Vanilla Question: Are ini tweaks considered "modding".

[morogoth35]

Hello everyone! I have a really important question on my mind. You see, I am an experienced mod user - and I've modded and played my game for so long that I wanted to test 100% vanilla Skyrim again. The problem I see with this however, is that, are ini tweaks considered modding the game? For example, I'd like to use an 100% fresh vanilla game. Which I have no problems with EXCEPT for the fact that I would love to change the field of view from the default to a higher field of view in my ini files.

 

So here's my question: Is changing the field of view considered modding the game?

 

Edit #1: Fixed some grammatical errors.

Edited April 21, 2016 by morogoth35

[AraFox]

Modding is short for modifying, yeah? So changing anything in order to get a result that was not originally part of the game could be considered modding in the strictest sense of the term.

 

However, you will get no judgement from me. ini modifcations are necessary imho.

[iXenite]

I agree with what AraFox said. If you really want to be strict then .ini tweaks and console use would be against the Vanilla experience. However, I personally think doing so would be acceptable. Even in a Vanilla playthrough.

[morogoth35]

Modding is short for modifying, yeah? So changing anything in order to get a result that was not originally part of the game could be considered modding in the strictest sense of the term.

 

However, you will get no judgement from me. ini modifcations are necessary imho.

I agree that the developers made the game the way they wanted us to play it and even the simplest ini tweak could be considered altering how the developers intended the game to be played.

 

But still, ini tweaks like changing field of view is often not necessary in most games that already have a built in method of changing it in-game. There's so much stuff that can alter the way the game was meant to be played in the ini files, but I honestly think that changing your field of view shouldn't be considered a modification at all - because it has literally no effect on how the game works.

 

If we take changing timescale, or disabling the invisible borders, or changing grass density or ugridstoload, to name a few... - that in my opinion is far more towards the line of altering how the game works than simply changing a field of view value.

[AraFox]

 

Modding is short for modifying, yeah? So changing anything in order to get a result that was not originally part of the game could be considered modding in the strictest sense of the term.

 

However, you will get no judgement from me. ini modifcations are necessary imho.

I agree that the developers made the game the way they wanted us to play it and even the simplest ini tweak could be considered altering how the developers intended the game to be played.

 

But still, ini tweaks like changing field of view is often not necessary in most games that already have a built in method of changing it in-game. There's so much stuff that can alter the way the game was meant to be played in the ini files, but I honestly think that changing your field of view shouldn't be considered a modification at all - because it has literally no effect on how the game works.

 

If we take changing timescale, or disabling the invisible borders, or changing grass density or ugridstoload, to name a few... - that in my opinion is far more towards the line of altering how the game works than simply changing a field of view value.

 

 

Like I said, no judgement from me. The game is not optimized for PC play and some things just need adjusting. It's still Vanilla in my opinion, nothing is added or taken away, just changed a bit to work better for the player. Still, it IS modifying the ini. Unless you just want to call it tweaking. Or nudging. Or manipulating. In which case, it's no longer modding.

 

:devil: Sorry. Leaving now.

[Riprock]

If you want to have a puritanical and draconian definition of "modify", than yes, it is a modification since you changed that file which is not accessible in-game and therefore was not something the developers gave you an option for as part of the user interface.

 

That said, you're not actually introducing anything that isn't already in the game. You're simply changing how what is already there is presented. Why this would be a concern is confusing to me; this sort of self-imposed restriction has no point in my opinion other than to hobble the person making the strict differentiation.

 

The "why" is a question I would be more interested in; ok yes that is your choice but then again playing with mods was a choice too and I'm not sure I can appreciate the concern over this hair-splitting over the definition.

 

If making the game display that way on your screen makes you happy, just do it. This is life, not a rulebook. :)

[jones177]

Hi

 

The first game modding I know of was done with hexadecimal editors. Basically changing variables in code. That was back in the 8 & 16 bit era. So editing text is definitely modding.

It was really hard to edit sprites in 16bit games & the first 3D games did not use textures. When 3D games started to use textures is when modern day modding started. The first game I modded other than using a hexadecimal editor was a race game on the AMIGA long before the PC could run a good game. I am reminded of this because the first PC none simulator game I modded has been redone. Check out battlezone 98 redux. If you are a bit blown away by the complexities of doing 3D modding on a game like Skyrim, this old game my be a good place to start.

 

Later