Vanilla TTW good enough?

[FatherFlanigan]

I'm new to Fallout modding, but not new to modding (not really even Bethesda titles) and I'm asking opinions from those who are seasoned.

Will a vanilla TTW be worth it?

A couple months or so ago I was struck with nostalgia and noticed that some of my favorite Bethesda titles were low priced. I decided to give Oblivion a go. It was at that point that I realized how nostalgia can lead to some unsavory emotional byproducts, namely frustration. I started modding Oblivion. I found Wrye Bash and a seemingly endless ocean of mods. Loverslab mods intrigued me the most (because who doesn't want bouncing boobs?), but updated graphics and bug/annoyance fixes were also up there. Through the laborious process, I discovered more neat features, like the survival game aspects that someone modded into Oblivion, but after spending 4 days banging my head against the keyboard, I had come to realize that I was not a patient enough person to mod Oblivion THAT much. I decided to scrap huge game tweaks like the survival aspect and just try to get bouncing breasteses to work. Along with the recommended mods, the myriad of skeletons and animations, I finally got a stable working modded Oblivion...However, the seams. OMG the SEAMS! So, I had to fix those. In the end, it just didn't work out and the effort I put into trying to mod Oblivion left me not really wanting to play it at all. It sits on my desktop along with the plethora of mod tools associated with it. It's stable, but it's not being played.

I'm not looking for assistance getting Oblivion to work, but rather I'm wondering if modding TTW requires the same efforts. I notice the mod tools seem similar, but Oblivion is older so maybe the process is not as complicated? Yes, that's hope talking.

Assuming the modding process is just as complicated, I'd rather decide to skip it. I don't want to get myself into another Oblivion pickle chasing bouncing boobs and trying to fix seams, saving and reloading the character creation screen to face disappointment repeatedly, all while my nostalgia aches to get going towards Oblivion gates and Daedric armor. But, if I skip that will a vanilla TTW be any fun?

[shawndream]

I started my install late one night and kicked off the slow TTW install step (recodes a bunch of audio and other slow stuff) when I went to bed.

After the install I decided that I wanted mods too.

I installed Mod organizer 2 (even though I had Nexus from Witcher modding last year) because it was recommended.

This made adding mods as easy as:
- decide I want something
- google+download
- click box+disk icon
- name it and check the box

Two games combined with more polish and fixes than they ever had before and most tweaks may NOT be worth that amount of effort to you... if you have a bunch of other games or shows to get to.

This is my first play through, and I'm happy to be able to make it more epic in the ways I want.

Small advice I found:

- If your mouse doesn't work make sure you aren't on gamepad input in the game
- New Vegas antiCrash can be helpful
- If something goes sideways google it (I needed the custom race ending fix for FO3 purifier lockup)

[jlf65]

Modding TTW isn't any harder than modding NV or FO3. The main point is watching for those areas where NV overrides DC, like various form lists. A prime example of how NV can override DC is super mutants: NV uses a different set of base models with overlays for different types, and if you use a stock DC super mutant in TTW, they'll probably be invisible except for the overlay. I ran into that when converting Fallout 4 Ranks and Legendaries to TTW3 (still waiting on permission to post it).

As to seams, Type 4 for NV works great with TTW, and gets rid of those pesky seams.

Also, plain vanilla TTW3 is great for people who just want to play FO3 and FONV. It makes FO3 more stable, and adds a few things that people get used to when playing FONV and wish were in FO3 without massive mods (like iron sights). Bog vanilla TTW3 with the addition of NVAC and NVTF is a great way to start with TTW, and then slowly add mods when you find an area you think will benefit.

[FatherFlanigan]

Two games combined with more polish and fixes than they ever had before and most tweaks may NOT be worth that amount of effort to you... if you have a bunch of other games or shows to get to.

This is my first play through, and I'm happy to be able to make it more epic in the ways I want.

This will be my first play through since FO3 release and first "modded" play through of NV. I think it will feel pretty fresh since it's been ~10 years since I've seen the Capital Wasteland and my first NV play through was littered with bugs and just didn't feel as polished as FO3 did (perhaps it's just the Mojave ambiance?).

I think my main issue is that I'm not much for middle grounds and indecision plagues me with big mods. I typically say to myself, "If I going to mod one small thing, I'm going to mod EVERYTHING."

Modding TTW isn't any harder than modding NV or FO3. The main point is watching for those areas where NV overrides DC, like various form lists.

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being Steam Workshop mods (just click subscribe and launch game) to 10 being comparing lines of code within ini files and manually adjusting several for each mod install... Where would modding TTW fall? I'm talking after the TTW installation.

As to seams, Type 4 for NV works great with TTW, and gets rid of those pesky seams.

Seeing as how I never really got the loverslab stuff to work in Oblivion the way I imagined it would (and based on comparing their screenshots), if I try to tackle those mods do you think I'll have an easier time? I know that question is probably best for their forum, but if you've successfully used any of their mods you could probably answer affirmatively and that will lead me there with any more inquiries. Of course, if getting the skeletons, models, bodyslide, meshes, textures, and kitchen sinks to cooperate is anything like it was for Oblivion, I'll just skip that altogether.

[jlf65]

How tough it is to make a TTW mod depends entirely on the mod. Need to change the armor rating of something or bump the damage on a weapon? That's like a 1 at most. Need to port a complicated FO3 quest with voiced companions and new areas? That's probably 8+.

Installing body replacers in TTW is the same as in FONV... especially since you use FONV body replacers. It's probably a 3 at most. Now trying to do character overhauls like FCO or Remodeled is another kettle of fish. Those two aren't well maintained or complete in the first place, so making them work with TTW is a lot of work. Not terribly hard, but more tedious than anything. Probably about 4 or 5 on the hardness, 8 to 9 on the tediousness.