Mods or no mods?

[ImperialGuard]

I don't use mods that change the gameplay.

I really like a mod (forget the name) but it adds a menu item that allows you to see the promotion tree for different unit types (melee, range, siege etc.)

 

[seancolorado]

Until a new DLC/expansion comes out I'm playing with mods. I've basically played every possible scenario with no mods and I began to grow tired of civ. With mods, it's like getting a new game. My absolute favorite mods are ones that change the Unique Units or rebalance natural wonders.

 

[Marklevi]

No mods But I would like the link to the no barb cap. Ive never installed a mod.. Kinda scared.. dont know how it works.. Im more the casual gamer. but it would be cool to crush barbs and level up

 

[oman19]

I've been interested in trying infoaddict but some on these forums have scared me away saying it almost makes the game TO easy and gives to big of an advantage to the human player. Curious as to what others think.

 

[Biologist]

I regularly use two mods. The first is InfoAddict, which provides information about AIs that you have met. The info is in the same vein as what you get from the demographics screen, but much more precise and viewable for each individual civ. There is also a diplomacy map that shows exactly how each civ currently feels about and is dealing with every other civ....helpful if you're trying to play politics on a Huge map.

The second mod I use is No AI Free Pottery. This one would probably constitute "cheating" for some purists (not that there's anything wrong with being a purist, I'm simply not one). Essentially, this mod forces the AI to research Pottery on King level and above, just like the human player. This puts all civs on an even footing when trying to obtain a pantheon/religion (Ethiopia and Celts excepted, of course). Using this mod doesn't guarantee getting the first religion, it just makes it possible to have a reasonable chance at getting an early one.

Edit @Oman19:

Infoaddict in my opinion only makes the game as easy as you allow it to. I like having the extra info because it makes me feel more like the leader of a civilation to know my troop count or technology level and compare that to all other civs, not just a vague "average" that is easily skewed. I also like the simplified diplomacy web that makes it easy to see who likes who and who's at war, and what deals I currently have running, so I don't have to dig through the rather obtuse diplomacy UI to find all that. I also like having the extra info because it helps me to make some sense of the AI diplomacy's underpinnings. If I suddenly have formerly friendly AIs denouncing me or going Hostile from Friendly with little prior cause, I can check InfoAddict and see that my troop count is 70,000 points lower than theirs (for example). Then I kick myself for not building more military, and try to figure a way out of the mess.

 

[Biologist]

No mods But I would like the link to the no barb cap. Ive never installed a mod.. Kinda scared.. dont know how it works.. Im more the casual gamer. but it would be cool to crush barbs and level up

Installing mods with steam is simple. You just use the in-game link to the mod workshop (I think that's what it's called) and use the search engine to look for one you like (I suggest InfoAddict, it shows useful statistics and summarizes diplomatic info nicely). When you find a mod that looks interesting, you click a "subscribe" button. Steam then downloads the mod, and you can choose to use or not use it as you please. If you're worried about security, try selecting mods that have a high number of previous downloads or that are highly rated.

 

[Cicerosaurus]

As Biologist suggests it is pretty easy with steam. The mod relating to the Barbarians is called Barbarians Unlimited Exp (V2) and is for G & K.

Omar, I have Infoaddict and if there is a trick to make the game easier with it, I haven't discovered it. It gives you a lot of information- a heck of a lot. It does show you where you stand compared to other players.

 

[Matthew.]

I vacillate between core game and two mods. Info Addict, which is pure awesome. And a mod I created myself, that I tweak occasionally. Mainly AI stuff, and Info Addict is extremely helpful for monitoring AI to see how changes interact with their gameplay.

Another thing my mod does is change the pacing to be more historically accurate. Doesn't affect gameplay, just the year numbers. May seem silly to some, but I hate rolling around with modern infantry in 1700 AD.

Edit: As for Info Addict affecting gameplay, just don't use it during the game (You do have will power, right? ) It is much better than the win/lose screen graph at showing how the overall game went. In that sense, it helps you become a better player.

 

[JWAT44]

infoaddict and one of the real world maps with historical start locations are the only ones i use. i definitely recommend infoaddict, it's simply awesome.

