#this is completely vanilla no mods no NOTHING

[sojutrait]

the hate i have for this video game literally cant be expressed in mere words.

[sunnslinger]

ROMEO, AGAIN. [Feeding my addiction before I get little time to draw for a good while 'cause classes are starting again.] - I got around to doing a finalized version of his mortal design! Yay! He gets to keep the equine features, I like them too much + it's a canon thing in my AU where ex-admins still aren't 'human'. Compared to Xara, whose features are more subtle, Romeo's mortal form isn't, and it makes integration back into society much harder. More things are to be said, but not right now, I'm just gonna say right here that Romeo's not living by himself, but he is living it pretty damn sad as he should be HAHA ----------------------------------------------------- On a brighter note, I can finally move onto Fred or Xara's design process after this, and then start drawing stuff with all of them! Not sure who I'll start on first, but I'm excited for both regardless! I'm really hoping I can get far into this AU of mine because I love it so, so much. It doesn't deviate far from canon, but moreso adds more depth to the world and characters......and bears a lot of references to mods that I fancy (nothing super crazy, like nothing that completely breaks vanilla/"realistic" aspects of the world!) I've been calling it the "MCSM modded AU" for a while and haven't found a better name yet. Thank you guys for all the support and notes I've gotten so far!

also, did you know I live in north america? I don't live in a different time zone from it, my sleep schedule is just that abysmal because I can't draw during the day...my activity may drop once the semester begins :)

[fallout-lou-begas]

Not sure if you’ve been asked this before, but what are your favorite/essential mods for new vegas? I’ve only ever played it unmodded so I’m curious

Good question! I definitely have answered this before, but that was so many years ago. It's only now that I've taken the opportunity to overhaul and modernize my own mod set-up that I've been figuring out the answer to this question myself. But I can definitely talk you through the most important parts of my new load order.

First, however, every single person modding this game in this day and age absolutely needs to start with the Viva New Vegas modding guide, and follow every step to the letter. The recommendations are air-tight and the instructions are written and presented as if you, the reader, have never even seen so much as a computer before. It's amazing. The "Base" of VNV contains nothing but bugfixes, lightweight unofficial patches, performance optimizations, and other under-the-hood stuff designed to remedy FNV's infamous stability issues while maintaining a completely "vanilla" feel. This makes it absolutely necessary, in my opinion, even for people who don't actually want to play with any (other) mods. Especially crucial to this guide is its mandate to use Mod Organizer 2; if you're using Nexus Mod Manager, Vortex, or Fallout Mod Manager any time since Biden got elected, you are shooting yourself in the foot plain and simple. The best endorsement that I can give of Mod Organizer 2 is that it mods you game completely virtually, meaning that if you fuck your mods up beyond repair, you can just go to your actual FNV launcher in your root folder and boot up the vanilla game like nothing ever happened.

And the "Extended" section of Viva New Vegas consists of more modding tools, quality of life tweaks, content restorations, and a curated list of strongly recommended gameplay modifications that nevertheless all come down to your personal preference (though deviating from their provided list may make you use your brain a little bit when choosing the right compatibility patches, and so on).

This isn't going to cover every single thing that I play with, but here's everything that I would think to suggest to anybody who asked. With that said, here's Fallout "Lou" Begas's Mod Recommendations, 2024 Edition:

Viva New Vegas Extended: Lou's Preferences

VNV Extended recommends several gameplay modifications that come down to personal preference. I installed just about all of them, with a few exceptions (I don't care at all for B42 Optics, for example). Here's some specific details:

Just Assorted Mods has a hell of a lot of features but I actually enable are breath-holding, the vanilla sprint, and the loot menu (though I flip-flop often on using JAM's Bullet Time in place of V.A.T.S.). If you install VNV and boot up the game and wonder "what is all this fucking shit on my HUD," it's probably some of Just Assorted Mods's components. Just disable the ones you don't want in the in-game Mod Configuration Menu, which you will also have available if you followed the instructions for VNV Base.

Vigor is a modernized fork of JSawyer, the mod that was originally created by FNV's own director after the game's release that tweaked a lot of under-the-hood game settings and statistical balance to his personal preferences. JSawyer Ultimate Edition a more faithful modernization of the original JSawyer whereas Vigor is "a more lightweight alternative" that dials back some of the more drastic features of JSUE. Your choice of these, or none of them, is purely personal preference, and my preference is for Vigor. Any form of JSawyer is strongly recommended if you play in Hardcore Mode.

Simple Vigor Config is used in conjuncton with Vigor and is an intuitive and easy way to overwrite Vigor's gamesetting changes with your own preference. I use the config to adjust carry weight to a much more punishing (25 + 5*STR) formula that incentivizes the use of backpacks, mindful inventory management, and companion inventory space; and to increase the starvation, thirst, and sleep Hardcore Mode rates to 10, 5, and 14 respectively.

Desert Natural Weathers is the weather mod to end all weather mods, in my view, and it includes configuration for customizing the darkness and visibility of nighttime. This effectively obsoletes former dinosaurs like Darker Nights Ultimate Edition. Refer to the post that I made on DNUE's Nexus page here for a copy of my settings to darken those dang nights with DNW.

In AIStewie's Tweaks's nvse_stewie_tweaks.ini file, I set bCustomSpecialPoints = 1 and iNumPointsToAllocate = 35. This slightly reduced starting stat spread forces you to make tradeoffs in your character creation, because it starts with a perfect middle 5 in every stat. Every addition above average will require a subtraction below average. The "Essentials" INI included with VNV Base is all that most players will ever need, so this is my one specific personal tweak that'll keep you from scrolling through every single option in the whole damn thing (though I also recommend enabling the tweaks that hide all of your skill check tags in dialogue for more immersive and less gamified roleplaying in conversation: set bNoSkillTags, bRemoveFailedSuccessText, bRemoveRedOutline, and iRemoveTags to all = 1. )

Lou's Personally Valuable or Sentimental Tweaks and Fixes

Better Pause Menu Screen (Simple Blur). I play with an ultrawide resolution and the vanilla pause menu filter doesn't actually extend past 1920x1080. So this is really vital, lol.

Vanilla Animations Weapon Scale Fix. This mod will fix a common issue with custom weapons and animation mods where your weapon will become invisible because its scale has gotten stuck at 0.

Companion Carry Weight Fix. All companions in the game have an invisible attribute called "companion suite" that, among other things, halves their carrying capacity based on their actual stats. If you play with a super low carry weight formula like I do, you can see how this is a problem. Here's the solution.

Miscellaneous Tweaks Collection includes a few files that I get great use out of: No DLC Recipes Early (great unless you integrate DLC crafting ingredients into your base game somehow) and Vendors Have Throwables (why the fuck are throwing weapons so hard to find in vanilla!). There are others that I use as well but I recommend these two the most generally.

Lucky 38 Suite Upgrade Terminal Tweak is a very cute little mod that removes the ugly wall-mounted terminal and makes you purchase your suite upgrades from the actual computer on the desk in the master bedroom instead.

I Fought the Law - Simple NCR Start finally gives you a good reason to check out NCRCF if you're not siding with the Powder Gangers.

Hire Cass Early was my "dream mod" for the longest time, and thanks to some help, it's finally a reality. Simply pick up the letter that this mod adds to the Mojave Express office in Primm and you can recruit Cass right away (through the usual persuasive requirements) without ever stepping off the road from Goodsprings to the Mojave Outpost. Part of my ongoing "make @ikroah real" project.

