Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So I just got the game off of Steams sale, and this is the first time I've ever played an ES game on PC. I want to try the mods out, but I have a slight issue.

I don't even know where to begin. Any tips?

Skyrim Nexus + Nexus Mod Manager.

Link

Uh, Steam Workshop integration means one click mod downloads. Generally steer clear of things that alter the same thing and other than that go nuts. I have... 97 mods running on my current game.

Absolutely Necessary are...

SkyUI (and by default SKSE - skyrim script extender)
Lightweight potions and poisons
Bandolier - bags and pouches
Spend Dragon Souls for Perks
Some sort of Smithing fix - I use Codifred's Enhanced Smithing
Alternate Start - because sitting in that cart for your tenth character is just annoying


Awesome -
The Character Creation Overhaul set, makes character creation much closer to other Elder Scrolls games
Dance of Death - killmoves mod
Kill Them Generals - makes many of the unkillable characters killable.
Enhanced High Level Gameplay
Better Females by Bella
Non Hostile Friendly Fire
More Complex Needs
Sounds of Skyrim collection
Towns and Villages Enhanced collection
Midas Magic

I can't access Nexus Mods. I signed up an account, and never got the registration email. When I try to send them an email about it, they tell me to log in before I can send it, which I can't do...

 Bromsy wrote:
Uh, Steam Workshop integration means one click mod downloads. Generally steer clear of things that alter the same thing and other than that go nuts. I have... 97 mods running on my current game.

Both just insert the files into the proper place in the game folder (ie the systems don't really interfere with one another and you can use both). The thing about Nexus Mod Manager is that it enables you to change the order in which mods are loaded which is important if using multiple body/face/item mods that mess with the same set of values.

I can't access Nexus Mods. I signed up an account, and never got the registration email. When I try to send them an email about it, they tell me to log in before I can send it, which I can't do...

Yeah... I got nothing for that XD when crap doesn't want to work sometimes it just doesn't want to work. You can keep trying support or attempt another account using a different email and see if that works. WOrkshop of course only needs a steam account which you have. I don't know how many mods would be on Nexus that aren't on workshop. Most of the big ones probably made it there.

 LordofHats wrote:


Both just insert the files into the proper place in the game folder (ie the systems don't really interfere with one another and you can use both). The thing about Nexus Mod Manager is that it enables you to change the order in which mods are loaded which is important if using multiple body/face/item mods that mess with the same set of values.

You can use the file manager to change the load order for data files. It's all built in. It's just much easier with the workshop.

This thread was fairly useful,
http://www.reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/1regt3/best_of_mods_must_haves_as_of_nov_2013/
But I would strongly advise Nexus mod manager over steam workshop if at all possible.

Three immersion mods I'd definitely recommend:

Frostfall - cold weather causes hypothermia, getting wet makes you more vulnerable to the cold, plus it adds a bunch of interesting cold weather gear.
Enhanced Lighting & FX - makes "dark" areas actually dark. Makes light magic and torches useful, and makes shadows look better.
Illuminated Atronachs (Steam Workshop) - makes flame and storm atronachs give off light. Very useful with ELFX.

Finally got the Nexus validation email (12 hours later...). So I'll give this a shot. Thanks for the suggestions on what to use.

Afew that are essential in my opinion: (Play the game without these and you'll realise why)

Reduced distance NPC greetings

Bethesda have this annoying habit of making NPCs talk to you whenever you get within a certain distance of them. Doesn't sound so bad does it? But when you're hearing the same lines over and over it drives you crazy. This mod changes it so that you have to almost bump into them for them to say something.

Follower trap safety

This mod makes it so that followers won't spring traps by treading on pressure plates and trip wires, which they do without fail in the vanilla game. (Just a little annoying when you're careful not to and you get spikes in your face)

Followers keep up

Followers are quite slow and frequently stop for no reason, then run to catch up. This makes them faster and they "teleport" to you if they lag behind too much.

