I know most of the Bethesda RPGs have massive mod support, and there’s games like Minecraft that have more mods than anyone can imagine. I would consider those games pretty playable in their vanilla states. Would you say there are any games that were “saved” by modding? Or that are still kept alive by thriving modding communities? What are some of your favorite mods?

  • @SveetPickle@beehaw.org
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    2610 months ago

    Minecraft has a pretty solid vanilla experience but the depth of things you can do with mods is pretty insane. I’m playing a pack right now that basically turns it into a rogue like dungeon crawler.

    • @Klaymore@sh.itjust.works
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      610 months ago

      Yeah, I love modpacks like Attack of the B-Team that add a ton of crazy technology and magic mods. Building massive pipe systems and assembly lines was always my favorite part of Minecraft

    • @strudel6242@beehaw.org
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      310 months ago

      It’s crazy how long these modpacka have been a part of the scene. Even all the way back in 2014 I remember digging my teeth into them.

  • me is me
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    2210 months ago

    Definitely Minecraft, you can turn it into a completely different game

    • Cambionn
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      410 months ago

      I know I’m a minority in this, but I unironically prefer vanilla Minecraft, it’s simple in a good way 😅.

    • @eggnog@sopuli.xyz
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      310 months ago

      I love minecraft mods so much. I play BetterMC now which is essentially a Vanilla+ mod pack but even though it doesn’t turn minecraft into a different game I love how it makes the game feel less repetitive

    • ClammyMantis488
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      210 months ago

      Half of the problem IMO is Java edition runs so poorly mods are necessary to play the game most of the time. And there’s so many quality of life mods that should be base game but Mojang just doesn’t seem to care about.

  • PenguinCoder
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    10 months ago

    Definitely RimWorld. There’s so many mods that improve the base game. From QoL mods that make you wonder why that isn’t default in the vanilla game, to mods that complety overhaul the actual win condition. Just overall a really fun, replayability, frustrating game.

    Use mods though. It’ll make it better. Check out p-music mod while you’re at it.

    • @Moonguide@lemmy.ml
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      510 months ago

      Fr. I usually run between 450 to 550 mods. Just recently I’ve been learning how to optimize the types of mods I have loaded for performance, because after some time in-game it chugs.

      • PenguinCoder
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        310 months ago

        Lol I run about 100ish depending, just mostly QoL and some additional control aspects. More gear etc.

        • Lvxferre
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          410 months ago

          I’m in the same bag, I should have ~100 mods. It still feels vanilla - RimWorld, Minecraft, and Factorio feel really weird in this aspect.

        • @Moonguide@lemmy.ml
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          210 months ago

          Yeah, i probably should do the same but, yk you take off one or two mods after hours of scouring your load order and put 5 or so in their place in a couple minutes.

  • Rentlar
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    1710 months ago

    Tabletop Simulator and Garry’s mod is all modding, they would be very boring without it. (Tabletop might have the DLC addon content worth playing).

    Cities Skylines fixes many of the broken aspects of vanilla and adds things to the point that Paradox added some of them into an enhanced console edition.

    Slay the Spire, it’s already an amazing game to begin with, but mods allow it to be absolutely insane with customization and cards. Even multiplayer is supported (Together in Spire) and works quite well!

    American/Euro Truck Sim has a multitude of mods that add great stuff and even more realism to the game.

    Call of Duty Black Ops 3 is more or less a bog-standard shooting game without mods, but the number of crazy, funny and innovative maps for zombies gives it an insane amount of replayability.

    • SkoomaCat
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      510 months ago

      Wait, hold on. Multiplayer Slay the Spire? Is it like playing against one another or is it cooperative? I haven’t played in a while but I have to hear more about this…

      • Rentlar
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        510 months ago

        You heard right… co-operative multiplayer Slay the Spire with your friends or randos.

        Together In Spire Steam Workshop

        This is the one I use, supports up to 10 people at once! Enemy health scales so with two people it’s difficult, 4 people it’s pretty easy at base difficulty, any more you may want to split up into groups to not be too overpowered.

