SuperPlatypus64

Lot's of stuff to post, but I'll cover some of the very basics, so as you mod and learn, you won't go through the struggles some mistakes can cause. Nexus Mod Manager or Mod OrganizerThere are pros and cons of each, but here's what's important: Mod Organizer will not "install" anything to your Skyrim Data Directory, thus you're game will remain clean. Make a mistake with a mod? No problem, it won't screw up your game. It also allows "profiles," so you can install different mods per character, and keep different character's saves from touching each other (Ewww!). The downside: it is very very hard to learn, and will be frustrating once you get into animations with FNIS, using SKSE, etc. Nexus Mod Manager doesn't cleanly install nor uninstall mods, so if you make a mistake, you may need to start from scratch. It's risky, doesn't allows mod profiles nor character profiles, and will be a pain later down the road. The upside? It's super easy to use, and works fantastically until you get to more complex modding. My warning with NMM is this: easy as it seems, it does cause problems, and is very hard to migrate away from. You will end up using Mod Organizer eventually, so NMM is more of a learning tool, unless you're not going to mod very heavily. 2. Load Order and You Load order is very important, but only truly challenging when you have a lot of mods. Use LOOT, Mod Organizer, or learn about load order to get it down. In short, mods later in the load order get priority, so if MOD B overwrites MOD A, then put MOD B after MOD A in the load order. Modding has a learning curve, and you will eventually get load order down, it just takes practice. 3. The Various Modding Websites There are 3 main modding websites, and each serves a different function. Let me sum them up: Steam Workshop - No work required, very easy, no learning curve, but let's face it, the mods are incredibly lame, often just Assassins's Creed Armor for Skyrim.Nexus Mods - The main place to get mods, this will likely serve all of your modding needs. Great community, some of the top talent, and a DIY attitude, this place will be the path on your modding journey.Loverslab - Sex mods. There's also a non-adult section of the community, and it is a fantastic community, but at the end of the day, it serves one purpose: make available the mods banned from the Nexus. 4. Modding with NMM I assume you'll be starting with NMM, so here's what you need to know. Download mods from the nexus with the "Download with Nexus" button. It automates stuff, and makes modding super easy. If the mod doesn't have this option, then download it, and select "Add mod from file" in NMM. DO NOT MANUALLY INSTALL MODS. You have been warned. 5. Safe Modding Practices Save before you install a new mod, so if it doesn't work, your save file isn't ruined by it.Test the mod on a new character before you test it on your main save fileInstall all requirements before testing a modAlways do a clean uninstall (or as much of one as is possible). This differs per mod, but should be listed on the nexus page for each modRun FNIS after installing any animation mod. You'll learn more about this later. 6. Requirements for Modding SKSE (Skyrim Script Extender) - A must have for most modsSkyUI - the Mod Configuration Menu is awesome, and often a requirementFNIS - For any animation mod to workA mod manager - DO NOT DO A MANUAL INSTALL 7. Personal Recommendations Enhanced Character Edit - Create the character of your dreams, no restrictionsSG Hair Pack 268 - Not sure if this is around any more, but it's amazingCBBE, HDT TBBP Supported, Mature Skin Texture - My favorite config for the character body, and the only way to get body physics without nudity. Also harder to configure correctly, but you can find guides for that.Alternate Start (Live Another Life) - Adds many new options for the start of the game, which increases playtime dramaticallyFrostfall, Hunterborne, Realistic Needs & Diseases, etc - All immersion mods to make Skyrim realistic. Also all must haves.YY Battlemage, YY Zweilander, etc. - YY animations mods are for female characters (usually), but are fantastic.Falskaar, Moonpath to Elseweyr - Add new lands, quests, and extend the life of your game.Apocalypse Spells, Midas Magic - Fun spells for the mage in all of us.Tribunal Robes and masks - Great for battlemagesImmersive Weapons and Immersive Armors - Add a ton of new content, all of which is greatGeared Up - The best alternative to the dreaded Armed to the Teeth mod. It really is better, trust me.Obviously, these mods only scratch the surface, but explore the nexus, search Google, and you'll find mods to suit your fancy. 8. Conclusion Hope this helps with the modding, at least starting with it. Although it may seem frightening, and definitely a daunting task, modding Skyrim is incredibly easy. Just start with simple mods, test them out, and once you're feeling confident, move on to more challenging ones, like animations (FNIS), things that require SkyProc (or not, SkyProc is hell, especially with MO), and perhaps, if you're feeling confident, Mod Organizer. Just mod regularly, learn what the different components of a mod are, what the different parts of Skyrim's Data are for, and soon, you will be able to handle some of the tough stuff. All it takes is practice, practice, all-nighters trying to get Requiem out of your game, a few games of File Roulette, Windows 8.1 style, some basic knowledge of advanced coding, and a bit of sarcastic humor, and presto! you'll be comfortable modding. Enjoy Skyrim, and all of the mods that can make it amazing!

