What was that? The Hell 1 mod but with all the improvements of Belzebub (Diablo 1 HD)? Please provide more info.
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Incline Your essential mods
- Thread starter Lemming42
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2020
- Messages
- 1,457
There's a lot of stuff, it's hard to know where to start.
The PS1 FFs, I don't think I'll ever touch the originals again, it'd be like playing some action game on Very Easy. But I already made a thread about it.
Morrowind, there's a laundry list of mods, not a single one. FNV likewise, although it's already mostly fine with JSawyer's mod.
JA 2 1.13. It's been a long time, though, I haven't followed any developments in recent years.
Victoria 2: HPM/HPM+. I've tried a couple of others, but usually go back to those.
I'm playing Far Cry 2 with Tom's Realism Plus right now. There are a couple of other similar mods I haven't tried. Simply superior to the vanilla game, removing things like constant outpost respawn, bullet sponge enemies and other annoyances, while adding some very cool features.
SMAC: Thinker mod. Much better AI, which means better game.
MoM: Caster of Magic. Very extensive overhaul. I don't agree with every change, and MoM is not obsolete because of it, but I think it's generally better, with better balance and more viable strategies.
MGSV: Ultimate Phantom Pain Mod. Very similar to Infinite Heaven, which may have surpassed it in recent years. I like increasing the guards' sight range while scaling up the effectiveness of camo to create a nearly perfect stealth experience.
GTAs: there's lots of stuff, even some intersting looking difficulty mods for 3 and VC that came out recently that I haven't played. I'd at least check out the reverse engineered projects, they're more stable than vanilla and allow you to tweak a lot of settings.
Certainly a lot more that I'm forgetting.
The PS1 FFs, I don't think I'll ever touch the originals again, it'd be like playing some action game on Very Easy. But I already made a thread about it.
Morrowind, there's a laundry list of mods, not a single one. FNV likewise, although it's already mostly fine with JSawyer's mod.
JA 2 1.13. It's been a long time, though, I haven't followed any developments in recent years.
Victoria 2: HPM/HPM+. I've tried a couple of others, but usually go back to those.
I'm playing Far Cry 2 with Tom's Realism Plus right now. There are a couple of other similar mods I haven't tried. Simply superior to the vanilla game, removing things like constant outpost respawn, bullet sponge enemies and other annoyances, while adding some very cool features.
SMAC: Thinker mod. Much better AI, which means better game.
MoM: Caster of Magic. Very extensive overhaul. I don't agree with every change, and MoM is not obsolete because of it, but I think it's generally better, with better balance and more viable strategies.
MGSV: Ultimate Phantom Pain Mod. Very similar to Infinite Heaven, which may have surpassed it in recent years. I like increasing the guards' sight range while scaling up the effectiveness of camo to create a nearly perfect stealth experience.
GTAs: there's lots of stuff, even some intersting looking difficulty mods for 3 and VC that came out recently that I haven't played. I'd at least check out the reverse engineered projects, they're more stable than vanilla and allow you to tweak a lot of settings.
Certainly a lot more that I'm forgetting.
flyingjohn
Arcane
- Joined
- May 14, 2012
- Messages
- 3,193
Mods that make decline semi decent:
Beyond earth-Codex
Civ V -Vox
Beyond earth-Codex
Civ V -Vox
I've found that some user-made content for the Age of Wonders and HoMM games is far superior to the maps included with the game.
Blutwurstritter
Scholar
Age of Wonders III with (citing myself from https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/age-of-wonders-3.80326/post-8064987)
BG1/2, too many to list and typically varies a bit between runs.
Thief 1/2 Gold HD Texture mod
Gothic 1/2 with the DirectX11 mod.
DoW - Dark Crusade/Soulstorm with the DoWPro Mod, really nice for skirmish
I have to try those Long War XCOM mods, seems like everyone likes those.
- Racial Reinforcements
- Racial Heritage Mod
- Racial Class unit reskin
- Class Reskin Tweaks
- Army of Animated Corpses
- Age of Wonders OST for AoW3
- Clouds begone
BG1/2, too many to list and typically varies a bit between runs.
Thief 1/2 Gold HD Texture mod
Gothic 1/2 with the DirectX11 mod.
DoW - Dark Crusade/Soulstorm with the DoWPro Mod, really nice for skirmish
I have to try those Long War XCOM mods, seems like everyone likes those.
I don't think there are many mods outside the usual unofficial patches and compatibility fixes that I would consider essential to the degree that I would recommend them even for first-time players. That doesn't mean that there aren't good mods just that mods games aren't *that* broken and you owe it to yourself to experience them in the original form at least once.
