Hi everyone, I have some ideas for the good modders of this game! Some of these might be simply impossible to accomplish or maybe they're very easy to do, I don't know, I'm no modder and I know very little about it, all I want is to share with you my point of view on what could be good for the game and if any of you is capable and willing to make any of these mods, awesome! I also suggest making a new thread is a good idea to keep things tidy if someone wants to work on a specific mod!
With all this said, let's begin!
Animations
- Riposte. Strike, counter-strike!
Geralt could use some more variety when it comes to counter-attacks animations. There are a few that could be added like the one used to cut grave hags' tongues and even the finisher move that cuts in half the opponent (it would be nice to remove it from the list of the finisher moves if it gets used for the counter-attacks), of course, in this case, the blow is not fatal but it should have the same effect of the "classic" counters. There are other animations obviously like the pommel strike, the back-hand hit and more!
- Magic or Danger?
It always seemed strange to me that Geralt keeps walking normally even when only a few steps ahead there's a bunch of drowners or a huge, growling fiend... So I was wondering if it was possible to create a hotkey (like 'R3') to make Geralt enter his Combat Stance, even if he's not holding a sword... This allows the player to contextualize Geralt's behavior when he's in a dangerous situation, or when he needs to be sneaky (even if the game doesn't have stealth mechanics of course).
- Swift Signs
Is it possible to make Geralt walk when he's trying to lit a torch or when he wants to extinguish a flame?
If it is, I would like to do so even when he casts Quen (or other Signs) out of combat, without having him to stop and enter his fighting pose!
- Whirlwind of Rage and Steel
Every time our witcher swings his swords, each one of his blows is interrupted by a moment in which Geralt is simply stuck at the end of the animation (this is especially noticeable on strong attacks), this, in my opinion, hurts the fluidity of the action. Ciri, on the other hand, is not afflicted by this problem as much as he is.
We already have a lot of mods to increase Geralt's speed when he's fighting but not the actual fluidity of the animations, so to achieve a more "witcher-like" combat action the only thing that should be speeded up (or removed, I wouldn't know) is just the moment that separates Geralt's hits.
- Mean faces
It would be very cool if guards and bandits -human enemies in general- had an angry expression on their faces during combat, just like Geralt!
A.I.
- Big Hunts
Fighting big monsters (not necessarily big, I'm talking about monsters that are found alone in the wild, like leshens, werewolves, cyclops and so on) is way too easy! That's one of the biggest downsides of this game in terms of "challenge for the player".
I really don't know how this is to be "fixed", but for example, after a fiend or a golem finishes a charge it should turn around and chase Geralt right away, maybe with a second charge or a backward attack. This mod would require a general set of improvements, according to the modder's tastes, but the idea is to make big monsters relentless, more aggressive and much more dangerous by also enhancing their special abilities and movesets (fiend's hypnotic attack should be much faster and create more darkness around Geralt for example alongside, as I said, a more aggressive behavior) maybe by taking some abilities from other monsters as well, for example, wyverns and forktails are way too easy to fight against when compared to slyzards/dracolizard from B&W which have a much more dangerous moveset and many counterattacks even though they are very much the same kind of creature.
- Survival instinct
I think that it would be cool if, when weakened, wolves and wild dogs ran away from combat... It's pretty stupid to see them fight until the end when all their friends are already dead... Maybe also hitting them with Igni could be a way to make them flee!
Landscape
- Into the Woods
Is it possible to add more trees to the game world? I really would like to have more dense woodlands and forests, feel like I'm trapped in a labyrinth when I venture in this kind of places. Of course, I don't want the whole map to be covered in trees but the areas that are meant to be forests should be enhanced with more trees and vegetation (and maybe be more connected between one another). I think that the most suitable trees for this mod would be the ones we have in the swamps and, in general, the pines ( also because the other trees that we have are ugly and look even uglier from afar, oaks are the worst IMO) ... Some of those are also curved and they could make some nice "tunnel-like" effects. Also, adding broken logs and trees on the ground or leaned against other trees would be awesome not to mention more mushrooms, rocks and so on!
