What games have you played with community run multiplayer mods?
For example Project Cartographer describes itself as the following
Project Cartographer is a modification for Halo 2 PC (Halo 2 for Windows Vista) that restores online play (Microsoft abandoned the LIVE servers) and adds additional features that are not present in the base game.
Before the release of Master Chief Collection it was my go-to for playing online.
Similarly H1-Mod exists for CoD: Modern Warfare Remastered.
I'd be interested to hear which ones you've tried and how active the community is. They don't need to be currently active or a replacement for a game's existing multiplayer services. It could be something like Zandronum which allows you to play the classic Doom or NVMP-X which allows you to play Fallout New Vegas with friends.
Most of these services don't contain DRM so you can use Steam, GOG, Humble Bundle, or any other version of the game and because they are community run you don't have to worry about servers going down as time goes on and can potentially host your own games.
I also like to make a special mention of X Link Kai which allows you to play system link games remotely. If you are curious I'd check out ConsoleMods.org for setup instructions and their website for a list of supported games.
There's plenty of other similar services out there depending on what console you are using such as Insignia for the original Xbox.
Are they inactive right now? I'm not sure if they went the way of re3 (a reverse engineered version of GTA 3 designed to fix bugs, port the game to several platforms, and expand modding capabilities) and were shut down under pressure from Rockstar.
I was looking forward to trying re3 but rockstar's lawyers decided to be a killjoy. There was another mod that joins the GTA3, VC and SA maps together and uses a modified version of SAMP for multiplayer (gta underground IIRC), I believe they got spooked by Rockstar too and pulled the plug
Freelancer is 2003 Microsoft abandonware which still has an online mod community. Most prominent is probably the Discovery mod, which hosts a 24/7 RP server.
I have used a certain “online-fix me” (not sure if I’m allowed to promote) website that offers patches for games so you can connect to the official multiplayer servers.
Of course there’s a possibility of getting banned if they detect it, but I’ve played a lot of the Forza games online with this throughout the years without issue.
I realise it’s not strictly on topic for community run servers, but it may be of interest to people in this thread.
I have recently been playing Resident Evil Outbreak again, an cooperative online PS2 horror game. It's community has build a custom server called Outbreak Resurrection. At first, it was very cumbersome to set up, but it was definitely worth it. It is very niche, but I still was able to spot around 2-4 players everytime I booted it up.
It is honestly heartwarming, seeing people go the extra mile and try to revive an old experience. Sometimes also trying to enhance the experiences by fixing and updating the game. Everything without asking for a penny.
These community should be supported and shared to let them know that we appreciate them 👍
No this would be too troublesome for me, especially because I just wanted to check it out with a friend really quickly. We played it on the pcsx2 emulator and connected via custom IP. Worked great, but sadly the game aged badly and therefore loading times are unbearable. Every door, every major action, and every lost attempt means sitting back and waiting. Lost it's fun very quickly :/
I used to play burnout paradise vanity pack. Haven't gotten into it but it seems to be on a revival since players found an older unreleased (and unfinished) version of Big Surf Island
Me too! It was great. I saw that most resources disappeared, do you know if there is any ready made pack that can be download and installed and provides most of the vanity pack features? Modding community all moved to discord
not quite a multiplayer mod in the traditional sense, but I play mario kart wii theough wiimmfi a lot, and hit 9999vr recently! never would have been able to achieve that without the community effort to keep our game alive
* Picked up where XLabs had to stop.
** Shut down via C&D letters.
Since Activison doesn't want to patch their older CoD games on PC community made clients are basically a must for those games.
Not only are those adding patches against RCEs but also add a lot of customization, modability and dedicated servers. Some are even adding custom maps to it.
I also used to play Venice Unleased and Project Rome for BF3 and BC2.
There's Nitrox for Subnautica, but development seems to have stopped for now with no ETA on continuing. There are bugs and it's recommended to avoid certain building structures and riding in the Cyclops together. Still, it can be really fun