Staff Picks - 11 Jan 2017

[TheTokenGeek]

This week there is quite a diverse range of Staff Picks. SirSalami has found a good option to multi-task within Skyrim; TerrorFox1234 has been looking at add-on mods for the new HUDFramework that was mentioned in a previous weeks pick, and I have gone back to a game (or version of) that I loved many years ago.

 

We love to hear your selections, so if you have a mod you would like to submit to the community (not your own), please check out this new and handy form. Please fill out the form completely and ensure that you add some details about the mod and why you have chosen it (similar to how we have below).  

 

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. Who knows, maybe we'll even learn a little about each other along the way.

 

 

SirSalami

width=600,height=363https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/60615-1-1418060246.jpg[/img]

Mod: Read Books Aloud

Game: Skyrim

Author: sjors boomschors

 

Written lore can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can bring you deeper into a game world by providing details about the setting and expanding your imagination. On the other, forcing you to read text can really drag down a gameplay session, especially if you have limited playtime. Skyrim especially has so much written lore, it can be daunting to even consider reading them all. This mod however, makes that goal a bit more achievable, at least for me, by adding the ability to have the books read to you.

 

By default this mod seemingly does nothing on it's own, requiring you to download various plugins before functioning. The 'default' plugin (found in the optional files) contains most or all of the books as spoken by a speech synthesizer. It has a lovely accent and I personally do not mind the very slightly robotic cadence. You can however, find other plugins for this mod voiced by many of your fellow community members as well!

 

My favorite part? With full hotkey support, you can choose to continue the audio even after the book has been closed, allowing you to continue exploring while simultaneously learning more about the world that surrounds you, reminiscent of Bioshock's audio diaries. Convenient and immersive. Lovely!

 

 

TerrorFox1234

width=600,height=353https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1151/images/20818-0-1483284290.png[/img]

Mod: Explosives Widget and Survival Stats Widget

Game: Fallout 4

Author: neanka

 

Am I allowed to pick two?! I’m doing it. While they may be completely unrelated in terms of functionality, they are both fantastic examples of what is possible with the HUDFramework mod. Both mods come from neanka, the original author of the DEF_UI mods. It seems silly to mention one and not the other.

 

Explosives Widget gives you a neat little HUD icon, allowing you to track what type of explosive you have equipped and how many you have. It also lets you display a list of all explosive types, along with how many of each you have. These options can be accessed via holotape in game.

 

Survival Stats Widgets gives you status bars for your hunger, thirst, and fatigue. A settings holotape allows you to toggle a few additional options, as well as scale and reposition the status bars.

 

I look forward to seeing what else people do with HUDFramework. In the meantime neanka has kicked things off to a good start!

 

 

BlindJudge

width=600,height=363https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1778/images/1-0-1483976818.png[/img]

Mod: Call of Chernobyl - Full Release

Game: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Chernobyl

Author: Alundaio

 

There is a particular type of game that I seem to fall in love with. It's glaringly obvious now I come to think of it, as Steam makes a point of shoving it in my face every time I log on with its 'Discovery Queue' feature and the 'Tags recommended for you' section. Open world, survival based sandbox games!

 

So when S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Chernobyl arrived on Nexus Mods, I was one of the first people to download it. I think the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games were incredible and far ahead of their time upon release, still holding up relatively well even now. Immersive, frequently tense and often quite jumpy, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is the Dark Souls version of Fallout with its instadeath approach to exploration and combat.

 

Sadly, GSC Game World dissolved in 2011 and the chance for a further S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game disappeared alongside. However, this hasn't stopped a group of like-minded modders banding together to create a sandbox mod for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat game. Team Epic has created this mod, 'Call of Chernobyl' as a labour of love and I've already spent a good number of hours back within the Zone. By adding character creation, game modes, and multiple gameplay changes, this mod steers the series in a new and exciting direction, which is only being enhanced with the numerous mods you can find online for it. I recommend you check it out.

 

 

(Guest submission)EmeraldHaze

width=600,height=363https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/130/images/61592-0-1481546108.png[/img]

Mod: JSawyer Ultimate Edition

Game: Fallout New Vegas

Author: PushTheWinButton

 

What it does: This mod is a cleaned-up and reworked version of JSawyer, which is considered by many to be the "Director's Cut" for Fallout New Vegas. It utilizes the full power of NVSE and scripting to bring the definitive experience to the player. Bugs fixed, balance remade to be more true to the original design, gameplay tweaked and improved. If you play Fallout New Vegas without this mod - you are doing a disservice to yourself! Scoop it out.

 

Why is it good: This mod (when used together with YUP) gives Fallout New Vegas the polish it deserves. To paraphrase: "Everything is better, when you experience it with JSawyer Ultimate".

 

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, then please check out this quick and handy form.

 

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!

[lued123]

I'd never heard of JSawyer before. I've tried to get into New Vegas many times, but I haven't been able to do it. Could someone pitch it to me?

[TerrorFox1234]

In response to post #46516345.

lued123 wrote: I'd never heard of JSawyer before. I've tried to get into New Vegas many times, but I haven't been able to do it. Could someone pitch it to me?

I think PushTheWinButton just did ;)

[Ethreon]

In response to post #46516345. #46516590 is also a reply to the same post.

lued123 wrote: I'd never heard of JSawyer before. I've tried to get into New Vegas many times, but I haven't been able to do it. Could someone pitch it to me?

TerrorFox1234 wrote: I think PushTheWinButton just did ;)

J Sawyer, one of the people that made New Vegas. If you cannot get into NV there's no point in anyone trying to sell it to you. You either can or cannot enjoy it.