NPCs
- Better Clothing & Armors
NPCs are a big deal in this game and they need more love, starting with better textures for their clothes and so on... For example, I was wondering if it was possible to change/swap the 'rigid' skirts with the ones used by rich women in Toussaint and other characters that use flexible clothing like Pinastri the Flagellant or Yennefer. Imagine how cool it would be to have that kind of flexible skirts not only on common NPCs like peasants or priests o the Eternal Fire but also on more important characters like Fringilla, Philippa and Keira that for some unknown reason were not blessed with a more advanced clothing technology. Guards and soldiers (of all the factions and regions except for the knights of Toussaint) are also in need for an upgrade in terms of textures/meshes. Their vanilla armors are EMBARRASSING, I mean they are really, really bad for NPCs that are so common and easy to spot in a crowd. Also, it would be awesome to have back the heavy armors from The Witcher 2 for some of the guards in Novigrad/Oxenfurt.
- I know that face
Is it possible to import NPCs' models from TW2? If it is, a mod like this could increase the sense of diversity when it comes to how many time you can see a certain face/body. Witcher 3 doesn't suffer too much in those terms but it could definitely benefit from something like this...Especially Elves and Dwarves! I have no idea of how NPCs are generated, is it random or they are as they look from the start? Would it be possible to give them more assets like beards from other characters like the Bloody Baron or Vivaldi? Maybe also some of Geralt's haircuts (the most unused at least)!
- A mountain of meat, never seen anyone bigger...
The Wild Hunt has some serious problems in terms of body growth, I mean they are giants basically, even Ge'els is enormous and then, right next to him there's Avvallac'h, same race, same world but his height is "normal"...
Now, I get the fact that being this big can add to the Hunt's terrifying reputation but to my eyes, it's just ridiculous... Would it be possible to re-scale them and their weapons? How much something like this could affect cut-scenes? They could always be a little bit bigger than other characters of course and this way other NPCs that are meant to be bigger than the average person -like Letho- could be "enhanced".
Various
- Nefarious force called Magic
Sorceresses like Yen, Triss and Philippa should be able to use more than just a couple of spells to throw lightning bolts at their enemies. Is it possible to add "new" attacks to this kind o characters? To give you an example of what I mean, I think that it would be cool to give Yennefer the same attack used by the shaelmaar (the one that creates some sort of earthquake around him) so that by using the same animation that mages use to teleport themselves (when they raise their arms to the sky, to be clear) she can cast that spell under the enemy... Just like in the trailer "The Trail"... This mod could have huge potential!
- FX
The game has a pretty big amount of FX that doesn't use as much as it should. I cannot thank enough people like CreatorGreg for making his awesome mod Better FX... This reminded me how many effects W3 has that could be used to improve the game's look, like adding sparkles left and right whenever one sorceress casts a spell, smoke all around them to make them look even more ominous, monsters attacks could benefit from the effects of dust used by the shaelmar or Olgierd or even the particles left from Ciri when she arrives at CrookBack Bog for the first time.
Enhancing effects that look bad like the trail left from the lubberkin or Ciri's dodges is also one thing to do!
- Better Signs
I think that signs should be re-made with better textures, Igni should have much, much smaller particles and the same goes for Quen, we already have the awesome E3Quen by Drell47 that brought back the look of that sign for all the E3 Demo enthusiasts out there (me included) but it needs a better set of texture like a more sleek and subtle look for the protective sparkles around Geralt, giving them a more glowy feel to them. I could go on but I think that this should be left for the modder that is capable of something like this.
- Slice and dice
I really would like bandits to wield a knife instead of maces, blackjacks or swords all the time, I think that it's a more suitable weapon for a common bandit after all...
- Another ruin?
