New to modding in general

[Sambob1994]

Hello

 

As the title says, I'm new to in-depth modding the likes of which are on this site. Usually I go to steam and browse the workshop, and stick to whatever could be auto-installed by nexus and didnt need me to fiddle around the game files with.

 

But I want to try with Dragon age Inquisition. I just get confused by terms like unzip (though I do have sevenzip installed). Is there any place to start to learn how to install these mods, I feel like Im missing out is all. Can anyone point out what mods are a must have for Dragon age Inquisition as well? I really like some of the player models, hairstyles, and item buffs.

[WastelandAssassin]

if you have questions , you can always ask Dr Google , or ask here

I mean , if your questions are as simple as what unziping is (which , by the way , is just opening an archive file like .rar or .7z archives) , I'm sure we could all help you

basically , if you want any specific help , please just provide a link to the mod in question , I'm sure we could easily help you

[Sambob1994]

if you have questions , you can always ask Dr Google , or ask here

I mean , if your questions are as simple as what unziping is (which , by the way , is just opening an archive file like .rar or .7z archives) , I'm sure we could all help you

basically , if you want any specific help , please just provide a link to the mod in question , I'm sure we could easily help you

 

Well Ive just found a tutorial on DAiTools Suite Loader on Youtube so im just working through that at the moment.

 

Im curious as to how load order is important. Also, does it matter which file extracter I use (Win.rar or 7zip) or do they in effect do the same thing? Sorry if this is seems utterly basic, but im THAT much of a beginner to all this right now.

Edited May 27, 2018 by Sambob1994

[WastelandAssassin]

well , I can't recall if I've ever modded Inquisition , so I'm not quite certain about load order in that game

but I would assume it works like it does in Bethesda games (though I'm really not certain about this)

if it does , it basically determines which values end up loading , in case you have two mods changing the same settings (the last one to load dictates the outcome)

 

as for extracting from archives , I believe it would work with any program that can open these (so Winrar , Winzip , 7z etc)

there shouldn't be any difference here when extracting these archives (the difference is when packing files into an archive , but you shouldn't have to worry about this at all)

[nightscrawl]

Okay. Well, this will be a bit of a lengthy post, but I'll try to explain things as I go along.

 

The very first thing to know is that modding Dragon Age: Inquisition is not at all like modding a Bethesda game. DAI uses the Frostbite engine, which is notoriously difficult to mod. Modding Frostbite games are not officially supported, like Bethesda games are. The current tools that are available for modding, created by brilliant coders for the community, essentially trick the game into allowing the use of mods. I say this to tell you that you can't think of it like modding Skyrim.

 

-----

 

Currently, there are two ways to mod DAI.

 

The first method is by using the DAI Mod Manager, which you get from the DAI Tools Suite Loader. (Grats on finding that!) This is the older method and the one with the most available mods. These will be daimod files.

 

The second method is with Frosty. This is a new tool that was created some time after Mass Effect Andromeda was released and is designed to work with a variety of Frostbite games, including DAI. These will be fbmod and archive files.

 

While the most current version of the Frosty Mod Manager is now able to support daimods, conversion isn't 100% perfect, especially with some images.

 

These two methods should not be used together. For this post, I'm going to cover the DAI Mod Manager. You might want to move on to Frosty at some future point, but I think the older method will be best for you at this point.

 

-----

 

For modding with the DAI Mod Manager, the first thing to know is that it mods the game by exploiting the DAI patch system. It essentially tricks the game into thinking your mods are a new patch, one version higher. The current, default version of the game is 12. The mods increment it higher to 13. This new version gets baked into your save. After you have a save game using the mod manager, you will not be able to load that save with an unmodded game (unless you do a workaround -- covered later).

 

Please see this tutorial on how to install the DAI Mod Manager and get it running. There are images that I'm not going to bother with, so it's helpful.

 

The first thing you will have to do is decide where you want your mod folder to be located. I like having mine in the same location as the Documents folder where the DAI saves are located. All other Bioware games are here as well, like Dragon Age: Origins.

C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\BioWare

 

Right below the Dragon Age Inquisition folder I have Dragon Age Inquisition MODS, and this is where I put all of my DAI mods and where I point the DAI Mod Manager.

Like so...

C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age Inquisition

C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age Inquisition MODS

 

You can put the folder whereever you like (outside of the game installation folder) that is convenient for you. The above is only my suggestion.

 

 

For your very first mod, I'm going to suggest one that doesn't even require you to load into the game to see if it's working. You can see if it's active right on the starting screen... A font mod. This is my own mod, Fonty. My personal preference is Estrangelo Edessa, but you can of course use whichever you like best.

 

In the files, hit the Manual Download button and download Fonty - Estrangelo Edessa-585-1-0.zip.

 

You have 7zip. That's good. Extract it somewhere. Usually, you will right-click, then go to 7-zip in the menu, and then over to Extract Here. Inside is Fonty_Estrangelo_Edessa.daimod and a preview image. You can ignore the preview image, as that's just there to be helpful. Take your daimod and put it into your mods folder.

 

Then you load up the DAI Mod Manager, find your game exe and the mods folder, as shown in the tutorial. The font mod should be in the left window pane. And as shown in the tutorial, you hit Merge.

 

The very first Merge will take a bit longer as it scans the default patch folder.

