Support NeoGAF

[keraj37]

I am jealous to you console gamers because you don't have a third party option to mod your games.

Let me tell you a story.

I bought Fallout 4.
Installed it and started the play.
So far so good.

I noticed my hero doesn't sprint fast enough. Hey! Lets find a mod for faster sprinting. Google found it in 2 minutes.
Mod installed. I have a hero sprinting at speed that Husain Bolt would cry seeing. More less 40 Mph.
Okay... but you know I don't like that I need to install these energy cores into my early find of Power Armor.
Lets install mod to remove power cores need from Power Armors.
Mod found, installed.
And you know, the mini-gun isn't doing enough impact - yeah it shoots a lot projectiles but they do almost zero damage.
Mod found and installed.

And this story goes on and on, where the finish is I spoiled the game completely making it boring - I was basically invincible or at least very hard to put down.
I lost interest soon enough, before the end lines of Fallout 4, and the point of this thread is...
When I tried to play it as it was designed (without mods) all the time I had in mind how easy is to hack the gameplay, so why bother?

Fallout 4 is a main victim of modding games in my personal life of gamer.

Did you have similar experience, or what do you think about it?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Fallout 4 is just a bad game and Bethesda are bad devs.

Under normal circumstances, PC mods can take a good foundation and make it even better.

 

[Grinchy]

I'm not a huge fan of mods that just make the game easier. If Fallout 4 is the example, being level 2 and giving yourself an ultra-power chaingun can be fun for obvious reasons, but it also just breaks the game. What's the point of leveling up, choosing perks, surviving the wasteland, ect, when you can just install a BFG mod that kills everything on screen with a single click?

If you are jealous of console owners getting the intended experience, shut that brain off and give it to yourself. I played so many hours of Fallout 4 on Survival and didn't install any mods other than things like making the map look better in the pip-boy or things that don't break the intended functions of what make it a game in the first place.

And there are some really cool things too involving settlement building and NPC behavior that don't make you Superman as well.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

Ha. I'm re-playing Fallout 4 on PC at the minute (I wanted to try Far Harbor) after going through it on console originally. It's a vastly superior experience. Coincidentally, I utilized my first mod just a couple of hours ago. The bullshit memory recovery crap in the DLC was pissing me off. A two second mod download, drag it into the game file, type two words into the console and voila, shitty mini game skipped. What's this thread about again?

 

[Bkdk]

Completely opposite for me. I can’t stand playing games on consoles because I usually have different viewpoint from the devs and love to mod games. First one being ugly female faces, then gore + dismemberment mods, then remove carry weight, quick save anywhere, more or less monster spawns, or console commands to skip some particular horribly designed dungeon. I can’t fully enjoy a game without extensive modding capabilities, thus I hate playing on console unless it’s a game I really love. I played all single player Bethesda open world rpg for at least 300 hours due to modding capabilities. If modding is gonna be removed entirely I’ll quit gaming altogether.

 

[struggler_guts]

You're confusing cheats for mods

 

[ruvikx]

Did you have similar experience, or what do you think about it?

Skyrim murder raped my brain in terms of mods. It's literally a fulltime dev job getting everything "super cool" installed via vortex & getting it all to work. But no matter how great the mods are (& yes, some really are great, no denying it), I just always get this nagging feeling I'm engaging in a DIY gaming experience where I'm "God" basically & no challenge or actual gameplay mechanism has any value whatsoever because I'm the one pulling the strings & determining the game's core content. If it's too easy? Bam, install a mod to make it harder. If it's too hard? Bam, make it easier. I want better weather? Bam, I make it rain on everyone.

But deep down I'm the sort of guy who likes a pre-ordained set of rules created by the devs which I have to learn, overcome & beat to finish the game. Mods are counter intuitive to that.

You're confusing cheats for mods

All mods are cheats, i.e. because they cater to your personal wish list & not rules dictated by the game's makers. It would be like playing an old arcade game & installing personal preference mods to make it better suited to your own needs. What worth would the high score have? None, really.

 

[Screamer-RSA]

Better texture mods are cheats now?

 

[struggler_guts]

Graphics mods? Immersion mods like adding characters? UI/quality of life mods? Mods to change player's looks? Housing mods?

There are lots of mods that don't necessarily make the game easier to play

 

[Senua]

I have self control and don't install mods to make the game easier.

 

[ruvikx]

Graphics mods? Immersion mods like adding characters? UI/quality of life mods? Mods to change player's looks? Housing mods?

