Are there any essential mods required for this game?

[Punished Soyjak]

This is an old game, so it is bound to have some sort of issues when running in 2022. Are there any mods that are needed to install for an optimal experience?

[Lord Of Dorkness]

MandaloreGaming did a really good, short newb guide for those wanting to play 'Vanilla+' a while ago.

https://pastebin.com/3PeursSZ

The one stop shop for a Vanilla+ System Shock 2 Playthrough. There are plenty of other good graphical/sound mods out there, but these are the basics.

READ THE TOP FORUM POSTS FOR FAQS AND HELP, THEY'RE FILLED WITH THE WISDOM OF THOSE WHO MADE THESE MIRACLES
Guide has been *slightly* updated for clarity and some other stuff

1 - System Shock 2 Tool, you should ALWAYS want to have this no matter what: https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=4141.0
2 - You should want the Blue Mod Manager installed during the wizard installing SS2 Tool, you can then plug the following zips right into it using the install mod archive feature.
2 - The Community Patch (SCP), grab the RealSG addon while you're here: https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=7116.0
3 - The SHTUP Texture Replacer: https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=22 (main site http://www.shtupmod.net/)
4 - The Four Hundred Terrain Replacer: https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=4240.0 (main site http://gaarabis.free.fr/index.php?catid=2#SHK2_400_jump, though this version is older)
5 - The Load Order might take care of itself, but it should look like from top to bottom with each having an Active status:
Four Hundred v20U
SHTUP-ND-Beta1
RealSG_1.05
SCP_beta4

Your computer will be HAUNTED if you put a single skill point in repair.

Good stuff if you want to go in as spoiler free as possible. Just don't scroll down far enough to see the screen-grab comparisons on some of those pages.

[Punished Soyjak]

Originally posted by Lord Of Dorkness:

MandaloreGaming did a really good, short newb guide for those wanting to play 'Vanilla+' a while ago.

https://pastebin.com/3PeursSZ

The one stop shop for a Vanilla+ System Shock 2 Playthrough. There are plenty of other good graphical/sound mods out there, but these are the basics.

READ THE TOP FORUM POSTS FOR FAQS AND HELP, THEY'RE FILLED WITH THE WISDOM OF THOSE WHO MADE THESE MIRACLES
Guide has been *slightly* updated for clarity and some other stuff

1 - System Shock 2 Tool, you should ALWAYS want to have this no matter what: https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=4141.0
2 - You should want the Blue Mod Manager installed during the wizard installing SS2 Tool, you can then plug the following zips right into it using the install mod archive feature.
2 - The Community Patch (SCP), grab the RealSG addon while you're here: https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=7116.0
3 - The SHTUP Texture Replacer: https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=22 (main site http://www.shtupmod.net/)
4 - The Four Hundred Terrain Replacer: https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=4240.0 (main site http://gaarabis.free.fr/index.php?catid=2#SHK2_400_jump, though this version is older)
5 - The Load Order might take care of itself, but it should look like from top to bottom with each having an Active status:
Four Hundred v20U
SHTUP-ND-Beta1
RealSG_1.05
SCP_beta4

Your computer will be HAUNTED if you put a single skill point in repair.

Good stuff if you want to go in as spoiler free as possible. Just don't scroll down far enough to see the screen-grab comparisons on some of those pages.

>Your computer will be haunted if you put a single skill point in repair
Is that supposed to be a joke? (paranoid about ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ things up).

[ps47.3dfx]

yes. basically, vanilla repair is useless, and more often than not, people end up taking it, because they mistake it for maintenance (which is THE skill that actually allows you to keep the weapons from breaking).

anyway, https://www.systemshock.org/index.php?topic=9327

[Lord Of Dorkness]

There's another noob-trap I'm sure made one of the devs cackle with glee, if you want a warning. Minor, early game mechanics spoiler that catches nearly every first-timer by surprise:

There's a perk system. O/S Upgrades. There's one that gives you what seems like a gigantic pile of XP... right before the game starts actually giving you XP. And unlike XP, there's only four such perks in the game.

Like Repair, that choice isn't COMPLETELY useless... but yeah. It's quite a kick in the teeth for first time players, almost everybody falls for.

[DarthShiba]

I've played this game recently with no mods whatsoever. It's entirely up to you. I don't see the need for any.

[ps47.3dfx]

*laughs in a decade+ of bugfixing*

no, the game is not perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination. and trust me, once you dip your toes in a few bugfix mods, it's HARD to go back. not saying you ABSOLUTELY have to get mods to have a good time.. but it's getting close.

[Sankhe]

What bugs are particularly bad? I recently replayed after a couple years and the only things I can think of encountering is the unique behavior of Localized Pyrokinesis- which is sort of working as intended as a matter of opinion- and some sliding doors getting stuck for no reason, which wasn't something I remember ever happening in prior playthroughs.

[ps47.3dfx]

I'd recommend the 50 page Community Patch readme. the (private) dev topic on map issues has some 100 forum pages (yes, that is pages, not posts), gamesys and resources about 135. and we are still not done..

the running joke is that the most amazing thing on this game is that it actually somehow worked and was completable when it shipped. it was held together by duct tape, paperclips and souls of all the dead pets that perished of neglect because the devs had to do overtime.

much of the paperclips and duct tape has been removed since then, but the souls remain. sometimes, they take a bite of your nanite pile or cyber module stack.