Bloc

Hey everyone,

As you may already know, I'm still in the "timeout" box, thanks to Take-Two and their hostile action against my channel. Even though I haven't been posting any videos, I'm still working on some small-scale mods and checking out other games.


During this time, I started to receive a lot of questions about how to start modding using large language models (LLMs). So, in order to address all of these questions, I created a kickoff document for everyone who wants to start modding with LLMs (whether they are services or local models).

You can find it here: bloctheworker.github.io/llm-modding-guide/


Since it is impossible to give details that can be applicable to all games, I wanted to keep the document as general as possible. However, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask away on Github's Discussion section.


If you want to contribute and expand the knowledge in here, you are encouraged to do so by creating a Pull Request. Translations are also welcomed, currently it's only in three language (English, Russian, and Turkish) but I also tried to explain how you can add more languages.

I hope this helps some people, and happy modding!

1 year ago | [YT] | 74

Bloc

Take-Two Interactive(Rockstar) Removes My "AI Powered GTA V: Story Mode with AI NPCs" mod


Hello everyone, sorry for this slightly a long post, but reason of that is I want to touch on some things.

Yesterday, Take-Two Interactive hit my channel with copyright strike about my video on GTA V mod and YouTube removed the video immediately without giving any chance to explain myself. The reason for this takedown shown by Take-Two Interactive to YouTube was because I used their software (GRAND THEFT AUTO V) in the video. No one from Take-Two Interactive contacted and ask me anything prior to this, they just took down the video out of nowhere. Two days ago, my account on Netlify was also suspended. I used Netlify to host the installation guide for the mod. I should not claim anything without proof, of course, since netlify didn't bother to give any explanation, but to me, it looks like these two cases are seem to be related. A video that had over 100,000 views and an approximate video like rate of 98.4%. Hence, it's not related to negative reception, on the contrary, the video is liked by many, as you can understand from this ratio. I contacted claimant email address shown on YouTube (which was Take2 email address), was hoping that there might be a small misunderstanding or that they could explain the reasoning behind it. Perhaps this occurred automatically, but the evidence suggests a deliberate manual DMCA takedown request from them. I also didn't get any response back. It looks like they are just attacking to mod from all fronts.
About the mod itself, at this moment, nexusmods version has been removed, by DMCA Takedown by Take-Two Interactive just today. Most likely this is what will happen to gta5mods too but I removed that one myself to avoid any legal trouble.

I must say, as a person who grew up with the Grand Theft Auto series and enjoyed all the games throughout the years, this hostile attitude towards me and the mod is very disheartening. This copyright strike on my channel hinders my ability to monetize my videos for the upcoming 3 months and remains as a mark on the channel, but more importantly, this can lead to account termination if it continues. If there was something violating the policy in the video (such as something I said, the thumbnail, or something in the description, etc.), I would be happy to discuss that with Take2's contact person if they would just send me an email. Instead, they chose a non-communicative approach. If the real reason of this takedown is really me using GTA V in the video, then one might ask, if using GTA V in the video is a copyright strike reason, how is it possible that there are millions of YouTube videos on here at this very moment that showcases or simply does lets-play videos for over a decade without any problems? Unfortunately, this seems to look like an excuse to attack and take a stance against the mod. Which is somewhat puzzling to me, considering that the mod itself is both FREE and open-source. The mod is available at two separate locations for download, where you don't even need to register on those pages to be able to download it. The mod can be played freely without any cost, as demonstrated by the thousands of players who have downloaded and enjoyed it thus far. The mod does not utilize any voices from Grand Theft Auto nor does it distribute anything it shouldn't. I haven't even included my Patreon link in any of the mod descriptions or videos to avoid any potential controversy. I am not a lawyer, but as far as I am aware, mod is not violating any Grand Theft Auto or YouTube policy. Whether you like it or not, or dislike the idea of having AI in video games, is one thing. However, while the mod itself does not appear to be violating anything, removing the video and issuing a copyright strike without any communication is another matter. I can, of course, raise an objection through YouTube's objection system, but this escalates things to legal authorities. I am a single modder who does this in my free time for fun, so I don't have the resources to legally defend myself in this situation. Frankly, I also don't want to spend time on this.