Grab the "Bandoliers" mod first. It's excellent. As long as you're willing to spend a little time gathering leather and iron, you can look forward to increasing your carry capacity at least 100 points, more if you make all the little pouches and satchels that you can.

Other than that, the expanded weapons armory is a nice mod. It doesn't add anything gamechanging, but helps break up the monotonous selection of weapons Bethesda provides all NPCs. The LoTR weapons pack is also cool, and I'm looking forward to crafting some Elven daggers modeled after the ones Legolas carried. Should be perfect for my Wood Elf huntress.
Oh, and if you're going to be playing as a Wood Elf, totally grab the Bosmer armor pack. It's really cool.

And for what it's worth, I use the Steam Workshop for my mods. Haven't had a single problem yet.

~Tim?

I think it really depends on what your wanting from the mods as a few "essential" mods I would disagree with IE Souls for perks.

Also as an add on, this isnt a mod per se, its more of a functionality thing for the mods you use. I would strongly recommend downloading BOSS for Skyrim. Just run it and it, mostly, sorts out the load order for your mods. You may need to readjust some as the list is made by a group of users so isn't 100% correct.

Also read each mod description fully, especially compatibility sections. If you don't read these fully then you could constantly crash before even getting to the intro screen and its annoying to try to find out why.

I could go into detail about all the mods I use but that would take way too long. Here are some of the main ones that I use (all the must use ones are imo, once again read the descriptions to see if its what you want):

Must use:
Unofficial Patches - Skyrim to Dragonborn. Fixes alot of bugs.
Timing is everything - Set start levels for various events.
Thieves Guild Requirements - Stops you automatically joining the Thieves Guild part way through the main story.
SkyUI (plus SKSE) - both mentioned earlier, really overhauls the horrible menus made for consoles.

Highly Reccomend using:
Skyrim Redone by T3nd0s - Fully modular overhaul pack. Changes pretty much everything for the game if you get the full pack, but you can keep things the same should you want to.
Frostfall - Actually makes Skyrim dangerous to explore since its meant to be a cold place.
Deadly Dragons + Armory - Deadly Dragons allows you to make dragons actually hard like they are supposed to be. The armory section just adds a lot of nice armours and stuff from killing them.
Lock Overhaul - Changes the lock mechanics so that there is a level requirement to open certain locks. Also allows locks to be bashed open if your not wanting to play a thief type character.
Skyrim Unbound(Steam Workshop only) or Alternative start - Changes the intro for the start of the game. You MUST NOT run both of these at the same time, one or the other. I have unbound on one character and Alt Start on another. Skyrim unbound does add a bit more functionality for the start of the game IE chose whether dragons spawn or not and whether you can learn shouts even before killing a dragon.

I think I'll leave it at that for now. Any questions the feel free to ask.

Im looking for some advice on buying a laptop that can run Skyrim. Currently I'm looking at a Lenovo z500 as described here - http://www.lovelenovo.co.uk/Lenovo_Z500_1492688.html

I think it fulfills the system requirements but I don't want to commit until I know for sure. I would get a desktop but I just need it for working and travel too.

As cited on the box Skyrim requires;
Processor - dual core 2.0 Ghz
Memory - 2Gb RAM, 7Gb hard disk space
Video Card - Direct X 9.0c compliant with 512 Mb RAM

I think it's good for it but in not sure and there might be something I've missed. Advice welcome, thanks.

I just use my workhorse Dell Latitude. Can't remember the model, but it runs Windows 7 and only has about 3GB of RAM and ~350 GB hard drive space. I have to run the graphics on the lowest settings (though I can turn anti-aliasing up to 2-4 samples w/out too much lag) but otherwise it works just fine.

~Tim?

Most of the mods I have are "make it pretty" type mods but I have a few useful ones as well.
I have (in no particular order):
SkyUI (plus the script extender that is necessary) - still learning how it works, but is proving useful.

