Do you mod? Suggestions and experiences?

[gorfias]

After adding another 3 TB to my system, I'm downloading everything and joining some Mod websites. One is ModDB and the other is Nexus. I'm thinking of going lifetime pro with them for $70ish.

My goal is to have fun, not cheat online. I can see why that would get you banned and it should. But I thought, for instance, Skyrim a boring chore until I started modding and making my avatar all powerful and changing the moon into a Death Star, etc.

After taking a few years off of doing it, I'm getting back into this. A lot has changed. For instance, I just downloaded something called "Vortex" rather than the old Nexus app. Wonder if I still need that anyway.

I also wondering if you all have good experiences to share.

Do you do this sort of thing for PC only? Is there a way to mod games on console? (I would have G-d mode on almost always. Love gaming but stink at it now).

Other mod databases you would recommend?

 

[SckizoBoy]

Back in the day I modded Rome: Total War and Medieval 2: Total War a lot, yoinking skins from existing mods and using them for my own takes on stuff (occasional random faction add-ons, but mostly just new units and buildings). Those two games are still the two most moddable games from the series though. WarScape engine games are still moddable, but it's a pain to learn how to do it. With TWE2 games, no learning required whatsoever, just patience.

 

[Chimpzy]

For instance, I just downloaded something called "Vortex" rather than the old Nexus app. Wonder if I still need that anyway.

Vortex is the new manager app for Nexus Mods that replaced the old Nexus app, so no, you no longer need the latter.

Anyways, sure, I've modded. Since long ago. Since the days of QuakeWorld to be exact, back when modern conveniences like mod managers didn't exist yet and installing a mod usually meant downloading a file package, which took hours on dial-up, and then having to manually put all the files in the right folder. Then I try to launch the mod, only to find out it doesn't work because the mod requires the game be patched to 1.13 while I'm still on 1.10, or something like that. So off I go for another hour long download which I then also had to manually install. But it should be good now, yeah? No, cuz the patch of course overwrote some of the files I replaced for the mod, so I had to repeat the whole song and dance with putting files in the correct folders all over.

But then I got it working, and I type in an ip adress into the console. Connecting to server. I'm in. Ok, what's this, 9 classes? Guess I'll pick Soldier, cuz rocket launcher...

That was the first time I played Team Fortress, starting a love affair which lasted two decades.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

I mainly just mod the things I don't like about the game mechanics vs trying out fan-made additions. For example, I played Divinity Original Sin 2 with the Divinity Unleashed mod that completely changes the armor system, making armor basically damage reduction vs another health pool to get through. I played with a few other mods like a mod that auto-leveled your gear so you can keep using that purple armor you found at level 3 until you actually find something better later on. I do recall modding the shit out of a High Heat baseball game way back in the day and adding all the upgraded textures, models, and whatnot that the fans made.

 

[Chimpzy]

I mainly just mod the things I don't like about the game mechanics vs trying out fan-made additions.

Nothing wrong with that. I did it too when I was playing Yakuza 0 when I got to the real estate management minigame, which requires you to buy properties and then invest in them to level them up to progress. Which takes a lot of money. Now, getting money in that game is not hard at all, just time consuming. So I just got a mod that gave me max money to speed things up. Technically cheating, yes, but fuck grinding out all the money legit. Respect my time or gtfo. Also, counts cuz cheat are mods nowadays.

 

[Gergar12]

Yes, I do. And it's a long tedious process. Especially for Bethesda game even if the later ones are better instability. I recommend Fallout 4, and Skyrim SE. GTA5 if you want to risk getting banned.

 

[Gergar12]

Yes, I do. And it's a long tedious process. Especially for Bethesda game even if the later ones are better instability. I recommend Fallout 4, and Skyrim SE. GTA5 if you want to risk getting banned.

Also, avoid using Vortex for Bethesda games, use MO2.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

A great many of the thousands of hours I've spent on Skyrim are from mods. They're definitely worthwhile if you want to extend the life of a game for free (and no, subscribing to a mod site isn't really necessary, but if you think they give you that value, have at it). Just don't use the Steam Workshop if you can possibly avoid it.

Also, avoid using Vortex for Bethesda games, use MO2.

I've never had any real problem using Vortex on Skyrim.

