This week on the Mod Roundup, Pokémon and Monster Hunter's monsters aren't the only new creatures you can find in Ark—now there be dragons as well, five different kinds you can tame and breed.
Also, Fallout 4's cooking gets far more immersive with new sounds, effects, and animations. And finally, a mod for Skyrim makes learning spells a more complicated and rewarding process than it currently is.
Here are the most promising mods we've seen this week.
Dragontail, for Ark: Survival Evolved
Steam Workshop link
Modders sure like adding new creatures to Ark, and we're glad they do. How about some dragons, then? Here you go: five tamable, breedable, paintable dragons for you. Some are small enough to carry around, while others can be ridden, though none require saddles. These dragons don't replace existing creatures, and don't interfere with dino spawns.
Better Cooking Stations, for Fallout 4
Nexus Mods link
This mod makes a lot of really nice changes to Fallout 4's cooking stations. It adds new sounds (sizzling), new effects (embers, sparks, heat shimmer, plus an actual fire below the spit, which was missing), and new animations both for when you use them and when they're inactive (you can see the lovely swaying of the hanging meat and pot above). You can even tag them as private so your settlers can't use them—they're always helping themselves to your crafting benches, you know? Darn rude settlers.
Spell Research, for Skyrim
Nexus Mods link
It does seem a bit odd that becoming a powerful spellcaster in Skyrim mostly involves simply buying spells from other mages. Shouldn't there be a bit more involved in learning a spell? This mod turns the task into something more complex, requiring you to perform research in order to learn new spells. You can craft scrolls and tomes, break down alembic ingredients into their base components, and hunt for ancient texts and artifacts. The point is, becoming a master spellcaster requires hours and hours of work, which is as it should be.
Also this past week, I took a look at a mod that adds moving vehicles to Fallout: New Vegas! Plus, we reported on a mod that is adding Superhot's time-bending system to Portal as part of the Make It Superhot competition.