There are lots of mods that don't necessarily make the game easier to play

There's one mod in skyrim i.e. "immersive citizens" which was always first on my install list. But did standing around watching the same poorly animated characters engage in different background conversations really make the "game" better? I don't think so. The most fun I ever had with skyrim was on the Xbox 360 original release version where I enjoyed fighting against the hardest difficulty & levelling my character build in different ways. I respect the people who can sit for hours modding their game appropriately (& somehow not always wanting to install the newest "bad ass" mods which might screw up their mod list), but for me, my own gaming fun doesn't rely on that. Once I start modding, I feel I need to fix every little detail, from graphics to animation to gameplay mechanisms.

 

[sunnysideup]

I hate mods, i hate different graphics settings.

I want to play the artists vision.

 

[magnumpy]

you poor baby. optional mods are being forced upon you against your will. I hope you will be ok

 

[ruvikx]

Better texture mods are cheats now?

I wonder how many modders install the graphics texture mods alone... & don't touch the actual gameplay mods? Considering the hardware firepower needed to get these games running at their best modded settings, I assume most mods installed by players (certainly based on the popular nexus lists) are gameplay altering mods, not graphics.

 

[00_Zer0]

I have self control and don't install mods to make the game easier.

This right here. OP you should look for mods that have quality of life changes or just graphics mods. If you don't show restraint or see that a mod you downloaded is ruining your experience then uninstall it and go back to the vanilla experience.

 

[Caffeine]

i usually just get mods that fix games

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I don't use mods. I have no interest in fan-made... well, anything, really. I guess something like DSfix would be a rare exception.

Fallout 4 is a bad game on its own merits. Mods weren't gonna save it.

 

[Soodanim]

Every mod I install is either gameplay enhancements, graphical, fixes, or (this is the big one for me) QoL. Fallout 4's quick loot menu in Skyrim or automatic harvesting and looting so I can spend less time in menus. UI enhancements and sorting mods in Fallout 4. Modding communities keep Skyrim and Fallout games going for so long not because mods break games, but because they improve them.

You're confusing cheats for mods

This is the short version.

 

[The Cockatrice]

You're jealous of consoles because you don't have the will to play the games vanilla on PC just like on console? What kind of stupid mentality is that? Is this a hidden PC vs Console thread? Fyi you can mod F4 on console as well so good job.

 

[Alexios]

More like PC: Spoiling gamers with mods. Handling your shit in a dumb manner that works against your own desires isn't the platform's (or modability's) fault. Just don't act dumb. Fallout 4 is boring with or without mods btw. Play better games. It's also modable on console as said, lol. So dumb. And what's with apparently being unable to remove/stop adding mods like that, basically cheats, when you actually already noticed you were being dumb and it had a detrimental effect to your experience? Are you a freaking mod drug addict or something, what the hell, lmao, get a grip dude, ffs.

 

[Xmengrey]

Well you can just not use mods on PC?

 

[Falcs]

Mods are great so long as you don't use them to break the game completely, otherwise you are right in thinking "what is the point".

I can't imagine having played through Skyrim without mods. They improved the game dramatically for me. But I never went over the top to make it too easy.

 

[Senua]

I hate mods, i hate different graphics settings.

I want to play the artists vision.

Now that's an interesting way of justifying playing an inferior version of a game.

 

[EightBit Man]

Even though I appreciate the stuff I have seen people do with many games, it is not something I personally make use of (well outside of some bugfixes, or tiny graphical adjustments like FOV). Maybe it is because I'm somewhat of a purist. Fallout 3 and New Vegas, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games are titles I play as vanilla as possible, even though I know there are a plethora of mods that change textures, audio, or a lot of the scripts i.e. workings. The only thing I used for the Witcher 3, was the mod that enabled the debug console. lol

 

[Jigsaah]

I'm a particular fan of the Skyrim Mods. I haven't tried any of the game altering ones like extra questline and what not, but the visual mods are astonishing.

 

[Belmonte]

I usually like to experiment the games as intended by the devs. It is cool to have some perspective of the technology at the time. I'm playing Max Payne 1 and I'm impressed by how great the textures are for its time, for example.

I don't like to mess with the gameplay either. There are many cases where a feature is there for a reason, even if it is annoying at first and not clear why it is there. If I don't trust the devs to make good gameplay choices after 2+ years of development and I know more about their own game with 5-10 hours, why would I buy their game?

