? You get pure gaming joy! – Roland Lesterlin, Game Director

ZXZ's Blackmarket Mod

Working on a game allows you to use various debug menu tools while in development, like being able to spawn anything you need to test. This mod essentially makes instant spawning available in the retail version of the game. I spent quite a bit of time spawning vehicles, explosives, weapons, and other objects in the game, then basically blew them up in ridiculous ways. I also loved that there were no cutscenes, so I was able to scratch my impatient, "but I want it right now!" itch. – Roland Lesterlin, Game Director

Infinite Grapple and Superman Mods

I was a big fan of Just Cause before joining Avalanche Studios, and spent hundreds of hours on the first two titles. My experience with the series itself has been my primary source of inspiration, and when I started working on Just Cause 3, I set my mission on overcoming the limits of its predecessors. In some cases, breaking those limits was as easy as changing a number in code, as for the maximum amount of tethers Rico could use. In this specific case, we knew that was a good choice thanks to the success of the Infinite Grapple Mod and the praise it was gathering on forums – as if we had a sort of free pre-playtest encouraging the direction we were taking. In other cases, a convergence of different factors hinted at possibilities worth exploring, as with the Wingsuit: the success and huge following that Jeb Corliss gained with his videos was a clear sign that flying men were here to stay, and that was a perfect fantasy for a videoludic rendition; and again, the fun we had with the Superman mod encouraged us to further push in that direction. Last but not least, the whole team are big fans of action cinema; hopefully you will spot homages to different directors and action sagas as you play Just Cause 3. – Francesco Antolini, Principal Designer

“Rodriguez. Rico Rodriguez.”

It's a remarkably short clip, but I always loved the "Just Cause 2 - Rodriguez. Rico, Rodriguez" YouTube video. In it, mookalokka does a mini-homage to one of my favorite action sequences in any James Bond film: in GoldenEye, Bond uses a motorcycle to chase after a small, unoccupied prop plane as it rumbles down a runway. He barely catches up to the plane as they both hurtle off the cliff at the end of the runway. Then, in a quick sequence, he jumps off his motorcycle, lands on the plane, gets inside, and is able to pull it out of its nose dive just in time. Perfect.

This is my favorite kind of machinima: the kind that's totally in-game, totally emergent, and totally unedited (I assume). It reminds me how important it is to create mechanics and content that are flexible, interact with each other in interesting ways, and, quite frankly, stay out the player's way. As for this specific clip: a way back, I wrote a mission pitch that had incorporated this exact sequence. That mission has since been scrapped. Partly because, well, turning it into a scripted sequence sort of misses the point about why the clip is so darn cool. – Joe Ishikura, Senior System Designer

The Freeroam Construction Sandbox Server/The Whale Vehicle Mod

The whale vehicle mod is just one example of the craziness that Jman100's Freeroam Construction Sandbox Server offers. It is truly awesome! You need to see it to believe it, really, so I won’t say too much, but I’d thoroughly recommend giving it a try, or checking out this video of it in action. – Hamish Young, Senior Vehicle Designer



JC2-MP

Of course we couldn’t discuss our favorite mods for Just Cause 2 without mentioning the biggest and most ambitious mod of them all. I don't think any of us ever imagined that someone would make a multiplayer mod of Just Cause 2 while we were developing the game. I certainly didn't. But it's both amazing and humbling that people from our community spent so much time and effort on it. Taking on such a huge project is just crazy – almost as crazy as the gameplay in the mod! The popularity of the mod speaks for itself – it helped bring Just Cause 2 to new audiences, and helped keep our community thriving years beyond the initial launch. – Per Hugoson, Principal Programmer

Nerd³ Plays... Just Cause 2

The amount of support our community gave us through the sheer weight of YouTube uploads from Just Cause 2 kind of blew us away, really. Of all of the videos, “Nerd³ Plays... Just Cause 2” is probably the one we go back to the most. Something of a love letter to the game (it was posted on Valentine’s Day back in 2012), the sheer joy of the video is just so infectious – it puts a smile on your face and makes you want to dive back in and discover Panau all over again. Above all else, games should be fun, and watching this video is always a great reminder of how much fun Just Cause can be. – The Square Enix team

For more details on Avalanche's upcoming open world title be sure to check out our cover hub, which is filled with exclusive content such as hands-on impressions and a video tour of the studio.