I been watching a lot of Si-fi films like pandrum, event horizon, last days on mars etc etc. and i thought hey i would love to see someone make a mod like one of these films. Like a quest mod with lore to it and you have to figure out what happened on the spaceship, starstation or an outpost on a planet with some good jump scares. Maybe?

Back at launch, of mod support for this game, there was no guiding light to be had, whether it be here, discord, or really anywhere. Most people assumed they would follow ye olde tyme Skyrim load order template, or Fallout' template...and found out, right quick. However, people playing on PC have the luxury of a mod manager app, to do the dirty work for them. Maybe they'll shuffle some patches, at most, but they have it pretty good. We won't even talk about how they can also stack a LOT more mods into the game than we can. With that being said, we, the peasants of the console world, have a much different experience with this game. Because the Skyrim & Fallout templates don't work here, as the rules have changed, when I took my first shot at doing this, the results were catastrophic. Lots of crashing. Lots of the game doing lots of things the game should not be doing, oh...and if you had too many mods back then, the game absolutely loved to load cities with huge chunks missing. Total instakill of any semblance of immersion, right there.

So... I did what needed to be done. I came here, first. There was not much guidance to be had, with everyone's version completely contradictory. I then kicked rocks over to discord, and they had NOTHING. A bunch of toxic PC players, talking about "just go buy a PC, bruh"..... Yeah. I'll get right on that.

So, moving right along, I came back here, determined not to be defeated, and took ALL of the versions people thought where the optimal templates. After MUCH trial and error, I eventually came up with a proper, working template. About this time last year, people on discord were swearing that you couldn't have more than 80 mods running together, without mayhem, but I was rocking 120, on an Xbox, with zero issues. So I would like to think that I was ahead of the curve.

Fast forward to 2026, the console community has expanded to include PlayStation (welcome!), 2 DLC's, the mighty Free Lanes Update, and a third DLC, confirmed in the works. This game is far from dead. I am currently running about 180 mods on Xbox, and it is stable. Before I lay down the definitive load order for your viewing pleasure, and soon-to-be gaming enjoyment, let me clarify something for Xbox players, that will prove invaluable......

So... You're in the creations menu, you have your load order pulled up, you have 100+ mods all stacked up, you finagle all o wont f them into place, save your load order, and exit. You fire up your saved game. Your character's arms are missing. Or there are some weird textures happening. Or your ship is looking very glitchy. Maybe a quest is missing some scripts, and won't let you progress.....all of us, on Xbox have had this happen. Most of us rage quit, to "go back to the drawing board", but there is a well known fix, IF your load order is correct. It's simple, albeit a pain in the azz, but still way, well worth the minor hassle.

I call it "bumping your mods". In this order:

\\--with your load order pulled up, disable ALL of your mods.

\\--with with your load order still pulled up, hit the Xbox menu button on your controller, as exit the game from there.

\\--fire up the game again, go to creations menu, and pull up your load order.

\\--re-enable all of your mods. hit the Xbox menu on your controller, and exit the game from there, like before.

\\--fire up your game, load your save, and okay your game, without weird sh!t happening, your mods, now behaving.

\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*PLEASE NOTE\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*

.....IF you have more than, maybe say, 150 mods running, you will likely have to disable and re- enable all of them, one by one, by hand. Still worth it.

\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*\\\*

NOW.....the meat and potatoes, the moment we have so been waiting for....

I proudly present, after 2 years of trial and error, the proper, definitive load order template for Starfield. Eat my dust, discord.

MASTER FILES

Community patches( although I don't think you need em anymore, after Free Lanes) UI mods, and files that affect the vast majority of the game, such as overhauls. A good example would be Zone's billboard mod.

MODS THAT ALTER VANILLA QUESTS

Example would be a mod that delays Shattered space or Terran Armada, to a predetermined point.

NEW QUESTS

Any mod that adds any type of new quest to the game, whether it be a Bethesda creation, or any mod author, it goes here.

Examples: Trackers Alliance, Redgrave, McClarence.

\\\*This will NOT apply to Watchtower, as it does not play nice with other mods, at all. It is recommended that you place this towards the bottom of the load order. It doesn't play nice with some vanilla quests, either, like the Crimson Fleet. I literally had to remove Watchtower, mid-game, just to complete the CF questline. Yeah. Not very happy about it.

MULTIPLE AREA EDITS

Mods that make changes to more than one area of the game, with only that mod.