Four things: Wrong board. This goes under mod requests, so you know in the future. Repost it there, and you might find a better response. This is possible, and isn't an overly difficult mod to create, but... If you plan on doing this yourself, you'll need the Creation Kit, Blender, or other 3d image editing software. You could always make this part of a skin mesh, and add it to a custom race (the easy way), but otherwise, you'll need to learn how to design in 3d and create mods. If you want help with such a niche thing, especially in the "category" this falls under, you're asking in the wrong community. You may get help here, but check on Loverslab.com. Yes, it's that kind of website, but the niche you're looking for is more likely to be found there. The Skyrim Nexus/Nexus Forums is more for mainstream mods, and unless the mod idea is extremely challenging, the Nexus has sort of a DIY attitude.

What would you recommend specifically? Or should I just boost quality to specific things in the game settings? Also, does ENBoost work without an ENB? I tried it, but it seemed to make little difference with the number of CTD's I was getting (my main issue, otherwise my game has a playable FPS).

I have a ton of mods, and here are my favorites: General Requirements: SKSE - Get It! Get it now! If you're going to mod, as you'll soon find out, SKSE is what it's all about! (Bellegar out!)SkyUI - The MCM is incredibly nice, and goes hand-in-hand with SKSE. Many mods require it, if that's any motivation.Mod Organizer - Since you're new, the Nexus Mod Manager is much easier to use, but here's why I recommend MO to someone new to modding. You can experiment, and safely uninstall mods. You can create "profiles," which allow different mod setups for different characters - and you can have multiple characters without the saves touching each other (Ewww!).FNIS - Allows custom animations. If you're using NMM, this is very user-friendly. With Mod Organzier, well, with MO just youtube it, because otherwise it's a less-than-gentle WWE-esque chair smash over the head (or dining at Arby's, take your pick).XP32's Maximum Compatibility Skeleton - Amazing, essential to most body mods, and has many nice features. A must have, even if you're not modding the body.Bodies: Enhanced Character Edit (my preference but I heard racemenu is better)SG Hair Pack 268 (I don't believe you can get this one any more, but it's worth a shot)CBBE w/ Bodyslide++HDT Body Physics TBBP SupportedMature Skin TextureRunic EyesWhile these are nude mods, yes, they add actual body physics to the game, hence making it more realistic. Plus, with HDT and Bodyslide++, you can still have vanilla underwear (not nude) with realistic skin and body physics. Animations: These are my favorites, but they are more feminine (I play a female character, which works out well then) YY Battlemage - A must have for any battlemage. Period.YY Zweilander - Great for two handed swordsYY Princess Horse - Sidesaddle, not for everyone, but I like itFNIS Gender-specific animations & Skeleton arm fix - included w/ FNIS, but both patches are a must!Better Casting Animations - If you don't like YY Battlemage, but you willPuppeteer Master - Play animations and facial expressions on your character or others. Amazing!FNIS - Get it now!FNIS - No kidding you cannot mod Skyrim without thisImmersion: Immersion mods make the game much more realistic, and can turn Skyrim into more of a survival game, which makes more sense IMO. Alternate Start (Live Another Life) - A must have, adds many options to start the game, as well as the normal startCharacter Creation Overhaul - Makes CC more like in Oblivion, with birthsigns, classes, etc.Frostfall - Now you have to survive in cold weather, instead of being like "I'm nude in a frozen lake, taking zero frost damage!"Hunterborn - Hunting is far more realisticJoy of Perspective - A realistic first-person viewRealistic Needs & Diseases - Now you must eat, drink, and sleep!Private Needs - Despite being on loverslab, it doesn't require sexlab, and adds more realism, but is definitely not for everyone.Eat Drink Sleep Bathe - Just for the bathing part, otherwise RND is betterEquipping Overhaul - Now weapons you carry show on your character, without the pain of Armed to the TeethThere are many many more, just search for them, or go on Skyrim GEMS Additional Content: There's a lot that can go here, but I'll keep it short, in order of best to worst in each category Armor - Tribunal Robes and Masks, Immersive Armors, Triss Armor Retextured, Various Assassin's Creed-Inspired StuffWeapons - Immersive Weapons, Jaysus SwordsNew Lands/Quests - Falskaar and Moonpath to Elseweyr are both pretty goodMagic - Apocalypse Spells, Midas Magic, Better Staff of Magnus, Wrath of Nature/Path of the Druid, PolymorphySexlab: If this sort of thing suits your fancy. Not a personal recommendation, but hey, if so, you won't find it on the Nexus. The closest thing is Animated Prostitution, at least that I'm aware of. Other Stuff: Puppeteer Master- Allows you to play any in-game animation on your character, and set their facial expression, amongst many other thingsAlternate Actors - Play as an NPC or animal. Buggy, yes, but definitely worth a shotBetter Vampires - Amazing. Get it.Dynamic Vampire Appearance - Goes well with Better VampiresTake Notes - You have a journal, which is good for the whole roleplaying thingRacemenu - An option instead of ECE. Enhanced Character Edit, as aforementioned, is my preference, but Racemenu is supposedly better, with ECE being easier to use.Animated Dragon Wings (get the Bloody Retexture as well) - These look really cool. Really really cool.Conclusion: I obviously didn't cover any graphics enhancements/ENB's here, nor performance fixes, which one day you will need and it will suck immensely, but such is the lament of the Skyrim modder. Search around, do mod requests, and master Google (it's actually quite challenging, but that's for a different day), but hopefully this starter pack will help!