The exception to that are unequivocally bad designs like the level scaling in Oblivion.
The exception to that are unequivocally bad designs like the level scaling in Oblivion.
luj1
You're all shills
Wake of Gods (Heroes 3)
Arcane Dimensions (Quake)
Median 1.F9 (Diablo II)
GMDX (Deus Ex)
Ultimate Apocalypse (Dawn of War)
Swodflight (NwN)
Tamriel Rebuilt (Morrowind)
Unreal Evolution (Unreal)
Hearkenwold (KoTC 2)
UAP (Arcanum)
All better than the games themselves
Arcane Dimensions (Quake)
Median 1.F9 (Diablo II)
GMDX (Deus Ex)
Ultimate Apocalypse (Dawn of War)
Swodflight (NwN)
Tamriel Rebuilt (Morrowind)
Unreal Evolution (Unreal)
Hearkenwold (KoTC 2)
UAP (Arcanum)
All better than the games themselves
BROS SO ESSENTIAL MODS!?! X
DOOM CAUSE I PLAYED THE ORIGINAL TO DEATH AND THE MODS ARE GRATE
DIPLOMACY FOR WARBAND
ALL THE STALKERS HAVE SUCH AWESOME MODS I NEVER TOUCH BASE GAME
STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT 2 THE MODS ARE JUST TO GOOD
GMDX
FAN PATCHES FOR SHIT LIKE BLOODLINES ARCANUM ETC THAT DS FIX BROKEN SHIT
OK LOLLOLOL I LOVE TO PIMP OUT NINTIES AND EARL 2000 FPS GAMES WITH GRAPHICS MODS
DOOM CAUSE I PLAYED THE ORIGINAL TO DEATH AND THE MODS ARE GRATE
DIPLOMACY FOR WARBAND
ALL THE STALKERS HAVE SUCH AWESOME MODS I NEVER TOUCH BASE GAME
STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT 2 THE MODS ARE JUST TO GOOD
GMDX
FAN PATCHES FOR SHIT LIKE BLOODLINES ARCANUM ETC THAT DS FIX BROKEN SHIT
OK LOLLOLOL I LOVE TO PIMP OUT NINTIES AND EARL 2000 FPS GAMES WITH GRAPHICS MODS
flyingjohn
Arcane
- Joined
- May 14, 2012
- Messages
- 3,193
Curious why this version?
luj1
You're all shills
Gregz
Arcane
That version is the sweet spot in the evolution of features, itemization, and builds for a first timer. Although I may have to modify my position on that. The very latest version of MXL has lots of QOL features that make it pretty great.
https://median-xl.com/
Lemming42
Arcane
I wonder if anyone knows some more ESSENTIAL MODS for older FPS games. Here's mine, in addition to the Doom and Heretic ones mentioned in the OP:
Brutal Wolfenstein - technically a Doom 2 mod, but whatever, I'm counting it as a Wolfenstein 3D mod. Like all "Brutal" mods, it totally changes the game in a way you may or may not enjoy. The blood and gore is, as usual, the worst part and I wish you could turn it off, but put that aside and this recreates Wolfenstein 3D in a surprisingly faithful way but with vastly more enemies, weapons, and visuals. It's really cool.
Arcane Dimensions - kicks the shit out of the vanilla Quake maps and adds so many new enemies.
HexArcana - Hexen's tricky because there's a lot of competing mods that try to do the same thing, like Walpurgis. But HexArcana was my favourite, I think, it keeps to the original feel but with a bit more oomph. I just wish there was a good redesign of the game's maps.
Brutal Wolfenstein - technically a Doom 2 mod, but whatever, I'm counting it as a Wolfenstein 3D mod. Like all "Brutal" mods, it totally changes the game in a way you may or may not enjoy. The blood and gore is, as usual, the worst part and I wish you could turn it off, but put that aside and this recreates Wolfenstein 3D in a surprisingly faithful way but with vastly more enemies, weapons, and visuals. It's really cool.
Arcane Dimensions - kicks the shit out of the vanilla Quake maps and adds so many new enemies.
HexArcana - Hexen's tricky because there's a lot of competing mods that try to do the same thing, like Walpurgis. But HexArcana was my favourite, I think, it keeps to the original feel but with a bit more oomph. I just wish there was a good redesign of the game's maps.
Arcane dimension for quake 1 add absolutely gorgeous maps (not sure if Eviternity for doom is better). Gameplay wise all projectiles are not hitscans and this make it very fun. And all new enemies match existing assets seamless.