        It even works kinda OK with some other mods but sometimes crashes.

    • Pigeon
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      10 months ago

      Are the Slay the Spire mods all PC only, or do some work in the mobile version?

      Edit: I’m intrigued by the CoD zombies comment, too. I’ve never been into those games, but, maybe for zombies…

      • Rentlar
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        110 months ago

        might be pc only sorry… It uses a ModTheSpire Java application. The mods are on Steam Workshop as well.

        About CoDBO3 yeah Zombies is fun and I’m not huge on PvP FPS. Only downside is it hardly ever goes on sale and is fairly large install size (plus map mods are large too).

    • Lumu
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      310 months ago

      Yeah, Bethesda games in general but Skyrim is the absolute best to me. You can really fine-tune it to be your dream fantasy RPG, it’s great! On its own I would say it’s a good/decent game, but with mods it’s easily one of my favorite games ever.

  • @LunarticBot@beehaw.org
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    1310 months ago

    Late to this post but to me it’s Minecraft. It has such an insane amount of replayability and can be turned into a totally different game depending on the mods and whatnot.

    • @ezri@beehaw.org
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      410 months ago

      For sure, playing through Create: Astral with my partner atm. So many good modpacks out there that completely change the game

    • @ELLIOTTCABLE@beehaw.org
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      410 months ago

      The ~700 mods in my current playthrough (and ~700 more inactive) strongly upvote this post.

      One of the best goddamn games of all time, only made continuously better by folks like Owlchemist, Oskar and the Vanilla Expanded team, jptrrs … so much amazing work went into that community.

    • @SevenSwell@beehaw.orgOP
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      210 months ago

      Yeah I logged hundreds of hours before I downloaded any mods, and even then I usually only do QoL ones to keep it as close to vanilla as possible

  • @HrBingR@beehaw.org
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    1310 months ago

    Factorio all the way. Get bored of finishing the game, or crafting the perfect megabases? Prepare for mods that can take 1000s of hours to finish. Perfection.

    As always, the factory must grow.

    • @EthicsGradient@lemmy.one
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      510 months ago

      I got 500 hours in Factorio before tying mods, and over 2000 since (1000+ in an SE run alone). It’s been a year or so, maybe time to start up another game…

      • @HrBingR@beehaw.org
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        410 months ago

        It is absolutely time to start up another game. After all, the factory must grow.

        That having been said, having a lot of fun trying to optimise everything. Still fairly new to the game myself (~200 hours) but it’s been a blast. It’s so addictive.

        • Powderhorn
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          210 months ago

          One of the great things about Factorio is the ability to pick and choose parts of a lot of modpacks. After first encountering Bob’s adjustable inserters on a B+A playthrough, I can’t play without them, and they work great without the rest of the Bob’s pack.

          • @HrBingR@beehaw.org
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            110 months ago

            I’m going to have to look that one up; been scared to mix and match from different modpacks without understanding the modpack, but might need to do just that. That having been said, I am running an absolute ton of mods, mostly convenience.

  • @Morgueanna@beehaw.org
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    1210 months ago

    I know it’s not as rich or developed as the Fallout or Skyrim franchise, but my fun little time waste Stardew Valley is greatly enhanced by mods.

    The base game is incredibly fun and simple, but even the most basic mods enhance the “quality of life”, making some of the more surface time eating elements easier. But then you have entire new world maps, NPC’s, quests and full DLC-esque mods such as STV Expanded almost a must-have for long term players.

    As an FYI, I’d highly recommend the game to even the most hardcore gaming aficionados. It’s refreshingly amusing and low-key, so when Elden Ring has you ready to throw your controller at the TV, it’s a nice mental break.

    Plus the guy that created it learned how from scratch and coded the whole thing solo- the source, the sprites, even the music. And every upgrade and addition he’s made over the years, easily 2-3 DLC’s themselves, he’s given away for free. Support indie devs!

