Need help, modding, and a simple guide.

[DezmoDK]

Been looking around for a few days now, modding, and demodding my DAO, been finding new mods to add all the time, and start over games to see difference (some or most don't work untill after the intro sceen where Duncan takes me to the castle), but other than that, i just have to save, log out and then back in, then it loads the last of them (i think) been running with over 50 mods, and been using the NMM (not sure it is actually the best way to install mods) a lot of post and stuff i have founds says to use the DAO mod manager, but those are like 2 year old posts, just want to know if it actually is the best, and if there are some basic mods i should install before hand, before starting to add a bunch of other mods, and if i should just do it manually (create folders for the mods in the overide folder)

All the guides i have found is so confusing to read, just want a simple guide on what method i should use to install the guide, the DAO mod manager, NMM, manual folder creation or DAOUpdate.exe, anyone of them is fine, i just want the one with best chance of the mods to work as best as they can.

 

And then also a small list of most essential mods to add 1st, and in what order, like maybe i need to add Natural bodies mod, before adding Realistic look mods and so on, just like 10 and in what order, i will also provide pictures with ALL the mods i have been trying to get to work so far aswell, sadly most of the time it messed up, when i tried making the characters look more beautiful and realistic sadly, and the no helmet mod started bugging out, and haven't been working since yesterday.

 

Really appriciate the help!

http://prntscr.com/fvlanf

http://prntscr.com/fvlas8

http://prntscr.com/fvlawn

 

i have uninstalled it all, and gonna delete everything from NMM and all folders and mods, just to clean it all out, and start on a fresh modding, that's why i need this help, because been trying for 2 days now, and maybe i'm doing it wrong.

 

Edit: it's a non steam version btw, ultimate edition, and i'm running on windows 10 if that has any effect.

Edited July 14, 2017 by DezmoDK

[theskymoves]

I don't have the time to answers all your questions but I will note that your screenshots include many files that are not compatible with one another (multiple nude body replacers, NBaio; multiple iterations of IRS-A...). I also see mods that have inherent compatibility issues and require manual adjustments to work in tandem (IRS-A, and ZDF; IRS-A and BSC). And mods which are very unlikely to be compatible (Qwinn's fixpack + romance and dialogue mods which use the same files, like IRS-A, ZDF, MRP. And mods with missing requirements (IRS-A packages which are dependent on Alistair's Funeral and Mild Romance Scenes). And finally, I see at least one mod (NBaio) and a 3rd party utility (DAOSaves AKA Change your hero's face...) which cannot be installed with NMM. (The former is a archive format which can only be installed with DAO-ModManager, the latter is not a mod proper.)

 

A 'download with NMM' button on a mod's page should not be interpreted as 'this file can actually be installed with NMM'. The NMM-download option was retroactively added to older mods whose authors were long since MIA. And sometimes mod authors can forget to untick the NMM option (which is the default on new uploads) on non-compatible files... I've done that myself, more than once.

 

Some quick opinions on best practices:

 

• Read every word of documentation (both included in the mod's package and on the mod's webpage) for any mod you intend to install, and follow the installation instructions unless you have good, informed reason not to. (i.e. the mod author says 'install DAzip with DAModder' but you prefer to use DAO-Modmanager... DAzip installers are, as a rule, interchangeable.)
• My preferred mod manager (and the one I recommend) is DAO-Modmanager, though I generally install DAzips with the native DAUpdater.
• Manual overrides should always be nested in mod-specific folders, and not loose in the /override.

 

and see 'The Basics' post linked from this page for some of my more pedantic advice on installing DAO mods. I run the game with hundreds of mods, large and small, and rarely if ever encounter any issues (apart from stupid stupid lag).

[Thandal]

^^ Everything tsm just said! ^^

 

I'll add see also this page on the Nexus Wiki: Using Dragon Age Mods for Dummies

 

NB; it refers only briefly to "mod managers" in general, and hasn't been updated to include NMM at all.

 

(I also prefer DAMM over DAM, and only use NMM for replicating/troubleshooting others' problems. :wink: )