[lued123]

In response to post #46516345. #46516590, #46517050 are all replies on the same post.

lued123 wrote: I'd never heard of JSawyer before. I've tried to get into New Vegas many times, but I haven't been able to do it. Could someone pitch it to me?

TerrorFox1234 wrote: I think PushTheWinButton just did ;)

Ethreon wrote: J Sawyer, one of the people that made New Vegas. If you cannot get into NV there's no point in anyone trying to sell it to you. You either can or cannot enjoy it.

I've gotten close to getting into New Vegas. It just had a few issues that put me off. If JSawyer Ultimate Edition fixes those, I could very well get into it. I would just like to know what it does before I install both it and New Vegas itself. Edited January 11, 2017 by lued123

[Pritchard]

In response to post #46516345. #46516590, #46517050, #46517285 are all replies on the same post.

lued123 wrote: I'd never heard of JSawyer before. I've tried to get into New Vegas many times, but I haven't been able to do it. Could someone pitch it to me?

TerrorFox1234 wrote: I think PushTheWinButton just did ;)

Ethreon wrote: J Sawyer, one of the people that made New Vegas. If you cannot get into NV there's no point in anyone trying to sell it to you. You either can or cannot enjoy it.

lued123 wrote: I've gotten close to getting into New Vegas. It just had a few issues that put me off. If JSawyer Ultimate Edition fixes those, I could very well get into it. I would just like to know what it does before I install both it and New Vegas itself.

You'd have to tell us what those issues are if you want people to tell you if they're improved.

JSawyer rebalances a lot of the game, though. Especially with hardcore mode in mind - it reduces the player's stats, lowers the level cap, increases the rarity of survival items etc.
To see what exactly has been changed in the original mod (all of these have been carried over to the Ultimate Edition), check out this link: http://fallout.gamepedia.com/JSawyer

[SpookaXX]

I recognise SirSalami from various official ESO lore videos, but didn't know he was an active nexus user. Although, I suppose considering all the lore that mods can jam into TES games like Skyrim it shouldn't surprise me (not to mention given his clear love of TES lore of course he would play Skyrim). Did I mention lore?

[Thom293]

In response to post #46516345. #46516590, #46517050, #46517285, #46522555 are all replies on the same post.

lued123 wrote: I'd never heard of JSawyer before. I've tried to get into New Vegas many times, but I haven't been able to do it. Could someone pitch it to me?

TerrorFox1234 wrote: I think PushTheWinButton just did ;)

Ethreon wrote: J Sawyer, one of the people that made New Vegas. If you cannot get into NV there's no point in anyone trying to sell it to you. You either can or cannot enjoy it.

lued123 wrote: I've gotten close to getting into New Vegas. It just had a few issues that put me off. If JSawyer Ultimate Edition fixes those, I could very well get into it. I would just like to know what it does before I install both it and New Vegas itself.

Pritchard wrote: You'd have to tell us what those issues are if you want people to tell you if they're improved.

JSawyer rebalances a lot of the game, though. Especially with hardcore mode in mind - it reduces the player's stats, lowers the level cap, increases the rarity of survival items etc.
To see what exactly has been changed in the original mod (all of these have been carried over to the Ultimate Edition), check out this link: http://fallout.gamepedia.com/JSawyer

I have to say that the original JSawyer mod is the only one I MUST have in every game. It was the best and most balanced "hardcore" mod out there, and actually made the game challenging. Well worth it.

[Povuholo]

In response to post #46516345. #46516590, #46517050, #46517285, #46522555, #46527230 are all replies on the same post.

lued123 wrote: I'd never heard of JSawyer before. I've tried to get into New Vegas many times, but I haven't been able to do it. Could someone pitch it to me?

TerrorFox1234 wrote: I think PushTheWinButton just did ;)

Ethreon wrote: J Sawyer, one of the people that made New Vegas. If you cannot get into NV there's no point in anyone trying to sell it to you. You either can or cannot enjoy it.

lued123 wrote: I've gotten close to getting into New Vegas. It just had a few issues that put me off. If JSawyer Ultimate Edition fixes those, I could very well get into it. I would just like to know what it does before I install both it and New Vegas itself.

Pritchard wrote: You'd have to tell us what those issues are if you want people to tell you if they're improved.

JSawyer rebalances a lot of the game, though. Especially with hardcore mode in mind - it reduces the player's stats, lowers the level cap, increases the rarity of survival items etc.
To see what exactly has been changed in the original mod (all of these have been carried over to the Ultimate Edition), check out this link: http://fallout.gamepedia.com/JSawyer

Thom293 wrote: I have to say that the original JSawyer mod is the only one I MUST have in every game. It was the best and most balanced "hardcore" mod out there, and actually made the game challenging. Well worth it.

The mod is mostly an overhaul of the game balance along with bugfixes. Overall it makes the game a bit harder and gets rid of some inconsistencies. It's subtle but really good.

What makes it stand out from other game balance mods is that the JSawyer mod was made by Josh Sawyer, the game's official lead developer.

I don't know what it is you don't like about New Vegas, but the mod does not really make any drastic changes that would flip that opinion. It still feels like the same game, just better. Edited January 12, 2017 by Povuholo

[orangemountain]

I'm with lued123 on this. I've tried and tried to play New Vegas, but the vanilla game is just soooo dang buggy, and all of the Fallout and ES games have the quality that the more hours you put into a single playthrough, the less stable the game becomes. I have found it literally impossible to finish FNV plus official DLCs with minimum mods. About halfway or more thru it becomes crash crash crash, crash city, crash universe, crash till you want to vomit and die. I've heard of the JSawyer mod, never did check it out, and if I'm ever going to load up FNV again I'd have to hear some specifics first.