Skyrim Unbound - I've played the game enough times by starting on a cart, it was time for a change of pace. (requires skyUI to change all the settings). Start as whatever you want, wherever you want, turn on/off the dragonborn stuff, or just pick random and see...

Sounds of skyrim - Adds lots of background sounds. I have the dungeons and the wilds (I think the town one is still being worked on...).

XCE-Xenius Character Enhancement - Adds lots of details to the faces of all the people of skyrim, and to your own hands.

Lush trees and grass - These were combined recently (they were two separate mods). Makes all the trees (and grass) more dense and bushy. Can really make your computer work hard though.

Enhanced Distant Terrain - makes all the distant mountains and stuff more detailed.

WATER-Water And Terrain Enhancement Redux - Improves the looks of water mainly. There are many water mods, so it's probably worth looking about for the right one, this was the best when I got it...

Better Dynamic snow - adds detail to the snow.

Realistic lighting - Adds contrast to the lighting; the dark parts get very dark. Means you really have to make use of your own personal lighting solution (torches, magelight... lanterns-see below)

Wearable lanterns - Very useful with the realistic lighting. Adds lanterns that you can strap on and not have to carry. Adds a book that allows you to change the settings (nice touch) and make it as bright as you like. The glowbug lantern even works underwater...

Whistle - Very useful if you've even come out of a dungeon packed with too much stuff and your horse has wandered miles away. Just whistle and he comes bounding up to you.

the thomas the tank engine mod is almost enough to make me want to get skyrim

 ironicsilence wrote:
the thomas the tank engine mod is almost enough to make me want to get skyrim

Yay for MMOxR

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
Im looking for some advice on buying a laptop that can run Skyrim. Currently I'm looking at a Lenovo z500 as described here - http://www.lovelenovo.co.uk/Lenovo_Z500_1492688.html

I think it fulfills the system requirements but I don't want to commit until I know for sure. I would get a desktop but I just need it for working and travel too.

As cited on the box Skyrim requires;
Processor - dual core 2.0 Ghz
Memory - 2Gb RAM, 7Gb hard disk space
Video Card - Direct X 9.0c compliant with 512 Mb RAM

I think it's good for it but in not sure and there might be something I've missed. Advice welcome, thanks.

I would look for something with a quad core processor. Not sure where those skyrim requirements came from, but it appears very innaccurate. My skyrim installation takes up over 20 gigs right now and consumes almost 3 gigs of memory Try and get something with a decent quad core CPU and 8gigs of ram or more.

I run skyrim on an ASUS g74sx: http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-G74SX-A1-17-3-Inch-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B00542SUD8

I7 quad core
12 gigs of RAM
3 gig nvidia GPU
1.5tbs of HDD
120 gig SSD

It runs it well but heating is and will always be an issue with a laptop even with liquid cooling solutions. The weaker your laptop, the harder it is going to have to work to keep up with the load that skyrim puts on it and the more heat it will create which will kill it faster.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Immersive weapons and armor are really nice mods that add alot of veriety to the item list. Also - midas magic, penderix magic expand spellcasting so that it is much more interesting - vanilla spellcasting is really boring and weak, not alot of options, not very powerful options.

 Howard A Treesong wrote:
Im looking for some advice on buying a laptop that can run Skyrim. Currently I'm looking at a Lenovo z500 as described here - http://www.lovelenovo.co.uk/Lenovo_Z500_1492688.html

I think it fulfills the system requirements but I don't want to commit until I know for sure. I would get a desktop but I just need it for working and travel too.

As cited on the box Skyrim requires;
Processor - dual core 2.0 Ghz
Memory - 2Gb RAM, 7Gb hard disk space
Video Card - Direct X 9.0c compliant with 512 Mb RAM

I think it's good for it but in not sure and there might be something I've missed. Advice welcome, thanks.

That's a bloody good graphics card for the money! Darn i'm jealous. The low rez screen is the only weakness.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-635M.66964.0.html

Scroll down and you'll see that Skyrim will run above 30 fps on Low and around 30 at medium.