Because I was never actually a YouTuber and my subscriber count stayed in mid to low range, I never relied on YouTube's revenue, so not being able to get monetized for 3 months is not a life changing deal for me. However, the knowledge that all my videos will continue to display ads to you, someone who benefits from my videos and efforts while not allowing me to get anything, is a factor that discourages me from creating more content and mods in the future. Knowing that large corporations can issue strikes based on arbitrary reasons, which can cause your work to go in vain in moments, is also discouraging to say the least. I am posting this post while understanding that not many people will be able to see it due to the modest size of my channel. Nevertheless, I hope that my subscribers, at least, can read and comprehend the unpleasant aspect of this action taken by one of the world's biggest game company. I would also like to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me thus far, whether through subscriptions or contributions. If you're inclined, please consider visiting Patreon and supporting me there. I believe that may be the only remaining option to support me at this point.

I am hoping that anyone who enjoyed this mod will remember this dishonest action taken by Take-Two whenever they hear any news about the Rockstar. Rather than chasing small mods, perhaps they should focus on creating proper remakes with better pricing policy or should stop removing cars from Online to sell same cars to people :)

I will end this post with Rockstar's own words on modding, and I invite you to consider whether you believe this action aligns with their public statement from 2022 or not:
"Rockstar Games has always believed in reasonable fan creativity and wants creators to showcase their passion for our games"

Skip the Carousel

1 2

1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 195

Bloc

Hey everyone, happy new year!

Just for the fun of it, I was doing some experiments with AI art generation today and I wanted to remaster my profile photo and bring some life to it. Then I thought, why don't I do this for all faction leaders in Bannerlord - and here are the results 😄
There are some extras too - like... Harlaus and Ira. They are not perfect, there are some artifacts here and there but still looking realistic I would say.
You can see the full size album in here:
imgur.com/a/mVYrsoE

Feel free to share it anywhere as long as you give credit :)

Skip the Carousel

1 2 3

2 years ago | [YT] | 103

Bloc

Quick Announcement About New Launcher Release
Novus Bannerlord Launcher is a simple modern Bannerlord launcher that supports multiple presets with load orders and allows you to do modify your load order without hassle.

You can download it from here:
www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/49…

2 years ago | [YT] | 75

Bloc

Greetings Warriors of Calradia,

I just wanted to explain why you are not seeing too frequent updates in this channel lately - though it was never as frequent as other Youtubers anyway :)

Well, that's mainly because nowadays, I'm super busy with my daily life, I'm not sure when it will cooldown. But this doesn't mean that I completely dropped working on these side-projects. I'm still experimenting things. Actually, I created a basic Multiplayer logic for Age of Bannerlords last week, but I wasn't able to finish it all the way through. And I'm mentioning this now since it probably won't see the daylight ( it really needs a fair amount of time on these gritty details that I don't enjoy working on much )

However, since we have this community-thingy on Youtube, let's put that into use: if you have any suggestion ( or any issue you spotted in videos ) feel free to post under this so that we can talk about it. Doesn't need to be related to Age of Bannerlords ( I know that's all I covered in last videos but I'm planning to try some other things as well since some parts of AoBL started to feel like chore )

2 years ago | [YT] | 48

Bloc

Hi everyone!
I finally had time to open a Patreon for those who really want to support and get some exclusive content. You can join it here - www.patreon.com/bloctheworker


Let me know if you have any questions about Patreon.
I won't ignore YouTube comments because of Patreon, don't worry. Although, I'm unable to read and answer all the questions in here because I don't have that much time.

--

I will also share a Faction Overview video that shows all the faction buildings in a couple of hours—which is uploaded at the same time as Feature Overview, actually.

If I can make it work, I will also finalize the long-gameplay video that features the entire gameplay from start to end too. Though I need to nerf the AI a little bit since currently they are storming my base after 4-5 minutes with big armies 😂

2 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 80

Bloc

Since I am terrible at Youtube-ing, I will post an FAQ here. You can post your questions under it as well. I can answer them once I have time.

- Can we download the mods you are showing?
+ No. Not for the ones that I'm posting in the last few months at least. For others, you can check nexusmods but they are outdated. You can find the latest supported version in the description.

- Are you going to update your old mods?
+ Probably no, I don't have any plans like that right now

- They are fake and not playable mods..
+ They are not fake and playable as much as any other mod out there. So all of the videos are release ready. I usually polish things before releasing it but this doesn't mean current versions are not playable. They definitely have bugs in it though - as much as any other mod and existing game features.

- Why are you posting these if you are not going to release any of them? What's the point?
+ You might be enjoying playing the game or watching videos of people playing it. I enjoy breaking and recreating things. I'm modding because I enjoy this - it's how I play the game. But meanwhile, I'm also showing how TW is lying to it's own fanbase with stupid excuses.

- But you said you might release them
+ Yeah I might still release the missing Warband features in the future. Still haven't decided to be honest. That pack includes all the things that are missing in Bannerlord but was existing in Warband.

3 years ago | [YT] | 119