Heading back into Night City

[garix666]

Have the itch to head back into game.

I've always played a clean game with no mods, going for a fully modded run through this time so I'm looking for some recommendations.

Starting with Welcome to Night City as my initial point which seems to cover most of what I'm looking for, gameplay wise at least.

The one thing it doesn't touch is appearance mods, so looking for recommendations from those using them.

Cheers

 

[GrimReaper801]

First things first, since you're using a collection, and if you haven't yet, please go and read up on how much compatibility may be an issue. I tend to avoid collections myself because of this. They are typically very curated lists with, sometimes, very custom edits and, typically, very tailored rules added to Vortex to ensure it all comes together well. I've never used WNC myself but I know it's a very carefully curated collection and there is a very real chance that any change you wish to make can break the collection. Get on the creator's Discord and really look into compatibility and adding mods. These creators put a lot of work into their collections and their work is amazing but it also typically comes with the tradeoff of less freedom for the end user. Collections like WNC are meant to be mod lists that save less experienced users from all the hassle of getting a large and complex mod list to work together well.

Second, what do you mean appearance mods? It's hard to recommend anything without knowing what type of appearance mod you're looking for. Gooner stuff or just regular stuff? I personally can't give you gooner recommendations but I'm sure there are some members that could. Regardless, if you want extra armor/clothes, you will need Virtual Atelier. It's pretty much the standard for adding clothes/armor. Back to my first point, this is a framework mod, please verify it's compatible with WNC before installing it. Then, frankly, you can just type in "atelier" in Nexus' search bar and you'll get tons of clothes/armor working with VA.

Do you also include new, good looking, cars as far as appearance? For vehicles, just head into the vehicles mod category and re-order based on endorsements. IMO you'll get all of the best quality additional vehicles. I'm not a fan of adding modern day vehicles into CP2077 but there are some really great classic cars there.

Do you mean graphical enhancements as well? Because that's a hard one without knowing what kind of hardware you're using and it's generally very subjective. There are some more objective improvements you can throw in like Cyberpunk 2077 HD Reworked Project which just significantly improves a lot of the game's textures. If your PC can handle it and it doesn't interfere with WNC, it's a great addition to any config. Look into LUT mods. It's highly subjective but there is most likely one of them that you would prefer to the game's vanilla color palette and they typically have no effect on performance. If you have top end hardware then the question becomes how photorealistic do you want to go? There are some crazy improvements out there.

Frankly, use Nexus' search tools. Generally speaking, the best stuff usually ends up with the highest levels of endorsements and most downloads. Granted, that doesn't always apply and there are mods being released all the time that are incredibly high quality stuff. Then again, it all depends on how WNC plays with additions.

 

[garix666]

Yeah probably should of been more clear about what I called appearance mods. Character creation options and clothing options are really what I was aiming for.

Only reason I'm using a collection is because the last time I dipped my toes in the CP2077 modding waters it went....poorly is the best I could say (would of been around 1.5ish time). So many crashes and errors it just wasn't funny. I know using a collection isn't going to be a silver bullet but I'm hopping things will settle down easier....

 

[-Nailes-]

Here is how I modded my game, I went with a collection like this; https://www.nexusmods.com/games/cyberpunk2077/collections/jiwwyn/mods
A collection that gives you all essential tools, from Redscript and TweakXL to Virtual car dealer and Virtual atelier. Then from there I added mods(mostly clothing and cars, I like the old cars). I dont add many mods that change gameplay, though, I like the vanilla game.

One of the issues with the game is that most mods and this includes clothing and appearance mods, will require functionality mods to work and its easier to get a collection that has all of them. In the case of clothing you'll still have to download certain functionality mods, like a virtual store to buy certain clothing aswell.

If you go with the collection you selected, it would be wise to go down the list of mods in the one I linked and downloading them because you'll most likely need them for clothing and appearance changes anyways.

 

[GrimReaper801]

Only reason I'm using a collection is because the last time I dipped my toes in the CP2077 modding waters it went....poorly is the best I could say (would of been around 1.5ish time). So many crashes and errors it just wasn't funny. I know using a collection isn't going to be a silver bullet but I'm hopping things will settle down easier....

That's exactly what collections like WNC are for. It likely won't be 100% bug/crash free but it will likely be minimal. WNC has been around for four years and is still getting updated and is top pick on Nexus. There is generally a good reason for that, the collection has proven itself multiple times over. This is hundreds of hours invested into creating and updating a stable mod list. That's a lot of work off your plate. Despite not using it myself, I'd say it's most likely a very good choice if you want to spare yourself the hassle.

With that said, head on over to the creator's Discord and just do a search for key words. Stuff like "Atelier", "clothes/clothing", "character creator(or variations of)" and whatever else you can think of since this is what you're looking for. You're bound to find people looking for the exact same things you are. You'll see there and then if you can easily add what you're looking for.

A quick glance at WNC's current revision, I don't expect you'd run into trouble depending on what you want to get but the first step would still be to check the Discord. You may also get some good ideas for clothing/character creator right there. Atelier is really the base framework for all things clothing so if you can get that to work then just do a search for "Atelier" in Nexus. You'll get hundreds of clothing mods. Re-arrange either by endorsements or unique downloads to see the most popular (and generally higher quality stuff) right there.

Do note that many of these will have different requirements. The base framework requirement will be Virtual Atelier but they may have other requirements that might not be compatible with WNC. If you want to be certain, refer to WNC's Discord. Just do a search on the Discord for whatever mod you're interested in, odds are someone already asked and if no one did, ask. Modding communities are generally very supportive.

As far as character creation options, I would suggest going into the mod categories menu on Nexus and then choose "Appearance". Again, sort by endorsements or unique download to get to the real popular stuff right off the bat. You'll get ... a LOT of mods there. Hair, eyes, tattoos, scars, cyberware, textures, etc... it's all there. Again, if you find something you are interested in, copy paste it into NWC Discord's search field. Chances are you'll find someone asking about it too. If you don't but you feel confident that it would be safe based on the other stuff you found, go ahead and try it. Vortex has gotten much better at handling CP2077 modding and, generally, a mod that adds something like tattoos, or a virtual store through atelier, can be removed safely (unless the mod page states otherwise) even mid playthrough. Removing frameworks or expansive mods is still a big no-no though.

As far as specific suggestions for clothes, I personally love Zenitex Virtual Atelier for a military/spec ops look and the only requirement you are missing is Virtual Atelier. Sorry for not providing more specific mods, I didn't use many clothing/character customization mods and Zenitex is the only one that comes to mind right away lol. All this modding talks makes me want to re-install CP2077