With my previous post, I wrote about how much I love Tarkov but there's a caveat.
I don't love the "online" identity of the game; the wipes, the META, the cheaters,
the technical aspects that makes the game bad, the bugs that hasn't been fixed yet
since forever. The game sounds right now is so bad IMHO, and the AI is just meh most
of the time. The flea market kinda ruins the survival aspect of the game, looting is
just for the sake of making money and not that useful. TBF, it's a whole complicated
ecosystem but I'm just talking about the standard EFT gameplay, ratting and min-maxing.
TBF, its not the players fault - they are the product of the environment.
So how do I get my EFT fix, I play the offline single player mod.
The modding scene is nothing new, PC gamers have been enjoying this privilege since the
beginning of time. From texture upgrades to QOL mods, most PC games has someone tinkering
about making the game to their liking and vision.
Enter AKI- a single player server mod for Escape from Tarkov.
First off I like these server mods, because these online games wont be up forever and I want to
be able to play the game when it's all said and done. Secondly, I want to be able to play at
my own pace - just grind the levels without getting wiped out in a few months, I really dislike
that part. Thirdly, I just want to shoot stuff with pleasure.
I used to play the JET mod but eventually moved to AKI because the community support is great, so
much mods to choose from and the AKI version is always updated to the newest patch version of the
online EFT wheareas JET has been stuck to a really old version. You have to own EFT and you need the
game installed to play the mod (hate that part but if you are nifty, like I am, you can circumvent it).
I've been playing the recent patch and slowly adding the mods that I feel make the game closer to a
singleplayer survival looter shooter RPG game w/ PVE & PVP aspects. Below is the list of mods I have
installed to get the base game closer to what I think it should be (no disrespect to Nikita, love the
game you made bro and I can't wait for the final version LOL)
BotCallsigns-v1.4: mods the PMC names so they are closer to the derange naming scheme of the online
environment LOL.
DanW-LateToTheParty-1.3.5: game mod that essentially randomizes certain aspects of the game, to emulate
a more alive version.
DoorBreacher: game mod that allows to breach doors with your gun, it was so dumb that you couldn't just
shoot doors in a post apocalyptic world, fuck keys lol
MoreCheckmarksBackend: QOL mod that shows what you can do with items.
PMCsHaveEOD: QOL mod that assigns EOD status to PMCs, just like in live Tarkov.
Realistic-Night-Vision-Goggles-1.1.6: texture mod, just wanted to see how it looked.
Revingly-ChooseTheWeather-6.4.1: kinda hate the random bad weather, and rain seems to be always in high
probability, this kinda changes that.
ServerValueModifier: my base mod, you can change so much in the server values with this. I made my own
preset based off another preset to push the game closer to a more survival game.
Skwizzy-NoDiscardLimit: AI mod that makes the bots loot stuff.
TorturedChunk-LevelRewards-1.0.5: QOL mod thats kinda fun, buffs the RPG element of the game by rewarding
you when you reach a level.
Virtual's Custom Quest Loader: custom quest loader for custom missions, not really sure why I installed this
since I'm not running any custom missions..yet.
zzDrakiaXYZ-Waypoints: bot mod that expands the bots reach in the game, essentially widens their patrol which
makes the game feel more alive as they can show up out of nowhere, emulates player scav behaviour.
CWX: performance game mod, deletes grass in the game.
AmandsHitmarker.dll: QOL mod that adds hitmarkers in game, justy so satisfying NGL.
DrakiaXYZ-BigBrain.dll: AI mod, extra logic lib for other mods.
dvize.BushNoESP.dll: AI mod that "blinds" AI so they don't have perfect vision.
dvize.DadGamerMode.dll: game mod, essentially God Mode lite if activated.
dvize.NoGrenadeESP.dll: AI mod that gives AI 50/50 chance, base game is 100% they run.
DynamicExternalResolution.dll: game mod that gives FPS boost when scoping in.
Endurance.dll: game mod that makes you gain endurance no matter what.
ThatsLit-Release.dll: game mod that hides you from perfect AI vision when you are in a bush or under a
shadow.
Tyrian-Radar.dll: game mods that adds a radar in game, cuz the sound tracking sucks and I can't track
anything because of how dark the game looks.
TYR_DeClutterer.dll: performance mod.
dvize.EOH.dll: AI mod that makes PMC fight against each other, like in live Tarkov.
I also run DWM_lut, to change how the game looks but not using post effect. And SPT profile editor as
some missions in game is bugged and you just gotta complete it unfortunately. You can use it to edit
you character profile mostly, give you extra stuff or activate certain aspects of the hideout, or just
boost your character skills.
Overall, I chose the mods that changes macro aspects of the game, and the AI. I added some performance mods
but thats the smoothen out the FPS, I don't need the performance boost when I run live as the server is not
running in the same PC. As well, I tend to avoid mods that changes mechanics of the game so no recoil fix or
FOV fix, or the no inertia mod.
Now I can enjoy the game at my own pace while, PVP is not something I would die for anyways. I get enough PVP
playing chess or third strike.
tick tock