What mod for amazing visuals do I choose?

[manchuligans]

Ok, it's a lot of reading, but these links will improve stability a lot. I'm not an expert on Skyrim, but I'm a connisseur of crashing to desktop in Skyrim. These are what helped me, and if anyone has more up to date info, feel free to comment:

 

Skyrim Stability Guide

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/50244/?

 

This guide says a lot about how to edit your skyrim.ini and skyrimprefs.ini files which tell your game what to do, but this editing is very easy to do with Mod Organizer.

 

Skyrim Project Stability

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/32363/?

 

This guide says a lot about how to optimize Windows, like unparking your cpu cores, managing some memory in Windows 7 to help Skyrim, especially Section 5 and Section 6. I had really good results with these techniques.

 

Safety Load

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/46465/?tab=2&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fskyrim%2Fajax%2Fmodfiles%2F%3Fid%3D46465&pUp=1

 

It says not to use Safety Load (unnecessary), but I have good results with it. It keeps me from crashing out during loading screens and inventory screens.

 

Skyrim Project Optimization

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/32505/?

 

Real uGrids to Load Solution

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/48387/?

 

These are .ini file settings which tell your game what to do and how to use resources. I have very good results with these techniques, easily done through Mod Organizer. Always make backups so you can easily go back when you change these files. If you make a mistake with an ini file it can break your game. The good news is you can just change it back. They're just a list of instructions really. Basically these settings tell the game it can use more memory. Read the whole thing, and look through the different recommendations. A key setting is one that tells your game not to make objects disappear when they are far away. As a result I can see things at extreme distances, like settlements, cities, landmarks, etc. I always leave my uGrids setting at the default of 5 though. I don't mess with that.

 

S.T.E.P. 's recommendations on LOOT are also vital to make sure your mods are being used by the game in the correct order to get the effect you want. Example: If I download an armor to replace a vanilla armor, it has to load after the vanilla armor or the vanilla armor will overwrite it and you won't see the new armor in game. Mod Organizer has easy to see icons that tell you what is overwriting what, and you can drag and drop mods in the interface until you get it the way you want it. LOOT will automatically sort your mods to prevent conflicts (as best it can) then you put on the finishing touches. You can see conflicts in Mod Organizer. It really is a great tool. Check out all the tutorials you can on it because it can be confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's awesome.

 

 

I recommend getting Alternate Start Live Another Life or a similar mod so you don't have to go through the Helgen intro a million times.

 

 

Those are the mods and guides that have helped me, and here are some things I've learned from months of trying to get my mods to work.

 

Crashes usually happen because of missing files the game needs or because the 32 bit game engine hits its 3.??? Gb memory limit (it's not your computer, it's the game engine, which is really pretty old). Example: I'm running from Helgen to Riverwood and the game just silently winks out and I'm staring at my desktop. The path from Helgen to Riverwood to Whiterun touches the borders of multiple cells sometimes, making the game load all those resources at once. With high quality textures, a ton of extra NPCs all running scripts, a town beautification mod adding all kinds of objects, extra wildlife roaming around, custom weather, etc. the poor game engine just chokes and crashes.

 

So what to do?

 

Use 2k textures unless you really really want 4k textures for special things. This frees up your video ram for other things.

 

Skyrim has a problem with multiple monitors. Turn one off in your Nvidia control panel when you're going to play.

 

Look for mods that are described as 'script-free'. Scripts are a vital part of the game, but if you have a few mods that are heavy on scripts it can bog down the game and cause crashes or serious problems. There's nothing wrong with the mods, it's just the game engine is cranky and can't really handle the load if you use them all at once. Save your script capability for your must-have mods. I had to stop using my favorite combat mod because of this, it was just too script-heavy. Be careful of mods that add a lot of animals, creatures or NPCs all doing their own thing. The scripting engine has to worry about the behavior of all these creatures. You can use these great mods, just be aware that you can easily overdo it and you'll need to make compromises. Try them out to test the limits, then narrow them down to your top picks.

 

When you take out mods start a new game because unused scripts and things can build up in save games and cause problems.

 

Use Mod Organizer, and try out different mods, testing them and changing them out until you have a good frame rate and good stability, then start a character that you intend to play. It can be frustrating when the game crashes and you don't know why, but just search for solutions online, try them out and soon your game will look great and have more great content than ever came with vanilla!