Staff Picks - 07 Dec 2016

[TheTokenGeek]

 

Back again with another Staff Picks, the regular feature where we spotlight some of the amazing work that is found on Nexus Mods. These mods may be old or new, popular or unknown, serious or silly - anything goes!

 

For the first time, Dark0ne has submitted a pick, and I have to say it's a real gem. Can definitely see this one being add to my 'necessary mods for Fallout 4' list.

 

Just remember that other mods on the site may do roughly the same thing, so keep your eyes peeled and understand that these are just our personal picks. That said, hopefully, you'll find something you may not have seen before and who knows, maybe we'll even learn a little about each other along the way. ;)

 

Dark0ne

Mod: Push Away Companions

Game: Fallout 4

Author: cdante

 

Personally I think the way NPC followers are done in most games is just plain crap. They're wooden, dull, mostly useless and more often than not get in the way rather than help. Fallout 4 is no exception, so I was happy to spend the points on the "Lone Wanderer" perk in my first play through and simply go without the hassle of having one of these walking liabilities follow me everywhere I go.

 

"Push Away Companions" by CDante does exactly what you'd expect it to. Perhaps even more than you'd expect it to considering your companions get more "hurled" than they do pushed. The pushing animation adds a fun, practically comical take on the concept which is particularly nice for someone like me, who'd be more than happy to give "helpful" pushes to followers when walking over bridges and other high locations. You know, to get your own back on the fact they'd stood in front of your mini-nuke launcher in the last fight, or heck, just for the pure sadistic fun of it.

 

This mod provides a nice twist on an otherwise game-breaking vanilla companion issue for me.

 

BlindJudge

Mod: Banished PLUS

Game: Banished

Author: Zenchina

 

There is something I enjoy about games where you create, expand and provide upkeep to villages, maybe it's because I hold little-pixelated villager lives in my hand, or it could be because I just like to create beautiful looking scenes - who knows?

 

What I do know is that I love this time-sink of a game. The premise is simple, you've been banished and have moved to regions unknown, now you need to create a community and keep them alive, it's like a survival game and a strategy game had a love child.

 

The visuals are brilliant and give life to the homesteads that you create, subtle details like chimney smoke, seasons and weather increase the immersion and make the game a joy to play.

 

This mod can make things a little easier through changes like storage barns and yards having more capacity, more locations to build and increased yield from fishing and hunting. It also adds the ability to build half into mountains which may not be to everyone's taste, but like all mods, they're subjective. For me, it aids in being able to play a far more relaxed game just to chill out with.

 

 

SirSalami

Mod: Dwemer Hacker (Skyrim)

Mod: Dwemer Hacker (Skyrim Special Edition)

Game: Skyrim

Game: Skyrim Special Edition

Author: Lofgren

 

The Dwemer are an ancient race shrouded in mechanical secrecy, but with enough skill, this mod will allow you to unlock some of those mysteries, quite literally. Rather than being a strictly passive skill, Dwemer Hacker allows your lock-picking skill to become an active part of your arsenal. By successfully lock-picking an unsuspecting Dwemer Construct, you are given access to its control gem which, upon removal, will handily dispatch it. A perfect addition to any clever characters who may prefer brains over brawn.

 

This is a new mod from a long-time contributor, Lofgren. Self-described as a "simple" mod, I find it to be quite intuitive and well implemented nonetheless. Providing more varied opportunities to interact with the game world is something I always enjoy seeing in a mod, and this certainly is no exception. It's available for both Skyrim and Skyrim Special Edition.

 

 

TerrorFox1234

Mod: More Items

Game: Delver

Author: TeslaCuil

 

I just recently picked this game up and started playing it as I was doing a bit of research into new games with modding support. It’s a fun little dungeon diver, and while I normally stay away from Early Access, I see a lot of potential in this game.

 

Being that the game is still in Early Access, it is still a pretty bare bones game. Picking up the same items over and over gets a bit... dull. I’m sure the developer will be adding more content over time, but in the meantime, TeslaCuil has got the ball rolling with More Items!

 

Right now the mod simply adds a handful of new weapons, a few new armors, a couple of new rings and an amulet which is enough to add some nice variety to looting and exploring. I look forward to watching the mod grow with the game.

 

 

(Guest submission)Vikhenzo

Mod: Rise of the White Wolf Enhanced Edition

Game: The Witcher

Author: rustine

 

After finishing the awesome game that is The Witcher 3, I just wanted more and more content from its universe. Starting with the original Witcher game, I was promptly stopped by how much it has aged. Even though we all know graphics aren’t everything, it certainly took away from the experience, especially after playing The Witcher 3 which itself was a graphical masterpiece. But this mod, while not perfect, makes the gameplay experience in general much more bearable. While it doesn’t fix the dreaded combat system, it’s still a major upgrade.

