Hi, Im new here and im recovering from a TBI so please be patient.

[Imdno]

 hi all, I sure hope you guys are cool.  im new here and somewhat of a rookie at online gaming in general. ive played console games but i avoid online stuff because people can be super douche baggy.  i had a bad wreck and im learning to do stuff again and i dont get out too much yet. if you dont know let me tell you, its alot harder the second time! anyway i am hoping  to build some basic skills here and meet some people who are cool and maybe when im done i can say video games changed my life! lol... (kinda true though) so if you will let me id like to let you know what im working with and see if anyone offers to help me get started... im a middle aged dude with mostly healed body and a semi jacked up noggin. i had a pretty basic wreck on my ktm but i hit my head on the rr tracks and woke up a month later. bla bla bla... so... i have my computer,and xbox, and ps console, i downloaded steam and created a nexus acct and downloaded vortex on my computer. i bought a couple games from steam yesterday and found some mods on nexus via vortex and now im totally lost what to do next... lol thats normal tho not cause of my broken mellon!  what im asking is if any one is willing to help me get started so i dont ruin my days with frustration and bitterness... just keeping it real. i have time and toys and absulutely no clue,   and i cant really go anywhere cause i get all f#@$ed up and get lost...:(  

so thats my deal and thats what im working with. like i said i sure hope you guys are cool. thanks again.

Imdno

[LenaWolfBravil]

Hello and welcome!

For help with games I would recommend posting questions in game-specific forums. You can find them from the top: Browse -> Games. Find your game and join the community to post. But note that not all games have a community. If you can't find your game, then may be post questions in Vortex Support. Sorry I can't properly help you because I don't use Vortex.

[AaronOfMpls]

Welcome @Imdno!

@LenaWolfBravil already covered most of what I would've said.  And yah, there are also the general Modding Discussion forums, if your game doesn't have its own forum here. 

I won't be much help with Vortex either, since I also don't use it.  The few games I mod, I've either been using a different mod manager forever (mainly Mod Organizer with most of my Bethesda games) or the game's built-in mod management has been enough for the small number of mods I install (e.g., Kenshi, Conan Exiles, Morrowind with OpenMW's engine, House Flipper).  Or it's a really old game that didn't really have a mod manager when I started with it (mostly The Sims 1). 

Still, I'll help with what I can, even if that sometimes involves pointing you to more knowledgeable people.

[Imdno]

thank you both, i guess i should start with some you tube videos on the very very basics like how do i initiate my game ( ie do i log into steam and select, or click on the shortcut in my computer etc...) and then do i need to initiate the mod or is it just going to happen on its own... yeah im completely over my head i think. there is always xbox i guess lol... i am surprised at how unintuitive this is (at least for me) i play skyrim and witcher 3 and the division. so far those are the only ones i have on the computer. tons more on the consoles but brand new to computer gaming. i guess i need to give some thought to if i can do this. i struggle with frustration and emotional regulation since my accident. totally sucks and makes socializing pretty challenging. i appreciate the replies from both of you, and i will likely reach out with specific questions when a figure out what they are lol... its funny that i dont even know enough to ask a relevant question yet. ill get there.

[LenaWolfBravil]

The Witcher 3 is hard to mod, even for experienced modders. I would recommend to leave it be for now. My experience has been that it plays much better on a console. On PC I started having bugs such as map markers vanishing even without any mods. Looking around on the internet I found other people having the same issues. It seems the problem is with the game. But I had no issues at all playing it on console.

Skyrim and other Bethesda titles are going to be the easiest to mod, but even so it doesn't mean that it happens by magic. You can mod it with Vortex. I can't tell you how exactly (I mod manually) but there are tutorials to get you started. If you haven't found them yet, join the Skyrim SE community and ask there. People will point you to the tutorials.

I can't help you with the Division as I don't play that game. But I can say that these three games mod in different ways, they are totally different. My personal preference if I just want to play, is to play on consoles without any mods. Fewer headaches that way. I make exceptions for a few games that I figured out, but generally it's consoles for me.

[AaronOfMpls]

On 11/9/2024 at 3:16 AM, LenaWolfBravil said:

Skyrim and other Bethesda titles are going to be the easiest to mod, but even so it doesn't mean that it happens by magic.

@Imdno Indeed.  Skyrim in particular has stayed popular with modders for quite a few years, and many mods have been built on top of other mods, or have compatibility patches where they conflict with popular mods.  Unless you're starting by downloading a collection,* then it's probably best to start with either:

• simple mods with few/no dependencies (like followers, model/texture replacers, or new player-only weapons/armor); or
• "utility mods" that a lot of other mods depend on (like SKSE, Address Library, and SkyUI.**

There are a few different guides around for this; the Skyrim STEP guide might be a good place to start if you plan to use Mod Organizer 2 instead of Vortex.  I also recommend an alternate start mod like Alternate Start: Live Another Life or Realm of Lorkhan for when you get sick of going through the opening card ride for the umpteenth time. 

Load order matters too; both Vortex and MO2 have their own sorting tools involving LOOT (to sort how your .esm/.esp/.esl files are loaded into the game) and install/overwrite order (which mods' files overwrite others', if they both have copies of the same model/texture/script/etc).

Also, Skyrim SE had some major updates in the past few years that broke some mods, and weren't popular with some players.  Some people blocked the updates and/or downdated their game to avoid them -- often enough that some mods will have different download files for two or more different game versions. 

Anyway, that might be too much info already; I don't want to scare you off.   Anything more I'll save for the Skyrim forums here.

 

* I haven't used collections myself, since I prefer building a mod setup more manually.

** SkyUI overhauls much of the game interface, making it easier to use on PC (in my opinion).  But it also adds the Mod Control Menu (MCM) system, which a lot of other mods use to control their settings.

Edited November 10 by AaronOfMpls
added/revised a little