Question about this thread in general

[ajb1978]

Does this mean we are now free to link to mods, explain how to download/install them, etc?

[piddy3825]

I guess so!

seems we're talking about them and some are posting links to the discord server, so I think it should be okay.
Now I'm curious what you have to share.  Knowing it's coming from you, it's probably some damn good stuff!
Spill the beans my good man!

[ajb1978]

Haha well I'm not a mod author, I don't have the patience for that kind of thing anymore! I did write a batch file though (below in the code block) that allows me to quickly mod/unmod the game. If it detects anything in the Mods folder, it unmods the game by moving all the files out to a Disabled folder. If it detects the Mods folder is empty, it moves those Disabled files back. Useful if you want to switch the game back to vanilla to test a bug/exploit prior to reporting, or just to play the game "by the rules". 

As far as obtaining mods, this is my go-to source. And here's hoping this doesn't become my first ever deleted post lol!  https://xpazeman.com/tld-mod-list/

My personal mod list is (Edit: List does not include required upstream dependencies like ModSettings, ModComponent, etc.):

• Better Fuel Management - Allows you to transfer fuel from one container to another, or drain fuel from lanterns. It also prevents empty fuel containers from disappearing.
• Better Water Management - Eliminates magic water bottles. Water bottles remain when empty, and you can fill existing water bottles or transfer contents from one bottle to another. Also adds a craftable waterskin. If you don't have a means to store water, you can move the pot/can off the fire and it will retain the water until you either finish drinking it, or decide to dump it and pick the pot up. Also adds an option to melt/boil snow while brewing tea, vs. having to boil the water first and then brew tea with it.
• Developer Console - Exactly what it sounds like. And I mean who wouldn't want that?
• Fire Pack - Adds a craftable bow drill and ember box.
• Fire Addons - I use this so that I can use tinder as fuel. It has other functions as well like an option to use a lantern as a firestarter and some other stuff I don't recall offhand, but I have everything disabled besides the tinder.
• Free Look In Cars - Lets you turn completely to look out the back.
• Gear Decay Modifiers - Lets you customize the rate at which things decay. I use this to double the rate cooked meat decays, and halve the rate raw meat decays. It further encourages me to cook realistically, while still allowing me the option of preparing a week's worth of food in advance if I plan to break down all of Hibernia in one go.
• Pastime Reading - This one is super meta. It adds an actual readable in-game book bound to the 5 key, complete with animations and sound effects. You can customize the title, author, and contents of the book by updating the text file in the mod folder. It is kind of gimmicky and probably not for everyone, but I find it fun and immersive to read an actual book in-game while a blizzard roars outside. And I can always pass time normally if I just want to get on with it.
• Placing Anywhere - You can RMB an item into any location, and it has keys to rotate objects in 3 dimensions. Besides allowing you to immersively stack items it gives you the option to decorate by "hanging" climbing ropes on hooks, stick a knife in the wall and "hang" a hacksaw from it, stand flashlights up on end, etc. I personally like to collect books and fill bookshelves, or make it look like my survivor is busy doing research by having a stack of books on a desk next to a cup of coffee and a mag lens.
• Warm Food - Freshly cooked meat gives Warming Up, as do MRE's the first time you open them. Synergizes nicely with Better Water Management and Fire Pack, by offering a very intuitive and realistic cooking experience where you cook what you need when you need it.
• Time Accelerator - Lets you bind a key to adjust the game's time scale from 0.0x (time stands still) up to 10x. Auto-walk is nice and all but walking 5 minutes in a straight line is kinda boring! Being able to accelerate the game simply by holding a key is vastly preferable. And everything accelerates--the time of day, the rate at which you get hungry, the speed animals move. So it balances itself.

Some honorable mentions that are nifty but I don't personally use anymore:

