Your favorite Skyrim mods?

[Frag_Maniac]

Since getting my 7970 I've been thinking of reinstalling Skyrim and playing with mods this time. I've looked through the top 100 rated mods at Skyrim Nexus, and I like a lot of them. I mainly want to improve visuals and any gameplay elements that were missing or shallow to enhance the game.

The problem is, a lot of the ones I looked at tweak similar things, and it's hard to tell what can or should be combined and at what point you're using too many that may overlap, cancel something out from another one, or conflict somehow.

Is the Skyrim HD 2K Textures mod complete yet? Does it cover the whole game now? Can anyone show me more convincing screenshot comparisons of it vs Bethesda's HD pack than the author of the mod has shown on Nexus? I basically want to cover the whole environment. Objects, weapons, NPCs, terrain, foliage, sky, weather, lighting, etc.

 

[erixx]

same here : chaos!

 

[EiSFX]

Most of the mods i use are included in STEP (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11)

I'm a Admin on the STEP forums which can be found here (http://forum.step-project.com/index.php)
which is where alot of people post about mods that can help improve skyrim and other stuff like that

 

[MxPhenom 216]

True Vision ENB

 

[TheMailMan78]

Most of the mods i use are included in STEP (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11)

I'm a Admin on the STEP forums which can be found here (http://forum.step-project.com/index.php)
which is where alot of people post about mods that can help improve skyrim and other stuff like that

You should contact Crazyeyesreaper here on TPU. Hes half retarded but hes an idiot savant when it comes to game engines.......especially the one in Skyrim.

 

[lyndonguitar]

The one that changes the HUD, inventory system and such to a much more organized view, I think is Sky UI?

The one that makes Dragons much more strong for epic grand battles.

2K HD Texture Pack is a must if you're rig can handle it. also add some water/smoke/cloud/whatever effect mods.

Also the ENB Series filter looks fantastic too, I almost use it in every game compatible.

I forgot the names, haven't played skyrim in months

 

[Frag_Maniac]

The idea of a pack of mods (like STEP or something) seems like a good way to start, since all mods in it are likely tested to work together well. That is IF it has everything I want. There's a LOT of mods that have interesting features.

I know a lot of people rave about enb, and a lot of the screen shots shown of it are nice looking, but some videos I've seen of it look like there's too much bloom at times, and it's one of the mods most complained about for performance hit and/or compatibility. I've heard some say they prefer the one that allows customization, can't remember the name, sorry.

The menu organizing one sounds good, but does it also categorize the favorites like the mod that is specifically for that? I don't want to overlap mod features in what I choose. I guess I'm going to have to read more detailed descriptions. The night I looked at Nexus' top 100 I kinda skimmed through the brief outlines of details because there was so many to look at.

Again, can anyone tell me if Skyrim 2K Textures is finished, or are there a lot of places in the game that are still vanilla textures?

 

[EiSFX]

I can assure you that all the mods that or included in the current version of STEP have been tested and all work very nicely together and as for the textures alone a good thing to look at is Texture Pack combiner (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/20801) the creator of the TPC has put alot of work checking out alot of the best textures throughout the nexus and has created a bat file to combine most of the best textures

 

[Ralfies]

SkyUI is a must. The game is nearly unplayable without it. You will need the Skyrim Script Extender(SKSE) to use it though. AFAIK is is compatible with categorized favorites.

PISE makes the game a little more challenging, though it's still too easy IMO.

Dance of Death+Crimson Tide is a great combination.

I also use SweetFX to sharpen and tint the game a little blue. Vanilla looks sort of green to me. The ENB's cause too big a performance hit for my system, and they tend to look cheesy to me anyways. I need to configure one to be more mild.

I don't know if you can force ambient occlusion through the catalyst control panel like you can with Nvidia, but if you can it makes the game look much better without too much of a performance hit. Otherwise you'll have to use an ENB to do it.

You should also use the Unofficial Skyrim Patch and the unofficial patches for Dawnguard and Hearthfire if you have them.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Looks like I'm going to need some better details on what STEP changes than what I can find on Nexus. The base description is very vague.

Does it change sky, water, model detail, terrain, foliage, and weapon detail? Does it change menu, favorite or dialog organization? About all the description emphasizes is there's no content change and that it's meant to enhance vs change vanilla Skyrim.

I'm starting to think I'd prefer a pre-assembled pack of the more popular mods that lists each mod and what it does. Having to wade through a hundred change log version notes is not my idea of easy to read descriptions.

I'm going to have another go through the Nexus top 100 mods and make a list of the ones I'm most interested in, then come back and post it to get more input from those whom may have tried them.

I've seen several Google links talking of and showing examples of what Skyrim can look like with 100+ mods, but none of them seem to list which ones are used. It's damn frustrating.

