Breaking Benjamin frontman Benjamin Burnley has clarified the circumstances surrounding his mid-concert promotion of a Fallout 4 mod. Speaking with Nexus Mods, Burnley explained that the impromptu speech was a result of a broken snare drum head, which created dead air during the band's set. He stated that the promotion was not planned but rather an ad-libbed effort to fill the silence while technicians repaired the equipment.
Burnley, who creates mods under the alias Killemloud, revealed that he was actively working on the mod in his personal time. He had recently encountered negative feedback on the initial version of his mod and felt compelled to address the common experience of mods evolving with user input. "My experience as a mod user is that the first version is very rarely representative of the final version," Burnley noted, emphasizing that mod authors often refine their work based on community feedback and diverse user systems.
He expressed that the on-stage interruption was not intended as a serious statement but a humorous way to pass the time. While acknowledging that bullying is a serious issue, he stated his approach to most things, including this situation, is with humor. Burnley also shared his frustration with the incident being misinterpreted as a planned rant, especially after re-watching the concert footage, which appears to show drum maintenance occurring.
Burnley's primary motivation for developing the mod stems from his deep enjoyment of playing Fallout 4 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in virtual reality. He believes that mods significantly enhance the VR experience, particularly for fundamental mechanics like object interaction, which he feels are more critical in VR than in the traditional flat-screen versions.
His involvement with modding, he explained, began with VR, even before official VR versions of Skyrim and Fallout 4 were released, utilizing software like VorpX for older titles such as Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 3. Before creating his True First Person mod for Fallout 4, he focused on porting existing mods to VR.
"True First Person came about because when I'm on tour, it's hard to set up my VR setup every day when I'm on the bus travelling," Burnley said. He explained that he plays flat-screen games occasionally while on tour and, due to his strong preference for VR, sought to replicate that first-person immersion in the non-VR version of Fallout 4. The mod was developed to bridge this gap, allowing for a more immersive experience when VR is not accessible.
The mod is tagged as "AI-assisted" on Nexus Mods, a label typically used for works that involve developer-led code or assets with limited AI involvement, or for AI-enhanced textures, audio, or concept art that doesn't make it into the final product. The specific details of how AI was applied to Burnley's mod have not been elaborated upon.