• Binoculars - Adds binoculars to the game that do exactly what you would expect. Cool idea, but in practice I didn't use them. Maybe if they were bound to a hotkey, but instead you have to equip them from your inventory, and meh. That was just inconvenient enough that I never used them.
• Blanket Mod - Allows you to craft a blanket which, when kept in your inventory, adds warmth while sleeping or passing time. Again neat idea, but in practice not terribly useful for the weight. It would only really be useful on Interloper, but Interloper players aren't the sort to want to make life easier!
• Food Pack - Adds new food items to the game. Fun idea, but didn't really do it for me.
• Fox Companion - This one is just super impressive from a technical perspective. Unfortunately, it just didn't do it for me.
• Hunger Revamped - Completely overhauls the way hunger works, and frankly it is pretty cool. But ultimately I just prefer the simpler vanilla hunger system.
• Movable Containers - Great idea in theory, it allows you to move storage containers around, or even pick one up and carry it with you to a whole new location. The problem is, it was kind of buggy. Sometimes containers would duplicate, and other times disappear...along with their contents. Maybe it's better now I don't know, but I don't want to risk it on a 400+ day run! Might give it another go when I start a new guy.
• Remove Clutter - Allows you to break down nearly any interior object or decoration. But it caused some weird obstruction issues with certain environment objects. For example the calendar on the wall in the Orca station, for some reason I couldn't walk past it, I'd have to crouch and crawl under it. Ultimately I decided I was more bothered by the side effects than I was the random clutter. And again this one might be better now too, it's been a year since I tried it.
• Wooden Statuettes - Adds crafting recipes to carve little decorative animals out of fir.  Neat idea...but they take up space, wear down your tools, and I found myself never crafting them after the novelty wore off.

And lastly here's that batch file. Copy the contents into a file, call it "TLD Mod Toggle.bat" or something like that. Maybe change the paths if your default install location is different.

If not exist "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\TheLongDark\Mods\Disabled\" mkdir "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\TheLongDark\Mods\Disabled\"

call :DirCheck "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\TheLongDark\Mods" 
@exit /b  
 
:DirCheck
@call :Status "%~f1" 
@set RESULT=%ERRORLEVEL% 

@if %RESULT% equ 1  move "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\TheLongDark\Mods\*.*" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\TheLongDark\Mods\Disabled\"

@if %RESULT% equ 1 move "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\TheLongDark\version.dll" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\TheLongDark\Mods\Disabled\"

@if %RESULT% equ 0   move "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\TheLongDark\Mods\Disabled\version.dll" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\TheLongDark\"

@if %RESULT% equ 0   move "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\TheLongDark\Mods\Disabled\*.*" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\TheLongDark\Mods\"
@exit /b  
 
:Status
@for %%I in ("%~f1\*.*") do @exit /b 1 
@exit /b 0 

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by ajb1978

[piddy3825]

ohh.... developer's console....  
Now back when Fallout4 was new and fresh, I discovered the Dev Console and it changed my game play.  The ability to "warp" in objects and manipulate their placement
allowed me to "build" some very fantastical bases.  I spent more time in game placing objects and spinning them around the x, y and z axis than I ever spent shooting NPCs!     I'd like to hear more about this tool or where I might find some info on how to use it.  lmk

[ajb1978]

First of all this is critical: From the main menu go to Options > Privacy and disable telemetry and error reports. You don't want to inadvertently send HL bad data on bugs caused by mods, that wouldn't have happened in the base game!

That link (here it is again: https://xpazeman.com/tld-mod-list/) actually has everything you need all in one place! It has a tutorial on how to install MelonLoader which is necessary to run mods, and then how to download/install mods themselves. Some mods have some extra steps, like configuring the book for Pastime Reading. But for most you just drop the DLL into the Mods folder. If a mod states that it has dependencies, like ModSettings or ModComponent, you MUST install those too. But again you can find all of that stuff on that one list.

Unlike Skyrim/Fallout you don't have to worry about load order or anything. But don't start the game until you have everything you want. The first time you run a modded game it'll take some time to build the rest of the files it needs (mostly JSON config files to remember your preferences.) And I would highly recommend starting a brand new game, vs. continuing an ongoing run. Also if you add a new mod to an already modded game, sometimes (I think it might only be mods that add new items to the game) it just simply won't work. Like it doesn't even exist. (That's why I say don't start a game until you have all the mods installed you want, plus all the dependencies.) You can certainly try to add new mods on the fly--the worst that'll happen is it won't work. If that should happen, the only fix I know of is to completely uninstall all mods and MelonLoader, then reinstall everything plus the new mod, and then start the game again so it does that first-time mod setup.

[Waltz]

7 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

Useful if you want to switch the game back to vanilla

you can launch the game with --no-mods option, which will start the game clean without any mods and even melon console iirc

[ajb1978]

1 hour ago, Waltz said:

you can launch the game with --no-mods option, which will start the game clean without any mods and even melon console iirc

I was not aware of that command line argument, good to know! Either way you'll end up having two shortcuts though I guess. Either you have the regular shortcut and the no-mod shortcut, or the regular shortcut and a  batch file to toggle the mod state.

[A Lamp]

15 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

 The problem is, it was kind of buggy. Sometimes containers would duplicate, and other times disappear...along with their contents.