Harder Strip Access. Getting into Vegas to finally confront Benny should feel like a tremendous accomplishment. This mod makes it so. Better pony up the caps or call in one hell of a favor, kid! With any kind of tougher economy mods, especially, this mod makes it wonderfully Herculean to just buy your way onto the Strip.

Balance Tweaks

Pseudo-Realistic Carry Weight - No Weightless Item Overhaul and Realistic Bottle Cap Weight. The former is actually an optional file; the main file just implements the the carry weight formula that I was coincidentally already using. The latter just forces you to think strategically about how much money you're walking around with. Can you tell that I love inventory management? Note that if you give bottlecaps weight, you should definitely let yourself drop them when necessary by editing Stewie's Tweaks (bShowCurrencyInContainers = 1).

Carry Weight Affects Speed, Med-Tek Trauma Kit (Lou's Version), and More Conditions to Fast Travel. The first appearance of my own mods on this list! These three mods in conjunction tie your encumbrance and your overall health to your mobility far more strictly. I love the balancing act of packing enough supplies for an excursion while leaving enough room for loot that I can still fast travel with, and the choice to get greedy with more loot than I can comfortably carry and just hope to not run into danger on my slow walk back toward a merchant. My tweaks to the classic Med-Tek Trauma Kit mod apply this level of emergent gameplay and resource management to your limb health, though it makes the game much more difficult unless your character specializes in Medicine. I haven't tried it myself, but Simple Healing System is fully configurable, modern mod that I've had my eyes on and that might be better for most general playstyles, and it might even be compatible in conjunction with my Med-Tek mod for extra intensity!

Better Charisma (Charisma Affects Dialogue Skill Checks) and/or Charisma Affects Reputation. I've always been very frustrated with how much of a meaningless dump stat Charisma is, and the phenomenon of the 1 CHA 100 Speech player character in general. These two mods, which you can use just one of or both together, give Charisma much more meaningful and palpable functionality.

Terrifying Presence (Lou's Version), speaking of Charisma, changes the requirement for this perk from Level 6 and 70 Speech to Level 2 and 6 CHA, making it much more accessible to more types of intimidating characters. This same mod includes alternate options to take it as a trait instead, with the drawback(s) of either tanking your Speech and Barter and/or increasing your addiction chance. See also: Less Snarky Terrifying Presence.

New Vegas Karma Rebalance is a great under-the-hood mod that makes FNV's nearly vestigial karma system less nonsensical without removing it or its effects on the player entirely. Thanks to this and Mass Ownership Tweaks, which is already included in VNV Extended's recommendation of Essential Vanilla Enhancements Merged, Cass won't hate your guts just for stealing a few things from Caesar's Legion at Cottonwood Cove, especially not after you've already killed them all.

Damage Multiplier solves the sluggish damage sponge problem that plagues Bethesda engine combat by simply multiplying all damage dealt globally, both by and to the player, by a factor of your choosing. I use 2.5x, which is usually enough to kill any level-appropriate human being with a single shot to the head. 2x should be the minimum. Combine with Combat Enhancer NVSE and NPCs Use Ammo for overall faster but much more ferocious and intense combat engagements.

Visuals and Animations

Third Person Camera Overhaul. Though I'm still getting used to its extremely specific configuration settings, this is vital for a third-person enjoyer like myself. It obsoletes any and all "dynamic camera" or "shoulder swap" mods of the past. Once you figure out how it works and what you like, you're set for life.

Realistic Movement and Dramatic Inertia. Although a little goofy, it has never felt better for me to physically move around in the game than it has before. I like the weight and get-up-and-go that this mod has for me as a player, but it's especially significant in firefights and other combat situations where, now, your targets can't dodge bullets by shifting direction instantly or stopping and turning on perfect dimes. For a single, less heavyweight alternative, try 360 Movement and Diagonal Movement together instead. Each pair of these mods is incompatible with the other pair, however.

B42 Loot, B42 Interact, and B42 Inject. I recommend a lot of the B42 family of animation overhauls in general (except B42 Optics, lol) because I just love seeing my character actually do the things they're doing. For B42 Loot, I use the included config file to disable the "force pull" effect, and for B42 Interact, there exists compatibility patches between it and its more third-person oriented counterpart Animated Ingestibles, but I'd only look into that if you know what you're doing (though, I do).

Character Kit Remake is a mod that I was turned onto recently. For a long time I have scoffed at character appearance overhauls out of nostalgia for those classic gamebryo engine potato-faces and what I thought was, to be blunt, the tasteless ineptitude of the actual overhauling. But I do really like this one, even if the showcase of screenshots do a really bad job of selling it. It looks a lot better in motion and in game, I promise. i think that these people are just not good digital photographers.

Height Randomizer. It's funny how much you can get attached to a minor character when they are, for whatever reason, especially tall or short. This lightweight mod just adds some height variance to all NPCs in the game that don't already have a non-normal 1.00 height setting in vanilla.

The Strip Groove. Dance on command. Endorsed.

Items, Economy, Crafting, Survival, Repair, Etc.

Gloves Galore (Lou's Version), Power Armor Gloves, Combat Armor Gloves, and White Glove Society Wear Gloves. Anyone who has followed me long enough on here should know that I have strong, totally normal feelings about gloves.

Armed to the Teeth Redux and literally any backpack mod. I've used this duffel bag forever, for example. I love these ones because I personally love when you can physically, literally see the things that a character is supposed to be carrying.

Flashlight NVSE. Another piece of Agnes Sands's arsenal, this is the one "old" mod that I can't quit. Even if it is a little janky, I've yet to find a better directional flashlight mod. Only install this is you think you can handle wrestling with it a little, and make sure your "Exterior" flashlight settings are all on the lowest quality regardless of computer specs (or else it causes flickering). It's a must-have for darker nights, too.

Famine is the last "loot scarcity" mod you'll ever need. Combine it with Harder, Barter, Faster, Stronger from the VNV Extended recommendations list for a really tough time affording even basic necessities without tailoring your build for mercantile success... which is just how I like it.

Cheaper Repair Costs. The vanilla formula for determining the cost of weapon and armor repairs at merchants is, in a word, fucked, where it literally costs twice the weapon's base value to repair it from broken. This mod lets you adjust that proportion so that you won't be better off literally selling and buying another gun in every single case. I play with a rate of 67% (which means that paying a merchant to repair a completely broken weapon from 0% health to 100% health will cost 67% of the weapon's base value).

Alternative Repairing does too much cool, practical shit to the base repairing system to even get into here. To keep it short, it intuitively incentivizes actually scrounging for all kinds of formerly useless junk that you can now scrap for spare parts. Check it out.

Water Overhaul. Ever play with a Universal Water Bottling mod and find things suddenly far too easy? Water Overhaul combines all the convenience and sense-making of bottling water anywhere with the much-needed tradeoff of truly purified water being much rarer. All that convenient H2O is now just radioactive enough to keep Goodsprings Source from singlehandedly breaking the survival economy of the game (not to mention the literal economy).

Cowboy Coffee and Coffee Grounds, my own mod that adds brewable coffee to the wasteland. While mostly just created because it's cute, it's really nice to have a reliable and palpable source of sleep deprivation relief when playing in Hardcore Mode.