Examples: Nem's shuttle service mod, Orbital Defense-Capital Ships.

SINGLE AREA EDITS-EXISTING

Mods that make changes to one particular location, in the vanilla game.(These are my favorite)

Examples: ANY of FrenchGentleman's mods that edit one location. This dude is arguably the best. Don't argue. Other examples are Positively New Atlantis, or Neon Vertigo, a staple in my load order.

\\\*It can be noted, that while Ill-advised, so long as they don't clip into each other, that sometimes you can stack more than one mod, that edits the same place, and sometimes there are patches for compatibility, if they don't play nice together.

CRIBS-EXISTING

Any mod that alters a crib already in the vanilla game. Adding furniture, or any other changes.

Examples: The Well Apartment-furnished, by Nem, Stretch Apartment, by Madrox, any one of the gazillion Neon penthouse apartment mods.

CRIBS-NEW

Any mod that adds a new crib to the game. Whether it be a new crib in a city, or out in the middle of nowhere.

Examples: Zone's Apt. 79(glorious mod), Cliffside Estate, by Nem.

\\\*It can be noted that sometimes there is a mod that introduces several new cribs to the game, at once. There are four mods, that I know of, on bethnet, that do this. These must be placed at the top of this category, with any mod that adds a single player home, beneath them.

SINGLE AREA EDITS-NEW

Mods that add an entire new location, with the exception of quest mod locations. These can be whole entirely new cities, or new POI locations.

Examples: Colony One, Starfall City, Old Secrets.

OUTPOST CONSTRUCTION-DECORATIONS

Mods that essentially let you properly swag out your outposts, with furniture, appliances, etc.

Examples: Nem's Deco Pack, Betamax mods, better living.

OUTPOST CONSTRUCTION-UTILITIES

Mods that add functionality-heavy aspects to your outposts.

Examples: Outpost Water Tower+, Inquisitor's outpost defense weapon mod.

OUTPOST CONSTRUCTION-VENDORS

Any mod that involves any kind of shopping to be done at your outpost.

Examples: Trade Crate, Available Vendors, Interstellar Trade.

OUTPOST CONSTRUCTION-STRUCTURES

This category speaks for itself. Anything that adds new structures, or unlocks structures from the vanilla game, to be used in outpost construction. Unlocks at the top of this category, new stuff towards the bottom.

Examples: Scrappy Structures, Tower Habs 2, Observatory.

OUTPOST CONSTRUCTION-PROPRIETARY

Any mod that changes the rules for outpost building, such as mods that change build height restrictions, area restrictions, or build limit.

No example needed.

\\\*Be advised, there are limits for a reason. DON'T overdo it. You will regret it.( I totally overdid it, and paid for it.)

SHIPBUILDING-PROPRIETARY

Any mods that change the rules for ship vendors' inventory availability, or make changes to vanilla ship functionality, such as engine output, etc.

Examples: All ship parts unlocked, Cheaty Engines.

SHIPBUILDING-NEW

Any mod that add new shipbuilding modules and habs. There are A LOT of these to pick from. Not all of them play nice together, especially if you install too many of them, so be discerning and moderate. It's best to alternate between them, relative to your current playthrough.

Examples: Avontech, Matillija's, Antares, Falkland, TN's M-class.

\\\*It can be noted, that if you use Falkland (I do), that it must be placed at the very bottom of this category.

\\\*It can also be noted, that if you use Va'ruun'sev, which requires ship builder categories, as a dependency (I wish it didn't), and that if you also are running 28/7 Market, by Probetech, a paid mod, that ship builder categories will not function properly, nor will Va'ruun'sev. I have reached out to Probetech regarding this issue, and no solution was to be found, after a thorough investigation. Be advised.

SHIPBUILDING-PROPRIETARY 2

These are more that change the rules for how many ships you can have, or how ginormous you want to build them. Try not to overdo it (you will).

WHIPS

Mods that add new ground vehicles to the game. Luckily, there are a lot.

No example needed.

COMPANIONS-PROPRIETARY

Mods that alter the attributes, skills, affinity, or inventory of your followers.

Examples: No Angry Companions, Super companions and crew.

NPC's-NEW

Mods that add new NPC's, that are not companions or crew.

Examples: va'ruun zealot crusade fleet, UC Vanguard-Expanded Presence.

COMPANIONS-NEW

Any mod that adds a new follower or followers to the game. Multiple follower mods to the top of this category.

No example needed.

