MODed game or original version?

[Mango Choo-choo]

I respect the esthetic of developers.
Therefore, I barely use MOD while playing games.
Some commercial games don't support players developing MOD or add-in.

I think SDV is really open for anyone who purchased the game.
I presume some users only use MOD to update villagers' profile photos.
In my opinion, the photos of Emily and Abi still have space to improve.

And MOD is culture of single player games.
Sometimes it is controversial but I will go with no-MOD games.
What do you say?

 

[Lew Zealand]

The only game I've ever modded is Minecraft, mostly to try out some world generation changes and shader upgrades. No changes to the game mechanics as whenever I try game mechanic mods, they seem to break the balance or try to make it into a new game. Crazy Craft was fun back in the day though, that was almost a different game.

It's almost like: If I need to mod a game so much, maybe I'll just play a different game instead?

If I mod Stardew, it'll be an expansion mod like Ridgeside or SDV Expanded but I need to get good and bored with it first and that hasn't happened yet as I still have 7 more spouses and a roommate to try out!

 

[Mango Choo-choo]

The only game I've ever modded is Minecraft, mostly to try out some world generation changes and shader upgrades. No changes to the game mechanics as whenever I try game mechanic mods, they seem to break the balance or try to make it into a new game. Crazy Craft was fun back in the day though, that was almost a different game.

It's almost like: If I need to mod a game so much, maybe I'll just play a different game instead?

If I mod Stardew, it'll be an expansion mod like Ridgeside or SDV Expanded but I need to get good and bored with it first and that hasn't happened yet as I still have 7 more spouses and a roommate to try out!

The interesting thing is that when I was a kid, I didn't have choice but playing commercial version even though some games contain small bugs.
That was because there was no upgrade mechanism before internet emerged.
The retail version of games have been morphed into disc or cassette.
By the time they were sold, they were already the entire game and no updates.

I know some people have bizarre faith that the original is the perfection.
But from my point of view, MOD is the outcome of players' wisdom.

Like Stardew, in early development, art resource was not that enough in terms of an indie game, you know... AI was not that smart before 2020.
MOD enormously improved the 'imperfection' of the almost perfect game.

nevertheless, I think we still need to be prudent to use MOD, because it can ruin a game without consciousness.
It makes you getting high sometimes but actually it sabotages the core logic of a game.

 

[FilthyGorilla]

I've always played vanilla stardew many thousands of hours in, I might eventually play with mods, but I'm not someone who really plays files to just get perfection and leave them (which I think a lot of mods cater towards as it's the general gameplay loop).

Instead the limitations of the vanilla game really make it enjoyable and define how I play, trying to find bugs and exploits, pushing limits that the game has, and so on, which don't give me the same satisfaction when the limits were arbitrarily put in place by whatever mod I wanted at that point. It's purely a personal choice but it suits me, and if I ever do truly get bored of the game then I'll have an untouched wealth of mods to play too, so it's a win-win in my eyes.

 

[Perigon360]

Well I have some mods but they're all retextures, more aesthetic maybe

 

[Geolath]

I respect the esthetic of developers.
Therefore, I barely use MOD while playing games.
Some commercial games don't support players developing MOD or add-in.

I think SDV is really open for anyone who purchased the game.
I presume some users only use MOD to update villagers' profile photos.
In my opinion, the photos of Emily and Abi still have space to improve.

And MOD is culture of single player games.
Sometimes it is controversial but I will go with no-MOD games.
What do you say?

I agree that some modifications, such as updated portraits or interface settings, can improve the game without breaking immersion. Personally, I think it depends on the game - for story-driven or stylistic games, I prefer the clean version, but for sandbox games or simulators, modifications can breathe new life into them.

 

[Starry Junimo]

Original

 

[Nonak]

I've played vanilla for a long time before recently starting a modded playthrough because vanilla got kinda boring and I found myself taking longer and more frequent breaks from it. Modding has definitely made it more fun and interesting, but I'll definitely be playing vanilla from time to time.
Also my old phone is dying so I got a new one and on this one it's almost impossible to mod, so if I don't figure it out, after the old one dies completely I'll be only able to play vanilla :/

 

[PJB17]

so i play on the switch, so i want to get mods so bad, but nintendo would hate me, so i play vanilla and it's really fun. there are some mods i really want to use but i don't want nintendo to sue me or something similar.

 

[BeenASon]

so i play on the switch, so i want to get mods so bad, but nintendo would hate me, so i play vanilla and it's really fun. there are some mods i really want to use but i don't want nintendo to sue me or something similar.

Nintendont is a really awful and greedy company. If the devs allow mods what's it to them if the players use mods? Not like there are any micro transactions in the game that we can bypass with mods or whatever. You buy the console to play the game you buy the game you do whatever you want with it. Besides it's clear that Concerned Ape supports modding as it's a essential part of singleplayer games which get stale after a while.

