Introduction to Modding
Modding your game, in this particular case Bethesda games, is a coming of age sort of process when it comes to PC gaming. Sometimes you mess with the .ini file of your game, and other times like with Skyrim for example you can straight up change the whole experience.
Pretty much every Elder Scrolls and Fallout game can be modded with their third game and onward. Some of the stuff you can do is crazy, and honestly I always came into the experience wanting to be EXTRA immersed. For example a Skyrim mod I can't live without anymore is foot prints in the snow. Who knew something so simple would be so important?
Why is it important to me?
To be honest it is the reason why I've built most of my PC's for gaming. Ironically I've barely played the two games I had in mind on PC. Those being Skyrim and Fallout 4, and that is partly because I wanted to play them on more powerful hardware, and the other reason is because I wanted to perhaps stream the process. That became a goal of mine, and so I stopped myself from playing these great games because of that. Perhaps that wasn't a good thing, or perhaps it will make the moment that much more special.
Getting Started with Modding
Welcome to the home of mods online. While there are a couple other places like the Bethesda store, this is the main place to go!
Important Tools for Modding
You'll need two items to do this properly: Vortex Mod Manager by Nexus Mods (changed the name but is the same tool as Nexus Mod Manager), and The Load Order Optimisation Tool!
Both of these go a long way in your modding journey. As they optimize the flow of mods, and when you get to high amounts you desperately need it. The load order is the order of which each individual mod or DLC loads into the game. Sometimes load order can break your game, such as if a mod that requires another mod gets loaded prior. Other times it can lead you to loading in the wrong texture, such as if you have two texture packs for rocks/ground, and the one you want is before the one you don't want.
Essential Mods
Pretty much all of the Bethesda games come with an Unofficial Patch mod that is made by the community, and it fixes all of the SHEER amount of bugs and mistakes the developers LEFT in the game. Which this is Bethesda we are talking about, so they are notorious for buggy games.
Others might include simple quality of life tweaks, things you can't live without (i.e. footprints in snow), things like RAM expanders (to use more RAM on older games, they sometimes limit themselves to 2gb even if you have 8+), or Script Extenders which are foundations for newer mods.
Back in the day you had to get a mod to get rid of "Games for Windows LIVE", which was Microsoft's first failed attempt at integrating Xbox into the PC ecosystem. It ate up system resources while you played, gave you achievements but only if you didn't have mods, would stop working after about 8 years ago, and wouldn't play nice with newer versions of windows. Making your computer not even RUN THE GAME. So it was pretty essential to get rid of it as soon as possible, but now Bethesda finally patched it out.
Top Skyrim Mods to Consider
There are conversion mods that completely change the game like Enderal, and other mods that are basically remakes of older games. I.e. Skyblivion, Skywind, Beyond Skyrim, etc
There are new animations and combat mods, that combined with newer graphics mods, make the game look brand new.
Best Fallout Mods to Look Into
Like with Skyrim there are remake mods in the works, but a bit far off from release. There is a cool "Tale of Two wastelands" mod that combines Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
Things to clean up the Fallout 4 world, and to make settlement development easier are always a must. As it is a necessary part of the game, and the world gets really dirty for not much reason.
The ending is in some people's opinion not up to par with previous entries to the series, so you can of course mod it to change it.
Creating Your Own Mods
I don't have any experience with this, so I'll just lead you to the creation engine:
Problems You Might Encounter
Sometimes certain mods can mess up on you if you fail to install them properly, or as I mentioned before end up in the wrong order.
Simply reinstall or move the load order, and the problem should fix.
The thing with mods is that you are MODIFYING the game. Any changes to the game can be detrimental, but also can be extremely amazing.
Conclusion: The Impact of Modding on Your Gaming Experience
I wanted to make this post as a sort of stepping stone towards me working in these games. I think it would be a fun experience to share my modding process in addition to the actual gameplay. That way the people watching the stream have been part of it, and shared their inputs too when it comes to which mods I may choose.
To have that happen then you'll need to understand the factors involved in it. I am thinking that Skyrim would be a great next game to focus on after State of decay.
Thanks for taking the time to read!
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