Red Dead Redemption 2 free camp overhaul proves why we need a next-gen update

Red Dead Redemption 2 players can now download a free overhaul for the camp, and it’s small quality-of-life updates like this that proves there’s life in the old girl yet.

As a game that strives for realism where possible, Red Dead Redemption 2 has a lot of systems and mechanics that help to immerse players within its rendition of the wild west.

In some cases though, there are a few mechanics which feel like they’re at odds with the realism that Rockstar Games imbues into the game.

For ages I thought I was the only one bothered by the fact that members of Dutch’s gang don’t pay a lot into the camp economy, leaving the player as Arthur to do it all themselves.

Thanks to this simple script though, things have changed. This new mod, called Living Camp Economy System, replaces many of the contributions that gang members make into the shared cash pool to be more substantial.

This includes character-appropriate cash, valuables, provisions, and hunting goods. The items that gang members contribute feels like it fits their personality and role. Hunters like Charles will donate pelts and meat, whereas wealthy characters like Strauss contribute valuables or cash. Each character also has their own weighted donation pools.

However, this mod doesn’t change the frequency of donations, nor does it change which characters can donate. That is still determined by Rockstar, and the mod doesn’t touch that.

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Red Dead Redemption 2's new camp ledger feels a lot more realistic

Meanwhile, the mod also makes some changes to the way the camp ledger works. Vanilla trash donations such as empty bottles, used alcohol, feathers, poor pelts, and other near-worthless items are replaced with more believable contributions. Existing garbage in the ledger can also be corrected.

When these provisions run out, you can also get the camp to automatically pay to restock them if there are enough funds available. This cost is deducted from the total that you have, and it’s recorded in the ledger like a normal restock.

This also means the camp doesn’t fully depend on Arthur, meaning that the gang will no longer starve if you’re away from camp for a few days.

The mod supports camps through Chapters 2–4: Horseshoe Overlook, Clemens Point, and Shady Belle. The economy also improves as the game goes on, with earlier contributions being more modest and later ones having stronger donations and better food supplies.

In any case though, this does leave us with wanting a true big update for Red Dead Redemption 2 that brings the game to next-gen consoles along with a plethora of big gameplay fixes and quality of life improvements.

It can be comparable to the recently-announced free remaster of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which not only features graphical and technical enhancements, but also makes some fundamental changes to gameplay that improves the experience for the player.