SKYRIM ON A MAC *WITH MODS* (legal HA, and without parallels/VMware)

[infinityhero]

http://i.imgur.com/IKJCmRm.png

 

Hey guys! Today I'm going to teach you how to run Skyrim on a mac without having to buy Parallels or VMware . . .

 

WITH MODS. ANY MODS (disclaimer: to the extent of your graphic card/ram)

 

and even better . . .

 

WITH PROPERLY 100% FUNCTIONING SKSE.

 

I'm super sorry about my original post that a misleading solution on how to install skse into your skyrim on a mac! But now I can say that with the methods below, you will be able to play skyrim ON THE MAC, BUGS-FREE, WITH MODS. AND SKSE.

 

Sounds too good to be true?

 

Well, don't take it for me, try these steps below! I'll help you as much as possible, and if you have ANY QUESTIONS whatsoever please don't hesitate to PM me! I'll try to reply as fast as possible! If i don't reply within a month, you're screwed tho! =)))

 

So let's start! How do you know what i'm saying is true? Well i've been playing Skrim on my mac for over 2 years now, and I believe I've perfected the art of Skyrimming on a mac! Yay so here we go!

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/k8XFHIt.jpg

(see how pretty my Bosmer is slaughtering the frick out of a draugr?)

 

How are we going to do this? (Oh yeah this is 100% legal btw)

 

We will be using a WINESKIN wrapper. The good ol' folks at theportingteam have created a super stable wineskin wrapper for us to play skyrim! What is Wineskin? It's NOT an emulator. Please, stop calling it that. Emulators emulate an entire OS, and we don't want that. That's too hassle, time consuming, and costs extra money! This method that I'm going to teach you will have minimal cost (you're only going to spend on Skyrim itself) and you should be done within less than an hour! (minus downloading time of course)

 

What the WINESKIN wrapper will do will simply trick poor old Skyrim that we're in a windows environment! No loss of vram/ram whatever crap it's going to run perfectly yay!

 

Why WINESKIN? Why not Cider? Or any other wrapper? Believe me, I've tried every single wrapper out there, since the beginning people have been trying to port skyrim and nothing compares to theportingteam's Wineskin wrapper!

 

Here is the link where you can download it :smile:

 

http://portingteam.com/files/file/7782-skyrim-wineskin-updated-2014/

 

Why do I like this wrapper?

 

1) SKSE works!

2) You can buy and install Skyrim directly from steam which is already provided by the wrapper! No need to go to the hassle of buying the physical copy!

 

Any wrapper will do tho, just don't download those sneaky wrappers that includes the game! That's PIRACY, and that's bad! >:l So stay away from torrent sites, those wrappers there are evil! Buy the game people!!

 

Other than the wineskin wrapper, I used to use Cider. To be honest, the latest Cider wrapper of skyrim is VERY fast. Super fast. Much higher fps than the wineskin one! But really, when you're playing, you won't be able to tell the difference, and the cider wrapper crashes waaay more often, and the worst part: NO SKSE. So if you need SKSE (and who doesn't?!) please get the wineskin wrapper above!

 

What next? Follow the instructions on the website. It's very straightforward. Once you're done downloading the wrapper + buying the game through steam through the wrapper, or buying the physical copy and dragging the contents into the wrapper, come back to this guide! I'll teach you how to install SKSE + mods and have a hassle free experience!

 

SKSE

 

Done already? Good! Here's the proper way to install SKSE into your Wineskin!

 

Update your skyrim app first to the latest update or whatever if it's not. Bethseda has stopped making updates already so this is the last update you'll ever need to update! Yay!

 

Anyway, go to skse's website (just google it, i'm too lazy) and download the files.

 

As it says on page 10 on theportingteam's website:

 

1.) Download SKSE and place the correct files in the "Skyrim" and "Data" folders.
2.) Rename "TESV.exe" to "Skyrim.exe", and rename "skse_loader.exe" to "TESV.exe"
3.) In "Data", make a folder called "SKSE"
4.) Open press textedit, press Shift + Command + T then type the lines below. Save the file as "skse.ini":

[Loader]

RuntimeName=Skyrim.exe

 

Yay! Now you have working SKSE! Note whenever you launch the skyrim app, please go to preferences, then look through the tabs for the "update button" and press "Do not update automatically" after installing Skse! You have to do this EVERY TIME. You don't want in the middle of your dragon hunting, when suddenly the game CTDs because steam thinks that the TESV.exe file is missing and tries to reinstall it!

