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how do mods work?


Janna3921

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I've never had mods on my computer games.  How do they work in upgrades?  Do you have to have the mods, does it affect the game if you don't? 

I know that when I had Sims 3 installed and EA (Entertainment Arts) had glitches it was usually the mod developers who fixed most of them.  You had to go through some changes to get them to work with previous mods, usually uninstall then reinstall the new ones to work with the expansion and stuff packs.  They (EA) seemed to prefer to work on stuff packs and the extension packs they sold separately instead of fixing the bugs and glitches in the new stuff and extension packs.

Is it the same with the mods for The Center and any for the Island?  Since I haven't explored the Island much yet it is still new to me but I do like the look of the Center and the fact that it is much larger, more room for everyone. 

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Modding through steam is incredibly easy.

When you click "Subscribe" on the mod page, it downloads and installs itself into your game automatically.

You don't have to do anything with the files.

Then, when you go to load up your Local game, you can select which mods you want to add to the game.

 

Be careful, though, as adding a ton of mods can drastically increase the load time.

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18 hours ago, Janna3921 said:

I've never had mods on my computer games.  How do they work in upgrades?  Do you have to have the mods, does it affect the game if you don't? 

I know that when I had Sims 3 installed and EA (Entertainment Arts) had glitches it was usually the mod developers who fixed most of them.  You had to go through some changes to get them to work with previous mods, usually uninstall then reinstall the new ones to work with the expansion and stuff packs.  They (EA) seemed to prefer to work on stuff packs and the extension packs they sold separately instead of fixing the bugs and glitches in the new stuff and extension packs.

Is it the same with the mods for The Center and any for the Island?  Since I haven't explored the Island much yet it is still new to me but I do like the look of the Center and the fact that it is much larger, more room for everyone. 

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Depends in part, are you playing SP or on someone elses server or running your own server.

 

For SP, you subscribe to the mod, let it down load, start SP, and then pick which mod(s) you want to use; note that some mods work best(or only) when they are first.

If you are playing on someone else's server, that has mods, the mods will automatically download when you try to connect to the server.  This can sometimes take a while and use to cause connection time outs.  If you already know what mods the server is using, you can subscribe to them in advance, let them download, and then you should be able to connect to the server as normal.

If you are running your own server, then you will need to add the mods to the server.  Depending on the hosting company, some will simply let you identify the mods and it will download them all for you automatically.  Some will require you to manually upload the mods, through either FTP or a web interface, and then identify those mods in a settings panels.  Some will let you do both; you can manually upload an old(no longer maintained mod) so that you can do minor fixes; like removing conflicting objects.

 

As someone else said, for a total conversion, besides downloading it, you will need to tell the server that you are using that map in place of the default The Island.

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4 minutes ago, Jerryn said:

Depends in part, are you playing SP or on someone elses server or running your own server.

 

For SP, you subscribe to the mod, let it down load, go into the SP configuration screen, pick which mod(s) you want to use; note that some mods work best(or only) when they are first.

If you are playing on someone else's server, that has mods, the mods will automatically download when you try to connect to the server.  This can sometimes take a while and use to cause connection time outs.  If you already know what mods the server is using, you can subscribe to them in advance, let them download, and then you should be able to connect to the server as normal.

If you are running your own server, then you will need to add the mods to the server.  Depending on the hosting company, some will simply let you identify the mods and it will download them all for you automatically.  Some will require you to manually upload the mods, through either FTP or a web interface, and then identify those mods in a settings panels.  Some will let you do both; you can manually upload an old(no longer maintained mod) so that you can do minor fixes; like removing conflicting objects.

 

As someone else said, for a total conversion, besides downloading it, you will need to tell the server that you are using that map in place of the default The Island.

 

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18 hours ago, Janna3921 said:

I've never had mods on my computer games.  How do they work in upgrades?  Do you have to have the mods, does it affect the game if you don't? 

I know that when I had Sims 3 installed and EA (Entertainment Arts) had glitches it was usually the mod developers who fixed most of them.  You had to go through some changes to get them to work with previous mods, usually uninstall then reinstall the new ones to work with the expansion and stuff packs.  They (EA) seemed to prefer to work on stuff packs and the extension packs they sold separately instead of fixing the bugs and glitches in the new stuff and extension packs.

Is it the same with the mods for The Center and any for the Island?  Since I haven't explored the Island much yet it is still new to me but I do like the look of the Center and the fact that it is much larger, more room for everyone. 

.  

To answer your first question:

Mods can do a varitety of things for the game:

1.  Total Conversions, which can either massively change the game play mechanics of the The Island, including replacing, adding, or removing spawns and resources, to totally new maps.  Some can change how dangerous the animals on the island; some make it really difficult(like trikes crushing you into goo difficult).

2.  Add ons, which come in a few varieties.  

- Add ons can add new content without conflicting with the current game content(are are usually identified by a green puzzle piece as part of the Mods icon/image.  These add ons might add new building pieces, now new weapons, new armors, and/or new crafting stations.  

- Some add ones will do that same as green mods, but may modify or replace an existing item in the vanilla game.  These might modify the contents of beacons(no more crop blue prints), change stack sizes, change the number of items crafted from an engram, change the mats needed for an engram, change how something looks in game, change game play rules, etc.  These can also add their own items, but they go beyond standalone items.

