[gregebowman]

Originally posted by Slick:
First of all, if we define "essential" as "necessary for the game to work right or be fun" the answer is no. The unmodded game works quite well. That being said, there are lots of mods that make the experience even more fun and different to extend playability and also AI performance.

Second, as for "fun", that is very subjective. Basic recipe is to try mods, evaluate them, and play them if you like them. In general, most mods are very well done and you will be hard pressed to have time to play everything you like.

Slick.

Also, something I was doing before my computer got zapped was merging 2 or more mods together. I was using the TDM mod, then I added one of the mounts mods (can't remember which one, as there are at least 2 of them), and there was a mod that gave you huge and titanic planets to use in a mod (can't remember the name of that one either). Then there was a thread recently that gave you instructions on how to merge the TDM mod and the FQM mod. I also included the mount mod on that one. That's one great thing about this game. The infinite variety of ways to play this game. Once I get my new computer (and a much needed surge protecter), I'm going to have to try the Proportions mod.