How CrashMods writes and curates
CrashMods is more than a download list. Where a mod page carries an editorial description, that text is written to actually inform a player — what the mod is, how it drives or plays, what it changes and what to expect — rather than to pad the page. These standards explain how we work, so you know what you are reading.
Who writes what on a mod page
A mod page mixes two kinds of text, and we keep them visibly separate. The creator’s own description is written by the person who made the mod and is their voice: features, install notes, changelog, credits. The editorial parts — the summary at the top, the test notes, the compatibility line and any feature tags — are written or checked on our side. When you read an opinion about how a mod behaves in game, that opinion is ours and nobody paid for it.
We do not publish scraped descriptions, machine-spun paraphrases of someone else’s review, or “top 10” pages assembled purely to catch a search query. If a page has nothing useful to say beyond a download button, we would rather it stayed short and honest than be inflated with filler.
Real information, not filler
Our mod descriptions aim to describe a mod’s real behaviour and use: handling, content, install steps, compatibility and practical notes. We avoid empty marketing language, and we do not publish scraped or auto-spun boilerplate dressed up as a genuine review.
Concretely, a good mod page on CrashMods tells you the game and game version it targets, which mod version you are downloading, roughly how large the file is, what it adds or replaces, whether it clashes with other popular mods, and anything that will surprise you after installing it. If we do not know one of those things, we leave it out rather than guess.
How a mod gets onto the site
Every mod goes through the same pipeline, no matter who uploads it:
- Submission. The uploader fills in the game, category, version, description, screenshots and download link. Several of those fields are mandatory — an incomplete submission cannot be sent.
- Link check. Download and purchase links must point at a host on our reviewed allowlist. Random file-locker and shortener links are rejected at the form, before a page ever exists.
- Malware scan. The file is submitted to VirusTotal and the result is attached to the mod.
- Publication gate. The mod stays invisible to the public until the scan comes back in a terminal, non-dangerous state. The author and staff can open it in the meantime and see a live progress banner; everyone else gets a 404. Nothing sits in a grey “probably fine” state on the public site.
- Presentation check. Images must be processed and watermarked before the mod is listed, so half-finished pages do not appear in the grid.
What the security scan does and does not mean
The badge on a mod page reports what a multi-engine scan found at the time it ran. We treat a file as clean only when no engine flagged it as malicious and fewer than two flagged it as suspicious. One or more malicious hits, or two or more suspicious hits, produce a warning badge; six or more malicious hits mark the file as dangerous and it does not go public.
Two honest limitations. First, some archives are too large for the scanning service to analyse, and some files simply have no analysis available — in those cases the badge says so instead of pretending to a clean result. Second, a clean scan is evidence, not a guarantee: antivirus engines regularly flag legitimate modding tools as false positives, and no scan can prove that a script does nothing unwanted inside your game. Back up your save before installing anything.
When we look at something by hand
Automation handles the routine cases; a human looks at a mod when any of the following happens: the scan returns a warning verdict rather than a clean one; the file type is unusual for the category (an executable in a car pack, for example); the download host is new to us; the screenshots appear to belong to a different mod or to another creator; the stated game version and the file contents do not match; a user files a report through the flag button on the page; or a creator tells us their work has been re-uploaded without credit.
The outcome of a manual review is one of: publish as submitted, publish after the author corrects the page, hold pending an answer from the author, or reject. We tell the author which one it is.
Ratings, comments and reports
Ratings and comments come from users and we do not edit them to flatter a mod. We remove a rating or a comment only when it breaks the site rules — spam, abuse, personal data, or an obvious attempt to sabotage a competitor. A low but honest rating stays. For paid mods, only verified buyers and staff can rate, so the score reflects people who actually own the file.
Every mod page carries a report button. Reports go into a moderation queue that staff work through; they are not routed to the mod’s author, so you can report a page without arguing with its owner.
Accuracy and updates
Games and mods change. We update version numbers, compatibility notes and download links when we become aware of changes, and we rely on the community and creators to flag anything out of date. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct it.
When a creator uploads a new version, the previous version notes stay on the page rather than being silently overwritten, and people who follow the mod get an update notice. That way you can tell whether a page describes the file you are about to download.
Where AI is and is not used
We use a language model for one narrow, mechanical job: proposing the vocabulary of feature tags for a game and category — the short filter labels such as drivetrain, body style or map size. Those proposals are reviewed and edited by a human before they go live, and they are cached rather than regenerated per visitor. Editorial descriptions, test notes, guides and news articles are written by people. We do not publish auto-generated articles.
Curation over volume
We do not try to host everything ever made. We prefer a smaller, hand-checked, virus-scanned library over an endless wall of unverified links. Featured and highlighted mods are chosen on quality and usefulness — never on payment.
Independence
Editorial decisions — what we describe, feature or recommend — are made independently of advertising. Advertisers cannot buy a better description or a featured slot. Paid membership tiers likewise buy tools and visibility features, not a better review or a friendlier security badge. See our Advertising Disclosure for how ads work on the site.
Corrections
When we get something wrong, we fix it. Reports about inaccurate descriptions, wrong compatibility, dead links or rights issues are acted on quickly through our contact and DMCA channels. If a correction changes the meaning of a page — not just a typo — we say what changed rather than quietly editing it away.