Gun Oil From Animal Fat, another mod of mine that provides a cheaper, craftable, and less demanding but less effective repair option to complement Weapon Repair Kits. I patched this one recently to fix some old issues, and it's great for incentivizing emergent gameplay (since you need to hunt for meat, and cook the meat for fat, and combine the fat with loot to make the gun oil).

Sound

Less Constant Music and Passive Combat Music Tweaked do exactly what they say on the tin and are perfect for people who like to get immersed in the natural sound of their environment, especially if you're a chronically stealthy player like me and you've trained yourself to constantly listen for enemy footsteps. I do recommend keeping Less Constant Music disabled when you first start a game, though, because until I can figure out how to add an exception to it myself, it will remove the background music from character creation at Doc Mitchell's house more often than not, and I really like that music.

SPEAKING of Doc Mitchell's music, Try Not To Get Killed Anymore is one of the first mods I ever made and it has never left my load order. It simply replaces the musical sting that plays when you die with an emphatic, tolling bell and the refrain from Doc Mitchell's theme, plus an optional version that includes his ghostly voice telling you to try not to get killed anymore. Two of my other personal sound replacers are the Mysterious Stranger Level-up Theme, Simple Snap Sound Effects for Quest Updates, and Mechanical Camera VATS.

[bpdloop]

party in the minecraft server hcs ^^

the sever itself

owned* by bonnie (actually maintained by odile but she gave bonnie the owner tag because they wanted it so bad)

everyone has it under a different name on their own devices but officially the server is called the digital familytale

modded semi vanilla* (for the most part. theres a morbillion science mods added for odiles sake specifically, a few furniture mods for mira and a clothing mod for isa though)

mainly on peaceful but will sometimes be bumped up to easy for resources or fun

mira

tends to a village nearby the family's house that she has expanded tenfold from its original starting point

cares deeply for all of the villagers and has used a name tag on each and every one of them. they all have their own personalities and stories

brews potions on demand, so long as you bring her the ingredients

likes to play on easy mode when on the server by her lonesome in order to collect resources

will not step foot into the nether. not even for the pretty light wood (even if she really really wants the pretty light wood)

tool order: wand -> rapier -> crafted crook. the wand is essentially a long ranged weapon that can both attack and heal, but is mostly used for the latter. the rapier was specifically modded in for her. the crook is a multipurpose tool, combining shovel, axe and pick into one tool

isa

built a big barn

loves his big barn

is constantly talking about, working on, and admiring his big barn

is the guy to come to if you need any sort of animal produce or need to borrow a horse. owns at least three of any type of animal at all times

will get on with mira to help defeat mobs to make things go by faster

in charge of armor, tools and upgrades. spends a lot less time on any of that and a lot more time on making fun clothes, though

built a little storefront to pretend to sell his clothes from in mira's village. does often actually change the villager's outfits for funsies

tool order: gauntlets -> axe -> pick -> shovel. when wearing the gauntlets they will cover both hands of his model and do damage comparable to an iron sword twice (once with each hand) before a short cooldown

odile

couldnt really get into it before adding mods. now has the most playtime. even if you totaled everyone elses playtimes, odile would just barely eek out over it (if you took out siffrins, who's the closest to rivaling her, it wouldnt even be a competition)

the minecraft wikierrrrrrrrr. keeps that shit on tap even though she has memorized many of the recipes

always striving to make a project bigger than the last

redstone queen

regularly visits the nether to trade with piglins. one of the mods has them rebuild their structures if they notice the gold has gone missing. she pilfers it again every visit without fail

tool order: sword -> pick -> shovel. doesnt harvest wood so deems it unnecessary to carry an axe

bonnie

has an obscenely large, unautomated farm. they will spend entire days afking near the farm just so it grows. more often than not when theyre afk during one of these sessions, theyre off making real snacks for everyone

didnt understand and therefore didnt care about redstone until odile taught them. the day after, everyone logged on to the Laggiest Server Ever. when they went to investigate, bonnie showed off their extremely over complicated redstone contraption that did nothing more than activate a charge. nobody had the heart to tell them it was the cause of the lag spikes, so they suffered through it for like a week after until bonnie came to the realization themself and tore it down

completely and utterly dedicated to making a redstone rollercoaster of some sort. at some point. definitely. its 100% on the to do list, bet

teleports to everyone randomly to deliver meals. some good indicators youre about to get a visit from the Snacks God is 1) you mentioned the fact you have no food on you, 2) theyre talking about one of their recent harvests, and 3) "hey are u somewhere scary rn"

unable to die due to isa making them an accessory called the eternal necklace of undying. so long as you have it on in the charm slot, youre completely unkillable. bonnie was Extremely happy about this, as it meant they could finally leave creative and would stop accidentally breaking things left and right. it took many weeks of work to craft, and as thanks, bonnie made him his favorite meal in real life three days in a row

tool order: hoe -> shovel -> axe. does not carry weapons

loop

keeps offering to make a mob spawner for ease of access to mob resources and exp. nobody want them to because spawners are big and ugly but loop is adamant about the fact they can make it pretty (they end up making one very far away from the house once. they were not able to make it pretty.)

loves the bow and arrow but hates the crossbow. does not carry any weaponry outside of that

has an area they call Loop's Paradise! the only thing located there is a lone interactable beach chair near the beginning of a large ocean, a single redstone lamp that powers on when the sun sets and a jukebox. when asked what makes this a paradise they simply say its peaceful (they are blasting Cure for ADHD - 30 min of Breakcore from the jukebox)

tool order: bow -> pick -> axe. chooses to break dirt and the like with their hand or some other thing on their person

siffrin

has given everyone a flower that he thinks resembles them and a pot to put it in

survives mainly on fish, but makes sure to focus on the meals bonnie gives him first and foremost

doesnt like playing off of peaceful if he has the choice

has tamed an obscene amount of wolves. leaves the majority of them in isa's care and exactly one in loop's. they all have names. loop's dog is named starbit

tool order: dagger -> pick -> shovel -> axe. the dagger was specifically modded in for them

↓

[making-you-in-spore]

May I know if there's a mod that will let you stay in a stage forever without evolving? I love the whole game but I also want to stay in creature stage indefinitely sometimes, or even in cell stage. I find both to be meditative and comforting.

you can stay in any stage forever in vanilla if you want. just don't click the button that moves you to the next stage.

albeit, in stages like city stage or maybe even tribal stage the amount of gameplay left after "completing" it is minimal, especially city stage because you merge all cities at the end. there's nothing really left to do there.

but in creature stage? just ignore the progress bar. i once played a creature stage save for like 15 hours to try and collect all the modded items [there were a lot of them]. some mods also artificially increase the length of creature stage so it takes longer to complete, if that's more your thing. i wouldn't be able to find one off the top of my head, though.

[mister-qi]

Mr. Qi Friendship and Romance Mod: 4/19 Progress Update

It's a working title, I'm trying to come up with something less wordy that still will pop up in Nexus searches.

I wanted to be able to track my progress, mainly for myself, but if you're curious, this is the state of the mod right now:

Writing:

Heart Events - the 2 heart event is fully written (with blocking directions), and the 6, 8, and 10 heart events are outlined. The 4 heart cutscene currently has me a bit stumped; I have ideas, but nothing concrete yet. I definitely now understand why Sam's 4 heart cutscene is him dropping an egg. 14 hearts is on the back-burner as a little treat to myself once I get further into things.

