Where to start

[mwhenry16]

I ended up at Nexus from the Skyrim forums while perusing and posting glitches. Someone had posted a fix, rather in depth from a beginner point of view, about key mapping, and pointed to nexus.

 

When I got to Nexus I saw the really cool things like "no dirty skin", and other "latest" type mods, and I was/am real interested.

 

Which led to one of the files where the poster mentioned, "go to shader.fx", which as a newb led me on a file search chase.

 

Once I think I found the file, I can't open it.

 

Which brings me to: Can someone point me to within Nexus or in general where to start, and what programs I might need to begin basic mods like the one described? I did a cursory look see, but frankly, much of whats on here is like hieroglyphs to me. I really need to start at "this is A, and it's followed by B, and...".

 

Thanks in advance.

[jburrowes]

I hate to say this, cause it'll sound sarcastic, but I have to wonder if you're reading the .doc or .txt files that come with mods?

 

Most mods install pretty easily. The Data folder, and its sub-folders, is where they all go so it's usually just a matter of copying and pasting them there.

 

Here's an example - but before following it download and install 7zip (http://www.7-zip.org/download.html). It's free and opens most (all?) archive types - .rar files included.

 

Now, when you download a mod open it - right-clicking it and selecting Open Archive if necessary - and have a looksee inside.

 

Usually you will see a Mesh and Texture folder and/or an .esp file. (Graphical improvements (they go in the Mesh and/or Texture folders) usually don't come with a .esp file, and .esp files often don't come with any new meshes or textures.)

 

So when you look in the archive you'll see:

 

Meshes

Textures

.esp files

.doc and/or .txt files

 

Sometimes they'll all be contained in a Data folder so you'll see:

 

Data Files

................Meshes

................Textures

................esp files

................doc and/or .txt files

 

So... usually... to install a mod you simply copy and paste everything to either the Data Files folder - if no Data Files folder exists in the archive - or the main Skyrim directory. (The main directory is that which contains all the folders, the launcher and tesv.exe etc.)

 

WARNING:

 

It's highly advisable to compare the files already in the Meshes and Textures folder with those in the archive. Often they'll be new and won't overwrite anything; sometimes they replace the default files. If there are just too many files to easily see which is the case simply highlight the affected folders, Meshes and Textures either separately or together for example, right-click and select "Send to... Compressed (zipped) folder" - if using Windows. In this way, if you don't like the mod, you can easily delete the affected folders and restore the originals from the backup you just made.

 

Lastly:

 

If an .esp is included in the mod you'll have to click on Data Files when you run the Skyrim Launcher and make sure it is checked. If you don't it won't be loaded when you click Play to run the game.

 

If all this sounds very confusing, well, either I didn't write it very clearly or you just need to become familiar with working with archives (.7z, .ace, .rar. and .zip files), directories/folders, and Windows Explorer.

 

When Wrye Bash, or a program like it, is made for Skyrim installing and un-installing mods will be a lot easier - once you know how to use the program. In my experience though - using Wrye Mash for Morrowind - one still needs to examine and compare the mod's files to any existing default files. Otherwise they could be overwritten without warning - making un-installing problematic.

 

Hope this helped! (Probably now some other member will post an link to an already existing tutorial. lol.)