 

[Dig-Doug]

Just WHowards69's stuff, like UI resources, specialists, and clock, and occasionally a map redraw he makes, forget the name though. They give plenty of info at a glance during gameplay, and the map one just allows for a few selections of the current map without going out to the main menu.

 

[HeraldtheGreat]

I really like the Yet (not) Another Earth Map Packs mod.

 

[Smokeybear]

I can't play without mods

Same here. My current list:

InfoAddict (the single CiV mod I could not play without, period)
City Limits (shows the 3-ring workable area boundary around settlers and cities)
Experience from barb kills raised to level 4
No conquered allies (resets CS influence to 0 for civs that are wiped out)
Goody Huts no maps (removes barb maps and local vicinity maps from hut rewards list)
Reseed! and Rotate map start position (allows you to scope out your world and gives option to start in any of the civ starting locations. allows you to find a decent starting location without having to restart 15 games to do so)
Promotions- no InstaHeal (removed that completely disgusting AI cheat from the game)
Removing jungle gives city production (forests do and jungles don't?? i_don't_thiiiink_sooo)
Reveal Iron early (see it after researching mining, as it should be)
CS View City (shows you on the main CS interface who is actually protecting each CS)
Religion Spread (adds a map to the religion interface showing areas controlled by each religion)
Summary Luxuries (adds a very handy pop-down list to the top toolbar, with all the lux info you need right there)
Summary Specialists (actually a summary of which great people are queued up and how long till each will pop next, similar in form to the Luxuries list, on top toolbar).
Trade Opportunities (adds another screen to the diplomacy screens, shows quickly and easily who needs the luxes you have to sell or the ones you need to buy, if they have the money to afford them, other good stuff)
And a few other misc. ones that I use occasionally but not all the time, depending on mood.

Many of those are the work of Whoward69 (William Howard). His stuff is no longer available on Steam Workshop, but can be found in the modding section of this forum.

 

[dashwinner]

I used to always play no MOD's but not anymore. I have not and don't plan on using any MOD's that change gameplay. But once I used infoaddict ... I was never able to go back without playing with this MOD. I love all of the extra information and it has made the game a lot more enjoyable for me personally.

Other ones I have used ...

The R.E.D. Modpack for regiment and ethnic diversity that rescales the units, formations, and adds diversity.

City Limits MOD which shows the entire 3 tile radius of the city whenever you click on a settler or open the city.

Faster Aircraft Animations - About sums it up 2X Faster.

Ethnic Units - Not compatible with R.E.D. currently. I switch between them every other game. This doesn't rescale I believe just adds flavors to all the units from different nationalities. Really cool.

Krakatoa Fix - This increases the chance of it being a workable tile and it will no longer spawn in the middle of the Ocean.

Colored Religion Icons - A quick coloring of the icons. Looks nice.

Expanded Civilopedia Entries - This adds a lot of bullet point information making the civilopedia less opaque. Edits text only. No changes to values.

Great Prophet Historical Names - Adds historical names to this GP.

A couple that I don't use that I think sound good is Reseed and In Game Editor.

Just a bunch of stuff that adds a little flavor to the game and makes it more enjoyable.

I have a very similar list to this one

well still trying to make R.E.D. show up and/or not crash my game. but besides that,

tried a couple of the new civ mods, there are some pretty nice ones (don't remember his name, but the guy who did portugal/holy roman empire/ couple of other ones) that are worth checking out.

Unfortunately many of the other (hello poland/zulu) feel overpowered.

LOVE perfect world (is that a mod?)

I also really liked the extended religion one, unfortunately what I realized about it is that due to giving each civ their own prefered religion, you will often find out who else is on the map when they found their religion. so i stop playing with it.

 

[tnick777]

1. Unofficial Patch
2. InfoAddict
3. Great Prophet Names
4. R.E.D.
5. Scout instead of warrior starting unit
6. Perfect Map 3

 

[killmeplease]

mostly i play w/o mods to get achievements
but when i play with mods i use my mods plus additional religions, civs and wonders.

 

[tnick777]

mostly i play w/o mods to get achievements
but when i play with mods i use my mods plus additional religions, civs and wonders.