Generic Daily Dialogues - about 1/3 done, probably the highest priority for writing. I'm leaving his vanilla casino dialogue as the two heart dialogue, and the vanilla Walnut Room dialogue as his four heart dialogue, with a few small changes. And, since it's me, I have more marriage dialogue written than anything else...

Day-Specific Dialogues - very few written, lower priority. Hoping to have a lot of these made eventually, and I have plenty of ideas, but they aren't necessary for the core of the mod so they're on the back-burner for now.

Gift Dialogues - all 5 generic gift response dialogues are written, with an additional 22 dialogue lines for specific items/groups of items. I'm also up to around item 530 in figuring out what item corresponds to which dialogue/whether or not he likes it. Certain item groups, like cooked food, still need more lines, however. This is definitely something that should be low priority, but also something I'm really enjoying working on. Some personal favorites so far are-

[if given a fish (hated)]: "Eugh, it's all slimy..."

[if given a legendary fish (disliked)]: "If you must give me one of the rarest fish in the valley, can you at least wrap it so I don't have to touch it with my bare hands?"

And I think that's pretty funny.

Art

Portraits - 3 new portraits finished: "deep frown" "glint" and "glasses-less". I'll probably be messing with "glasses-less" for a looong while; it's first shown at a dramatic moment so it needs to look good. Blushing portraits are next on the docket.

Here's "glint" btw, with a background thrown on so I can have a custom icon. You know I gotta make him do the anime glasses thing a few times.

Sprites - no progress yet. Walk cycle is up next after I finish the blushing portraits. Did you know he doesn't have a walk cycle at all? [1.6 spoilers] in the cheated Summit cutscene where he attacks(?) you, he literally just slides at you very fast. Anyways, I may also change his map sprite a bit as well, since it was drawn to match his old portrait and doesn't actually have the same color scheme as his sprites. Note to self: is it possible to make the sparkles on his outfit prismatic?

Maps - no progress yet. The 6 heart and 10 heart cutscenes both require custom maps, with the 6 heart one being a fully custom asset. 10 heart recycles some existing assets but will still need some custom stuff done as well.

Misc Sprites - in my head, there's a dream version of the 8 heart cutscene that has so, so many unique sprites. Like an incredible amount of stuff. I think it'll kick ass, but also that sequence could be done with a few lines of text. So, for now, it's low priority. But maybe in a few months I'll put out a request for help.

Implementation

Not totally sure how to split this into sections yet, as I'm very much still in the preliminary stages so far. To say that I'm feeling overwhelmed is an understatement; documentation on the wiki swings wildly between "an asset is a file in a video game" and "this is an advanced tutorial. Read these 4 other pages first before continuing."

I've started using Ms. Coriel's NPC Creator which has been good for setting up the basic file structure, but ultimately doesn't cover some of the more complex stuff I want to do. EDIT: Turns out it's completely outdated for 1.6! Had to throw out a bit of work, but I still learned from it so it's fiiine.

I think setting up his "schedule" will be a challenge, in that I don't actually want him to have a real schedule like most NPCs. Not to pull back the curtain too much here, but I want him to "exist" in both the Casino and the Walnut Room simultaneously, which is to say, he does not exist in two places at once in the narrative, just in the code. This will change after marriage, however.

My next goal is to set up placeholder cutscenes for each of the heart events, and then to implement the generic daily dialogues once those are finished.

Final Notes

God, this will be a work in progress for a while, but I'm enjoying it! Definitely enjoying the writing more than anything else, but hey, that's how it be. I've got around 70 lines of dialogue written, a bit of art done, and I've started learning how to actually get stuff in game. I've always been more of a designer than a coder, but it's getting there!

ADDITIONALLY I've decided that if I abandon this project for more than 8 months, anyone is welcome to request my work so far and use it for their own mod. If this blog hasn't posted in a long while, feel free to send me an ask or message! I may say no, however.

Ultimately, I want this mod to exist in some fashion. While there is an existing one, I have a pretty different take on the character and I want to share it with you all! Every line of dialogue, every heart event, every little detail needs to share something interesting about a character and their world. Yet, Mr. Qi is a mysterious guy, and I think some things should be left up to player interpretation. And I think it's crucial to be able to match his tone and voice to the vanilla game, while also expanding on his characterization. It's a fun challenge to write, and I hope the finished product, uh, well I hope it gets finished mostly, but I think it'll be pretty good.

Thanks for reading all this. This is largely just a stream of consciousness for myself, but I hope it's...interesting, or something?

[akirakirxaa]

UPDATE: I am closing my commissions for the time being, I will be starting my day job next week along with FFXIVWrite being next week. Rest assured that all commissions I currently have will be completed, but until I'm out of training for my day job I don't feel comfortable taking more and ending up with longer wait times. Thank you. <3

Hey everyone. I am really struggling right now. As many of you that have been around know, I made a big move to another state a couple of months ago. I'm so excited to be here, but my husband only just got a new job and I'm still out of a traditional job, and between us we currently have eight dollars to our name until we get paid next month. For full transparency, the most urgent bills are:

Car insurance: $180 Cat food: $25 Dog food: $25

If you would like to donate to help out, my p@ypal is @/LauraWrites without the slash, or if you're not comfortable sending directly through paypal, you can reach out to my Kofi [link], though I do ask if you do to please use paypal there too, as it processes payments much more quickly. The animal food money I need within the next couple of days, and the car insurance needs to be paid by the 17th or my husband won't be able to get to said new job.

However, I'm not here to only beg for money for nothing in return, but to offer some new commission slots for a few different things. So, let's get into it! Beta Reading/Editing:

I do indeed have a degree in writing (particularly journalism but between you and me? Almost the same thing just with some extra media related classes) and I would love to help you with your project! If you'd like me to look over your transcript, my rates are as follows:

Proofreading (grammar only): $15 per 1000 words Content editing (grammar + feedback and editing on content): $40 per 1000 words

Gear Upscales

Frustrated cause your favorite niche piece of gear doesn't match the body you normally use? I can help with that! I can also apply the Chocochomps teeth resource to your head of choice if your favorite hasn't been ported yet publicly. At this time I will only offer upscales on chest pieces as they are both what I have the most experience with and what I've had the most success with. I will also not port anything to the Eve body. Sorry. No IVCS/Skelomae conversions either, as I do not currently know how to do that.

Chestpiece Gear Upscale: $20-$40 depending on the complexity of the piece, contact for more details Chocochomps Application: $10, please have in mind how sharp or dull you want the various teeth. Additional teeth options on the same head will add an extra $5 per teeth set (eg, you got flat teeth but you also want vampire teeth, that would be $15)

Single Pose Gpose:

The classic and my most popular commission choice is back! For ease due to my new variety of commissions possibly taking up more time, I will now require a .chara or a .mcdf file in order to pose your character. If you are console or do not want to run the crime tools, a friend can also grab .chara files for you using a software such as Anamnesis. Please keep in mind that any NPC that didn't appear in DT did not get the new face bones, so facial posing for other NPCs will be limited.

GIF set:

My most popular unofficial option, I am finally codifying making a GIF with your very own characters! Like the single pose, I will require an .mcdf or a .chara file, so please have that ready. Due to the limitations of some tools still being offline, I will be at the mercy of vanilla animations + whatever exists as a working mod.

