What are the must have mods for someone starting?
 

I'm just starting out. At the same time, I like to play the "best" version up front. I don't have time to get used to the basic game and then add mods in, as that simply means I will have some time to play the basic game and never get to the mods. So I might as well spend limited time playing the best "total" version.

At the same time, I don't want bells and whistles just for their own sake. I'm really looking for things that make the gameplay better (so I don't care about graphics packs, for example). The mod list can be small (or none, if no mods really make the game substantially better. I'm just looking for the key mods that give things like better AI, substantially better UI, etc.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Re: What are the must have mods for someone starti
 

Balance mod is the basic game, only balanced. It also includes Fyron Quadrant Mod, which is just better quadrants.

Re: What are the must have mods for someone starti
 

I see that it exists for 1.58. Is there a 1.63 version?

Re: What are the must have mods for someone starti
 

It works in 1.63

Re: What are the must have mods for someone starti
 

Right, you just really need the Balance Mod... but some ship sets should be the next not-so-important thing on your list http://www.spaceempires.net/home/shipyards-g-SE5.html

Re: What are the must have mods for someone starti
 

Also remember to increase the quadrants in settings.txt

Maximum Number Of Systems := 100

to

Maximum Number Of Systems := 255

And

Maximum Number Of Systems Large Quadrant := 100

to

Maximum Number Of Systems Large Quadrant := 255

This will maximize the game's number of systems for those really long "I want to play all weekend long" games.

Re: What are the must have mods for someone starti
 

SE is a lifetime endeavor

Re: What are the must have mods for someone starti
 

I must say that the Balance Mod is probably the best of the ones I've played. But I'm no expert. I hardly have any time to play the game lately. But of the mods I've tried, I always go back to the Balance Mod. And like Master ChiToes says, try some different shipsets. Just read the Readme file for the Balance Mod, and it will tell you have to install them.

What are the must have mods for someone starting
 

I know you are all talking about SE5, but I did not want to start a new thread with this question, one which has been asked thousands of times:
What mod/mods do you recommend to play a good challenging SE4 solo game? Besides is the last game version (1.95, I think) the best one to play with, or anyone of the older versions fare better?

Thanks in advance to all!

Re: What are the must have mods for someone starti
 

I would go with the Star Trek Mod.