    • @LunarticBot@beehaw.org
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      310 months ago

      I completely agreed. Stardew Valley always hit that sweetspot of looking for something hard but not TOO hard.

      I am looking forward to update 1.6 since CA has said the update is more about making modding ever easier which will 100% keep this game alive for a long time through community support.

    • Pigeon
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      10 months ago

      Oh my god I never knew Stardew Valley mods existed 0.o but that makes so much sense! I’ll have to try these next time I inevitably return to that game.

      He’s making a game called, iirc, Haunted Chocolatier now. Who knows when that’ll come out, but I want it. :)

      Edit: for people who like Stardew, I recommend Sun Haven and both Portia games (My Time at Portia and My Time at Sandrock). They’re all three a little rough around the edges, but I’ve had a great time with all of them, without their being clones of Stardew at all.

  • @kyrla@beehaw.org
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    1110 months ago

    Just from a percentage standpoint, the Frackin Universe modpack adds so much to the Starbound experience which is otherwise relatively simple and something you only really play through once. There’s like two or three extra Starbounds’ worth of content, although that can make it overwhelming when starting out

  • ultra
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    1110 months ago

    KSP (Kerbal Space Program) with mods changes sooo much

    • @Saauan@beehaw.org
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      510 months ago

      The mods added so much new content, that in my case, it created a “mod fatigue” situation, where I had installed so much mods that the game would start to break very easily, and I also would no longer enjoy the game for what it is. But recently, I tried playing it again, this time restraining my use of mods, and it was awesome !

      Mods can be pretty good, but overmoding is quite tiring :')

      • Pigeon
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        210 months ago

        The overmodding is always my downfall xD I ignore the “add one mod at a time…” advice, break everything or accidentally add something really annoying, then don’t know which mod is the problem haha

        • @Saauan@beehaw.org
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          210 months ago

          The worst, is when you begin to remove mods, and then, the real breakage of the save files begin !

  • @xuxxun@beehaw.org
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    1110 months ago

    The Sims 4 is basically almost unplayable to me without custom content and mods and community made bugfixes.

    • @neamhsplach@beehaw.org
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      410 months ago

      Sims 2 is also quite boring (and often broken) in vanilla. It still has a crazy active online community for mods, fixes and cc.

      • @xuxxun@beehaw.org
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        210 months ago

        Fair points. But I enjoyed both Sims 2 and 3 modless much more than modless 4 :D If not for the quality of life improvements in build mode for 4, I would probably play the older games more than Sims 4 ;D

    • EponymousBosh
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      210 months ago

      That’s basically every Sims game (saying this as a diehard Sims 3 player)

  • @simple@lemmy.ml
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    10 months ago

    The original Doom for sure. I don’t know if they count as mods since they’re technically running on a modified version of the engine, but there is still a massive community making maps, mods, and even new game modes for it. Most recently the “MyHouse.wad” map for it has exploded in popularity. I’ve had so much fun over the years with doom mods, it’s a treasure trove that most people have no idea exists.

    There’s even entire new games built on Doom. Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart (stupid name, I know) is a fantastic free open source karting game with a decent community, and it’s technically just a doom mod.

    If anyone here is going to play a single doom mod to see what’s up, I recommend Doom: The Golden Souls Remastered. It’s good fun.

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        410 months ago

        Coming up on 30 years!

    • @fluffman86@lemmy.ml
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      310 months ago

      Man, I had so much fun in high school playing jDoom/Doomsday. They made it easy to set up multiplayer ad-hoc connections before there was wifi in my high school, and it ran on our potato laptops and still looked WAY better than the old DOS/Win95 versions.

    • @XLRV@lemmy.ml
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      210 months ago

      Doom is awesome, MyHouse.wad is a really fascinating experience, I would love more Doom mods like this.

      There’s a nice unreleased yet game named Selaco that uses the GZDoom engine, I played the demo and it was really good.