Single Character, 1 GIF: $20 Single Character, 3 GIFs: $50 Additional Characters: +$10

You can find my commission section on Kofi [here] or you can also message me directly either on Kofi or here on Tumblr. (Or if you're in one of the discords I frequent, you're welcome to send me a discord message.) Due to the subjective nature of upscales you will always have to message me first for that, since I'll have to look at the piece in question to determine the price.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to hear from you soon! <3

[lavendarr00]

🤍 My Dragon Age Inquisition Modlist 🤍

Just in time for a last minute playthrough of DAI before Veilguard comes out! 😆

I would say this is a light modlist (less then 30 mods), vanilla friendly, and doesn't completely trivialize progression & combat (in regard to qual of life mods). The list is mostly CC improvements, armor additions or edits, and essential quality of life mods. And all of these mods are compatible with the DLCs (yes even Trespasser haha!)

I have only played as a female Dalish Elf so a couple mods are tailored to that :) Also, I added a link to the bottom of the list to the Free Cam tool I use for Inquisition!

I use the Frosty Mod Manager

The Modlist:

Favorite Hair Mods

Misc Hairstyles for Frosty Anto Hairstyles Hairstyle Day CaffeinePainter's NPC Hairstyles for Inquisitor

Other CC Improvements

SOS Brows on Fleek HD Eye Textures -> I also like: Eye Candy Textures Scalp Edit for Frosty (use if your hairstyle has prominent sideburns)

Armor & Clothing

Surcoat of the Tirashan - EF Outfit Elf Pajama Replacers Invisible Starting Armor (Frosty Compatible File) Flowery Outerwear Unique Wedding Dress for HF & EF The Core of Her Heart - A Morrigan Mod (Clothing Edit) Cullen of Ferelden (Armor retexture) Lady Ambassador - Josephine Outfit Inquisition Branded Finery -> I also like: Halamshiral Finery Remake 4k

Quality of Life Improvements

Party Banter Tweaks (I use the 2-5 min version) Faster Movement Speed (I use +50% for combat only) Shorter War Table Missions (I use -50%) Don't Break My Stride

Miscellaneous

Party at the Winter Palace DAI Frosty Texture Glitch Fixes Modded Hairs in DLCs Solas Halamshiral Hat & Neck Clipping Fix Dalish Glass New Painted Portraits by CaffeinePainter Stone-Stalker Blade Appearance Fix

DAI Free Cam: Otis Camera Tools

I place my CC mods at the top of my load order and my fixes and qual of life mods at the bottom so nothing overrides those essentials. I've ran this list with no crashes or infinite load screens :)

Remember to read mod descriptions & to download all mod requirements!! 🤍

[haydenator888]

Scenes from my fic

It took some time for me to find a suitable style for the drawing i do for some of the chapters. Eventually I came up with this style, where its in greyscale and with minimal shading, but some have more rendering and sometimes color if i feel like it.

The Terraria in my fic is nothing like what you would expect to see in a vanilla setting. I really tried to put the “cruel world” aesthetic of Calamity Mod to use, though that’s not to say it’s completely grimdark or whatever. This Terraria has practically been torn apart by the war between Yharim and the gods, where the only people who survive are the people who hold the strength and vehemence to keep pushing on. It is brutal, gorey, and definitely has a shit-ton of trauma and suffering.

I also tried to incorporate a horror aspect to the story. The story both centers around the war and the crusades, but also the eldritch/lovecraftian aspects that it explores much deeper than what the game provides. That means there’s a whole heaping load of headcannon awaiting :)

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Hi! Based on the 1.6 update where Ras' new position is meditating on a rock above the water at the Luau; (i'm not sure if it's actually vanilla or a mod but i could've swore i saw him sittting on one 😭) Can I request Magnus getting pushed off the rock by his farmer spouse, who only had playful intent and couldn't resist the urge?

Oh, this is definitely vanilla SDV, since I just reached the Luau in Year 2 a week ago and was surprised that everyone had new dialogs and positions. And then Rasmodius is on a cliff and I can't go up and talk to him... Wizard, come down from the cliff, I need your unique dialogue! >:V

Well, since I we can't read his unique dialogue (without cheats), so we'll take revenge on him in this particular headcanon, hehehe... >:D Thanks for the ask, dear anon! And have a good day 💕

_________________________________________

Magnus had visited Luau so many times, but this summer festival in Stardew Valley was noisy every year. Wasn't the sound of the sea breeze enough for the valley's inhabitants, and they had to put up these huge loudspeakers with loud music coming out of them? Which the old wizard hardly called music - tasteless and vulgar, if you ask him. At least the presence of his beloved spouse and the delicious food somehow brightened the day.

As usual, Magnus stood on the dock, away from all the commotion, and looked out over the Gem Sea, enjoying the sea air and the beautiful seascape while Farmer chatted with Leah and Elliott. This year, however, he didn't notice any merpeople nearby (apparently the horrible electronic music had scared them away), and Magnus' purple eyes stopped on a rock standing not far from the dock. "The Lonely Stone," as the locals called it. Hmm... So many years had passed, and the wizard had never paid attention to this small rock. And since nothing interesting was going to happen on the Luau this year, why not get a better look at the rock?

In Magnus's case, "better look" turned out to be teleporting right to the top of the rock. The people of Pelican Town were too far away and busy with their party to pay attention to Magnus anyway. And Willy, who was standing not far away... Well, the sea wolf's seen a lot more than that in his life.

The stony surface was not slippery, and even comfortable for the wizard to sit down and cross his legs, taking the lotus pose. It was a perfect place for meditation, with the view setting the mood for philosophical reflection and the sound of the waves drowning out the music and conversations of the people in the distance. Magnus closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on the melody of the ocean....

He didn't realize at once that he was in the salty sea water from head to toe. The world turned upside down, his back felt the wet hard sand, and he couldn't take a breath. But fortunately the bewilderment lasted a moment, and Rasmodius jumped up sharply out of the water, feeling his soaked hat become heavy with seaweed and water. As he came to his senses, laughter erupted from the dock. "Sorry, dear, I only meant to scare you with a little pop, not knock you off the rock." Farmer had a small blob of magic in their hands: that was apparently meant to "scare" Magnus.

Realizing the situation and that his spouse was the cause of his completely drenched robe and not so good mood, Magnus directed a sizzling glare at Farmer, which did not bode well for them. But instead of the expected indignation and well-deserved rude words to Farmer, Magnus only smiled. And that smile frightened the Farmer more than shouting. Before they could do anything about it, after snapping Magnus's fingers, they found themselves in the sea water as well. Now it was Magnus' turn to laugh heartily at his spouse, whose head had more seaweed than the wizard's (a free "wig").

Farmer from indignation began to splash water in the Magnus' direction and throw seaweed at him. The wizard, already with a more playful mood, began to do the same. This went on for a few minutes or so, until Willy called out to them. "Aye, the soup's ready," ignoring everything that had just happened, the sailor walked toward the huge cauldron.

[the-sword-lesbian]

Thoughts on the Arcadia Gays' Stardew Valley playstyle and who would be Best Girl for each of them?

Allllllright LiS plays Stardew Valley let’s go!

You said Arcadia Gays but I plan to do more as well so let’s get into it!

Chloe: primarily focuses on combat and mining and only really grows enough to cover favors/gifts at first but then gets really into cooking and expands the farming a bit more for ingredience. Favored relationships: Maru because fellow science nerd, Abigail because fellow adventure enthusiast, Penny because she reminds Chloe of Max. Platonic besties with Sam.

