New to Skyrim....Playthrough before modding?

[Bart1965]

Finally bought Skyrim, the legendary edition for PC. Haven't even installed yet. Should I play through the main quest before adding any mods (except perhaps for UI?)

 

As you can guess by my late adoption I'm not a hardcore gamer or even very PC fluent. But I loved Oblivion and figure Skyrim will help me get through the rainy season (especially at $20 for the legendary edition!). I played through Vanilla oblivion before experimenting with modding, and sort of wish I'd done some modding first as you never quite recapture in replay the experience of first exploring these virtual worlds. With hindsight I would have liked to combine that initial excitement with the improved gameplay of the mods. On the other hand I don't want to mod anything that will screw up the main quest.

 

Oblivion is the only game I ever modded and I got kind of obsessed with it, learned the basics of OBMM and Wrye Bash and wound up with a full load order. All this took much longer than probably for most of you guys as I was a complete noob and made many missteps. I'm sure I spent well over 100 hours, maybe double that installing and testing mods, probably as much time as I spent playing the game. And I wound up with an unstable install, which is why I finally gave up on Oblivion at character level 26 (IIRC) as I couldn't bring myself to uninstall and start over as I knew I should. Any pointers to tutorials or guides to step-by-step modding guides or tutorials so I do it right from the first, this time?

 

I looks like NMM is the way to go now for a modding utility, or am I missing something? Is Wrye Bash still necessary?

 

Any particular mods to recommend? I think I want to stay away from graphics-intensive beautification upgrades as my laptop is probably pretty low end for a gaming machine in late 2013. But in Oblivion I loved mods that tweaked gameplay and NPC behavior to be more realistic, without adding a lot of complexity, like Reneers Guards and Sneak Detection Overhaul. I used Duke Patrick's Combat Archery but didn't go for Deadly Reflex or other combat mods as my fingers (not to mention brain) aren't really quick - I'm more an RPGer than a combat gamer, I guess - and the command combinations looked too complicated for me. I also liked mods that add stuff to the game, like the cluttered-up environments in Better Cities and cool items like PTArtifacts. I'm not sure I ever actually found any of the PTArtifacts but I enjoyed knowing they were in there to be found.

 

Lots of people seem to like Skyrim Redone. I was very interested in OOO for Oblivion but never got around to installing it....I used a limited Frans overhaul that tweaked the spawns and etc but not Frans added creatures or items. Which is Skyrim Redone more like, OOO or Frans or neither? If it's generally agreed that SkyRe is an upgrade over vanilla, which is the sense I get from some quick reading, should I wait till after completeing the main quest before installing it?

 

What about leveling mods? I found the vanilla levelling system in Oblivion ridiculous and used Realistic Leveling almost from the start. I think vanilla Skyrim is different from Oblivion in this respect and maybe more realistic....should I tinker with this before beginning?

 

Thanks for any tips and for all the modding community does to make these games more fun! You all were a great help to me with Oblivion and I'm happy to be back.

 

 

[Vaelka]

You'll get both answers for this honestly. I think it depends on how much you see yourself playing skyrim. If it's only one or two playthroughs, then I would mod from the start, but I recommend playing the game vanilla first so you really know what things you want to improve with mods. It will be easier for us to recommend mods for you that way too.

 

Gopher has some excellent mod videos to help you get started: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE7DlYarj-DdhDG41roBVJfNCqvO5MmKP

 

You can use NMM to download/install mods, but I recommend learning how to do it manually too (it's not that hard for most mods).

 

You're also welcome to shoot me a pm any time if you have questions, etc.

[Telyn]

You and I seem to have similar pasts. I too modded Oblivion to an insane degree. Just got Skyrim, and did so mainly because after a couple of really chaotic years in which I didn't play Oblivion, and had a hard drive failure from which recovered all my files but not the directory structure...I couldn't face trying to fix/redo/remember my old Oblivion game and modding techniques. Like you, I was missing certain mods I had before. What I did was run keyword searches on terms related to the mods I loved before. One of those was Get Wet. So I searched on wet. Turns out there is a similar mod here that has even more features and I love it. So for you, maybe search on Archery. I also looked at the top endorsed files in the categories that interest me most. Then I started with the mods I was absolutely sure I would want which recommend that you start a new game in order to use them. Figured I could add more later without making a new character, and I have. What this did was give me my first few levels mostly vanilla but without some things that annoyed me in Oblivion and would surely annoy me in Skyrim too. Around level 5 or so I started adding the fun stuff. So far it has worked out great.