 

Sprucing up the textures, completely remaking the UI and retouching some cutscenes isn’t even everything. If anyone has wanted to start the story of the White Wolf from the beginning, this might just be your chance.

 

btw: The combat gets better in the second game!

 

 

Every week, we feature a few mods that have caught our staff’s attention, as well as some that were submitted by you, the Nexus Mods community. If there is a mod you’d like to see on this list, send the name of the mod, your site username and a brief (less than 200 words) description of why you like it to [email protected], and we’ll consider adding it to the list.

 

If you haven’t already, feel free to follow us on our social media channels where we'll keep you up to date with the latest site news, articles and much more.

 

  

 

Thanks, and have fun modding!

[sgtmcbiscuits]

Just a quick heads up, in the Dwemer Hacker links, the "Skyrim Special Edition" link takes you to the original Skyrim mod, and the "Skyrim" link takes you to the SE page.

 

Great article though! Spotlights on these lesser known, but still well made mods are always interesting

[SirSalami]

In response to post #45409815.

sgtmcbiscuits wrote: Just a quick heads up, in the Dwemer Hacker links, the "Skyrim Special Edition" link takes you to the original Skyrim mod, and the "Skyrim" link takes you to the SE page.

Great article though! Spotlights on these lesser known, but still well made mods are always interesting

Fixed.

Happy you're enjoying these pieces. Thanks!

[NukaColaPrime]

Somehow when I first clicked on "continue to full article" I got redirected to some shopping website.

[Deleted3624098User]

;D;D;D

[FreedomsFlame]

And here I was thinking that I was the only one who found Witcher 1 unplayable because of it's half-assed combat system. So glad I made the decision to just skip it and move on to 2 then 3, I almost missed out on one of the greatest RPGs of all time.

[AlassinSane]

These staff picks are such awesome ways to give exposure to mods who usually see little of it, very interesting to see differing tastes too!

[Ethreon]

In response to post #45435460.

FreedomsFlame wrote: And here I was thinking that I was the only one who found Witcher 1 unplayable because of it's half-assed combat system. So glad I made the decision to just skip it and move on to 2 then 3, I almost missed out on one of the greatest RPGs of all time.

It's not unplayable, or nobody would've played W1. It isn't the best around, but you can get past it if you enjoy the rest of the game.

[Nimboss]

In response to post #45435460. #45436655 is also a reply to the same post.

FreedomsFlame wrote: And here I was thinking that I was the only one who found Witcher 1 unplayable because of it's half-assed combat system. So glad I made the decision to just skip it and move on to 2 then 3, I almost missed out on one of the greatest RPGs of all time.

Ethreon wrote: It's not unplayable, or nobody would've played W1. It isn't the best around, but you can get past it if you enjoy the rest of the game.

Funny, when I was into this some years ago (Witcher 1), this was a RPG game first and forth most for more and all ones into the RPG stuff and you start to sound to proclaim it was a FPS game... ? Well I succeeded click the right time in the right clicks in time most of the time to succeed when something was right "fps" you sound all to have missed or was mislead was this game was all about to begin with. I do did enjoy the rest of the game since it was a RPG. Sorry you focused to look at this as a disguised FPS game.

[CDante]

In response to post #45435460. #45436655, #45443770 are all replies on the same post.

FreedomsFlame wrote: And here I was thinking that I was the only one who found Witcher 1 unplayable because of it's half-assed combat system. So glad I made the decision to just skip it and move on to 2 then 3, I almost missed out on one of the greatest RPGs of all time.

Ethreon wrote: It's not unplayable, or nobody would've played W1. It isn't the best around, but you can get past it if you enjoy the rest of the game.

Nimboss wrote: Funny, when I was into this some years ago (Witcher 1), this was a RPG game first and forth most for more and all ones into the RPG stuff and you start to sound to proclaim it was a FPS game... ? Well I succeeded click the right time in the right clicks in time most of the time to succeed when something was right "fps" you sound all to have missed or was mislead was this game was all about to begin with. I do did enjoy the rest of the game since it was a RPG. Sorry you focused to look at this as a disguised FPS game.

the Witcher 3 alone gives so much attention to the first two games I believe both have more popularity nowadays than after their initial releases. I have a huge backlog of games I want to play at some point in my life, and I played the first Witcher for several weeks after I maxed out W3 and before I had to turn my attention to Fallout 4. it wasn't very comfortable, but I enjoyed it a lot.
mods like this one picked in the article really makes me want to go back and continue Geralt's story with better UI and game mechanics even though I already liked the game in the first place. Edited December 8, 2016 by cdante