Max: terrible at keeping any crops alive so she mostly focuses on exploring, foraging, and some fishing when she gets the hang of it. Favored relationships: Abigail because she reminds Max of Chloe, Penny because she reminds Max of Kate, Sam because skater boys are cute, Leah because aloof artist girl she keeps bumping into in the woods while foraging.

Kate: Animal husbandry out the wazoo. Especially coop animals, especially rabbits. But she adores her chickens, dogs, and cats. Not super good at fishing and a bit too nervous to delve too deep in the mines. Favored relationships: Haley! Because she’s the exact same brand of “I can fix her” pretty artistic meangirl that Kate falls for every time. Penny because she can relate too much to her.

Rachel: Miss “stop at nothing” perfectionist won’t settle for anything less than hundred percenting this game. She does it all and just for the sake of getting everything she romances everyone to be a shit disturber and to get the group events. After unlocking and completing the island she will literally just log into the game and stand on the beach for whole days. Favored Relationships: Abigail because she can really relate to the feelings of being stuck in the mold that your parents want for you. Emily because she’s fun. Leah because she’s hot. Alex because a big dumb cute footballer is fun. Sam because skater boys are cute.

Victoria: playing not just the vanilla game but stardew valley expanded as well. She tries to max out all the questlines and do good at the festivals. Favored romances: Sophia because she can’t not date the cute anime nerd. Olivia because hot MILF. Leah because who wouldn’t? And very specifically NOT Haley because “god who would ever deal with all that negging elitist bs??”

Bonus rounds!!

Courtney: terrifyingly invested in this game. Has more money than you thought the UI would actually show. Beat the whole game and is now in it entirely for the aesthetic builds and collecting every clothing item. Wears a different outfit every day. Favored relationships: none by design but has romanced every romanceable character just to have done it. Gets along best with Emily though.

Taylor: Bought the game because she saw Victoria playing it. Romanced Haley and did nothing else.

Steph: All around consistent player. Likes adventuring the most. Also playing a modded version. Favored relationships: Abigail because she likes the ttrpg and adventuring parts of her character. Leah because she ticks a lot of Steph’s boxes. Emily because she’s fun. She tried to romance Haley but got tired of the negging. Sophia because of course. She also installed a mod that made Sebastian transfemme to romance.

Warren/Lauren: Made a girl character, loves the game but plays in secret. Has romanced 11 out of the 12 dateable characters.

Alex: likes the fishing and adventuring. Has a few animals. Favored relationships: Abigail, Sam, and Seb because fellow musicians/nerds. Penny because she’s just so sweet! Harvey because he’s a nice guy. Emily because she’s so much fun and so positive. She also romanced Leah and it gave her gay feelings about Char so she avoids that romance now.

Riley: one part mining nerd, one part beekeeper. Has grown all the flowers and has a textbook perfect garden/apiary arrangement. Favored relationships: Maru because fellow science and robotics nerd! Abigail and Leah because she thinks they’re both cute.

[moodydayz]

This one is for my determined Project Moon newbies trying to get through all of the series. Lately, I've been trying to grind out the last Abnormalities I need for the True Ending of Lobotomy Corporation. And I feel like it goes without saying that you guys doing the same out there MUST get some mods to help out. Atleast get the mods that help with the quality of life of the game like I did, and not the blatant "cheat" mods like the ones that break the rules of the game (Infinite Rerolls, Infinite Lob Points, etc etc). If you'd like some suggestions, get these: Chesed "Refined Bullets" Upgrade Bug Fix (very important since the one in game literally does nothing (also, this is a google drive link since the NexusMod thumbnail is a spoiler))

EGO Gift Bug Fixes (another bug fix mod, this time for certain EGO gifts) Optimization Mod (important mod overall since it fixes a memory leak in the vanilla game that makes the later challenges needlessly harder) HP Bar Stacking (this should literally be in base-game since it's so helpful)

Special EGOs Information (adds missing important information regarding particular EGO (like Magic Bullets friendly-fire (but that's more fun not knowing)))

More Detailed Information (very helpful mod, as it gives the specific percentage on the chance of work success, and tells you the amount of Stat EXP an employee has built up throughout the day (reminder to grind out your employees to EX so the bosses won't be a pain btw)) Note that ALL of these mods require BaseMod to run, which can be downloaded here. I completely understand if the thought of running mods on this game terrifies the more honorable newbies; but I'm being so legit when I say that life is so much easier even if you just get the bug fix mods (+ Optimization Mod), HP Bar Stacking, and More Detail mods since they're the least "game-changing". Thank you for reading, and good luck on your journey through this mess of a game.

[bedevilledeggfarmer]

Sunny Side Farm 

Farm No. 8 

Farm Map: Four Corners Farm 

Spouse: Shane 

Last farm completed before the 1.6 update. This was the very first farm map that I actually committed to when I first started playing on Stardew mobile, so I came in with a good idea of what I wanted to do. It was, also, originally meant for Hayley, so I made an adorable fairy of man for the farmer. I just feel that deep I her heart that she would love to have someone as beautiful (or MORE beautiful, ymmv) than she is. But as I started putting in the finishing touches, I realised that I had accidentally made a Shane farm... It really seems my toxic trait may be divorcing A+ women who did nothing wrong, in order to marry the soggiest men available. If you look at it though, it is such a Shane-coded farm! Imagine how happy Charli must be bossing around the chickens here! (I also feel like Shane hates wine (me too, bud) so the winery is not really an issue. 🤞) I’m sure by now you can clearly see that this farm is for serving LOOKS only. Not a sprinkler in in sight because nothing is to be harvested ever. All farming must happen in the greenhouse or Ginger Island. My only peeve for this farm layout would be that the diagonal line of tapper trees unbalances the map slightly. And there is an auto-grabber just lying around outside for some reason. I am much too lazy (and scared of the new slime hutches) to change anything though.  

Speaking of change though, my (completely deserved) punishment for divorcing Hayley and sending her back to town, was that I had to empty a fully furnished house and start again from scratch. Maybe I’m not giving him enough credit, but I feel that Shane’s aspirational decor style would definitely be man-cave/McMansion. It ended up a bit emptier that I usually go for but I’m sure the boys don’t notice. I also used a clean room mod and a sprite replacement mod to give Shane trousers. It means no seasonal clothes for him now with the latest update though. 🙁 

Mods: 

Automate 

Alternative Textures 

Elle’s Seasonal Buildings 

Furniture Recolours

Grapeponta’s Vanilla Interiors 

Clean Shane’s Room 

CBJ Cheats Menu 

CBJ Item Spawner 

Crops Anytime Anywhere 

Simple Foliage 

Tree Transplant 

[lanaevyssmoved]

do u have any game recommendations that have character creation? besides bg3 ofc

gonna be real i wouldnt recommend bg3 for a character creation game because you can only use preset faces ...... bro but if you mean it in an oc way......

i would recommend.............