 

[happyninja42]

I only modded Skyrim I think. Maybe a few other games here or there, but not really. And it was usually pretty minimal modding. I've heard of people using hundreds of mods at once with Skyrim, but to me that's just nuts. I think I had like maybe 10 mods active at the most.

 

[Asita]

Depends on the game? Most of my modding experience was for Skyrim which I haven't played for a good while now. If you want some suggestions for that, I certainly have a few.

Must Haves:
SkyUI - Massive QoL improvement for inventory management.
Stones of Barenziah Quest Markers - Under most circumstances, I wouldn't bother with this, but what makes this a must-have is because there's no rhyme or reason to their location (no hints, no guidelines, just scattered almost at random), you can't take them out of your inventory, and as you pick up more and more of them they take up more of your carry weight, which bumps them up from "something that would be cool to finish" to "dear god, can I stop carrying these damn things already???"
Unofficial Patches - Because Bethesda's bad at QA.

Situational:
Khajiit Speak: Pretty simple on its surface, but if you play as Khajiit, I highly recommend it for verisimilitude. To make a long story short, it tweaks the player text options to fit the Khajiiti speaking style. It gives the player so much more character. "What", for instance, gets turned into "Khajiit is not sure his/her ears heard correctly".
Forever Horns: For Argonian playthroughs. Really simple in that it just makes the horns on the player's head still visible when wearing hoods/helmets. There's a similar mod for Khajiit ears, which is a bit weirder but considering that the Dragonscale helmet has holes where those ears are that allow you to see through the character model, it's apparently a feature that was intended but never implemented.

"Cheaty":
Arise - Chapter 1 - The Black Sacrament: An armor pack that allows you to craft armor based on something between the Dark Brotherhood's armor and the Nightingale armor piecemeal. So torso, gauntlets, legs, cowl, mask, rings and necklaces, cloak, satchel, etc. This is nice for a lot of reasons. For starters, I simply like the aesthetic. But what makes it 'cheaty' however, is the fact that several of the pieces that you make literally have no competitors. The satchel, masks, and cloaks, for instance, are slots that simply are not used in the base game at all, allowing you to further bump up your armor/enchantments and - in the case of the satchel - carry weight (IIRC, the satchel adds a whopping 100 units of space). ...That and I just love how using the face mask with the Dragonscale armor makes you look like the Shredder.

Overhauls:
Skyrim Redone: reworks and rebalances the game to make it more interesting (See racial power changes) and to give more balanced benefits to your skills (really can't be adequately summarized as so much got reworked from the ground up), and generally makes the world a bit more unforgiving so your specializations actually impact your playstyle.
Better Vampires: A modular overhaul which lets you customize the vampire experience. Don't like the "starved vampire is more powerful than a well fed one" dynamic of the base game? You can flip that on its head. Feel that it's a bit too static and doesn't scale? There's an option to level your vampirism based on how many people you've drained. Want to be a true creature of the night? Enable "True Sun damage". If you're considering vampirism for your playthrough, give the mod a gander.

 

[xmbts]

I have the obligatory 5 million skyrim mods, but fallout 4 with hefty modding can actually be made into a game that's almost interesting to play.

Apart from that I have rather a lot of voice packs for XCOM 2, I tend to shy away from new soldier classes due to limited animations and generally being completely overpowered, then of course there's the Long War mods for both newer XCOM games which are very good and extremely cruel.

Left 4 Dead 2 is a bit of a psychedelic trip at this point, as I'm attacked by hordes of zoidbergs and a tank that shouts Johnny Bravo quotes as the theme song form Cowboy Bebop plays.

Thinking about it I almost universally mod silly things into my games for a bit of levity, I tend to not really look into mods until after I've played a game thoroughly, or if the entire appeal of the game is mods people have made for it. Console modding is possible but it's a lot more work than downloading files, and system updates can be lethal.

 

[Dalisclock]

The only game I've really modded was Kerbal Space Program, because the standard features leave a little to be desired(though that's slowly been fixed in the base game with more updates). Not to mention some really cool parts paks that more accurately replicate real spacecraft(Such as actual, kerbal sized NASA and Soviet spacecraft).

I also modded Sekiro out of Frustration with the final boss(at least a hundred attempts and not able to get past the 2nd phase of the SSI fight, the spear one). It turns out that removing the limit on SE usage can outright break the game(and Sword Saint Isshin).

Apparently Red Dead Redemption 2 can be hilarious with mods.