rasherkane Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Hi Evr1 I have just installed DAO for the first time and was looking for some advice on ModsI have gathered together a group of mods and would like your opinion on them and if they are worth installing. Also looking for advice on the install order of these or does it not matter ? Advanced Tactics FtG UI Mod - v2-1-73 Awakening quest bugfixes-1508 Cutscene fixes-3009-1-0 SilveriteFix_v102-1762 Blackblade Drop Fix-1112 Sigrun_Law_Order Combat Delay Reduction DAO and DAA-3322-Final Combat Tweaks v32 - PAR-354 DA Rules Fix Pack Improved Atmost Mod MRP Mod ZDF Complete v2_1-928-2-1 Shaperate Reward Fix-335 Unobtainable_item_Fix1-1262 Any help is much appreciated. Thanks in Advance RK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thandal Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Install order doesn't matter with DAO. But only one mod that effects the same core game element will be used. (E.g. if two mods change the same dialogue tree, only one will have any impact.) Technical Note: As far as anyone (ok, Qwinn) has been able to determine, the Eclipse engine uses a simple "first-found" routine when applying mods. Meaning it reviews the vanilla game files, then looks in the "\AddIns" and "\override" folders to see if there's anything there that might apply. And it looks using a strict file/folder alphanumeric search, so the mod named "A Great Mod" would be used even if one named "Even Better Mod" also existed for the same thing. But "\subfolder1\Even Better Mod" would get used in place of "\subfolder2\A Great Mod". Does that make sense? "Advanced Tactics" has some issues with the more recent patches (1.04, specifically), and I recommend against using "Improved Atmosphere" because what it does... can't be undone. If you ever remove it, the saves you made while it was installed may be totally unplayable. (At least NV4 can be uninstalled gracefully, albeit with some effort.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasherkane Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 Thanks Thandel I thought the IA Mod was one of the better ones? I havn't started playing yet but plan to today, so should I uninstall Advanced Tactics before I play? Thanks RK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kajana Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 (edited) The general rule is to play the game the first (or even second or third based) without mods, then you get a feeling for the game and what you would like to mod in future playthoughs. However the big exception to this (at least for me) in the dialogue and other fixes, which is most of what you have listed. I would also recommend Dialogue Tweaks, you can get compatible versions of ZDF and MRP, or at least with a bit of effort make all three work together. Regarding both Advance Tactics and Combat Tweaks, they are both great and I have both and have not any significant problem with each. However they do add a level of complexity to the game. Which is great if you have played the game and are familar with the combat and tactics, but it might be a bit overwhelming for someone new to the game. I would recommend playing it the first time without both. The added benefit to waiting is that after you have played the game a few times you add CT and it is like playing for the first time. IA is a wonderful mod, for me it is essential and would never uninstall it, but I have heard that it can cause problems if you ever need to. The thing is that it doesn't change anything essential, it enhances the world. It is nice but doesn't change anything. And most of the changes are things that you wouldn't notice on a first playthough. Best way to think of it as looking at a picture of the moon, at first all you see is the moon, only later do you see the stars, IA adds stars. I would recommend playing the first time without it, then if what it does appeals to you, you can do the research and see if the risk is worth it. Again for me it is essential, but each person is different. I know that this is long, and that I have said a couple times about what to do on a first playthought, which of course assumes that you will play it a second or third time. But if this is your thing, you will. Probably 75% of the people on this site have played the game a half dozen times at least. It is a game with wonderful replayability. And if it isn't your thing, the mods aren't going to help that. I hope this helps. Wanted to add a thought... I was thinking about what I would say to someone on their second playthough regarding 'essential' mods, and in truth there are none. There are popular ones, but really each individual has there own set of what they consider to be 'essential' What I would say is this, as you play the game for the first time, if you ever have the thought about 'boy I wish I could do this' or 'why don't they have this?' or 'I want something to do that' or 'Dear Maker, why do they do that?' remember that and write it down. and when you start modding, start with that list. For me personally, I desperately wanted a storage chest, so that was the first mod I installed; for me playing as a female rogue, I hated the available hair, now for a male character, may not be a big deal; I wished the dog was a different color and that there was better looking rogue armor; if you play as a warrior or mage, won't matter to you, etc. Don't just install a mod because it sounds cool or is popular, you can have too many mods, consentrate on the ones that matter to you and will enhance your game. Edited October 4, 2012 by Kajana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasherkane Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 Thanks Kajana I appreciate the time you took to reply and I will definately remove a few for 1st time play. Already removed Advanced Tactics as it may complicate things on my first play through.. I also installed various parts of Dragon Age Redesigned and was wondering if they will conflict with any of the otyher mods I have installed? It uses a different way to install where the other mods are installed through DAMod Manager. Thanks RK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thandal Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 DA-Redesigned is all about changes to the appearance of the NPCs. Except for other "appearance" mods, it won't effect anything else in the game. :thumbsup: The installation instructions are different (as they are for many "facemorph" mods) because of the type of changes being made. See this article for an intro to the various kinds of mods: Using Dragon Age Mods for Dummies. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasherkane Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 Thanks Thandal Glad the DA redisgned mod will not cause me any probs. I have deleted files from the other mods to make them compat and hopefully all will be okay. Many thanks to evr1 for your help! RK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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