 

The main risk with mods are:  

- Developer stops maintaining them, and they will not pick up new functionality from correct object changes; that is the modder does not re-cook their mod.  

- Conflicts with object names.  For example we had a mod that included an industrial forge, and the mod has not been maintained by the modder for quite a while.  When we would restart the server, their mod would override the vanilla industrial forge and put thiers in place.

- Conflicts with mods and finnicky mods.  Some mods just don't work well together, and sometimes, the modders will just point fingers at each other; very sad when this happens.  Other mods requiret themselves to be first in the mod list; others will say it, but it is not alway true.

- A major change to the games object design could break one or more mods.

- Developer pulls the mod.  This could result in something as simple as just items related to the mod going poof to forcing a full game wipe.

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Thanks everyone.  The only mods I will ever use would be the ones that are on a server.  I have seen some servers that state they have mods.  Not sure I am happy about, a bit leery as it is new to me; but want to play on The Center map and figure a unofficial server will probably have mods. 

Still waiting to hear from Workers Comp so we can buy our son his new computer.  Almost a year of recovering from his injuries and it has been hard and frustrating. 

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20 minutes ago, Janna3921 said:

Thanks everyone.  The only mods I will ever use would be the ones that are on a server.  I have seen some servers that state they have mods.  Not sure I am happy about, a bit leery as it is new to me; but want to play on The Center map and figure a unofficial server will probably have mods. 

Still waiting to hear from Workers Comp so we can buy our son his new computer.  Almost a year of recovering from his injuries and it has been hard and frustrating. 

I go in with the mindset, that it is a game, the stuff really does not exist, and if something bad happens, I can rebuild, either on the current server or another one.  And, I think that whether modded or unmodded server, official or unofficial.  Whether the server wipes you, an alpha wipes you(and keeps wiping), you get imprisonned by a 24x7 tribe, a mod wipes you, or WC makes a change that wipes you(new biomes, ruins, major object changes), you are wiped; and sometimes, you may need to find a new server.

I have had a few servers go away on me, whether through players leaving(and thus leaving myself), an owner flipping out a bit and just shutting down their server, or a server owner not knowing how to handle mods(or deliberately removing a mod without testing).  In a few cases, I tried out a server and found it was not the server for me, dismantled my base, drowned by character, and removed the server from the My Survivors list.

While the game is still in development, now is the time to try things out, experiment, and maybe even find a good a server run by good admins, and an community you enjoy.  Some people like lower pop serves, so that they can find places to build, others like a server with a large community and a chat box you can't keep up with.  Some want total chaos with KOS, PVO, PVD, PVP, RSVP, BFD.   So want a more controlled PVP without the KOS, PVO, or PVD.  And, some just want to PVE and build, tame and/or breed in relative peace.  Find the one that fits you best and enjoy.

 

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@ Jerryn  I agree with a lot of what you said; my main concern really is what the mods in affecting my computer, would the changes it make in the game also affect my computer.  Being overly cautious, I know, but I don't have a lot of knowledge of the working of a computer.

Bases can be rebuilt, dinos can be tamed to replace the lost ones; a chance to replay, start from scratch and correct any mistakes.  Go to another area and build, different environment to learn.  Maybe because I am so new it doesn't bother me the knowledge that I could and probably will lose everything when the game is released if they wipe everything, or it happens with the mods.

Use to from Sims games, I was always starting a new game in one of the towns.   Geek squad didn't transfer my Sims games over to the new computer.  The only thing I hated losing where the houses I had remodeled.  Spent days working on them.  That is life, crap happens and you just have to deal with it and move on.  Losing everything just means you get the fun of rebuilding. 

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3 hours ago, Janna3921 said:

@ Jerryn  I agree with a lot of what you said; my main concern really is what the mods in affecting my computer, would the changes it make in the game also affect my computer.  Being overly cautious, I know, but I don't have a lot of knowledge of the working of a computer.

Bases can be rebuilt, dinos can be tamed to replace the lost ones; a chance to replay, start from scratch and correct any mistakes.  Go to another area and build, different environment to learn.  Maybe because I am so new it doesn't bother me the knowledge that I could and probably will lose everything when the game is released if they wipe everything, or it happens with the mods.

Use to from Sims games, I was always starting a new game in one of the towns.   Geek squad didn't transfer my Sims games over to the new computer.  The only thing I hated losing where the houses I had remodeled.  Spent days working on them.  That is life, crap happens and you just have to deal with it and move on.  Losing everything just means you get the fun of rebuilding. 

While I would never say never, I think the odds of a mod changing anything on your computer are extremely slim, especially from this game.

The mods actually don't change the game.  What happens, is that when the game is loading, depending on which mods the server you are logging into is running, are loaded and they affect how things are defined in that version of the game.

That is, the mods do not have the ability modify the game itself, only the rules loaded by the game.  And, everything about the game is base on where the host program is running.  So, anything related to the game world, tribes, and characters are saved on the server, not your PC.  But basically, the mods are just definitions, rules, and, sometimes, some 3D models and textures; the mods themselves are not executable files.

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