 

Nexus Mod Manager is currently disabled from accessing the database due to issues with a huge upgrade Nexus just performed, so you will need to download mods manually and then add them to NMM yourself. It has a very nice interface with a button on the left that lets you add from a file. Yes, Bash is still needed, especially if you like armor and weapon mods or anything else that changes the leveled lists. A tip: Avoid very old mods that do anything but replace textures as much as you can. The reason is that many of them were made before the Creation Kit came out and some of them are problematic and potentially save game corrupting when used with the current version of Skyrim. So I am sticking to mods that are current and supported by either the modder or at least active dedicated fans of that mod.

 

I haven't regretted modding right away, and I didn't regret it in Oblivion either. For me modding is always more fun than the vanilla story anyway. I mod everything I can. I mod my operating system. I mod all the games I have which can legally be modded. I overclock my computer. It is lucky for the world I never had the chance to become a mad scientist. If that sounds familiar, you probably would find vanilla a bit frustrating. I don't think you are obligated to "see the game as intended" first. This game was designed to be modded. It is not an insult to Bethesda if you do that. My guess is you probably actively seek out games you can mod. If so...go to it and good luck!

[Bart1965]

Thanks for the comments and advice!

[ArtMurder]

To put it simply, if you don't know what you like, and what you don't, you won't know were to begin on modding. Maybe install a few mods, like SkyUI, iHUD, and texture replacers that just make the game look and feel better without changing anything. I would at least play for a little while before modding. I played on PS3 for almost a year before swapping to PC. lol

 

If you get into the game and decide you don't like it, just start over and start with an overhaul mod, like Requiem or Skyrim Redone, these change so much.

[Fistandilius]

I put over 1000 hours into stock Skyrim before I touched my first mod. I enjoy the stock game. For me mods was just a way of adding new features to continue gameplay after I'd exhausted everything the stock game had to give me.

 

If you mod the game before you've even played it, I feel like you're missing out on potential gameplay. As you said in your post (and I'm paraphrasing) once you know the game, it's never quite the same. But with mods, you CAN make it different. Once you've exhausted the game, checked out all the new DLC lands, then you can go back and add Falskaar, Wrymstooth, etc. and give yourself more content and try something different. It's a way of extending the game.

 

If you mod the game without logging hours on stock, you won't even know the game. I hate it when I'm watching a mod review video on youtube and I see the narrator all excited about something they hadn't seen before, and it's something that was in the stock game. They think it's a mod!

 

I was also really irritated with myself when I came across something while playing and _I_ didn't know if it was from the stock game or not after 1000's of hours of playing.

 

If there's one thing Skyrim has its replay value.

 

This is just my 2 cents.

 

Then again, some people will tell you they think the game is unplayable without mods.

 

Btw, you said you're not a hard core pc gamer. You might want to look into getting an xbox 360 controller and using that. It's what Skyrim was intended to be played with, so all the UI functions better with it. Otherwise it's supposedly unplayable on pc without SkyrimUI. I don't play games with the mouse so I wouldn't know.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Fistandilius

[Deleted3924898User]

I would definitly use all Amidianborn armor retextures, SkyUI, SKSE, all unoficial patches (for the ones you have: Skyrim, heartfire, high resolution, dawnguard, dragonborn), Static Mesh Improvement mod (trust me, this mod makes a HUGE difference), UFO (ultimate follower overhaul) and convenient horses.

 

All these mods are super lore-friendly, and they make the game a lot more enjoyable.

[ArtMurder]

I would definitly use all Amidianborn armor retextures, SkyUI, SKSE, all unoficial patches (for the ones you have: Skyrim, heartfire, high resolution, dawnguard, dragonborn), Static Mesh Improvement mod (trust me, this mod makes a HUGE difference), UFO (ultimate follower overhaul) and convenient horses.

