Basic Tutorial for modding DAO (with mod recommendations)

[Lilith2589]

I use a lot of mods for this game, but I´ll try to give you some examples, what could be useful for your playthrough.
I don´t know if you already use the 4gb patch for DAO, but it will become necessary, if you use as many mods as I have
I would recommend this tutorial video for modding (Complete Dragon Age Origins Modding Guide + Mod List - YouTube) as it includes a long list of links to mods that don´t exist on nexusmods

I don´t now which Mod Manager you use, but I would recommend the DAO-ModManager

The following are all .dazips , which means in DAO-ModManager you only have to drag&drop them into the mods field and install them:
I use the mod Qunari Update (qunari_update.dazip - Google Drive) together with Sten of the Beresaad, to have Sten (and all other Qunari in the game) look like an actual Qunari
Extra Dog Slot will allow you to always have your Mabari with you
Dog Gift Tweaks will give the bones and whatnot presents for your dog an actual use (each gift upgrades some values -like armour rating)
No Helmet to hide those hideous helmet ingame
Dog Class Modifier and Extended Dog Talents, so your Mabari is more useful in Combat
Awakening in the OC gives you items from DAA in DAO
Class and Specialization Pack adds two new classes to character creation (installation can be a bit complicated and the ReadMe is not very detailed) as well as multiple new Specializations to each class
Universal Dye Kit gives you the option to dye your and your companions armours
Character Respec Addon gives you the option to reset all attributes, talents etc
Kossith Update adds an armour and weapon set for Sten to a lockbox in the Lothering chantry
Universal Voices allows you to use every possible voice in the game (gender specific)
The Winterforge is a huge addon that allows you to change, craft and enchant gear for you and your companions (it is a really old mod that is unfortunately not updated anymore and there are a lot of issues/ problems with this. If you don´t like crafting your own gear, I wouldn´t recommend it, as it is really complicated to use. It also doesn´t work in Awakening, at least not for me)

The next are all 'Overwrites' which means you have to create an overwrite file in the ModManager

The first I have installed is the JB3 Texture packadge, which will update all ingame texures. If you want to use this, you will need the 4gb patch, that I mentioned earlier
next is a long list of mods, that give new options in the character creator
if you want to use more than one of these mods, you will need the CharGenMorph Compiler by TerraEx. the chargenmorph file is the one, that gives you the options in character creator, but the game can only read one file, so the Complier adds all files into one (you could do it manually, but with the complier it is less complicated)
Simply add all the character creator mods you want to use to your Overwrites and afterwards, let the complier.exe do its thing
If you want to add new hairstyles to the character creator, you will need the mod called Tucked Hair. I t is unfortunately not available on nexusmods, but you can find it here: tucked hair file - tmp7704 mod for Dragon Age: Origins - Mod DB
Once you have added this mod to your Overwrites, you can add as many new Hairstyles as you wish
I use for example More Hairstyles and Hairstyle Day but there are many more on nexus

I also use SJC´s Vanilla Face textures and SJC´s Patchy Skin fix (be careful here with naming your overwrites, as the ModManager will have problems with reading the ` )
Eyebrow Presets changes the eyebrows to look somewhat normal and PTs Vibrant Colors adds new color selection for haircolors

natural light for cc can also be very helpful, as it changes the lighting in charactor creator, to be more bright
white teeth changes all the teeth ingame to look less yellow and sick

There are several mods to change the companions looks. I recommend Unique Face Textures for Companions DAO Edition by Ellise (she has awesome companion textures for all dragon age games)
For a general overhaul of the NPCs ingame, I recommend using Dragon Age Redesigned and the required mods (the companions overhaul from this mod is optional. I didn´t like the new looks of the companions rfom this, so I didn´t install that part)
There are also some mods to change specific NPCs (like Isabella, to make her look more linke in DA2, or Cullen, to make him look more like in DAI)

 

 

Also very much recommended are the Natural Bodies AIO and Nude Variety mods (i´ll try to upload a small tutorial for both mods later)

[Lilith2589]

So, as I struggled with all suggestions found about how to increase the inventory space and I know others did as well, I thought I´d add my solution for the backpack 'problem'.

I downloaded the PyGFF editor, there is a programm that is named daosavegame.exe , with this you can open any savefile that has the ending .das (so it should work for all dragon age games, allthough I only tested it for DAO, DAA and DA2 so far).

Once you opened the savefile with the programm, you will see options on the left side for Inventory, Party and Areas. In the Inventory options you can change your backpack size to any value you want. (if you buy any backpack additions after that, the backpack size will go back to normal, so be careful with that)

Be careful to always make an extra save for this, so if something goes wrong, you can go back to the state before the change.

[theskymoves]

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Edited May 2, 2021 by theskymoves

[theskymoves]

Hmm. I use pyGFF proper for save edits (rather than the daosavegame executable) and once I've exceeded the vanilla inventory cap (125 slots), backpacks no longer appear in merchant inventories.

 

Using pyGFF allows for editing many more variables than the save editor. It can be used to change things like the player character's voice and UI portrait, for example.

 

DAO save edit #1 (fix that GUI portrait!)

DAO save edit #2 (fix that voice!)

DAO save edit #3 (embiggen yer inventory!)