After searching around online, I couldn't find a comprehensive guide/discussion on how to heavily mod Skyrim, improve graphics, and still maintain playable FPS and load times, so hopefully you guys will have some advice. Here are my specs: OS: Windows 8.1 (via Bootcamp) Processor: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 Video Card: Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Storage: 1.5 TB Partition of Seagate Portable External Drive USB 3.0 (For those familiar, these are not actually PC specs, they're Mac specs. I run Windows 8.1 through Bootcamp on my MacPro Retina, which doesn't affect performance, but means I cannot upgrade my computer, hence the external drive.) I do have over a hundred mods, mostly immersion stuff (Frostfall, Hunterborne, RND, etc.) and skeleton/physics stuff, with very few graphical mods (only Skyrim Flora Overhaul and Grass on Steroids). What's the best ENB to use, if any, or are there other mods to boost graphics without sacrificing too much performance? Any mods that boost allocated memory/improve stability without having to use an ENB? Are there any mods that boost performance in general (as in they raise FPS enough to counter drops due to mods)? What can I do in Windows 8.1 to boost performance (aside from upgrading my computer)? Is there anything else related to performance/stability I'm missing here? As far as improving graphics goes, what's the difference between ENB, SweetFX, and FXAA? Any recommendations for a lower-end computer? (I assume my computer is low or mid-end, compared with "Next-Gen" PC's, but correct me if I'm wrong). Any other mods to improve graphics, plant/tree/grass density, lighting, water, etc. without sacrificing too much performance? Just to cover all bases here, I use Mod Organizer, not NMM, and have never attempted to use/understand Wyre Bash, if any of that is important. Any advice/help/information/answers to any of the above questions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!

That would be great, but I don't think one exists. It would need to work with most/all armors in game, but it would then have to be altered to fit the models. You could always create one and assign it to a new armor slot though!

Is this even possible? I use Skyrim Character Menu to organize my save files by character, and I have two different skin mods, one to use for one character, the other for my other character. Can I apply one skin mod to strictly a single character? (I know I could install Skyrim multiple times, and deal with all of that, but I only have a couple mods I want "character-specific," so it's not worth all the work/hard drive space dealing with two installations.) Thanks!

There's a particular mod I want that says it's TBBP compatible only, but I currently use the CBBE++ HDT body and use HDT physics (it's great for things aside from body physics). Will something specific to TBBP bodies work with HDT? I ask this not just for this specific mod (that's why I'm asking here) but in general: are there different "levels" of body physics, where there's BBP, then TBBP which includes BBP and adds something else, then HDT which includes TBBP (and thus BBP) and adds even more, thus making anything TBBP compatible also HDT compatible? Here's the link, be advised it's NSFW. http://www.loverslab.com/topic/14612-relhairy-vaginas-of-skyrim-for-those-wanting-a-more-frazetta-like-look/ The mod shouldn't be important though, as this is more of an overall body physics type thing. Thank you community!!