heavily modded skyrim, if you don't wanna do it yourself use wabbajack, some of the modlists on there are designed for graphics or high end systems and have very pretty characters. there's also ones not like that with rougher characters or more vanilla characters. lots of choice! do not get into the community though, this is a warning

following on from that, any elder scrolls game - morrowind is the best and one of my all time favourite games

you can follow on from that with fallout if you like the setting. i recommend fallout 1 and 2 the most as i'm not the hugest fan of bethesdas fallout but that is not a common opinion that be a hot take

heavily modded final fantasy xiv, you can fully mod on the free trial version as far as i know - be warned this is an extremely slippery slope because it has a modding community to rival skyrim and many customisation mods are paid for however there are ways around that. anyway you can get mods from here, here and here as well as the nexus

elden ring, dark souls 3 - the other dark souls but those character creations look like dogshit ass but still fun to make ocs in imo.. demon souls if you own a ps5....... i do not

pillars of eternity, tyranny, while visually quite limiting the character creators are still very neat from a roleplay pov - tyrannys has a lil "post character creation" game you get to play where you make "post game" choices and i uh, used to play that all the time for fun without intent to keep playing.....

a good follow up to that would be dragon age, all three of them but specially origins, i used to play the origins and not continue the rest of the game for fun! now be warned all of these games suck terrible dick in terms of modding because it's awkward and annoying and easily broken! i recently replayed dao and dai and so much of that time was spent troubleshooting...... joyous

have to kind of mention mass effect after? but ur kind of always making the same character..... ive always struggled with mass effect personally. maybe its the setting?

you can also look at starfield since that's got actually a pretty decent cc but i did find it quite limiting. but i've not really played it for more than an hour cuz bg3 exists so i can't say much

back to crpgs, the two pathfinder games! again limiting on the character side but roleplay side very very strong. i've not played wotr but i have mutuals who act like it is gods gift to gaming and i believe them. i really liked the first!

the outer worlds could be a good choice, i really like that games aesthetic but it's another space game and i think we're seeing a pattern that i'm just not that into those. hm. it was bethesda style gaming in space before starfield exists with the personality of fallout, kind of ?

this ones going far out there but crusader kings iii has an insane character creation and my favourite ruler ever was this old witch woman cannibal who slowly but surely turned her whole corner of the globe into a witch worshipping cannibal cult. i miss her

age of wonders 4 has a really cool cc, you can even make dragons with the dlc like Actual dragons.... i have made so many characters in there and gave them their funny little lores.. age of wonders has real cool lore and it is Completely ignored by tumblr afaik and that sucks

encased is a really cool rpg it's another sci-fi-y one.. it isn't as polished as you might expect cuz it's a very ambitious game but a small indie studio but i would say if you enjoy fallout 1 + 2 you will enjoy encased

dragons dogma! you get to make two people in this just like in bg3! i made a lil girl and her big brother and i was so fucking emotional over them that i was crying constantly even when nothing was going on. i played dragons dogma to fucking death on the ps3 and i think its interesting and rich enough to sink ur teeth into

i have to mention greedfall as the owner of the greedfall url.... greedfall is very interesting as its a double A title akin to a dragon age game.. it might make one feel a tad uncomfortable because it comes across as colonialism the rpg but it does get very interesting and it has neat as hell characters and magic and big monsters who fuck hard

wasteland 3! kinda again has the fallout type of vibe it is violent and full of dark themes and twisted themes but its also extremely comical its true black humour at times and you get to make two characters again and you can even make TWO MORE CHARACTERS so i had a bunch of custom characters.. u can get really wild in the cc as well and builds are SUPER fun....... v good game

spellforce 3!!!!! i love this game, the cc is again like another crpg one but spellforce 3 has very deep lore spanning many games .. its not typical crpg in that its also like a strategy war game too but i think it does the mixture very well and i LOVEEEEEEEE the lore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

uh i forgot to mention divinity original sin 1/2 because .. bg3 should lead you right there but uh. play them both! the first is so good in coop i feel cuz of the natural banter between the protagonists. if you don't have friend the second is very good single player just. be warned i don't think it has good endings but the ride is worth it!! and divinity lore fucks hard. i also recommend divinity dragon commander because its so much fun

can i say stardew valley? mayhaps sun haven too? if ur crazy like me you can turn these into prime oc generators. also mods

oh, monster hunter world and by extension wild hearts. monster hunter world lets you make a cat and while ur character themselves doesn't get to do much story wise i did get very obsessed with my character and wanting them fight cool monsters. wild hearts is similar though your character does feel a bit more special- be warned this game is known for running like ass on most systems, its pretty good for me but be warned all the same

TEEHEES.... KENSHI!!!!!!!!!!!! i was holding back on mentioning kenshi but i can't. you can make a whole fucked up lil squad if u want. u got weird alien races. u got a billion fucking mods. u can have ur buddies limps removed and give them robot ones. u can make an army of weirdos. bro i got so invested in my kenshi squad i was writing FANFIC. i was dreaming of them. i was unable to sleep about them. i miss them so fucking much dude!! kenshi doesnt really have a story beyond what u make it. that shit is a SANDBOX.. and i love it so much. everyone should play kenshi. its kinda like rimworld if u want a comparison. i think its Perfect. the best game to exist ever (lie) its so wonderful....... man........its also broken as shit cuz its the most ambitious game to exist ever and it was made by 1 dude so

oh if u like anime games i have to mention code vein (souls like) and god eater (monster hunter like ?) they have very good ccs and i know people super into the lore and stuff. i only played code vein and i liked it a lot honestly

uhhh i mentioned 1 mmo so i should probably mention guild wars 2, the cc is very good, the whole games end game is about fashion and looking amazing. the lore is also super duper neat! i haven't played it for a long time now but i did play it on launch and i had a blast for a few years

if you like d&d i would recommend solasta! it has a very good cc i think honestly and it feels the most like this is d&d in a video game out of every game i've ever played, and it translates the system very and faithfully (as opposed to say bg3 who changed things for game reasons). solasta is also best with friends because its so in that vibe of this is a silly lil d&d party. its much fun

lol i got the block text limit popup

kotor 1 and 2, it might be hard to get into the lore and characters if you're not into star wars but i found it pretty ok to as not a huge star wars fan. i also think they deserve to be played despite that as well because they are fantastic rpgs and some of the best bioware ever made

vampire the masquerade bloodlines!!! i am not a vampire fan really, a small one, but this game captivated me.... very easy to get into making a character i feel and ur given enough to make characters that align different ways easily. the combat did not age well..... but the story and roleplay absolutely did

ok.. im gonna stop here.. but i will say give games like icewind dale and arcanum a chance.. look at old as hell crpgs and try them. this includes bg1+2 which i still need to play myself but will be soon! they are classics because their stories are fantastic, and shouldn't be missed out on!!!!!

[spicebiter]

Stardew Valley Mod Recommendations

My roommate is gonna be playing Stardew Valley soon and asked me for mod recommendations. As I have over 100 active mods and that's a lot to send links to, and I love to talk, I decided to just make a post about my favorites.

I will leave links and a small blurb about many under the cut (this is gonna get long) but I'll be separating things into categories like Gameplay, Quality of Life, Visuals, and of course Expansions on the story and such.

Time to be overly thorough

Expansions

Stardew Valley Expanded - I'm sure this is a common recommendation but I find it's solid. The mod covers multiple additions from new characters, a new farm layout, and additional story arcs and realms to explore. It works well and nothing feels far off from the original game, and the integration of new characters with pre-existing is extremely well done.

Ridgeside Village - Another fairly popular expansion. This one is, imo, not quite as solid as SVE in that it has a few bugs and is a touch less complete but considering its size there's bound to be a problem or two. Integration with the vanilla game is also less seamless with the villagers typically being in their own off shoot during events, though given that this is a somewhat separate town that's also not a downside so much as something you might like to know.