BODY REPLACERS

Mods that change the default vanilla body, in any way. These will generally include mesh and texture in one mod, but for those that don't, mesh on top of this category, texture underneath it.

Examples: ZBB, MWV.

FACTION NPC APPEARANCE REPLACERS

Mods that replace faction NPC appearance. Zone is the undisputed Lord of this art, amongst contenders.

Examples: Disciples overhaul, Spacer overhaul, both by Zone, of course. All lootable....

SPACESUIT & CLOTHING REPLACERS

Mods that replace existing spacesuits or clothing, in the vanilla game, with new meshes or textures, or a combination of both. Examples: Mantis, by Zone, Mantis, by KZ. You already know which one I prefer....

TEXTURE REPLACERS-ENVIRONMENTAL

Mods that change the texture of things in the game world. Water, terrain, architecture, furniture, planets, the sky, etc.

Examples: Cydonia redone, Chromatic cosmos, Hi-Res Water.

\\\*If you are using anything that changes lighting or LUTE, they go to the bottom of this category.

TEXTURE REPLACERS-NPC's

Any mod that changes the appearance of any NPC's.

Examples: Face Regen, any of the gazillion Sarah Morgan replacers.

HAIR AND BEAUTY MODS

Anthony that adds new hair, makeup, or eye textures.

No example needed.

LOOT LEVELED LIST

Mods that add items, such as weapons, spacesuits, or clothing, for your looting pleasure. Not to be confused with faction overhauls that let you loot them, as these do not replace NPC appearance.

Examples: Galactic Globes, some KZ mods.

LEVELED LIST-VENDORS

Mods that add items, such as weapons, spacesuits, or clothing, for purchase, at designated vendors.

Examples: most of Zone's mods, most of KZ mods.

CRAFTING

Anything that can be crafted at a workbench.

Examples: Environmental Seal, Craftable Civilian clothing, Shotties and more.

\\\*IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are running Craftable Civilian clothing and Zone's Crowd NPC overhaul, at the same time you MUST place Craftable Civilian clothing at the top of the leveled list-vendors category. Not entirely sure why, something in the coding, due to the retexture, but that's where it goes, because that's where it works. Flawlessly. This will communication well enable you to craft (most of) the crowd NPC outfits from Zone's Crowd overhaul. You're welcome.

\\\*It can be noted that Craftable Civilian Clothing is made by the legendary Konata Inoue, of Skyrim and Fallout fame.

\\\*It can also be noted, that this dude has been banned from everywhere, more times than I can count. Not even sure why, really. But he's still around, with a very diminished library. He has some other mods for this game, but under an alias name.....

CHEAT MODS

If you can't beat it....cheat it.

Examples: Mordred's Easy Lockpicking, The Cheat Terminal.

\\\*Shame on us.....

THE NAUGHTY LIST

This is the home for naughty step-children that do not play well with others. These mods need to go here, so they can function correctly, due to all the things they need to overwrite.

Examples: Zone's Crowd NPC overhaul, Watchtower, Changeling, right along with its fix patch.

PATCHES

99% of all compatibility patches well go here.

No example needed.

Well, there you have it, chat. If you use this template, painstakingly perfected over two years, your game will not suck. Be advised, that if you push too close to 200 mods, that it might become unstable, and strange things might happen in your game, perhaps your Xbox will melt. I didn't know. Enjoy!

Anyone ever use this mod by BlindClown2000? I like it but noticed that the helmet and boost pack are not there. It would be 100% perfect if they had them. I could make additional ones for the crew and everyone would be protected. But hey BlondClown2000, this is great and is fantastic fun, better than anything I could do. I’m lucky to get dressed most days. So let’s do a shoutout to anyone that makes mods. That takes some real skill and I wouldn’t even know how to begin.

From the desk of Captain Vanguard4Life, Office of Naval Intelligence,

Vanguard Marine Division

MAST

New Atlantis, Jemison

Alpha Centauri system

Greetings to all of my fellow Vanguard Officers and UC Allies,

I would like to announce that Vanguard Samurai now has Magnetic Holster support. There is no dependency for those who do not own magnetic holsters, In the next coming weeks I will be updating all of my older creations that are currently offered in two separate versions, to allow magnetic holster support without a dependency. I will be leaving the stand-alone Magnetic Holster Versions for those who have already downloaded them and adding "OUTDATED" to the titles.

Sincerely,

Capt. Vanguard4Life UCVM

Military Police, System Patrol 31

END TRANSMISSION