The title may have been a bit ambiguous, but it would essentially be a mod that allows you to "save the state" of a character, and transform between states. Each state would include these things: The character's looks (configurable through the race menu)Any active effects/racial powers. The player could designate which would be bound to the state, meaning that the power/active effect would only be available in that set state. (An example would be vampirism or Animated Dragon Wings, which could be set to be part of one state, thus you could transform into a vampire and then into a non vampire. However, if a non vampire, you could still choose to become one). Spells would not be included, and would transfer between states (but potentially the player could be given the option to change this, if at all possible).(Optional to Player) Skills. While each state could progress with skills, one could have a particular skill level/perk/entire tree bound to a state, so switching would alter that skill(Again Optional) Faction allegiance. If a character in one state belongs to, say the College of Winterhold, if they change states (and thus appearance), the College may not recognize them, but the Dark Brotherhood might. It could be an option, but seems to make sense if the player is going for realism I guess what I'm asking then, is for a mod that allows players to create a character like normal, and then through the console or their own playing create a different character, and allow transforming between the two. It would all be on the same save file, and the same character, but a different form, enabling players to design their own transformations in game, whether it be for a final form, a disguise, a power the character possesses, or whatever suits the player's roleplaying wishes. I'm aware of two mods that add something similar: Alternate Actors, but in order to utilize that mod for this prupose the character would technically exist in two forms at once, and the second form would have limitations. Also, it requires the Creation Kit to avoid removing any NPC'sPolymorphy, which allows the player to cast a set form spell on a creature, and transform into that creature, with little control over attacks and movement.Potentially this mod could add a spell, "Set State," which the player could cast on themselves, it would bring up a menu which the players could use to configure attributes of the state, and then add the appropriate power to transform between states. I believe that this is all possible through the creation kit, but if anyone could make this possible in game through an easy to use mod, that would be absolutely amazing! One last thing (I know this is kind of long...) - if this mod would be creatable through the creation kit, and would be manageable for someone with little modding experience, I would be more than happy to create it, if anyone could point me in the right direction. Thanks so much for reading!!!

Animated Dragon Wings is a great mod, but the 100% size wings really stick out on the character, and 50% wings just look wimpy, at least to my eyes. Could anyone make a mod that would have animated dragon wings, but they would fold together to form almost like a cape? Here's a picture of what I was thinking (image taken from eleteguard's Animated Dragon Wings Bloody Retexture mod, and modified - albeit poorly - in Gimp by me): Here's the original for comparison: Thanks!!!

If nobody is going to make this, can anyone at least tell me how/recommend free tools I can use to make this mod? Or how hard it would actually be to make? Thanks!!!

There are quite a few mods in Skyrim that add locational damage, or damage that requires medical attention (i.e. More Dynamic Injuries), but it appears as though a grand total of zero mods exist with visuals for when the player is injured. No scars when hit, not bleeding wounds, and no bruises or broken bones when hit with a hundred pound block of fantasy metal. While a mod like Deadly Mutilation but for the player character would be absolutely amazing (hint hint nudge nudge), would it be possible at the very least to add in a limping animation for when taking damage? It could be SkyUI compatible, and have the damage needed be a changeable fall in health percentage, or it could be a set percent (i.e. health falls below 50%), or it could even be tied in with a locational injuries mod, such as Battle Fatigue and Injuries. I know mods like this have been requested somewhat frequently (I myself have already made a similar request), but I think an animation for limping would be a relatively simple mod to create (for someone who knows what they're doing) that would greatly increase the realism of injuries. Thanks!

I'm a huge fan of the Alternate Start - Live Another Life mod, but it only has preset choices. Would it be possible to create a similar mod or expand upon that mod to allow custom starts to the game? This would essentially mean creating a character, choosing starting equipment, starting magic/effects on player, animations (i.e. just standing, waking up, passing out, etc.), and typing in whatever the quest journal would say (giving a background story to your alternate start). I know that this is possible through the creation kit, but for the majority of us, that's really freakin' difficult to do, so could this be done as a mod, potentially one where when you click New Game it gives two options: Vanilla or Custom?

About as badass as Colonel Roy Mustang? Yes! Unfortunately not quite what I was looking for though, I'm looking more for coats, not capes. Thanks though.