 

MODS

 

Mods mods mods. Skyrim is no fun with mods.

 

But so that you'll have a smooth modding experience, let me first tell you straightforward three things:

 

1) Mac graphic cards suck.

 

2) You can't install ENB

 

3) You NEED the Unofficial Skyrim Patches!!!

 

That's pretty much it.

 

Anyway, how DO you install mods? First, you can't use NMM. Sorry haha. You have to install manually. It's pretty easy. I highly recommend you make an alias folder of the "Data" folder of your Skyrim app so you don't need to dig deep into the app to find it.

 

If you haven't seen your data folder before, right click on your Skyrim app, then press "Show Package Contents." drive_c > Program Files > Steam > SteamApps > common > Skyrim then you'll find your "Data" folder inside. When you get a mod, unzip the file, then drag the contents on the specific folders inside the Data folder. You'll get the hang of it, it's an art!

 

Oh btw, never listen to a mod author who says "Press overwrite, nothing bad will happen" because something bad will happen!! Please double-check what ever you're trying to overwrite. Windows and Mac have different file directory structures so overwriting will cause overwriting entire folders, not just files!! Be careful!

 

Careful about putting too much high res textures. I don't recommend installing the 2K textures mod here in nexus. I use a Late 2013 mid-range iMac and I get good results (60 fps in idle scenes, 40 fps in combat scenes with magic) on MEDIUM settings. Yes, MEDIUM. If you're using a macbook air, or even a macbook pro, you might want to keep your settings on LOW, and have very minimal retextures!

 

And besides that, I would recommend you only have about 10-15 mods or so. Or less if you can manage! (this is not counting the unofficial patches, which again, I stress, you NEED them!) I play with about 9 mods (NOT including the unofficial patches + my texture mods) every time I run skyrim. Please, to avoid save bloat, don't install/uninstall new mods DURING a game, especially if it has a lot of scripts! So yeah, please learn how to be choosy!

 

If you were to choose, what would you retexture? What mods would you place?

 

I recommend the following mods (just search them here on Nexus):

 

Pure Waters -

 

This makes the ugly thing that Bethseda calls "water" into something a bit more realistic for nearly no FPS loss! Try it out. Try your luck at W.A.T.E.R. too, but I've never had good results with that one :sad: I will note one thing, FPS loss isn't that important in playing skyrim on a mac. What you're trying to do is minimise FREEZES which can occur a lot because of the low specs of Mac video cards! The lesser mods the better! And this is one of the great mods you should have!

 

Grass On Steroids -

 

I like this mod a lot. Doesn't make skyrim prettier in a sense, because it just increases the grass around by a LOT, but it's very nice and makes empty spots less boring and more challenging especially if you play as a hunter. Why am I also recommending this mod? No visible FPS loss either! You can even BOOST your fps with this mod! Read the description file of that mod to find out how!

 

Saturation Boost -

 

Sorry i'm not one for those "Realistic" games. I play fantasy games, because mainly, I want to live in a fantasy world! So I want it to look very dreamy and fantasy like! Since I can't install enb, this mod thing just saturates the whole adsfjsadf of Skyrim! It looks amazing! It's kinda strong tho, so if you're a "Realistic" gamer, stay away! You can use your brightness setting in game to lessen the effect tho. Again, no fps loss!

 

Book of Silence -

 

I love the retextures there! Here's the catch, it's a stupid idea to install all of those textures in the same play through! Before i start playing, i already plan what armours i'm going to use, so I only install the certain armours that I will be needing! This goes with any other armour or weapon retexture you're going to place, if it's a compilation, only install the ones you're really going to use! Or else, freeze/crash, then total frustration! And you don't want that! Take it from me though, I normally only install ONE or TWO armour mods and ONE or TWO weapons mods at a time! You can always change them anyway when you play another play through!

 

Frostfall + Realistic Needs and Diseases -

 

I can't play without those two mods. I just had to mention that.

 

Now here's a thought. Why even attempt in making your exteriors of Skyrim look pretty that will probably beat the heck out of your Mac's poor graphic card? Instead, why don't you make your character and the NPCs in skyrim pretty instead? Much easier, less hassle, and I actually like it better that way!

