SS2 Newbie Modding Guide

[673f1faf0808cKolya]

After you installed the game and patched it with SS2Tool we encourage you to play around with mods and choose the ones that convince you. However as a newbie it may be hard to decide which mods to try. This guide will explain shortly how to get a good game going with recommended mods.

Screenshots showing how to load multiple downloaded mods

Mod installation
Use Blue Mod Manager (included in SS2Tool). This will make handling of multiple mods easy. (Note that fan missions require a separate loader.)
Start ss2bmm.exe, click "Install mod archive(s)", navigate to your downloaded mods and select them all. Then click "Open". Once the mods appear in the manager you need to activate them and set up their priorities, as shown below.

Screenshot showing correct mod order in Blue Mod Manager

Recommended Mods

• Vurt's Flora Overhaul (updated plant life)
• Tacticool complete (hires weapons)
• Four Hundred (world texture upgrade)
• Rebirth (hipoly AI models)
• Vintage Song Remake (original music, better quality)
• Vurt's Organics (organic objects) - All except Biomatter and GrubPodSlimey.
• Quest Note Notifier (displays a notification for quest notes)
• SHTUP-ND (object texture upgrade)
• Olfred's fixed objects (bugfixed object models)
• SCP (gameplay bugfixes and improvements, requires to start a new game)

Start Blue Mod Manager and order the mods as in the screenshot. Mod number 1 will have top priority. When you are done, exit the manager and start the game as usual, all mods will stay enabled.



That's all?
You now have a nicely modded game that strikes a good balance between original and new. Of course there are many other worthwhile mods in the SS2 mods board which you might want to look at later. But for now you're good to go.

[673f1faf083f9Kolya]

General mod priority order
To simplify your future modding experience here are some useful tips on how mods should generally be ordered in the manager. For help with specific questions, please post on the Helpdesk.

• gamesys (gameplay/map) mods (SCP, Secmod etc) need to have the lowest priority (note that only one such mod can be active at a time - the manager will display a warning should you attempt to load more. also, they cannot be activated or deactivated mid-game - they must be loaded before starting a new game).
• fixup mods should follow right after (fixed objects, SHTUP-ND).
• pure visual/sound enhancements should go on top of that (vurt's stuff, hires weapons, AI models, etc).
• and all the crazy things (xmas mod, pumpkin heads) should be loaded with maximum priority. note that any mod that changes the game mechanics should be loaded before starting a new game, mid-game activation may cause issues.