If I'd reached Skyrim nirvana after installing numerous mods, were I to show a video clip of it or write an article about it, I would pay tribute to those whom made them by listing them all.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

OK, here's the list of mods I narrowed down to that I am most interested in. It's roughly HALF of all the top 100 listed on Nexus. Can anyone tell me if any of these would overlap, cancel out or conflict with in any way other mods on the list?

FXAA
SKSE
SkyUI
Texture Pack Combiner
A Quality World Map
ApachiiSkyHair
Immersive Armors
Skyrim HD 2K Textures (if it covers ALL textures)
W.A.T.E.R.
S.M.I.M.
Better Females (or is the a suitable one for ALL NPCs?)
Enhanced Blood Textures
Categorized Favorites Menu (or does SkyUI cover this?)
Deadly Dragons
Skyrim Flora Overhaul
Glowing Ore Veins
Unofficial Skyrim Patch
Enhanced Night Skyrim
The Dance of Death
No More Blocky Faces
Project Reality
Auto Unequip Ammo
Improved NPC Clothing (or does HD 2K cover this?)
Convenient Horses
Immersive HUD
Unofficial Dawnguard Patch
Better Dynamic Snow
Realistic Ragdolls and Force
Weapons and Armor Fixes
Player Headtracking
Lush Grass
Wearable Lanterns
Wet and Cold
Winter is Coming
Frostfall
Footprints
Immersive Weapons
Feminine Running & Dash
Serious HD - "SHD" (if HD 2K doesn't cover landscapes)
The Eyes of Beauty
Weapon Retexture Project - WRP
SkyTEST - Realistic Animals and Predators
Unoffical Hearthfire Patch
Build Your Own Home
DUEL - Combat Realism (does this improve followers too?)
Better Dialogue Controls
Guard Dialogue Overhaul
Complete Crafting Overhaul
Smithing Perks Overhaul

Possibles:
UFO?
Moonpath to Elsweyr?
aMidianBorn Book of Silence?
Interesting NPCs? (skeptical as it's a "work in progress")

Lots of lighting mods, but I like that Project Reality is high on the top 100 list and endorsed a lot. It also comes with enhanced weather effects, though not sure it's compatible with other weather related mods like Frostfall.

I don't think CCC can force AO, but RadeonPro can. Here's some interactive before/after shots using AO with RadeopnPro:

http://www.radeonpro.info/en-US/Gal....com/Hhj3S.jpg&b=http://i.imgur.com/yzaub.jpg
http://www.radeonpro.info/en-US/Gal....com/zTF53.jpg&b=http://i.imgur.com/wgUvs.jpg
http://www.radeonpro.info/en-US/Gal....com/AFh2d.jpg&b=http://i.imgur.com/iDANO.jpg

On gameplay realism, I picked DUEL over PISE due to being endorsed more and detailing how it improves AI searches after stealth attacks, combat, and unpredictability. He literally drew an extensive algorithm diagram of it's AI structure too.

Lastly, are there any NPC mods that make ALL NPCs look better? Does No More Blocky Faces suffice for that, and is it compatible with Better Females? I basically want females looking somewhat of this quality:

Does anyone know what mod is used to make females of this quality?

 

[EiSFX]

in that screensoht i think that is better females by bella i'm pretty sure and i think aMidianBorn Book of Silence is a must his work is by far the best for armor retextures

also another good addition to your list is Static Mesh Improvement Mod - SMIM (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/8655)

also with a few of the mods you have choones it would be a good idea to check these out Sharlikrans Compatibility Patches (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/26230)
there all patches to mods that are no longer really worked on but this guy has remade them with the latest creation kit to get rid of any errors and stuff like that they work really good in my opinion

one more for a little better sound FX is Improved Combat Sounds (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/5289)

And i personally choose RCRN with RCRN Plus - ENB by TheCompiler (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/180)

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Actually SMIM is in my list. Better Females too, I was hoping it was that one.

I'll check the feedback on Improved Combat Sounds, seems interesting.

The RCRN - Plus ENB screens look pretty good too.


Still hoping someone can tell me how complete Skyrim HD 2K Textures is? I basically want to avoid abrupt texture differences while traveling through the map.

 

[EiSFX]

sorry diden't notice you have mentioned SMIM already really i still think you should use Texture pack combiner which will make the most complete texture pack and then everything will be redone and looks really clean i do have a copy of Skyrim Realistic Overhaul 1.6 if needed to complete the packs

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Spend the time and do this right (like it sounds like you are doing) and you are going to be freaking blown away.