 

All these mods are super lore-friendly, and they make the game a lot more enjoyable.

I agree

 

Except I would avoid UFO at all costs, and I don't get why people still suggest it. It's badly outdated, and even installed with no other mods causes a lot of glitches do to it being incompatible with the newest skyrim official patch, the modder who created it abandoned it, so despite it being an AMAZING mod it's not one you want to download, considering there are better alternatives available that do not conflict with the most recent skyrim update, like Amazing Follower Tweaks.

 

I also suggest the mod Tamriel Reloaded if you have a low end computer, and/or 2k textures if you have a better computer. I use all AMB textures, Tamriel Reloaded, overwritten by 2k textures lite (this allows TR to still add in it's really great looking grass and stuff, I personally only like the building/road textures and the grass textures for it)

 

EDIT; also, I do not suggest installing SKSE until you install a mod that needs it. A LOT of mods do need it, but there is no need to install it if there is, well, no need to install it lol it does nothing on it's own, and likely will cause no problems if you do, but it is a bit more complicated then a run of the mill mod to install, as you have to go offsite to download it, and install it differently the normal mods.

Edited December 6, 2013 by ArtMurder

[chanchan05]

Well, with Skyrim, the mods make it all so different. I put like 400hrs into my first playthrough before I started modding. The game was enjoyable. However I am still amazed with how the world became different with modding. For example, I yawned my way through the first dungeon before on my first playthrough (was on adept), then a second playthrough at Master sort of surprised me. Then a playthrough on Legendary with mods was even better. Now I just started a barbarian (for the kicks of the Conan Hyborian Age Mod), and with SkyRe on Master, it makes Legendary on vanilla look like a cake walk. You may know the place yes, but if you think you still know what you're up against after you mod, you are sorely mistaken.

 

Plus now there are huge mods like Falskaar, Wyrmstooth, Moonpath to Elsweyr that add huge amounts of new lands to explore. Falskaar and Wyrmstooth for example add huge islands, the size of a Skyrim Hold I think.

[Rusey]

 

I would definitly use all Amidianborn armor retextures, SkyUI, SKSE, all unoficial patches (for the ones you have: Skyrim, heartfire, high resolution, dawnguard, dragonborn), Static Mesh Improvement mod (trust me, this mod makes a HUGE difference), UFO (ultimate follower overhaul) and convenient horses.

 

All these mods are super lore-friendly, and they make the game a lot more enjoyable.

I agree

 

Except I would avoid UFO at all costs, and I don't get why people still suggest it. It's badly outdated

 

 

UFO just got an update at the end of November. That said, having tried it, EFF and AFT, I much prefer AFT and it seems to be compatible with more of the mod companions right out of the box.

 

I know you posted in my thread too OP but my two coppers as someone who played Skyrim when about the only mods available were some face retextures and a mod to make the stupid dogs not bark every 3 seconds (and bless whoever made THAT), I didn't come close to finishing even the main story because things were buggy, clunky and not that pretty. Horses were so much of a pain I bought one and then never used it, companions would randomly disappear and wouldn't even be where their "home' supposedly was, they blundered through traps and died all the time etc.

 

I don't get purists who suggest that the game is somehow better vanilla, or should be tried vanilla. While there are certainly things you won't know you dislike until you play, just looking at screenshots is enough to know whether you feel your game will be improved by a lot of mods, or reading the description. I mean, did I need to experience vanilla to have known that I'd love to see NPCs put on hoods in the rain/seek shelter in bad weather? Nope. Did I need to experience vanilla Skyrim to know that pitiful farmer NPCs look stupid fighting dragons instead of running? Nope. That I wanted better hairstyles? Nope, not past the character creation screen anyways.

 

As someone who has a lot of patience and who had gotten experience modding Oblivion, I would absolutely have modded my game up before playing the first time if I'd had that option. I also just know some people aren't that confident about installing mods or are simply too impatient to start playing, and that's fine too -- so that's why when you asked me if you should mod, I said, "It depends.". But my personal opinion is mod your first playthrough, even if you do so conservatively. I've enjoyed my subsequent ones SO much more when mods were available.