 

[BeenASon]

I personally think mods are great AFTER a vanilla playthrough. I used to play modded 1.5 on my android with Joja blackmarket and such which was fun. But vanilla is also fun and it's what we are intended to experience. I never really mod games I play unless there great games buried under a few problems. Like I played Oot vanilla but quit it because of the camera but Ship of Harkinian made the game playable for me and I had a ton of fun. I played Earthbound patched with only a run button and it was fantastic. Stardew Valley is a great game but after a while mods are what players turn to in order to enjoy there favourite game again.

 

[sweetpea83]

How do you get the vanilla game?

 

[Lenora Rose]

I love my mods -- I'm working on making a couple not just playing with them -- but I also strongly recommend everyone play it through at least once without mods first -- with an exception for actual accessibility issues for a disability. You need to know what you like before you start changing anything, including mechanics that are initially frustrating and hard to work with like fishing, or the characters who seem initially to be selfish stereotypes before you dig further in the game. I have a whole essay I drafted for fun* but haven't yet posted anywhere about what kinds of mods are out there, what rough order to choose to add them (visuals and very low end tweaks first, expansions later), and why it's a thing to do, and the issues and complexities to work around (compatibilities, deprecated mods, etc). I also have opinions about what NOT to do (for me the difference between a quality of life tweak to mechanics and a flat out cheat is pretty low), but I explore those less.

I do find I have to keep away from threads here where someone expresses frustration with a part of the vanilla game they *don't* enjoy and requests to add X or Y to the base game, because half the time there are already multiple mods that did or do that one thing they're asking about.

Because I always expect that if I say so, they'll say they're purists who want ConcernedApe and his team and only them to implement it... (even though ConcernedApe is the one who has actively worked with modders to make the game more mod friendly.) I know this is a my-brain anxiety thing, but it's also a valid preference to play the game as is and only as is, and I try to respect that. Certainly someone like filthyGorilla has a playing style completely and utterly unlike mine, and it's good the game supports us both.



*yes I wrote an essay about a game I love for fun. I mean it. I enjoyed the heck out of writing it.

 

[Lenora Rose]

How do you get the vanilla game?

The vanilla game is just a term for the base game without any mods, not a special version. If you knew that but don't know where, it's available through common game sources like Steam for computers, for the Nintendo Switch as a cartridge or a download, and via Google Play and such places for Android devices. The computer version is the one that's moddable without courting issues from Nintendo (who REALLY don't like you breaking into their machine and game code), or struggling with issues with programming adaptations (Android). I play vanilla occasionally on Android but mostly modded on PC.

 

[BeenASon]

The vanilla game is just a term for the base game without any mods, not a special version. If you knew that but don't know where, it's available through common game sources like Steam for computers, for the Nintendo Switch as a cartridge or a download, and via Google Play and such places for Android devices. The computer version is the one that's moddable without courting issues from Nintendo (who REALLY don't like you breaking into their machine and game code), or struggling with issues with programming adaptations (Android). I play vanilla occasionally on Android but mostly modded on PC.

Android can run mods with SMAPI now but yeah quite a hassle.

 

[Nonak]

Android can run mods with SMAPI now but yeah quite a hassle.

On older android phones its pretty easy to mod, the only thing is that some mods just outright don't work on mobile. Now It is a hassle because you can't access the needed folders as easily. Still trying to transfer my old files and mods to the new phone that has that limitation. Today got the cable that can connect it to my laptop (that was hard to find for no reason), but didn't have a lot of free time to figure out how exactly access the phone files on pc so I'm gonna get to that later this week.

 

[BeenASon]

On older android phones its pretty easy to mod, the only thing is that some mods just outright don't work on mobile. Now It is a hassle because you can't access the needed folders as easily. Still trying to transfer my old files and mods to the new phone that has that limitation. Today got the cable that can connect it to my laptop (that was hard to find for no reason), but didn't have a lot of free time to figure out how exactly access the phone files on pc so I'm gonna get to that later this week.

I have a old android (8.0 and 32 bit) And yeah it's easier to access. 1.6 SMAPI doesn't work tho because it's 64 bit only so that sucks.

 

[Lenora Rose]

Android can run mods with SMAPI now but yeah quite a hassle.

Can, yes. But so few mods include native Android support, and all the lists I've seen tracking that are from the 1.5 days. It's headache enough these days being sure of compatibility on PC, I just shrugged and left my Android game vanilla. If I ever did anything, it would be Visible Fish and the NPC map locations.

 

[Jayamos]

I have a whole essay I drafted for fun* but haven't yet posted anywhere

Post it! Post it!

 

[BeenASon]

Can, yes. But so few mods include native Android support, and all the lists I've seen tracking that are from the 1.5 days. It's headache enough these days being sure of compatibility on PC, I just shrugged and left my Android game vanilla. If I ever did anything, it would be Visible Fish and the NPC map locations.

I used to use NPC map locations on 1.5 but yeah your right. There's a difference between "can" and "should" I can hypothetically try opening a thousand chrome tabs. Should I? No.