That said, there are some exceptions. Skyrim is more streamlined than I wish it was, so I would use mods if I play Skyrim again. And I'm playing Wizardry VI with the auto-map mod because I really don't like to stop every square to draw it on a paper. I know I'm missing part of the experience though.

When I was a kid I spoiled Duke Nukem 3D with the cheats I encountered in the manual. Invincibility, all weapons, choosing the levels, etc... It was the last time I used cheat codes. Obviously I could start the game without them, but the cheats robbed the surprise of encountering new enemies, levels, etc for the first time. Made everything more trivial.

 

[Griffon]

Don't buy a bad game expecting mods will make it bearable.

 

[anthraticus]

Play better games and don't install dumb shit.

 

[JimboJones]

2 minute loading times between saves isn't an artistic choice neither is a game shipping with no anti aliasing and soupy textures with 2xAF and running at 22- 30fps.

 

[Starfield]

Sometimes modding a game can be more fun than actually playing it after. For Skyrim VR I have installed way over 300 mods alone but I still havent played over 20hrs

 

[Coflash]

...why not use mods that make it more challenging? There are many of those. I extended my ~40hr vanilla playthrough to over 1200hrs with mods. There's nothing that'll save the shitty story or characters but you can create an amazing world to explore and survive in.

 

[Jamesie]

I always love that we at least have the option to use mods.

Personally I push to play a game without any mods and once I'm done I come back to it provided that the game was good enough (Fallout 4 wasn't it for me personally while Skyrim really pleased me) and in some cases I do this to expand the game while in other cases it's purely to screw around in the "sandbox" (aka cheat like a mofo).

RDR2 for example has a terrible fast travel system and I can tell you right now that I won't be using it ever again when I replay it especially when a mod can transport you instantly without any of their repeated stupid cut-scenes to get you there. However there are also fun little mini-games introduced with mods that make it a different experience to the main game that don't require me to go online to grind away in something that is anti-fun.

 

[TyphoonStruggle]

I usually like to experiment the games as intended by the devs. It is cool to have some perspective of the technology at the time. I'm playing Max Payne 1 and I'm impressed by how great the textures are for its time, for example.

I don't like to mess with the gameplay either. There are many cases where a feature is there for a reason, even if it is annoying at first and not clear why it is there. If I don't trust the devs to make good gameplay choices after 2+ years of development and I know more about their own game with 5-10 hours, why would I buy their game?

That said, there are some exceptions. Skyrim is more streamlined than I wish it was, so I would use mods if I play Skyrim again. And I'm playing Wizardry VI with the auto-map mod because I really don't like to stop every square to draw it on a paper. I know I'm missing part of the experience though.

When I was a kid I spoiled Duke Nukem 3D with the cheats I encountered in the manual. Invincibility, all weapons, choosing the levels, etc... It was the last time I used cheat codes. Obviously I could start the game without them, but the cheats robbed the surprise of encountering new enemies, levels, etc for the first time. Made everything more trivial.

All this time I thought the irregular frame rate in Bloodborne was a technical/engineering limitation.

But now I see the error of my ways. It’s just the way Miyazaki intended, Amen.

 

[GHG]

There are mods that exist that make the game more realistic and challenging but yet you went the other way and literally used mods that are cheats.

To top it all off you blame the mods for existing instead of yourself for installing them.

Take some accountability. If not, go back to console gaming. It's quite simple really.

 

[manfestival]

Def not been a fan of modding my games. However, there are times that I do but it is usually after I have felt personal satisfaction from beating the game once in its original state.

 

[Belmonte]

All this time I thought the irregular frame rate in Bloodborne was a technical/engineering limitation.

But now I see the error of my ways. It’s just the way Miyazaki intended, Amen.

None of my examples are about performance, dude. And in every one of them I made it clear I was talking about my taste: "I usually like to...", "I don't like to mess with... ". You do you. I'm not pointing fingers to anyone here.

 

[Kazza]

This kind of thing seems to come up a lot, especially with graphical settings. I think the main takeaway is that PC gaming isn't suitable for people with severe OCD.

 

[Kazza]

For me, the best mods I have ever played are those for strategy games such as Total War and Civilisation. The amount of effort that goes into them is just insane, they pretty much create entirely new games. I always play vanilla first time round, and then sample the mods afterwards.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Considering the hardware firepower needed to get these games running at their best modded settings

Older the game is, the less hardware you need basically. RDR2? you need a fucking rig set in the heart of a glacier. The Witcher 3? Pretty mediocre hardware. Skyrim? lawl. I'm pretty sure an Engineer could get it working on a literal potato and still get 60fps with Resharp.

