Journey

Journey, a so small collection mod (see collection details at the end)

-- The changes -- Skill ranks 3 and 4 (for all 82 skills, except Piloting) require having been through Unity multiple times (NG+). Rank 3 skills start from NG+1 (once through Unity) up to NG+5, depending on the specific skill. Rank 4 skills range from NG+5 to NG+10.

Furthermore, all Rank 3 and 4 skills (including Piloting) require that you have 1000 Units of varying, skill specific minerals in your inventory at the moment when you want to learn the skill. The minerals are not consumed and can be used or sold afterwards.

The ingame descriptions of all skill ranks 3 and 4 have been updated accordingly so that you can see the required NG+ and type of minerals needed.

-- The concepts behind Journey -- Journey gives a strong sense of direction and purpose to the game, specifically when it comes to travelling through Unity and building outpost networks:

Without entering Unity you will never become an Expert or Master in anything - you have to embark on the journey through the Universes to achieve personal mastery. As 1000 units of many different minerals are very hard to find by just adventuring (especially with my "Explorer" mod where most minerals arent for sale) re-building outpost networks becomes an integral part of this journey. The formerly disconnected outpost system is now tied in at a very central place.

As full specialization will take many Unity runs Journey will make you change your play style. To succeed you have to utilize and combine multiple fields of proficiency. Get ready to learn parts of the game you have skipped so far or only casually looked into. You will need them. The game gets much more difficult this way, as - even subconscious - min-maxing is not possible anymore (at least to the extent you might have been used to).

A very positive effect of this challenge increase is a strong sense of achievement once you unlock a skill rank 3 or even 4 that you have been working so hard for. These higher skill ranks turn from checkpoints in a build list to real milestones of your adventure.

I did exclude Piloting from the NG+ requirements as it's so fundamental for unlocking the ship classes (and ship parts to an extent). The minerals required were chosen to provide maximum variety and therewith send you travelling all over the Verse. Unique minerals were excluded as these are too hard to come by in some instances.

This mod combines especially well with my mods ""Dynamic Universe", "Enter Unity", "High Level Weapons" and "Gear Progression". None of them is required though, even balancewise.

Enough words from me - I hope you will enjoy this Journey as much as I do. If so, please tell me about your adventures on Reddit's forum or via peronal message (see below).

-- Installation and usage -- As with all mod installations make a manual savegame to return to in case anything goes wrong before installing the mod. That's it - very easy :-).

If you should use my mod the "The Isotopes" I suggest having "Journey" take precedence ofter "The Isotopes" (put Journey further down in your load order). This way you will keep the effects on equipment mods of "The Isotopes" and have the full effects of Journey at the same time.

-- Contact, bug reporting and feedback -- I will create a thread on Starfield reddit after release (search for "Journey" mod and my name there: yourfellowglitch) for feedback, bug hunting, updates and general chat with a good Terrabrew in hand.

-- so small collection -- This mod is part of the "so small collection" of mods. These mods dont require each other and can be played stand alone, even balancewise. They form a greater whole though - the more of them you combine, the more you see this final shape. The overarching idea is to create a gameworld that feels immensely vast, begs for thorough exploration, is full of mysteries, plays truely challenging and lasts very, very long. In other words the goal of the mods is to make the player feel: so small.

Here's a list of the mods in the so small collection in case this idea resonates with you:

Dynamic Universe: A universe that dynamically scales up with your character level - be it star systems or individual enemies. No more outleveling of content, no more overleveled starts of NG+.

Gear Progression: Gear Progression adds levels to all weapons, suits, helmets and backpacks. Your character level must match these in order to equip the gear. Each NG+ these levels raise further.

Economy: Economy shifts income generation away from tiresome loot hauling. Ship building becomes the long term goal it's meant to be. As credits get more scarce, rewards remain meaningful.

Explorer: An immersive overhaul of the resources - crafting - exploration loop. Get out there into the Starfield and explore - the rewards are much bigger now, but so is the need to do it.

Linearity (alternatively have a look for "Death" or "Ruin" mods): A new gameplay mode where reloading is your last resort. Live and embrace your adventure as it unfolds, imperfect as it may be. You can always save to quit and continue later.

Slow Travel: Slow Travel makes your journey through Starfield much more tactile and immersive by grav jump costs, less map markers, no move on overencumberance and restricted fast travel.

Star Powers: Live as a Spellblade in the Settled Systems. Powers are rebalanced so that eg crowd control, slowed time and near invisibiilty become interesting instead of game balance breaking.

The Isotopes: A compelling reason to explore POI in all Star Systems. Loot the 75 new Isotopes, each specific to a singular Star System. They are needed for rank 4 skills and gear mod crafting.

High Level Weapons: Continue to find better weapons, all the way up to level 300. 7+ new revisions/tiers for each of 50 weapon types. Uniquely named, legendary, each hidden in a specific star system.

High Level Armors: Continue to find better armors up to lvl 255. All HLA share about the same power level - mix and match for the looks you like. Starborn armors improve in quality and variety, too.

Counterfire: Starting with level 85 the player gets 1% more ground combat damage for each level. Idealy used in combination with the "High Level Weapons" mod.

Terra Incognita: All ground surface maps disabled. No markers, no topography, no top down small buildings, no white dots - nothing. Welcome to Terra Incognita - the universe is yours to discover.

Helium-4: Gravjumping requires a pilot to inhale new Helium-4. Not storable and non-tradable - lasts 2 jumps. Explore those moons to get it. Can you chart a course across the Blackest Sea?

Dusty: The new stat Suit Energy depletes rapidly on airless worlds. Mine minerals or take shelter to survive. Five very hidden grains of Elder Dust reward the true Dusties out there.

Less XP: Extra XP for more difficult vanilla gameplay options removed. New options to turn off crafting XP, lower XP for killing fauna and adjust XP gain rate to 75/50/25/10 percent.

The Waiting Game: Whenever you wait or sleep you will sell loot for zero profit for the next 60 real time minutes. Go visit vendors at different places, adventure naturally, quit the waiting game.

Enter Unity: With Enter Unity your origin universe has a max level of 60, raised by 30 with each NG+. If you enter Unity more than 50 levels below max though, you are in for big trouble.

POI Rotation: A new realtime timer and a new list of discovered POI (Points of Interest) effectively prevent repetition. It will take many hours before you can encounter the same POI twice.

Rarity: Increase your chances of finding Legendary and Epic loot by fully surveying Star Systems. The more you explore, the better the loot. But beware, all beginnings are hard.

Health: Health regeneration from the start, but only up to a limit. Increase it by killing enemies, but beware: if you die or reload midsession you have to rebuild your kill streak.

Journey: Skill ranks 3 and 4 only unlock after crossing Unity many times and having 1000 Units of varying minerals. Broaden your play style, rebuild outpost networks, embrace the journey.

Time: After 24 waits/sleeps in the current universe player max Health is reduced by 20 for each further wait/sleep until next NG+. Move time naturally, wait/sleep only when it counts.

PPOI Deserted UC Listening Post: Procedural Points of Interest (PPOI) aims to make the contents of each POI procedural - no repeat visit should ever feel identical. This time upgraded: Deserted UC Listening Post.