Our guest contributor this week is ZZZ02, their selection is a total overhaul mod for Oblivion, so be sure to check that out.
We love to hear your selections, so if you have a mod you would like to submit to the community (not your own), please check out this new and handy form. Please fill out the form completely and ensure that you add some details about the mod and why you have chosen it (similar to how we have below).
Just remember that other mods on the site may do roughly the same thing, so keep your eyes peeled and understand that these are just our personal picks. That said, hopefully, you'll find something you may not have seen before. Who knows, maybe we'll even learn a little about each other along the way.
SirSalami
Mod: Hard Mode
Game: Stardew Valley
Author: RamenYum
Call me a masochist if you will, but sometimes I feel that a little extra difficulty can really add to an experience. I think most of the Dark Souls fanbase can relate, but what about Stardew valley players? If you're like me and would enjoy a little extra spice in your farming life then maybe this one's for you.
This mod rebalances combat as well as the time and effort it takes to accomplish various tasks around the valley. While some of the changes may seem tedious at first glance, you'll be rewarded with a greater sense of accomplishment which may create a more meaningful gameplay experience.
Especially to those of you already familiar with the ins-and-outs of farm life, this mod may make your next visit to the valley that much more rewarding. Thanks RamenYum!
TerrorFox1234
Mod: Outfit Addon
Game: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Chernobyl
Author: VodkaChicken
For those of you who may be unfamiliar, Call of Chernobyl (CoC) is a massive overhaul for the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat. It is essentially an entirely new game. On that note, if you are a fan of brutal post-apocalyptic survival games, you really should give CoC a try.
With the recent addition of CoC to Nexus Mods, I decided to give it a go. I'm still learning the ropes of the game but, as is the case with all of us, I simply couldn't play it without some mods installed! I focused mainly on aesthetic mods and mods that simply added new items to the game, as I didn't want to alter any mechanics and gameplay elements before really spending some time with the game.
The first mod I grabbed was Outfit Addon by VodkaChicken. Outfit Addon is pretty straightforward. It adds 26 new outfits with custom upgrade trees. It's one of those mods that fits in with the base game so seamlessly, you just sort of forget that it's a mod. Everything is balanced well with the rest of the outfits in the game and aesthetically it fits right in. Variety is the spice of life, and this mod does well to add some variety to the dreary post-apocalyptic world of CoC.
BlindJudge
Mod: Take Cover
Game: Fallout 4
Author: registrator2000
I've always been a big fan of cover systems. One of my fondest arcade memories is playing Time Crisis with a friend, taking it in turns to pop out from behind the wall or crate and fire off several rounds while the other one took a breather and reloaded. The ability to choosing as to when you got shot at, rather than running headlong into battle like someone out of 'Commando', was invigorating and made you feel a little like you were in control.
More and more modern games begun to utilise the mechanic, and from the early 2000's there were some notable releases such as Kill.Switch and Gears of War that implemented it incredibly well, with additions such as blind firing and cover vault systems. It's now a regular feature of many games and one that adds realism and excitement to tense shootouts.
But it seems Bethesda didn't get the memo and Fallout 4 saw you having to break cover and stand full frontal to an enemy to get your shots off. Well, registrator2000 has come to our rescue with the release of 'Take Cover'. This mod gives your character the ability to take refuge behind an object or wall, popping out to take shots at those pesky Raiders only when you're ready to engage.
I tried the mod using both options and have to say that I prefer the hotkey method that registrator2000 details on his mod page, binding shift+aim to be cover using one of his other mods FO4Hotkeys.
Now you have a little advantage over those in the wasteland, enjoy.
(Guest submission)ZZZ02
Mod: Maskar's Oblivion Overhaul
Game: Oblivion
Author: Maskar
There are many well-known overhauls for Oblivion but they often have compatibility issues or may just be the same Oblivion with a bit more stuff bolted on. Now imagine a mod with many of these overhaul mods features but done in a clean and compatible way.
MOO is that and so much more in addition to things you find in most overhauls it adds so much more 'stuff'. It dynamically alters AI; adds stuff to leveled lists; throws in unpredictable encounters and so on. The feature list is so long that there is a whole PDF to download just to explain them all.
The best part about it is EVERYTHING IS CONFIGURABLE THROUGH INI FILES. The mod can even detect mods with conflicting features and disable them automatically. You can even use another overhaul mod together with MOO. This mod is one mod that you can trust to enhance your Oblivion experience.
It is an essential mod in my load order, it is very compatible with almost everything and it is the way Oblivion should have been from the beginning.
Every week, we feature a few mods that have caught our staff's attention, as well as some that were submitted by you, the Nexus Mods community. If there is a mod you'd like to see on this list, then please check out this quick and handy form.
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Thanks, and have fun modding!
23 comments
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A moderator has closed this comment topic for the time beingAnd of course I grabbed the outfit mod too. ha.
Staff Picks, to me, has the feel of a "These are the mods our staff enjoy/use the most, they are the best", even if that's not the intended purpose, and I know it's not. But as new users come in they see this. Having already highly rated mods they can easily find listed as "the best" by the staff, when said mods are already rated as "the best" by the community just furthers "popular because popular".
The alternative would be the current list of "Here are the mods our community thinks are the best." with an additional "Here are the mods our staff have seen that might not be rated best by the community, but we feel really show off what the community can offer."
It would be great to see either more diverse 'Staff Picks' or a new feature like 'Hidden Gems' or something...
I actually have a list of mods to review that I plan on submitting one at a time I already submitted one and the next one is another obscure skyrim mod like the first one I submitted.
As such, it seems like the staff picks are currently adhering to exactly what you're asking for.
The inherent issue with "hidden gems" is that they're hidden. As in, they're really hard to find! If you have some way of finding hidden gems that no one else knows about that aren't already popular but that are actually good enough to be considered "gems" then please let us know! Cause we'd love to be able to find them easily.
Find me some mods that would be considered "gems" that have 10-100 endorsements for any recent Bethesda game and I'll be impressed!
If you go back and check all our previous staff picks you'll find we've picked a very diverse range of popular (but not mega-popular/top 100) and not so popular (as in, files with < 3,000 downloads) in our time. So I'm really unsure what more you expect from this feature because, as far as I'm concerned, we're doing exactly what you're asking of us.
PS: I know one that I consider a "hidden gem" for Skyrim regular but it has 130 endorsements...
http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/36463
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/9004
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20027
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/3276
http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/62476
http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/5877
It was originally released before the CK and was made (if I remember right) entirely in xEdit. I'd highly recommend anything by registrator, I can barely get my head around how he manages to get so much done to such a high standard. Great pick Blindjudge