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I used to manually mod like this, but for a few years now I’ve pretty much just been using mod lists/packs.

For Bethesda RPGs (TES/Fallout), and a couple other games, you can use Wabbajack to auto-install a bunch of different lists, some of which have thousands of mods.

For other games you can usually use Vortex and Nexus collections, or in the case of Steam workshop, workshop collections.

If you want a good mod list for BG3, there’s Listonomicon.

"If it was easy, it wouldn’t be a shortcut, it’d just be the way. "

Modding varies from game to game, but having been doing it for nearly 40 years now, I can say it has generally become easier in the titles that want you to and harder in the ones that don’t.

This just reminds me of the mod situation for early versions of Minecraft. These days it’s as simple as pressing a button and dropping your mods into a folder, but back then it was a case of directly modifying the main Java file, removing specific bits, adding specific bits in specific places… not smooth at all

Genuinely not had a problem with mods, and I’ve been PC gaming for decades. Of course sometimes mods don’t work but thats life. Just be patient, you’ll get it done.

Decent mods have a readme file - follow the steps strictly - no skipping thinking you know better - and they should work.

Also look on YouTube or search online for guides - people often provide step by step guides to mod games purely out of a love for gaming.

Keep going - mods can be great, and its one of the many benefits of PC gaming. You’ll get there!

Are you using nexus mod manager, vortex? Makes modding somewhat friendlier

For every mod you add, complexity usually increases exponentially.

Depending on the game, difficulty also varies: modding stardew valley is joy (117 mods in a pack, easy afternoon sipping tea), modding skyrim less so (oh god,these two amazing mods tweak the same tree, time to go patch hunting, 2 weeks later you play it only to spot obscure graphical glitches, all hail wabbajack automation!), trying to make a working multiplayer mod pack for rimworld is pure suffering (why do you hate me, why do two compatible mods generate mass instability?!? 4 months of bug hunting and unsalvageable runs due to strange mod interactions, gave up for now).

Most games were never made to be modded. The communities are hacking mods into these games, many of which were even designed to make modding harder. (Because mods compete against sequels or something? I dunno. Intellectual property is a mental illness.) It’s not terribly surprising that games that weren’t meant to be modded have confusingly inconsistent methods for loading mods. Because those mods work fundamentally differently from game to game. If a mod happens to be easy-ish to install, chances are it’s either quite a simple mod (a model/texture replacement or some such, or just something that’s not terribly hard to mod) or a lot of work has been put into making it easier.

Can’t say that I’ve ever had this issue. Usually mod authors will tell you where to install them, or package the files in a folder structure such that there is no thinking involved.

Not familiar with those particular games, but if you’re lucky there might be a third party mod manager that takes some of the hassle out.

Depends on the game and how the mods work. I just did a bunch of mods on Morrowwind and there was a tool for it and it was straight forward. GTA IV was super straightforward loading the mods I thought. Dolphin game mods I thought where a little funky till I spent a little time with it and was like oh this makes sense they way they are doing it and I was being a dummy not fully reading the instructions

As the name suggests, a mod is “modifying” the game, in ways that the original creators never intended to support. That’s why out of very few exceptions (such as Paradox and Steam mods), there is not a centralized hub maintained by the creator to organize and apply mods. But since there are some similarities between certain games (such as the game engine they run on), sometimes there is a third party mod launcher/installer which simplifies things. Thunderstore is an example.

The process tends to be different for every game because every game is made differently. To boil the concept down, basically if there’s no official interface for custom functionality (such as a plugin system), then modders will usually “hack” this in themselves. Installing the mod often means replacing a game file with one that hooks into the game, to be able to load custom code and custom game resources.

You’re not missing anything. Heavy modding of older games PC can be a pain in the ass.

You can usually find a somewhat coherent and structured guide that will give you a step by step process, but will still be time-consuming (and there will likely be exceptions or outdated information).

The best option is to keep mods to minimum unless you know what you are doing and it’s a game that you play on a permanent basis.

Relatable, Mods do be tricky to implement