Mix-and-match which quality of life features you want: unlock all outfits, no tutorials, no item pop-ups, unlock swimming ability, less combat music, hardcore mode, and increased LOD.
✔ If you want to use this mod as part of your own I will likely approve it as long as your mod is an original idea with a significant contribution and not just a re-upload with minor tweaks. Please ask permission first and remember to give credit for any of my work that you use. If I have been inactive on Nexus Mods for at least 100 days then you may use this mod without asking for permission.
✖ I do not give permission for my work to be used in mods that are locked behind any form of a paywall. If you use my work your mod must be freely available to everyone. You are allowed to receive voluntary donations and opt-in to the Nexus Mods Donation Points system as long as no portion of your mod requires a donation or monetary subscription to access.
Special Thanks • TKGP - No Tutorials, used as inspiration for part of this mod. • Katalash - For making Mod Engine, so modding is easy and efficient.
Tools Used • Yabber - For unpacking the game's files. • DarkScript - For modifying the event scripts. • Yapped - For modifying the param files.
Donation Points system
Please log in to find out whether this mod is receiving Donation Points
Changelogs
Version 2.0.0-r1
HARDCORE MODE: Reduced the speed that enemies detect the player by 37.5% to allow stealth as a viable option.
Version 2.0.0
UNLOCK SWIMMING: Fixed a small issue that could've potentially caused the swimming ability to not unlock properly in rare circumstances.
NO TUTORIALS: Removed messages about new training being available when resting at the Sculptor's Idol at the Dilapidated Temple. (The messages will intentionally still appear when the speaking to Hanbei)
NO TUTORIALS: Kuro will no longer pester the player about healing if they try to leave the Moonview Tower before doing so.
NO ITEM POP-UPS: Restored pop-ups for notes/letters because they are often important or interesting to read.
LESS COMBAT MUSIC: Completely rewrote the game's music script. Fixed many issues with combat music playing when it shouldn't or not playing when it should. Also fixed errors of no music playing when ambient music should be.
LESS COMBAT MUSIC: Restored combat music for mini-bosses.
LESS COMBAT MUSIC: Combat music will now stop playing when the enemy that triggered it is killed (or exits combat) if there aren't any other enemies also in combat that trigger combat music, even if the player is still in combat with lesser enemies.
LESS COMBAT MUSIC: Ambient music will now resume playing after a boss has been defeated (except final boss and Reflections/Gauntlets of Strength, intentionally), rather than having awkward silence until you leave the boss area.
LESS COMBAT MUSIC: Quiet, eerie ambient music will now play in the Abandoned Dungeon, instead of having no music. Also added proper music tansition areas for all of the Abandoned Dungeon's entrances/exits.
LESS COMBAT MUSIC: Ambient music will now continue playing while the player is inside of a building, instead of having no music.
LESS COMBAT MUSIC: Quiet, eerie music will now play while the player is under water, instead of having no music.
LESS COMBAT MUSIC: Added a small area transition for ambient music in front of Ashina Castle Gate so the music doesn't awkwardly change when using that Sculptor's Idol or respawning.
HARDCORE MODE: Added option to make the game quite a bit harder in a variety of ways. (See mod's main description for details)
Added optional file to remove tutorial tips on loading screens.
Version 1.2-fixed
UNLOCK ALL OUTFITS AND/OR SWIMMING: Fixed an issue which prevented the swimming ability from being unlocked properly.
Version 1.2
NO ITEM POP-UPS: Fixed an issue which prevented non-combat consumable items from being usable in areas where the player's weapon is sheathed. Also fixed an issue that prevented gourds and homeward idols from being used under water or in certain areas.
UNLOCK ALL OUTFITS AND/OR SWIMMING: Added option to also unlock the swimming ability from the beginning of the game.
UNLOCK ALL OUTFITS AND/OR SWIMMING: Made a better script for giving items to the player.
LESS COMBAT MUSIC: Fixed an issue that prevented ambient music from playing in certain areas that it should. (This is an issue that seems to exist in the vanilla game)
NO TUTORIALS: Removed messages about Gauntlets of Strength being unlocked since they seem to appear every time the game is started.
Version 1.1
UNLOCK ALL OUTFITS: Added an optional feature to unlock all outfits from the beginning of the game.
NO ITEM POP-UPS: Fixed an issue that caused memories to appear on the item log twice.
This mod is split up into six different modules, so you can choose which parts you do and don't want to use:
Unlock All Outfits and/or Swimming: Unlocks all three alternate outfits and/or the swimming ability from the beginning of the game. Multiple options are included, so you can choose to unlock both or just one.
No Tutorials: Removes all forms of tutorial messages. Kuro will also no longer pester you if you try to leave the Moonview Tower before healing.
No Item Pop-ups: Removes the annoying full-screen pop-ups that appear when most items are obtained. The items will still appear on the item log on the right side of the screen. Notes/letters and some key items will still have full-screen pop-ups. (Includes fixes that aren't present in similar mods to remove pop-ups for items usable in water while still allowing them to be used in water, and allow non-combat items to be used while your sword is sheathed.)
Less Combat Music: Removes combat/alert music outside of boss and mini-boss fights. Instead of switching to loud combat music every single time an enemy spots you the ambient music will just continue playing. Boss/mini-boss fights still have combat music to make them feel more exciting. Ambient music will also keep playing in areas where there is usually no music, such as inside buildings, and quiet, eerie music will play while under water. (I pretty much completely rewrote the music event scripts to ensure this works exactly how I want it to. It was a pretty huge project to do this, but I think the end result is a significant quality of life improvement to the game.)
Hardcore Mode: Permanent Bell Demon and Kuro's Charm effects. Resurrections disabled. Less Sculptor's Idols. When an enemy sees the player in the distance it takes significantly less time for them to become alert or hostile. Some enemies, particularly stronger ones, allow very little time to perform a stealth backstab before they turn around. Most mini-bosses will notice if you're close behind them, making it impossible to stealth backstab them. Most mini-bosses respawn. Some additional strong enemies require deathblows to kill, some optional mini-bosses require additional deathblows to kill. All items in shops are more expensive to buy. All pellets and "Breath of Life: Shadow" skill removed. Restored Blazing Bull's original health and stamina from before the nerf in game update v1.03. Rebalanced spirit emblem cost of a few combat arts and prosthetic tools to better match their power. (Bell Demon and Kuro's Charm cannot be turned off. Sakura Droplet, Hidden Tooth, all Bite Down, all Jizo Statues and all Mibu Balloon of Souls are removed since they'd be useless. The removed Sculptor's Idols were carefully chosen with game balance and progression in mind. Stealth aerial deathblows are unchanged for enemies/mini-bosses that are harder/impossible to stealth backstab. Mini-bosses that have fog gates won't have them after they are killed once. Only fitting/strong-looking enemies require deathblows. There are more coin purses to buy from each shop to compensate for the higher prices, although they also cost a little more to buy. "Breath of Life: Light" skill and healing items other than pellets are unchanged.)
Increased LOD: The Extended LOD mod is included as an optional feature with each variant of this mod. Includes the option to double or triple the LOD (level of detail) range, or use the game's default. (Increasing the LOD range may impact the game's performance.)
Standalone Addons
Remove Loading Screen Tips: Removes the loading screen tips to give you a nice, clean loading screen.
Just put extract the .zip archive and move the event, param and/or script folder into Mod Engine's mods folder.
If you're interested in modding games yourself you can check my Game Modding Communities spreadsheets for relevant Discord servers and websites. Information about the tools and resources I used to make this mod can be found in the "permissions and credits" section above.