DawnOfWar Pro mod - i try tons of dow1 mods, but all of them are based on novelty ("woah we add 32 races and each has different recolour of existing units.. and babes with tits"). While this make each unit useful. Ai is using all this new tools and is very challenging. And if you play it on multi, you will realise how hard is to afford any upgrade.
Caster of Magic for windows - AI doing amazing stuff. I need to defend my towns from sneaky attacks. Spells are useful, almost all of them have some application. And the units move 2 squares instead 1, which make the whole game much more smooth.
Heretic - Bitter. I always play with it, unless it altering map experience, because there are new monsters
Diablo 1 tchernobog - there is no ARPG except D1, and tchernobog is the peak of gameplay. Demanding. Maybe Devilution create some interesting alternative but i didn't check (if this open source fix the block % bug then it's good already). D2 is a casino simulator.
Heroes MM5.5 - AI is more fair, faster Ai turns. Better random maps. Skillwheel was handy.
Age of Wonders 1: Ziggurat - fix unit support cost. Units are more useful. Spells are better balanced. No 10 def heroes. New units, that change a little the copy-paste feeling from vanilla.
Age of Wonders 1 Scroll of Swiftness - it adds next previous unit on mouse scroll. and some more key shortcuts (like quick spell cast, use of range ability in combat). that vastly reduce amount of mouse clicks in the game.
Icewind Dale 2: Enhanced Edition - quick loot key and i like this modification that make armours to reduce damage
Aethra Chronicles Unofficial Patch - it nerf lot of broken items. and add useful spells to staffs.
DawnOfWar Pro mod - i try tons of dow1 mods, but all of them are based on novelty ("woah we add 32 races and each has different recolour of existing units.. and babes with tits"). While this make each unit useful. Ai is using all this new tools and is very challenging. And if you play it on multi, you will realise how hard is to afford any upgrade.
Caster of Magic for windows - AI doing amazing stuff. I need to defend my towns from sneaky attacks. Spells are useful, almost all of them have some application. And the units move 2 squares instead 1, which make the whole game much more smooth.
Heretic - Bitter. I always play with it, unless it altering map experience, because there are new monsters
Diablo 1 tchernobog - there is no ARPG except D1, and tchernobog is the peak of gameplay. Demanding. Maybe Devilution create some interesting alternative but i didn't check (if this open source fix the block % bug then it's good already). D2 is a casino simulator.
Heroes MM5.5 - AI is more fair, faster Ai turns. Better random maps. Skillwheel was handy.
Age of Wonders 1: Ziggurat - fix unit support cost. Units are more useful. Spells are better balanced. No 10 def heroes. New units, that change a little the copy-paste feeling from vanilla.
Age of Wonders 1 Scroll of Swiftness - it adds next previous unit on mouse scroll. and some more key shortcuts (like quick spell cast, use of range ability in combat). that vastly reduce amount of mouse clicks in the game.
Icewind Dale 2: Enhanced Edition - quick loot key and i like this modification that make armours to reduce damage
Aethra Chronicles Unofficial Patch - it nerf lot of broken items. and add useful spells to staffs.
flyingjohn
Arcane
- Joined
- May 14, 2012
- Messages
- 3,193
It doesn't fix the AI, but everything else about the game. It really feels like a different game.
If you can't tolerate a stupid AI, forget about it.
luj1
You're all shills
this is interesting, ill try it
luj1
You're all shills
try also Underdark Overbright and The Punishment Due
they deserve to stand with AD, I consider them a trinity
Nifft Batuff
Prophet
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2018
- Messages
- 3,573
The only "mods" that I used are some autohotkeys scripts to pause games that have no pause functionality. The good thing is that this give the possibility to pause even during cutshenes. Lol.
Odoryuk
Educated
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2024
- Messages
- 603
https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/42200
But, if seriously, there's not a single game that I prefer modded, originals all the way, even when replaying Morrowind.
I eat frozen vegetables
Educated
I'll throw in Arx Liberatis for Arx Fatalis and the Zone Reclamation Patch for Shadow of Chernobyl. Don't get me started on my mod list for New Vegas, since it's purely theoretical at this point in time.
Area of effect spellcasters eternally butthurt.
Odoryuk
Educated
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2024
- Messages
- 603
Wait, is that a mod? I only played AF through AL, I thought it's just a source port that preserves the game faithfully.
I eat frozen vegetables
Educated
There's some optional quality of life stuff from what I recall.
Dark Souls II
Educated
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2024
- Messages
- 470
Fear & Hunger Girl Marriage Mod 1.3 comes to mind
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