 

So what do I use? This is my personal taste but these textures look super pretty and don't have heavy toll on my mac:

 

Eyes - The Eyes of Beauty

Lips - meh too lazy to install anything

Facial animations (not really a texture but whatever) - Female Facial Animations. Makes a world of difference for me.

Hair - Lore friendly vanilla hair retextures. Very nice. I don't like apachii, personal preference, and I don't like how certain hairs float :sad:

Elves (i usually play a wood elf) - Ethereal Elven Overhaul. Actually, I don't think there are any alternatives to that AHAHAHA

Female bodies - UNPB + SG female retextures. I hate CBBE, sorry *starts an arguement*

Male bodies - Favoured soul meshes + Geonox faces. I use all the default textures and meshes from those mods, i don't like the options.

 

Here's some idea of how this looks like! I have a secret private light leak mod that i asked my friend to make for me so don't ask why/how it looks like that! The only thing i did on photoshop was the depth of focus ahahahaha =))

 

http://i.imgur.com/I5qJhZo.jpg

 

(pretty ysolda, always had a crush on her!! do you know how massive the difference of my texture mods make? go here and see for yourself)

 

http://i.imgur.com/x2bulgi.jpg

 

(Tauriel and I kick ass wheeee =))) Kudos to the guy who made the Tauriel mod! She looks so amazing, I don't get bugged by the floating hair! Though if someone can fix that . . . Oh yeah and I love the bosmer armour by maty743!!)

 

Unofficial Skyrim Patches - Please. Don't be a fool. Install these. Skyrim is UNPLAYABLE without it. There are way too many bugs that have ruined my saves before I installed these. This goes for everyone. NEVER PLAY SKYRIM WITHOUT THE UNOFFICIAL SKYRIM PATCHES!! Grrr i cannot stress this enough!! I bought all the DLCs so i installed the unofficial patches for them too! Please please please, save yourself the hassle, install these!

 

CIDER

 

You really want "more fps" don't you? Well, I'm telling you right now, it won't make much of a difference, but here's the instructions on how to install mods on your Skyrim running through Cider.

 

Download a cider wrapper for Skyrim on the internet. I would presume this is legal, so long as it doesn't actually include Skyrim the game itself.

 

Now after downloading the cider wrapper for Skyrim (should take a few minutes), you have two options:

 

1) Go to gamestop and buy a pc version of skyrim.

2) Download on Steam.

 

NEXT STEP:

 

The cider file would probably look like the game itself, with a nice icon and all. Drag it to applications. Rightclick (double tap on your trackpad/control+click) and press show package contents. There should be a bunch of folders inside. Open Resources, then Transgaming, then c_drive, the program files. In Program Files, dump the game itself's folder inside (The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim).

 

You can now enjoy your own LEGAL copy of skyrim on your mac. Get the heck out of programfiles, go to Applications, click on the cider file, and it should launch. :smile:

 

To install mods, just go look here in nexus, then download the file manually. Unfortunately, NNM won't work, being an .exe file. Find the cider file again, right click, show package contents, keep on heading in until you reach The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim and go to your Data folder. Follow the mod instructions if it has. Mainly, it would mean dragging the downloaded mod's contents into the data folder. Be careful not to overwrite. Do not trust instructions saying it will not overwrite a specific folder, because windows has a different file structure than a mac.

 

After that, you need to activate the data file.

 

Scroll back, and into the main folder of The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim. There should be a folder at the very top called %USERPROFILE%. If it's not there, make it. Make a folder called Local Settings, and inside, make another folder called Application Data, and inside, another folder called Skyrim. If it's there, simply enter these folders until the Skyrim folder. Now open textedit.

 

copy+paste this:

 

#This file is used by Skyrim to keep track of your downloaded content

#Please do not modify this file.

Skyrim.esm

Update.esm

Now below Update.esm, type in the names of the .esm/.esp. files of the mods you downloaded. This is case sensitive. If you bought the DLCs and received them in .esm/.esp/.whatever format, place them too, right after Skyrim.esm, in this order:

Skyrim.esm

Dawnguard.esm

HearthFires.esm

Dragonborn.esm

-rest of your mods-

Save the file into the Skyrim folder.