 

Once you see Task Completed Successfully, you can close the window and load up the game. You should see the new font on the first screen explaining about the save circle animation.

 

-----

 

Some additional notes.

 

* If you want to remove a mod, you can either take that daimod out of the mods folder, or simply untick that selection in the Mod Manager window. If you remove a mod, you need to re-merge by hitting Force Rescan of Patch. This is very important. It will take a bit longer, just like the first time, but that is how you remove the older data.

 

If you want to add something, you can just hit Merge. Remove is Force Rescan of Patch.

 

 

* Above, I mentioned the bit about baking the new patch version into your save and a workaround. There are two methods you can use to workaround this.

 

1 This first is more useful if you need to temporarily remove all mods for whatever reason. Untick ALL of the mods in the Mod Manager window. (Alternatively, you can also point it to an empty folder instead, which is what I do.) Then hit Merge. This will create a "blank" patch. That is, it's a patch with all of the default data, but still marked as version 13. So you can load your saves, but they won't have any mods.

 

2 This second method might be useful if you're no longer going to be using any mods at all, but still want to play your saved game. Navigate to the DAI installation folder > Update > Patch

C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Dragon Age Inquisition\Update\Patch

Inside, you will see a file named package.mft. Open this with Windows Notepad. It will say,

Name patch
Authoritative
Version 12

Change 12 to 13 and save the file. You will now be able to load your saves and play again without any mods or "blank" patches.

 

IMPORTANT: If you use this method and decide to go back to using mods, be sure to change it back to 12 before merging. If you don't, you will increment your save to 14 and give yourself more problems.

 

 

* And finally, to remove the mods completely, you can simply go into C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Dragon Age Inquisition\Update

and delete the PatchModManager_Merge folder. Remember the above bit about version numbers if you're going to continue to use a save.

 

 

* Load order doesn't matter unless you're using mods that change the same things. In that case, it works like Skyrim: in the list, the lower mod (the one that loads last) overwrites one that is before.

Mod Cheese edits files ABCD

Mod Strawberry edits files DEFG

 

Both of these mods edit file D. Since Strawberry is lower in the load order, that edit of D will be the most recent and take priority.

 

-----

 

That's all I can think of at the moment. Feel free to ask any questions.

Edited May 27, 2018 by nightscrawl

[jimmywon34]

sorry to necro this thread but i am thinking about modding DAI as well, i've only modded bethesda games and DAO but this sounds a bit different from those. i have the GOTY edition so whatever the latest patch for that is would be what i'm at. is it similar to bethesda games where some mods won't work with the latest version of the game? i'm not looking to heavily mod it because I only find a few things I want to work around in the main game, like more loot(more crafting materials that are harder to come by) and gold or cheaper prices and more inquisition perks and maybe some texture replacers. Also, how stable is modding DAI? does it affect performance? does it crash a lot with mods installed?

Edited July 26, 2018 by jimmywon34

[Thandal]

@jimmywon34; Basically... No, and yes.

 

There are a (very) few mods that won't work with the latest patch (which is "Patch 11", but has the internal number "version 12".) Those mods can probably be identified by looking in the Comments section for things like "Are you going to update this mod for the most recent patch/DLC?") Skip those mods or, for "Trespasser-incompatible" mods, learn the work-around (more later.)

 

No, the game doesn't crash with a lot of mods installed... Depending on what you mean by "a lot".

I currently run with 45 installed, and I'm probably at the low-end of seriously modded games.

 

I have found DAI incredibly stable, but I'm running Win10/64-bit on an i7-4770K w/16GB and a GTX 1060 w/6GB. YMMV. :wink:

 

Several otherwise fine mods are incompatible with some of the DLC. Mostly with either "The Black Emporium" or "Trespasser". (Don't know of any incompatible with both.) In those cases, simply de-activate (re-run DAIMM and un-check) the problem mod when necessary. The DLC are fairly "stand-alone" anyway.

[jimmywon34]

@jimmywon34; Basically... No, and yes.

 

There are a (very) few mods that won't work with the latest patch (which is "Patch 11", but has the internal number "version 12".) Those mods can probably be identified by looking in the Comments section for things like "Are you going to update this mod for the most recent patch/DLC?") Skip those mods or, for "Trespasser-incompatible" mods, learn the work-around (more later.)

 

No, the game doesn't crash with a lot of mods installed... Depending on what you mean by "a lot".

I currently run with 45 installed, and I'm probably at the low-end of seriously modded games.

 

I have found DAI incredibly stable, but I'm running Win10/64-bit on an i7-4770K w/16GB and a GTX 1060 w/6GB. YMMV. :wink:

 

Several otherwise fine mods are incompatible some of the DLC. Mostly with either "The Black Emporium" or "Trespasser". (Don't know of any incompatible with both.) In those cases, simply de-activate (re-run DAIMM and un-check) the problem mod when necessary. The DLC are fairly "stand-alone" anyway.

 

ok cool, probably the most desired mod i'm looking for would be one where you get or find a lot more gold, or cheaper high quality crafting materials and schematics, or both. Maybe even one that just changes how much vendors sell for and buy your items for, I know there is perks for that but still I feel like I need more gold for some of the costly gear, schematics and whatnot. any mods that you know of off the top of your head like that by chance?