After installing the game you need to do this (windows):

Right click on your desktop and chose Display Settings, then scroll down till you see the text Graphic Settings right at the bottom. Click on it,

You now have the window Graphic Settings open, there is a browse button. Click on it and add the following exe files (they are inside the game installation folder)

"..\bin_ship\DAOrigins.exe" then "..\bin_ship\DAOriginsConfig.exe" then "DAOriginsLauncher.exe" for each of these click on the options button that appears under if you click on them. then for each chose the High Performance option.

Once you did this, you go to this site https://ntcore.com/?page_id=371 and you download the patch and you apply it, both on the DAOrigins AND on the "DAOriginsLauncher.exe"

After this you can start the game and set it to Max settings and should run fine. But if you get any crash (save often and in different slots) then bring back the quality of all settings to medium or low. (usually this may happen in the Denerim area)

Then you get to nexus mods and you get these mods

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/4689
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/1762
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/1112
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/3009
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/4384
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/5840

You should follow this youtube video on how to install these mods but for a closer vanilla experience just install the mods I've linked above, the rest are adding nu*e bodies and other stuff that is pointless in my opinion if you never played the game before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL1oFoOaNwk

lastly when installing this mod, before you create the modmanager package

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/4384

delete the following folders
Autoloot containers
Autoloot kills
Fast move out of combat (especially this one, it makes the game ridiculous)
Hide modal AoE VFX
Hide modal VFX
Hide Shale crystal VFX
Hide weapon VFX crusts
Hide weapon VFX telekinetic
These last ones may be ok for later plays of the game but if you are new is nice to see the game as was intented and to understand various effects and spells. Having them turned off will hid information that experinced players know about and they don't want to see it anymore. For a new player that is a disadvantage.

Order to play the DLC (they are in the Other Campaign button in the game menu)

If first time you play the game, play "Origins", then "Awakening", then "The Golems of Amgarrak", then lastly "The Witch Hunt"

You can play "Leliana's Song" "The Darkspawn Chronicles" and " A Tale of Orzammar" in any order after you have played Origins.

Finally one last very important advice, enjoy this game like a cup of good wine, don't run trough it, "Dragon Age II" and in a big part "the inquisition"n are dog crap comparing with this. So don't think you should get trough this fast because it gets better with the other games.

If other old players have any more advice that would be great to add them here, no spoilers if possible.

Thanks for the tips!

Strongly recommend NOT removing autoloot kills. Looting bodies is very tedious without it.

Thanks for this Guide. This is really helpfull for beginners. Some addition:

- Use Qwinn's Ultimate DAO Fixpack v3.52 ONLY if you play with english language, other languages are not supported by the fix.
- I also find "Fast move out of combat" pretty crazy. To remove it, after you already saved a game here's what the author says how to uninstall:

The Lucky, Fast Move, Hide Weapon VFX Crusts and Telekinetic Dual Weapons modules can cause permanent changes if the mod is simply removed. If you are using them, you'll need to delete the contents of override/Dain's Fixes apart from the CORE folder, then re-save your games. The mod will detect the removal of these modules and update your game accordingly.

- "autoloot" is definitely helpfull ! Don't remove.

I also reccommend the "Dragon Age Origins Unofficial Remaster" for beautiful graphics improvements:
www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/5728

Yes, this is a lot of work, but it's worth it. You get one of the best RPGs ever!

There's a solution for that here: https://github.com/humhue/DAOTools

All I did was install the 4GB patch on the game exe itself and it seems to be working fine. I have no mods as I have never done a complete playthrough yet. Should I be okay just doing that?

I don't understand what this tool does?

For the first play through Origins I very much recommend at least two further things:

1.Dain's Fixes. They are very easy the handle, just copy the content to Documents/BioWare/Dragon Age/packages/core/override folder. Remove "Fast move out of combat"-Folder inside "Quality of Life"-Folder before you start the game.

2. Dragon Age Origins Unofficial Remaster. This one is a really great graphics improvement you don't want to miss.
Installation is the same. Just copy the content to override folder.

It allows you to fix mods, such as QUDAO, so that the game respects your chosen language.