That never happened to me, and i've been using Movable containers since it was posted on the mod list.

Speaking about mods, i miss Relentless Night...

[ajb1978]

29 minutes ago, A Lamp said:

That never happened to me, and i've been using Movable containers since it was posted on the mod list.

Speaking about mods, i miss Relentless Night...

I took a plastic container from one of the trailers by the train unloading area in mystery lake and brought it to the camp office. I went back to grab another container, and the plastic container I had just grabbed was back again. Curious that I may have just been an idiot I put some object where the container was and took it again. After placing it in the camp office I went back to the trailer again, and the plastic container was back again, on top of the object I'd left behind, in an unsearched state. I later realized that at least one iteration of that moved plastic container had vanished from the Camp Office, along with everything inside. I'm not sure what triggered that though, I went to go on a mending marathon during a blizzard to grind the skill and realized all my cloth was gone.

[A Lamp]

7 minutes ago, ajb1978 said:

I took a plastic container from one of the trailers by the train unloading area in mystery lake and brought it to the camp office. I went back to grab another container, and the plastic container I had just grabbed was back again. Curious that I may have just been an idiot I put some object where the container was and took it again. After placing it in the camp office I went back to the trailer again, and the plastic container was back again, on top of the object I'd left behind, in an unsearched state. I later realized that at least one iteration of that moved plastic container had vanished from the Camp Office, along with everything inside. I'm not sure what triggered that though, I went to go on a mending marathon during a blizzard to grind the skill and realized all my cloth was gone.

Damn, that's unfortunate.

Well, while i was on PV, CH and BI i've never encountered anything like this, so maybe it's a bug exclusive to ML  or the mod author fixed it.

[Strelok]

I am using now the following mods and they are all working so far.

Better-Fuel-Management (you can now drain Lanterns without scraping them)

Better-Night-sky (more realistic moon)

Blanket Mod (Default is 5 usable Blankets at 0.6 kg and 1°C for a maximum of 5°C. You can set it, that you can only use 1 blanket at 1 kg with a 3°C bonus like i did. )

Extreme Temp Drop (you can alter your own temp drop times. All vanilla difficulty presets available too. I went for -15° temp drop, which is inbetween stalker and interloper and it starts from day 1 to 200.)

Gear Decay Modifier (You set all different things how you like, eg. you can make whetstones loose condition at only 1% per action or to cut down the on use decay for arrows only etc)

Kerosen Lamp Tweaks (my Lanterns now burn double as long now: 0.5 modifier)

Quick Witted (you can alter skill point encrease of your professions. Mending for example)

Sonic Mode (you can change movement speeds. Eg you can make your crouchmovement a little bit faster or normal walking slower)

Weight Tweaks (you can change weight of different item categories. Or like me letting the clothing weigh only 50% if you wear them instead of 75%)

[Strelok]

Hunger Revamp i want to mention explicitely. This is the mod which purpose should be to make it impossible to hybernate at 600 kcal a day. But you can eat to store much more kcal, so you have body fat storing your kcal which can last for about 1 week or so before you starve. And at the end it goes very quickly to die from it. You can store 20000 kcal now in bodyfat, which only burns down if you get hungry. If you eat yourself full, your kcal stocks up again over time. The actual kcal burn is still subject to difficulty. But it makes it more realistic i claim and is a nice implementation.

[thekillergreece]

Question. Say you bring minor mods (ie. ambient lights, placing anywhere, time accelerator) that affect pretty much nothing but visually and such in an on-going run. You play that run. Then you decide to remove those mods for various reasons.

Would it corrupt your save file or?

[ajb1978]

1 minute ago, thekillergreece said:

Question. Say you bring minor mods (ie. ambient lights, placing anywhere, time accelerator) that affect pretty much nothing but visually and such in an on-going run. You play that run. Then you decide to remove those mods for various reasons.

Would it corrupt your save file or?

No, the saves are actually pretty resilient. If you use a mod that adds in new inventory items or objects, and you uninstall it, those things simply disappear from the game world. You can still load the save. If you were on a user-created map however, and uninstalled it, THAT would probably trash the save. I don't think there's a failsafe for "Oh this map doesn't exist anymore."

Something like lighting tweaks, free look in cars, time accelerator, etc. can be added or removed mid-game with no repercussions.

[piddy3825]

5 hours ago, thekillergreece said:

Question. Say you bring minor mods (ie. ambient lights, placing anywhere, time accelerator) that affect pretty much nothing but visually and such in an on-going run. You play that run. Then you decide to remove those mods for various reasons.