DeepWoods - My favorite small expansion. Essentially the mines but a forest. This one is still a work in progress as there is a story being introduced to work alongside the forest's inner workings but its bones are very solid. Has a sword in the stone, a unicorn, and is a wonderful source of hardwood.

Hat Shop Restoration - What it says on the tin, really. Fixes up the hat mouse's shop. I find this one really cute. Hat mouse deserves a nice house :3

Textures and Appearance Overhauls

Less Ugly Spouse Rooms - Pretty straightforward. The same person has a mod for the interiors of the town but I personally prefer this one alone.

Seasonal Outfits - A very nice mod giving characters a new look every season, whose creator has also made one for the characters in SVE. A few of the portraits are overhauled more than others- I personally turn off the Elliot module because I like his original portrait and this mod changes him quite a bit.

Garden Statue Obelisks - Not a texture pack but a full replacement of the obelisks with classical-style statues.

Elle's Cat Replacements, Dog Replacements, New Barn Animals, and New Coop Animals - Recolors for the animals, in a nutshell. With multiple colors for every animal you can set up your ideal look, and even change your barn animals to deer and alpaca. In the same vein:

Truffle Foxes - Replaces the pigs with foxes. I'm a big fan of foxes so this one was just indulgent for me, honestly.

Medieval Buildings - Allows you to change the structures on your farm to a more medieval style. Most have multiple options for style and amount of greenery, and each one can be turned off completely if you'd like to preserve the look of any specific structure. This mod creator has an extensive line of mods to match this one, including one to apply to the whole of Pelican town and another to change the look of craftable items but I'm personally satisfied with the farm buildings alone.

Catcrows - A simple re-texture for the various scarecrows to make them cat themed. Can be toggled between normal cats and themed cats to match the variety of the rarecrows

Dynamic Reflections - Deceptively simple in title but a newfound favorite of mine. Puts your reflection on bodies of water for an added layer of depth but also reflects the night sky on clear days. I didn't think having this mod would make much of a difference for me but it really does make me more keen to walk about at night.

Note: The following furniture texture packs I will be recommending are not applied directly but are customizable through the use of the Alternative Textures mod. With this mod you can choose between any number of texture options these packs provide for individual furniture pieces.

Aster's Big Furniture Pack - A texture pack with a slew of different options. There's a lot of very cute options ranging from basic alternatives for bed appearances to turning furniture into a large bathtub.

Industrial Furniture - Another texture pack, this one providing a more modern/industrial feeling to furniture.

Quality of Life and Gameplay Changes

Almanac - This one is nice to have without being too 'immersion breaking', I like to think. A farmer's almanac, essentially, that lets you know when the last ideal day to plant crops occurs, where and when to find fish, and weather patterns for the coming season. Information like what can be found on each floor of the mines and your luck for each day can be toggled on or off depending on your preference.

Lookup Anything - A little bit like having the wiki in game. This one might seem a little more on the cheat side but if you planned to have the wiki open anyway this saves you a lot of trouble. As far as I know it doesn't have an option to show villager schedules but otherwise provides most of the information you'll need.

UI Info Suite - Puts little icons below the clock menu indicating a variety of things that can be toggled on or off according to preference including but not limited to when the traveling cart is in town, what your luck for the day is, daily birthdays, and if it will rain the next day. Extremely helpful; if I could only have one of the three already mentioned here this would be my first choice.

Timespeed - Another one that can seem a bit like a cheat at first given that you can completely stop time with a single button press, which admittedly can be handy, but this one can be used in a much more fair way. Ten minutes in Stardew Valley only takes 8 seconds to pass and even before expanding the gameplay and story options this can seem like not enough. I personally have it set to give me 20 seconds per ten in-game minutes which is only a little more than double vanilla speed but makes it feel like I actually have time for the things I need to do. This one is customizable down to the way time moves in different areas and time speed can be changed outside of its setup menu temporarily for when you need time to move faster or slower than you have it set briefly.

Bigger Backpack - A third backpack expansion that costs 50,000 gold (though this can be set to a different price if so desired). Another handy one given just how much certain expansions can add.

Friends Forever - Removes relationship decay from the game. Already a solid QoL type addition but even more so if you choose to mod in expansions- The character roster fills up quick.

Free Love - Lets you marry/live with multiple characters.

NPC Map Locations - What it says on the tin, really. Removes a lot of guesswork and need to look up character's schedules. Even works with many expansions.

Sit for Stamina - I find this one to add some realism. It's kinda silly to waste the day when you could just take a break once your stamina is low.

Instant Tool Upgrades - No more wait for upgrades. Feels very gracious when you're in early game, especially.

Auto Animal Doors - Opens and closes the barn and coop doors at designated times. These times can be set according to preference and you can set this mod to only work for a certain level of barn and coop if you'd like to treat it as a perk of upgrading.

Skip Fishing Minigame - I mean... c'mon...

Extended Minecart - I just think it's neat. It's not the most necessary mod but the longer you play the more I feel that that little walk from the bus stop to home is a slog, y'know?

Deluxe Journal - Lets you make custom tasks and take notes. Sooo helpful when you have trouble remembering what you were working at last time you played.

And that's it!

This is a non-exhaustive list, of course. I only included my favorites so there's no accounting for personal aesthetics and varying gameplay styles but if you're not sure what to get this can hopefully give you some ideas.

[skinnypig2]

I love that as soon as i make significant progress on my primary modding project at the moment - having just figured out something i’ve been trying to crack for months - my computer decides to crash every time i run starfield.

the game seizes up a minute or two after loading any save and drags explorer.exe down along with it, leaving an unresponsive desktop in its wake. and i have tested everything, now, trying to fix it. everything short of reinstalling windows, which i realllllllyyyyy don’t want to do right now. im not confident that would even have to be the solution anyway. and its bad because nothing has even changed!!! it literally just spontaneously started happening so maybe it is a hardware issue??????

i really wanna get immersive landing ramps v2.0.0 completed and out on xbox before shattered space releases, and i was super excited making progress this past weekend, but it seems i have displeased the windows gods

so there’s a bit of an update for anyone following me as a modder.

while I’m on the subject, i stumbled across a youtube video where this person covered immersive landing ramps in their list of recommended mods, and i cannot tell you how simultaneously bizarre and incredibly uplifting it feels to see something i’ve poured hours into trying time and again to actualize this vision I have be praised by a total stranger like this. like ofc it’s so nice getting comments on the mod page from people saying they enjoy what I’ve made, but you know, those are rather impersonal compared to hearing someone’s actual voice talk about it. the person in the video even described ILR as a mod that blends into the vanilla game seamlessly and “just works” and that is exactly what I’m going for.

it’s kinda funny as well because immersive landing ramps is such a simple concept, and so it may seem like a straightforward thing to implement from an outsider’s perspective, but it truly has been challenging to make. there are so many things to account for, so many little wrinkles, and so many unfamiliar game/engine/scripting/modding mechanics i’ve had to work through. like i’ve put in all this effort over the past x months trying desperately to figure it all out, and then in-game its just a wee little landing ramp for you open and close now and then. it’s deceptive, is what I’m trying to say.

but hey, you know, todd howard likes to say that each Bethesda game has its own “step out moment”, and, in a way, immersive landing ramps kind of gives you a new, unique, suspenseful step out moment every time you land your ship. so, make of that what you will, i suppose

anyway