I recently got FO3 GOTY and FO:NV Ultimate to get up to speed until Fallout 4 is released. Regarding FO3 for now, is there any mod I should bother with, considering this is my first playthrough? I don't want to ruin the vanilla experience
I would only get mods that fix bugs and clean up technical problems for your first playthrough. After that if you want to come back to the game you can go crazy with all the silly things out there.
I prefer no mods even on my 4th playthrough. I don't really like mods that greatly modify mechanics or graphics; I'm just not that kind of guy.
Yeah it depends on what you want. To clean up the game and make sure it's running well, those mods are fine. But don't add in flying cars on your first playthrough, maybe not even new weapons just so you get the authentic playthrough the way the studio intended.
Installing a UI or inventory mod would probably be useful. You get lost in your inventory after a few hours and you have to scroll down, look at what you have individually and it can be a pain. I don't remember any in particular since it's been years since I last played FO 3. You could take a look in the Nexus and see what you can find. I'd stick with mods that only change the aforementioned aspects if I didn't want to ruin the vanilla experience.
First playthrough is sacred, gotta play the game as close as possible to how "it was meant to be played". In that vein, I would use no mods other than mods that fix bugs and glitches.
As a first play through I will normally not mod the game unless the game requires it. When I say require it, I mean if it has head bobbing that can be removed with a mod or some game breaking bugs that require mods. Otherwise, I try to play the game as vanilla as possible.
I just played my first 4hours and I agree with the no mods motto. However, I got just a FEW of them to make the game more bearable in 2015: - Updated Unofficial Patch - NMCs High Res Textures - Project Beauty - Sprint Mod Seems about right to me
You could and probably should go for a mod that fixes game-breaking bugs and other annoyances. Otherwise, it's a better idea to stick with the vanilla experience compared to loading in a bunch of mods that change the gameplay in noticeable ways.
It depends of what you want. When I played on my first playthrough, I don't use mod. I'm not really familiar with mods at that time. I only learned mods when I finished the game. And on my second playthrough, I installed some mods and of course the game is much more fun to play but it still different if you played it without mods.
I'm playing on my who knows which playthrough, and I'm not using any mods. Especially for the first time, I'd suggest you not to use any mods, except for the ones that fix bugs, crashes and stuff like that. You have to experience the game for what it is, and only then you can experience it with mods. I'm still not using any mods, not even fixes, because the game runs pretty fine and doesn't crash almost ever. The only problem is the VATS lag, but I don't know how to fix that one.
I always play through the game first with out any mods of any sort. When (or if) I go to replay the game, THEN I'll add mods. I'm generally content without mods, but I'll sometimes add them for fun. Well, unless the "mods" are bug fixers or prevent the game from crashing. Then again I don't consider those "mods" I consider those as game patches.
FO3 needs mods to clean up glitches and other big problems it has. NV wasn't nearly as bad. If your gameplay style means that the game goes on for a while, why not save your game, copy it to a save place and then mod it?
I always play my games without mods the first time around since I'm more interested in story progression. After I beat the game however...I go all out and have fun since I already know what's going to happen, so I can just take my time and do what I want. If I can't wait until after the game to have fun, then I'll just have two files saved with one dedicated to mods.
I'd recommend that the only mods on an initial playthrough would be graphical enhancements, optimizations, bugfixes and the like, assuming you want that kind of thing. Some mods can ruin the story or change the way one plays the game due to introducing new mechanics. I always say that if you want to experience the game the way it was meant to be played, don't use mods the first time through. Of course, if you want to introduce new characters, locations, or mechanics, then by all means use mods. The decision to mod any game, including Fallout games is up to the player.
Super buggy. Mods that help with that are a good idea. There's a guide on the steam community for upgrading FO3
The unofficial patches should definitely be installed, other than that I think you should go through the first playthrough modless. You could also get some graphics mods if your PC can handle it, but some of them can change the atmosphere quite drastically so I'd be careful with that too.
I use patches and graphical mods on my first playthrough, but I don't do anything that overhauls the gameplay in any way. Most of those kinds of overhauls are more complicated than the vanilla gameplay, and I'd rather master vanilla before I overwhelm myself.
Definitely no mods. I mean while there could possibly be some graphics issues or something I wouldn't think it's a huge deal and for the most part mods are just for adding content.
No game altering mods, just graphic mods if need be. The game needs to go through patching in order to be more properly optimized so I find them to be essential to some people. Other than that always play vanilla first.