Would it corrupt your save file or?

I've found that the mods that only change the vanilla settings, like ambient lights, time accelerator, free look in cars, etc.  dont have any negative effects on your save game file if end up continuing game play with out them.   However, a mod like moveable containers, will change your save game by returning all those moved containers back to their original location if the mod is not loaded.   If you're loading a saved game that used "moveable containers" for example and you the mod doesn't load properly and you notice that the moved containers are not there anymore, quickly exit your game before saving, otherwise you overwrite the save game file and all that effort you previously made will be lost forever.   

This happend to me, when I literally took every moveable container out of DP and brought it all to the gas station on CH.  
I had lined every shelf with a metal or plastic container and placed a pair of boots on the lids turning the gas station into a footwear shop!  
but subsequently after one of the updates, the mod failed to load and all the containers were missing, but the boots were all still lined up, although appearing to magically float in the air.  I made the mistake of exiting the gas station and upon reentry a new save was created literally destroying dozens of hours of work.   😱

[Guest jeffpeng]

On 12/12/2021 at 7:28 PM, Strelok said:

Hunger Revamp i want to mention explicitely. This is the mod which purpose should be to make it impossible to hybernate at 600 kcal a day. But you can eat to store much more kcal, so you have body fat storing your kcal which can last for about 1 week or so before you starve. And at the end it goes very quickly to die from it. You can store 20000 kcal now in bodyfat, which only burns down if you get hungry. If you eat yourself full, your kcal stocks up again over time. The actual kcal burn is still subject to difficulty. But it makes it more realistic i claim and is a nice implementation.

That's the one mod I think Hinterland should simply sherlock. It's balanced, it gives enough room to f up and not be screwed, and it actually makes the game quite a bit more fun be removing a lot of micro managing.

[Strelok]

13 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

That's the one mod I think Hinterland should simply sherlock. It's balanced, it gives enough room to f up and not be screwed, and it actually makes the game quite a bit more fun be removing a lot of micro managing.

I must admit that i was not aware about the hybernation strategy until recently, because i always go for well fed and i dont play interloper calorie burn rate where it seems important to do that, at least at the beginning phase of the game.

Furthermore i have to correct myselft about the storable calories in bodyfat by the Hunger Revam mod.

It is wrong that i claimed it can last 1 week without eating anything. That was my theoretical assumption that 20.000 stored kcal in bodyfat could last about one week without eating anything if my calorie burn rate is at 3.000 per day at voyager level.

Its just a system where you can stretch your food much better. So you can have phases of low calorie consumption and phases where you build up your bodyfat.

You will still have to eat something to prevent too much condition loss at night. At least after 2 days, you need a little bit of food so to speak.

[Guest jeffpeng]

5 hours ago, Strelok said:

I must admit that i was not aware about the hybernation strategy until recently, because i always go for well fed and i dont play interloper calorie burn rate where it seems important to do that, at least at the beginning phase of the game.

No, it's not. You can avoid starvation from day 1 in most cases, even on Interloper. Otherwise things like deadman wouldn't be possible.

[Admin]

Thanks for participating. We strongly suggest everyone review the pinned post here: 

 

[peteloud]

Has anyone developed a mod that automatically restores all my clothes and equipment to 100% condition every it saves my game?

The Save Editor allows me to give myself a bearskin jacket & bedroll, snow trousers, , axe, saw kinife, rifle, revolver and loads of ammo and 60kg carrying capacity.

All I'll need after that is something to raise the temperature of those cold nights and storms.

[ajb1978]

Apparently just ignoring that guy's posts wasn't enough, had to escalate that to a full ignore.

[hozz1235]

7 hours ago, peteloud said:

Has anyone developed a mod that automatically restores all my clothes and equipment to 100% condition every it saves my game?

WeMod has the option to keep your items at 100%.

[piddy3825]

1 hour ago, hozz1235 said:

WeMod has the option to keep your items at 100%.

lol, how about that new autoplay mod?  you know the one where the game just plays itself?  I just turn mine on when I leave for work and then check on the progress when I get home...  

[hozz1235]

2 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

lol, how about that new autoplay mod?  you know the one where the game just plays itself?  I just turn mine on when I leave for work and then check on the progress when I get home...  

Yeah, I wrote that.  You like it?!

[piddy3825]

40 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

Yeah, I wrote that.  You like it?!

yeah, it's now one of my most favorite mods!  I have so much more free time now to spend here on the forums!  Thanks, Hozz!