You can't run SKSE. And also, i'm going to boo you for the rest of the life for exchanging SKSE for more FPS. BOOOOOOO

FAQ

My skyrim has no text when i open the main menu!

There's a solution on the theportingteam website. Worked for me!

Skyrim keeps on crashing!

If it keeps on crashing in game, check your mod load order. Try different ways of ordering them. Follow the directions of the mod authors on where to place the mod. This might be a deal breaker for some of you, but you can't run BOSS on your mac. So you can't get a good mod order list. It's all about luck and guessing! You'll get it, don't worry! If Skyrim crashes when you start the game, you probably trying installing an ENB, or other bad ideas. Please, stop having bad ideas and use common sense.

Skyrim keeps on freezing!!

How embarrassing, you literally just told me you disobeyed my instructions to NOT HAVE TOO MUCH HIGHRES TEXTURES!! :sad: Seriously, this is 99.99% the reason why your game freezes up! Before, I used to have freezes every 10 minutes because i insisted in having all the daedric retextures on the Nexus like all those other noobs! Please, become mature, stop using CBBE, and use less textures!

Help, skyrim looks ugly!

Not my problem! =)) Stop playing it then!

I don't want to have Skyrim on my desktop!

Then don't have skyrim at all! Please don't delete the steam.desktop file either.

I drag the zip file from the mod into the data folder but nothing happens!

, , , please learn how to use a mac before you install skyrim.

Can I use Creation Kit?

Sure. There's a Creation Kit port that theportingteam made! I don't use it, too glitchy + i'm lazy but my other friends on Macs have had good success with it.

How come you don't like RLO, Apachii, CBBE, and all those other great wonderful mods?

Everyone has their own opinions! Use what you want!

IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS, GO PM ME!!

Have fun guys! :smile: This guide will be updated again accordingly!

Edited February 16, 2014 by infinityhero

[VetteSage]

I'm playing on bootcamp ... works perfectly fine and I play on high graphics with essentially no lag and about 80-90 mods on it.

 

Not sure why you can't run it on a late 2011 ... shouldn't be any problem at all. Also, disk space isn't what deals with the "beast" that Skyrim is, that comes from ram and your processor, but even then you can play it fine on low-mid graphics even if you have the lowest MBPro from 2011.

 

 

Cider works, but just figured I'd toss in that bootcamp works perfectly fine because you're just splitting disk space, not ram or processing power.

[infinityhero]

Pweh. I should try again. But looking for my windows 7 install disk is a pain :/

[LittleMissMorningCalm]

I'm going to try this now and see if it works.

[LittleMissMorningCalm]

what am i supposed to name the text file?

[mentin2]

what am i supposed to name the text file?

First of all, make it to a plain text: "Format" / "make Rich Text" or shift + command + T

Then save the file as: "Plugins.txt"

[quentinhawks]

Well, i tried writing the plugins.txt etc, that works fine. BUT
what happens when mods have no .esp/esm files, is that though I did place the right folders in textures and meshes, the mods are actually not working...
Like Cinematic Lighting, no more blocky faces etc...
Do you have a solution for that ?
thanx a lot !

[razayel]

quentinhawks, when you put the .esp/esm files in the plugins.txt, make sure you copy the text, instead of copying the file to plugins.txt. That is likely your problem.

 

If you have many other mods installed, check the loading order of your mods.

Updates should be loaded first, patches next, and then all the other mods.

 

Contact me if you have any problems

[halberd124]

I'm struggling getting skse to work, when I run Skyrim after installing SkyUI it says "error code 1 skse not running correctly" when I load up my save

[wolfpack91]

cool you can run it on a mac.. is there any solutions for us Ubuntu Users. currently i have a custom built PC: Asus Crosshair Formula V, 8 core vishera, 4GB Nvidia ect. ect. but as of right now im too broke to buy a windows OS so its currently Running Ubuntu 12.04 to iron out the new PC bugs atleast hardware wise. (and running like a BOSS Boots in less than 6 seconds from bios to desktop assuming i get the password typed fast enough) but ive tried running it in Wine but it just crashes it sees the Linux Version of steam i have installed and tries to link to it at that point im thinking steam says "hey your not on windoews" then game CTD. but anyone know a work around for that?