After I hit my achievement wall (i.e., Scenarios, DLC I don't have, etc.) the game became unplayable without mods.

Something as little as the R.E.D. Modification makes the game 100x more enjoyable.

 

[tnick777]

OH!!! And city name randomizer is AMAZING. Such a small detail really makes the game more interesting.

 

[Marklevi]

Okay after reading this POST.. I Went on and looked and sucribed to about 20 mods. I have to admit info addict is Cool. Its not cheating or nothing. I figure the comp has all this info why cant I. Besides, its seems to be this should have been in the game.. Its same info civ 3 had just more. charts and graphs. Im deffinatly going to be going mod happy in the FUTURE. If your getting bored with the game and your about to put it down.. Go grab a mod and you will be enlighted again. TEXAS Mod is sweet.

 

[Verbosity]

I play both ways. The mods I currently have enabled are:

Faster Aircraft Animations v. 2 (recent add, haven't gotten to modern era to ensure it works with NiGHTS)

One-Color Civs v. 1 (just added these and haven't really compared to base game yet)
CameraRotation (G+K) v. 2 (buggy because the game wasn't designed for rotation - but why make everything 3D models and fix the camera? I really like this mod.)

City State Leaders for G+K v. 5 (pretty pictures vs resource indicator in city state screen... much more visually appealing)

Yet (not) Another Earth Maps Pack v. 17 (oh yeah, when I want to punish my computer there is nothing like the largest version of Earth with true start locations and true resource locations... and my coworker choked his system by adding in cultural diffusion. Midgame to early end game was about 5 minutes a turn!)

Civilization Nights_Gods and Kings v. 5 (This is my essential mod - reworks the game to a more Civ 4 feel. I find it more challenging than unmodded version, but that is probably because the play style is different. More to build, more to do. This mod is what made my coworker buy the game, and then hold off on G+K until it was designed to work with it.)

Units - Starting Scout v. 1 (Again, more classic feel - more even race for goodie huts when used.)

Colored Religions v. 3 (purely aesthetic - and appreciated)

Global - Enable Magellan v. 2 (Again, more classic feel. Wish there were more micro-achievement type bonuses like these - but I can't think what they should be.)

City Limits v. 3 (helpful when placing cities)

Pastafarianism v. 2 (Just because... and I like the logo)

Throne Room v. 2 (Ah, the fun of building your own throne room over time to keep your immortal ruler in comfort and style)

True ICBM Mod v. 1 (Nukes with range - essential to keep them threatening on a large map - I'm actually surprised more movement based aspects don't scale with map size in the game.)



Not currently used, I also often use Cultural Diffusion (currently v. 13). Again, classic feel - there is something about borders shifting.

Want to try Minor Civs (v. 1) which lets city states grow to 2 or 3 city empires. (Currently they just "pop" into existence until the developer can find a better way of doing it...)



Hmmm... dang, my desktop is missing one (vs laptop or work computer) - Copasetic UI Tweaks v. 2 for showing culture bars on the city display. Like the quick overview from the main map mods. Info Addicts is one I've been meaning to try.



As to using mods? Since I am on 3 different machines, I like the fact that Workshop subscriptions sync the downloads, but I'm not a fan of the Steam business model in general (I like to "own" my game rather than license it... and if I want to give it away, I want to be able to do that to).

Mods are easy to install. Steam Workshop is easy, but you download them then unzip to the mods folder for "manual" installs (almost as easy). If I understand the developers guide I read, each time you load the game up with the mods it rewrites the database if any mods have been added or removed then uses that in game. Way better than Civ 4, and much easier than modding Elder Scrolls games.


My advice? Try both. Civ 5 modding is one of the easiest for the end-users to do out of all the mod-able games I've played. There are so many mods out there and the design is to minimize conflicts, there is no reason not to try a few out. This isn't a Ford model T, is a get-it-your-way burger (and if you want stock, that's okay too).

 

[Biologist]

I used to use a mod that allowed submarines to pass the borders of civs they're not at war with even if they don't have open borders. I'm not sure the version I have is compatible with G&K though.