I’ve found that for single person purposes, a RAID array is unnecessary. I just buy beefy 8TB drives. If it dies, just download any recent torrents again or pull a backup

So, you can work around these things but you’re going to run into problems if you do:

-If you reset the router, you need to restore the original password else they’ll know

-if they notice you using these devices when you wouldn’t have access, they’ll remove them further from your reach. Possibly permanently.

-If detected, a larger conflict is likely to be escalated. This includes a loss of the benefit of the doubt in the future.

I’d suggest that this is not the battle to fight. They’re likely fighting your apparent obsession with tech. Let them have this battle and continue your fun later.

Try the Stormlight Archive, wheel of time, or mistborn books. Maybe the redwall books if you’re younger. Fun and focus can still be had without a computer!

I’d act like it never happened. If they recognize that they got weird, then they deserve some dignity. If they don’t, then I don’t want to get into that hot mess.

It’s pretty easy to just not put the AI tag on things, or to strip such things away from an image.

Real, albeit shit-tier modder here. You are correct.

Mods depend a lot of the type of mod.

Entity model changes are relatively easy, often as simple as replacing texture and model files. This is highly dependent on the tech used to make the game and how it’s packaged.

Sound files, similarly, are a file replacement job as long as nothing too funky is involved.

After this, we start to get into larger toolchains. We need tools to decode game data so it can be manipulated, tools to gain access to the game as it starts up or as it runs, and tools to use those tools to create modifications and implement them easily.

Graphics upgrade mods often use directx overrides, such as in SweetFX and Reshade. Sometimes they replace or override existing game files directly.

Bug fixes and additional functionality are where things get really interesting. At first, these are done with hacks done in the form of function overrides that can only be created after analyzing the compiled game executable. Later, tools are built that allow easier access and present game functions to other developers for easy modification.

And sometimes the difficult parts are skipped over entirely when developers include modding APIs or SDKs for public use.