Alright, today we are going to dive into the world of mods!
Mods can bring a new life to a game, sometimes changing the mechanics of a game entirely. They can be as little as texture pack to a big as a game overhauls. You can even enhance online games with add-ons or plugins, which are essentially smaller mods.
Always scan any file you download from the internet!
So first lets get safety out of the way.
So in a previous post I mentioned safety with emulators (https://www.noobloot.com/emulators/).
You will want to follow the same guidelines for mods as well. I will say the modding communities are more active then the emulator communities, and finding information is usually easier.
Some good places to start would be steam workshop if the game is in steam.
You can get to the workshop for a game by going to the community page then clicking on workshop.
You will then find a list of mods (If any) for the game.
Find one you are interested in, then click on it.
Here you will find a description, discussion, comments, and change notes.
Make sure you read through any notes the developers added, and always good to check the comment section and ratings before downloading.
To download simply hit the Subscribe button.
To remove a mod from a steam game, simple go back to the workshop and click Your Files.
Then go to Subscribed Items.
Here will be a list of workshop items (mods) you have installed.
Hover your mouse over the Subscribed button and it will then say Unsubscribe, click it.
That’s it!
Say if your game isn’t a steam game. Say if it’s Sims or something. Or it is a steam game but the workshop does not have a great selection of mods.
There are some great modding websites out there.
My personal favorite being https://www.nexusmods.com/games
Here you can pick the game you are looking for, I am going to use Starbound as a example again.
Click explore all mods, and find the one you want.
Here you should find a bunch of tabs similar to that on the steam workshop page, including description, files, images, videos, posts, forums, and logs. Read through and make sure its not version specific and click files, and download.
Now here you have two options for downloading.
Some sites will offer a mod manager of sorts, I will go into detail on this in a later post, however I am not one to use manager if given the option.
If you choose to use the manual download, you will have to find where you put the file at. This is usually explained in the mod description or it will give you a text document in the file download.
Not all mods are compressed (zipped) but they generally are. Rule of thumb is if they are zipped, unzip them.
In Starbound’s case, simply put the file into the /starbound/mods folder.
Most games work like this, however there are some that dont, if you run into a issue, a simple google search will usually point you in the right direction.
Also note some games will require you to go into the settings in game and activate mods, then requiring a restart.
Again, most modding sites I have come across have a great community with them, and most of the time are willing to help out a noob.
I would also like to warn you about adult content in the modding communities.
I do not get wrapped up in the morals of adult mods, I personally don’t see a problem with them, however if you have younger folk using your computer, just be aware that adult modding is a thing. Generally you wont come across anything too risqué in mainstream modding, but they do pop in and out at times.
Now I could go on and on about mods, but I think I will end this post here. Hopefully this will give you enough information to start down the wonderful path that is modding.
Are you a veteran modder already? Think I should be dragged out back and shot for ruining the purity of the vanilla game? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks for reading and Ill see you guys next week!