I'm well aware that there's a war on but Isn't Crow's Perch a little bit too damaged for a place that we know hasn't been touched by the recent battles? Is it possible to make some changes to the roof and the most ruined parts?
With all this said, let's begin!
Animations
- Riposte. Strike, counter-strike!
Geralt could use some more variety when it comes to counter-attacks animations. There are a few that could be added like the one used to cut grave hags' tongues and even the finisher move that cuts in half the opponent (it would be nice to remove it from the list of the finisher moves if it gets used for the counter-attacks), of course, in this case, the blow is not fatal but it should have the same effect of the "classic" counters. There are other animations obviously like the pommel strike, the back-hand hit and more!
- Magic or Danger?
It always seemed strange to me that Geralt keeps walking normally even when only a few steps ahead there's a bunch of drowners or a huge, growling fiend... So I was wondering if it was possible to create a hotkey (like 'R3') to make Geralt enter his Combat Stance, even if he's not holding a sword... This allows the player to contextualize Geralt's behavior when he's in a dangerous situation, or when he needs to be sneaky (even if the game doesn't have stealth mechanics of course).
- Swift Signs
Is it possible to make Geralt walk when he's trying to lit a torch or when he wants to extinguish a flame?
If it is, I would like to do so even when he casts Quen (or other Signs) out of combat, without having him to stop and enter his fighting pose!
- Whirlwind of Rage and Steel
Every time our witcher swings his swords, each one of his blows is interrupted by a moment in which Geralt is simply stuck at the end of the animation (this is especially noticeable on strong attacks), this, in my opinion, hurts the fluidity of the action. Ciri, on the other hand, is not afflicted by this problem as much as he is.
We already have a lot of mods to increase Geralt's speed when he's fighting but not the actual fluidity of the animations, so to achieve a more "witcher-like" combat action the only thing that should be speeded up (or removed, I wouldn't know) is just the moment that separates Geralt's hits.
- Mean faces
It would be very cool if guards and bandits -human enemies in general- had an angry expression on their faces during combat, just like Geralt!
A.I.
- Big Hunts
Fighting big monsters (not necessarily big, I'm talking about monsters that are found alone in the wild, like leshens, werewolves, cyclops and so on) is way too easy! That's one of the biggest downsides of this game in terms of "challenge for the player".
I really don't know how this is to be "fixed", but for example, after a fiend or a golem finishes a charge it should turn around and chase Geralt right away, maybe with a second charge or a backward attack. This mod would require a general set of improvements, according to the modder's tastes, but the idea is to make big monsters relentless, more aggressive and much more dangerous by also enhancing their special abilities and movesets (fiend's hypnotic attack should be much faster and create more darkness around Geralt for example alongside, as I said, a more aggressive behavior) maybe by taking some abilities from other monsters as well, for example, wyverns and forktails are way too easy to fight against when compared to slyzards/dracolizard from B&W which have a much more dangerous moveset and many counterattacks even though they are very much the same kind of creature.
- Survival instinct
I think that it would be cool if, when weakened, wolves and wild dogs ran away from combat... It's pretty stupid to see them fight until the end when all their friends are already dead... Maybe also hitting them with Igni could be a way to make them flee!
Landscape
- Into the Woods
Is it possible to add more trees to the game world? I really would like to have more dense woodlands and forests, feel like I'm trapped in a labyrinth when I venture in this kind of places. Of course, I don't want the whole map to be covered in trees but the areas that are meant to be forests should be enhanced with more trees and vegetation (and maybe be more connected between one another). I think that the most suitable trees for this mod would be the ones we have in the swamps and, in general, the pines ( also because the other trees that we have are ugly and look even uglier from afar, oaks are the worst IMO) ... Some of those are also curved and they could make some nice "tunnel-like" effects. Also, adding broken logs and trees on the ground or leaned against other trees would be awesome not to mention more mushrooms, rocks and so on!