One of the games I love to mod graphically but not mechanically is Dragon's Dogma. Doesn't need any tweaking (I know some people remove the carrying capacity, but I'm not them), but there's a lot of room to fiddle with the visuals (especially the lighting). Then you get the opposite scenario, like Pathfinder Kingmaker. There's a bunch of mods to implement stuff the devs never got around to (crafting, transmog, missing spells, performance tweaks, etc). Don't need to mess with the visuals for that game.

 

[Paasei]

Mods are great, and I like the examples you guys are bringing up as well.

Mods are the sole reason I still play the older Fallout games 3 and NV.
Total War Napoleon in combanition with Darth Mod is making me play it as well.

But yes, we could go on and on about mods and how silly, fun, hardcore, interesting and beautiful they can be to an existing game.

If you don't like them, don't use/install them.

 

[Techies]

I used to mod games until I realized I could spend those hours playing other more well rounded and completed games.
Skyrim VR is one of those odd games that I just can't handle, hey this game is cool and all, but everything could be better. That carpet texture, the mug, that chair, I could use a new body, stats and everything out of whack, lets change everything and never get to actually play the bloody game.

Wish I could sit down with Bethesda and have a long conversation with them. Here's the list,improve these apply to the base game and my this crappy texture on this item never be a problem again.

 

[GymWolf]

I always play on pc and i never used a mod in my life

 

[Elektro Demon]

I always was a pc gamer but I had consoles as well.
I've never used a mod for a game in my life. Don't see the point in it, I want to play the game as the developer intended.
I just remembered, I did use a mod once in ut99, some skaarj pack.

 

[Lux R7]

some mods can be essential, like Dsfix

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

If you need mods (on every game you play) to enjoy games you are missing the entire point of playing games in the first place. It reminds me of those people that buy heavy bass headphones (beats) that would rather listen to bass than the actual song.

COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM mods let me play vidya more mommy!

 

[DeliciousDoc]

That's just playing the game wrong. The correcy way to play bethesda games is to put the difficulty very high then make it so you can't die but have sexy consequences for failing or winning.

 

[Lanrutcon]

If you need mods (on every game you play) to enjoy games you are missing the entire point of playing games in the first place. It reminds me of those people that buy heavy bass headphones (beats) that would rather listen to bass than the actual song.

Yeah, fuck choices and having more fun. Those guys are missing the whole point of playing games. They should be kicked out of Gameville, if you ask me. Can't believe they're allowed to get on the same bus as us real gamers.

 

[Fbh]

As with everything good... you can ruin it by going overboard with it.

Some modding to enhance the visuals and fix some of the issues or annoyances of a game can be great.
Like Dragons Dogma on PC, the mod to remove the carry limit and enable unlimited sprint is a must IMO, as it simply removes 2 annoying features that IMO added nothing to the experience. On replays I also like the mod that enhances specific stat gains so you don't need to spend half the game playing as a class you don't care about to get the right stats for the one you actually want to play as.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

the only mods i've ever installed were:

Fallout 4 - shadow/fps fix because the game was running perfect for me but when i got to diamond city it would drop to about 35-40fps and it was just awful. the mod didn't even fix it but only improved it because i was still seeing drops.
Dark Souls - to get 60fps, higher resolutions, etc. this actually made the game what it should've been. FromSoftware just ported the 360 version over and left it at that. the person who made this mod basically done all the work for them.

Generally, the only mods I install are ones that improve performance or change the visuals. If it makes the game look better while still keeping the original design then I think it's fine. I just don't get these mods that drastically change the visuals so that it looks totally different, lets you play with characters who weren't mean to be played, or significantly change the gameplay.

i don't want GTA V to look realistic, i don't want to play through Witcher 3 as Triss, I don't want a patch that makes all sorts of changes that the developers never intended. but that's just me. it doesn't bother me because people can do WTF they like. as long as it doesn't affect my experience then who cares?

some mods can be essential, like Dsfix

that is more than a mod. like i said above, that mod done all the work that FromSoftware refused to do. They had the cheek to put that out then years later do it and still charge those who bought the original version.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Yeah, fuck choices and having more fun. Those guys are missing the whole point of playing games.

Choices are entirely superficial and non canon when we are talking about mods. People use them for "fun" since said people can't just play a game for what it is. We both agree on this front so why even quote me?

They should be kicked out of Gameville, if you ask me. Can't believe they're allowed to get on the same bus as us real gamers.

Mustard Race gamers are gamers silly.