 

[EiSFX]

YA i have spent alot of time on my skyrim and right now how it looks it is almost photorealistic and my install folder size is at 26 GIGS compaired to like 7 gigs stock

 

[Frag_Maniac]

...you should use Texture pack combiner which will make the most complete texture pack and then everything will be redone and looks really clean i do have a copy of Skyrim Realistic Overhaul 1.6 if needed to complete the packs

Is that two separate mods or one? Can you give more details about what it/they does and what mods on my list aren't needed if used?

Yeah I want to do this right this time. I held off for along time to get a top level GPU at a good price, but I don't want to rush into this.

BTW, has anyone made an overall NPC dialogue mod? I have the guard one on my list, but it's mainly the repeat vendor and random character banter that gets annoying for me.

 

[EiSFX]

There is no NPC dialogue overhaul yet but it is beeing worked on. And all the mods you have listed work really great with TPC. Now TPC (Texture Pack Combiner) is the work of by downloading all the mods the TPC have listed on its page on the nexus and then it picks the best out of them all and creates a textures folder that will have all the best textures to use with your game so you will get the best experience and everything will have a smooth transistion from one texture to the other nothing like a nice sharp HD texture to a plain SD texture you will not find that with TPC

All the info you need is on the mods page found here http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/20801

 

[Frag_Maniac]

So I take it Skyrim Realistic Overhaul is a separate mod then?

TPC is just a hub for the texture mods you use? It contains no texture mods itself?

(EDITED)
Just looked for SRO and apparently the author has been banned from Nexus, so it's nowhere to be found there. Makes me skeptical how well compatibility with mods listed on Nexus is maintained by him.

 

[EiSFX]

Ya TPC is not a texture mod its self it is a dat file someone created to combine the best textures/files from all the mods in the list on the nexus page and as i said before i have the SRO files if needed

 

[natr0n]

If I did play this game it would be a nude mod for sure.

 

[EiSFX]

Ya gotta love those Pixels lol anyways i'm uploading SRO right now if anybody needs it

 

[Frag_Maniac]

LOL, the mods have the women in this game looking sexy enough to be distracting even WITH their clothes on, and I'm thinking there wouldn't be too many places they could realistically go without clothing with the weather as harsh as it is anyway.

Which brings me to my next question. Anyone here tried the Frostfall mod? One of the first things that struck me as odd when I started playing Skyrim is there's no weather effects to stamina or health. You can literally run around in a blizzard in your skivvies.

Frostfall is highly endorsed and the camping element sounds interesting. Reason I'm asking about it though, is despite the author claiming to have minimized tedium, I'm sure it probably feels a bit laborious to some.

Oh, and sorry but due to glossing over it, I neglected to ask you about Sharlikrans Compatibility Patches. In the description it's seems to say in many cases you may need the original version of the mods you use for it to work. Is this mod really that necessary, and wouldn't it be hard for him to keep such a thing updated properly so everything stays compatible? Most highly endorsed mods on Nexus (3000 or more endorsements) come with the claim that they're highly compatible with most mods.

When I feel I've gleaned enough info about what mods to use, and thanks for all the help btw, I'm going to post up an outline of how I plan to go about installing them, then compare notes with the way you guys have done it. That should be forthcoming soon. Meanwhile I'm reinstalling Dishonored with the new Dunwall City DLC in between gathering more input on Skyrim mods.

 

[ViperXTR]

is there a mod that only sharpens the shadows? (i heard there is a particular ENB for it)

 

[EiSFX]

With Sharlikrans Compatibility Patches you will only need the original mod if the original mod has more then just .esp or .esm like they they have a .bsa file or textures or anything then you will need thoes files also from the original mod then just overwrite the original mod files with the one's from Sharlikrans Compatibility Patches but if the mod you have choosen only has a esp or esm file then you will only need the from the Sharlikrans Compatibility Patches

Sharlikrans Compatibility Patches mod are only for mod's made along time ago and are really not worked on any more by the original mod maker. Like that huge navmesh issue that was there a few patches ago like where any mod even if the mod diden't have navmeshes still came with a navmesh error that is all fix plus a few other things

AS for STEP i personally fidn it best just to use that as a guideline not strictly follow it but just a guideline to kinda get your barrings as to what mods would be compatitable with one another and don't forget about BOSS and Wrye Bash there both not optional i think

EDIT: I have almost finished uploading what i find the most complete/lore friendly retexture pack for skyrim the Skyrim Realistic Overhaul if needed let me know i have the latest version 1.6 with the dawnguard retextures too

I could post my load order/mods i'm useing and i have a nice smooth play with no crashes anything and i get a solid 60 FPS in outside areas and a solid 45 or higher FPS in busy conjested city's/areas

SRO 1.6 http://www.mediafire.com/?s6iv38uv1...af4ypj2rmn4d3,an631hjhtgrhm5z,101yxh5j5zwchua