NPCs
- Better Clothing & Armors
NPCs are a big deal in this game and they need more love, starting with better textures for their clothes and so on... For example, I was wondering if it was possible to change/swap the 'rigid' skirts with the ones used by rich women in Toussaint and other characters that use flexible clothing like Pinastri the Flagellant or Yennefer. Imagine how cool it would be to have that kind of flexible skirts not only on common NPCs like peasants or priests o the Eternal Fire but also on more important characters like Fringilla, Philippa and Keira that for some unknown reason were not blessed with a more advanced clothing technology. Guards and soldiers (of all the factions and regions except for the knights of Toussaint) are also in need for an upgrade in terms of textures/meshes. Their vanilla armors are EMBARRASSING, I mean they are really, really bad for NPCs that are so common and easy to spot in a crowd. Also, it would be awesome to have back the heavy armors from The Witcher 2 for some of the guards in Novigrad/Oxenfurt.
- I know that face
Is it possible to import NPCs' models from TW2? If it is, a mod like this could increase the sense of diversity when it comes to how many time you can see a certain face/body. Witcher 3 doesn't suffer too much in those terms but it could definitely benefit from something like this...Especially Elves and Dwarves! I have no idea of how NPCs are generated, is it random or they are as they look from the start? Would it be possible to give them more assets like beards from other characters like the Bloody Baron or Vivaldi? Maybe also some of Geralt's haircuts (the most unused at least)!
- A mountain of meat, never seen anyone bigger...
The Wild Hunt has some serious problems in terms of body growth, I mean they are giants basically, even Ge'els is enormous and then, right next to him there's Avvallac'h, same race, same world but his height is "normal"...
Now, I get the fact that being this big can add to the Hunt's terrifying reputation but to my eyes, it's just ridiculous... Would it be possible to re-scale them and their weapons? How much something like this could affect cut-scenes? They could always be a little bit bigger than other characters of course and this way other NPCs that are meant to be bigger than the average person -like Letho- could be "enhanced".
Various
- Nefarious force called Magic
Sorceresses like Yen, Triss and Philippa should be able to use more than just a couple of spells to throw lightning bolts at their enemies. Is it possible to add "new" attacks to this kind o characters? To give you an example of what I mean, I think that it would be cool to give Yennefer the same attack used by the shaelmaar (the one that creates some sort of earthquake around him) so that by using the same animation that mages use to teleport themselves (when they raise their arms to the sky, to be clear) she can cast that spell under the enemy... Just like in the trailer "The Trail"... This mod could have huge potential!
- FX
The game has a pretty big amount of FX that doesn't use as much as it should. I cannot thank enough people like CreatorGreg for making his awesome mod Better FX... This reminded me how many effects W3 has that could be used to improve the game's look, like adding sparkles left and right whenever one sorceress casts a spell, smoke all around them to make them look even more ominous, monsters attacks could benefit from the effects of dust used by the shaelmar or Olgierd or even the particles left from Ciri when she arrives at CrookBack Bog for the first time.
Enhancing effects that look bad like the trail left from the lubberkin or Ciri's dodges is also one thing to do!
- Better Signs
I think that signs should be re-made with better textures, Igni should have much, much smaller particles and the same goes for Quen, we already have the awesome E3Quen by Drell47 that brought back the look of that sign for all the E3 Demo enthusiasts out there (me included) but it needs a better set of texture like a more sleek and subtle look for the protective sparkles around Geralt, giving them a more glowy feel to them. I could go on but I think that this should be left for the modder that is capable of something like this.
- Slice and dice
I really would like bandits to wield a knife instead of maces, blackjacks or swords all the time, I think that it's a more suitable weapon for a common bandit after all...
- Another ruin?
I'm well aware that there's a war on but Isn't Crow's Perch a little bit too damaged for a place that we know hasn't been touched by the recent battles? Is it possible to make some changes to the roof and the most ruined parts?
