Game Mods and DLC

[Andy__C]

Am wondering if some-one would be good enough to explain or point me in the right direction regarding education on game mods, DLCs etc.

One thing I've picked up regarding Fallout 3 for example are texture packs, EVE, guns being better in VATS after an update etc...

news to me


I've only really started playing PC games, well any games again over the last year, i don't really play online - I just like playing/finshing games with great action and stories.


So - i bought Fallout 3 GOTY edition. I played it 'vanilla' and loved it, but haven't really thought about playing it again yet.

What difference will mods make if I do?


Are there mods for other games?

Bioshock?

ME1 & 2? (loved these)

Half life 1 & 2?

Crysis?



Then DLC - do you continue these as part of your save game character when you've finished?


Any info appreciated!

Cheers guys.

 

[petemyster]

Half life 2 has a great modding community. Some change the game so a character looks differently, while others change the game completely to make it into a new game (it keeps the original game intact, and allows you to run the mod as if it was a seperate game).

There are quite a few good mods for half life 2 which you can download through steam, such as "empires mod" or "dystopia".

 

[Pighardia]

Crysis has lots of mods. Especially for graphics. You can get it looking amazing. Natural mod and reallifesis are particularly good.

And there are thousands of mods for the fallout games. Anything from guns/charcters to new areas. Some really good radio stations as well. You can make it a completely different game!
For example, there is a mod(i forget what it's called) which allows you to have followers who will acompany you in the game.
Also, you can get complete overhauls such as Fellout, which change the atmosphere, weather, difficulty etc, and add more creatures and NPC's.
Most of the mods make little changes, which can really make a difference, such as changing the over-shoulder view so that it is more central, which is a small change, but very noticable.
Basically, if there is any little niggle you find with Fallout, there is a mod somewhere to change it!! And the same goes for New Vegas and Elder scrolls games

P.S i always end up recommending this, but Conelrad Radio is the best mod ever!!

 

[AWPC]

Am wondering if some-one would be good enough to explain or point me in the right direction regarding education on game mods, DLCs etc.

One thing I've picked up regarding Fallout 3 for example are texture packs, EVE, guns being better in VATS after an update etc...

news to me


I've only really started playing PC games, well any games again over the last year, i don't really play online - I just like playing/finshing games with great action and stories.


So - i bought Fallout 3 GOTY edition. I played it 'vanilla' and loved it, but haven't really thought about playing it again yet.

What difference will mods make if I do?


Are there mods for other games?

Bioshock?

ME1 & 2? (loved these)

Half life 1 & 2?

Crysis?



Then DLC - do you continue these as part of your save game character when you've finished?


Any info appreciated!

Cheers guys.

For Fallout3 its best to play the entire game as is & get all the achievements legit as these quests leads to certain areas/scenarios you may otherwise miss as some are obscure but getting all achievements is designed to let you experience the entire game. When you have done that buy & install all 5 DLC in order of release & play through them once again getting all achievements in each DLC release. After you have done this & have all 1550/1550 Gamerscore you can mod it. If you mod before Games For Windows Live will not work & you cannot earn any gamerscore from it. Thats my own preference others may tell you different but it worked for me & I spent a very enjoyable 150 hours playing Fallout3 + all the DLC.

There are so many mods for Fallout3 its really down to you as its still a popular game & one of the best ever made

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/

 

[Evilsod]

Gamerscore? Really?

Most of the achievements really just correspond to 'complete the game' then 'complete each DLC' and 'complete each side quest' and you really don't have to experience all of it without mods unless you genuinly care about gamerscore. Running any mod that uses FOSE will block LIVE, though i believe there is a mod which keeps track of 'achievement' progress and will update it the next time you log into LIVE. I've spent 100s of hours on it vanilla and just as long modded and i've still not done The Pitt and only recently did Mothership Zeta (not that i missed much) and Broken Steel.
My last char was done as VATS only and i'd spent 70 hours on it, gained 87k exp and was only lvl21 after having done Zeta, Steel, Anchorage, some serious exploring and starting on The Pitt before running into an annoying bug with an old version of MMM and deciding to clean install and re-mod it with fully updated mods. Vanilla Fallout 3 is just a shadow compared to my modded game and i'd never go back to it just for achievements.

 

[ChrisJSY]

For Fallout3 its best to play the entire game as is...
... http://www.fallout3nexus.com/

Not true for everyone, I instantly modded FO3 and played through it in the way I liked, making it more fun for me. This may be the case for the OP, some mods can make the vanilla game even better.
Also, I can't think of how many people play for achievements, I certainly don't(at all/ever/can't care for it!). I know you do. But again the OP didn't mention it.

When new vegas came out, I did the exact same thing; modded it to my own preference, couldn't care much for the original layout.

 

[Overslop]

Personally I enjoy the achievements aspect, but I wouldn't let it get in the way of using any significant enhancements I fancied. Otherwise I'd just get Xbox 360 versions of multiplatform games rather than the usually superior PC alternatives. Gamerscore isn't a trap I want to get sucked into, otherwise I could see myself playing games for points rather than fun.

 

[Andy__C]

Cheers Guys - that is really helpful.... an eye-opener. i'll be doing some more reading on this.

I will be giving FO3 another good going over with quite a few of those mods before i get into FO:NV.


Quick Q regarding the Texture pack by NMC for those of you who have got that.


I run a PhenomII 955 BE @ 3.2 with an occasional overclock to 3.8 if needed.... and GPU wise a 5850 (new from this evening.)


I assume the full+ max bumpmaps will be off-limit from the choices below.... does anyone have experience from running a similar set-up to mine with the full pack or am I better off with the performance pacK?

(Just to save me mucking about with mod installs as this is new to me)


FULL, PLUS MAX BUMPMAPS (2.67GB)
(For those with Overclocked i5 or i7's, Crossfire/SLI, 4GB+ RAM, with Raptors, Raid 0, or better still Solid State Drives)
Download: Full pack files (5 parts), and Max Bumpmaps file (3 parts)


FULL Pack (1.9GB)
(For very high end PCs- Overclocked i5 and i7 users, with 1GB+ GFX cards, 4GB+ RAM)
Download: Full pack files (5 parts)


PERFORMANCE Pack (924mb)
(For those with good PC's, who get a good performance on the Default Game and have some power to spare)
Download: Performance pack files (2 parts)


LITE Pack (692mb)
(For those who want performance similar to the Default Game)
Download: Lite pack files (2 parts)


LITE WITH REDUCED BUMPMAPS (492mb)
(For those who want even better performance than the Default Game, but also want a Graphical boost!)
Download: Lite pack files (2 parts) and Minimum Bumpmaps file (1 part)