Mods, Simple or complex

[PoorlyAged]

I am looking at combining two mods which I have been working on, but they affect different areas and are not related by any connective story. After a second thought, I am in a quandary. Two single function MODS, or one combination mod that does two unrelated things? And just typing this kind of gave me my answer. But still, what do y'all think?

 

And before I came here, I looked. It appears that complex mods have high download counts and endorsements while simple mods do not fair well at all.

 

So. discounting "DLC" type quest mods and mods like the "FIX" mod or the "Smithing" mod, which type of mod do you prefer? Simple with a single type of change (weapons, armor, textures) or complex with multiple disparate types of changes (weapons and armor and textures and ...)?

Edited April 1, 2017 by PoorlyAged

[Moraelin]

Well, I like big story mods like Falskaar for Skyrim.

 

But if it just changes stuff in the game, I like to mix-and match my own.

 

I actually hate 'overhaul' kind of mods, because... well, I suppose it's subjective. I guess some people actually think that changes like giving all city guards katanas in Skyrim or giving every vertibird minigun a legendary effect like explosive in FO4 is 'overhauling' them, but for me it kinda breaks immersion and the story.

[panurgy]

I generally avoid mods that include multiple random features, because they're usually done by new modders that don't understand the implications. And because I might only want one of the changes. It also makes trouble-shooting problems a much bigger hassle. I've seen other people say the same thing about viewing it as a red flag.

 

For example, if I see something like "changes grenade damage, explosion range, and also Curie's hairstyle 'cuz I didn't like it", I will click past as fast as possible.

 

Even if you're just doing it for yourself, if you continue to extend the mod you'll probably hit a point where you'll be sorry you made that decision.

 

Just my $.02.

[Moraelin]

Well, that too, though my main concerns is more like with mods that claim to revamp every raider, minuteman, mutant and their little dog in the game. I wouldn't say it's a red flag per se, but it makes me want to make VERY sure that I don't end up with something like 100 guys running around with Grognak's Axe and/or Kremvh's Tooth in my game. Not everyone does that, mind you, but it seems to be very tempting to add the most powerful items to the levelled lists without much consideration for everything else.

[Macrophobic]

You definitely shouldn't merge 2 mods if they are unrelated, each one will be easier to find as a separate mod, under a different name and category.

 

One important thing about simple mods: they use .esp slots (there's a limit, about 250), so I'm probably not the only user who groups and merges similar mods into one. Or better: I make some changes to the game just for myself and include some minor changes and bugfixes. I actually changed a lot of things, but I can't release them cause I used assets from other mods and games. Bigger mods like faction overhauls would conflict with those changes.

 

Complex mods may take months, DLC-size mods even years to finish, as they are gradually expanded. The thing that brought me to Nexus were those amazing, DLC-sized quest mods for New Vegas. Some of them are crazy and funny (Rockwell Pursuit), other are lore-friendly and look professional (Someguy Series). They only make some small alterations to the Vanilla map while they add lots of new locations (new maps or expanded vanilla map) and even custom creatures (chimps from the Boulder Dome are my no. 1). The last fan made DLC for New Vegas was finished last year, after over 4 years of hard work (by the way: I haven't even tried out the final version yet). And I'm glad I haven't played DUST when it was still WiP, usually it's just better to wait. And Fallout 4 is built on a different engine and would require much more effort and time. There already are several quest mods available, but they are either bugged or still in progress.

Edited April 5, 2017 by MeetTheFuture

[Greslin]

Cast my vote for "separate mods". I'll do my own merging, thanks.

 

There have been some really, really great big mods, but they're beyond doubt the rare minority. I've played some pretty good overhauls and vast quest expansions, but here's the problem that they all have: they don't play well with others. I've yet to see a Big, Big Mod that doesn't eventually decide that it needs to be the sun that all the other little mod planets orbit around. So these days I avoid those kind of land grab mods altogether and focus much more on smaller, sole-mission mods.

 

Definitely don't cram unrelated mods together. To hell with endorsement and download stats: just write a good mod. Refine a single, clear idea in code, and do your best to make it as compatible with everything as possible. That's the kind of mod that gets my attention.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Greslin

[Kodiak412]

I am also in the seperate mod camp. Not even close. Personally I find the mods that focus on a specific short coming, or enhancement, to be the best. These mods are also the least problematic when you start to have game issues and now you have to fart around with the mods for a day to find out where the conflict is. Simplicity just plays well with others.

 

As Greslin stated there are ways for anyone to address a mod limit issue so if people need to do that, it is already available to them.