How best to enhance my Skyrim?

[StayFrosty05]

Today I received a new Graphics Card and Monitor, both enabling High Definition....I know almost next to nil about computers and PC/Modding language and have gotten myself lost among the High Def/Enhancement mods available, as I would love to download one and finally have those beautiful graphics I so often see depicted on this Forum....My question: Which High Definition/Enhancement Mod would you suggest as a good overall mod pack for my game?....I would deeply appreciate some suggestions and ideas.

[IBN5100]

Well, there's this really good lighting mod that has no impact on performance for the most part. It also includes other nifty mods such as Better Snow which makes the snow look nice and prevents you from being blinded when you're looking at a field of snow in bright daylight.

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=7654

[DaisukeJP]

I recommend you this ENB

 

I've tested all ENB's there is..

 

this one really stood out .. looks best to me.

also is pretty fast compared to other ENB settings.

 

weird ha?

 

 

http://enbdev.com/enbseries/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=410&sid=e345677b0e2ad58e7e453e66fd684570

 

anyway give it a try ^^

also use the lighting mod that IBN5100 suggest u.. first lighting then enb .. 2k textures etc

[StayFrosty05]

Thank you Daisuke and IBN....much appreciated, will start working on downloading them now....thank you again.... :smile: Edited April 20, 2012 by StayFrosty05

[ArtMurder]

First, get '2k textures' all of the packs for it. It'sa lot to download, but it makes a HUGE difference. DONT get this if you plan on installing Tropical Skyrim though cause some of the textures conflict!

 

Install IMGINATOR, Climates of Tamriel, and the Cinematic ENB you can get from the optional falls with CoT. This is a simple, manage, FPS friendly ENB that works well with CoT (most conflict with it) Then install 'ENB Costumizer" This allows you to do quick simple edits to ANY ENB. - CoT clashes with most lightning mods and many ENBs, IMAGINATOR used screen effects unlike lighting mods and ENBs, thus goes GREAT with any of them. These together should make skyrim look very amazing, and should be very costimzable, if you don't like something specific about it!

 

 

You can also install the mods Lush Tress and Losh Grass for the forests, aMidianBorn Book of Silence for weapons and armors - makes them INSANE high def looking. Like, every tiny link of chainmail glistens in the sunlight real. Also grab Real Ice, has tons of options to make the ice in skyrim super - HD

 

Hi-Red Quality world map and High Quality 3D Map - these two together perfect, replacing both the mesh and texture of the world map, making it much more detailed, and USEFUL adding roads and much more!

 

 

'Footprints' plus 'Wet and Cold' great mods, especially if you use Frostfall and CoT. I can not tell you just how much realism this adds, wondering through the snow, and turning back to look at your and your followers footprints in the snow, and barely glimpsing your followers warm breath through near-blinding blizzard in the frigid mountain air.

 

you cal also just search 'HD' in the nexus and find lots of other HD mods!

 

If you like the aspect of killing people in your game to more high def and realistic get 'no spinning death animation and 'realistic rag doll' (one of them needs a patch for the other) also Enhanced Blood textures and Deadly Mutilation. You might also want to make some INI tweaks for these last two, which I'm about to get too.

 

Lastly, look into tweaking your Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini! With this, Google is your friend, simply google things like 'Skyrim Shadow ini tweak' and 'skyrim visual ini tweak'

 

Here are my inis, if you want to try out some good HD settings. Remember, ALWAYS back up your INI!! Do not just copy paste and replace the WHOLE ini with this(even though it is my entire ini), unless you happen to have the exact same Graphics Card as me that could end badly!

 

SkyrimPrefs.ini

 

 

[General]

fBrightLightColorB=1.0000

fBrightLightColorG=1.0000

fBrightLightColorR=1.0000

iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1

bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0

bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1

bUseThreadedBlood=1

bUseThreadedMorpher=1

bUseThreadedTempEffects=1

bUseThreadedTextures=1

bUseThreadedMeshes=1

bUseThreadedLOD=1

bUseThreadedAI=1

bUseThreadedMorpher=1

[imagespace]

bDoDepthOfField=1

iRadialBlurLevel=2

[Display]

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3

fInteriorShadowDistance=2500.0000

fShadowDistance=3000.0000

iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=4096

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=4096

iShadowSplitCount=2

iMaxAnisotropy=16

fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000

fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000

fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=10000000.0000

fGamma=1.3200

fDecalLOD2=1500.0000

fDecalLOD1=1000.0000

fSpecularLODStartFade=2000.0000

fShadowLODStartFade=500.0000

fLightLODStartFade=3500.0000

iTexMipMapMinimum=0

iTexMipMapSkip=0

iWaterMultiSamples=0

iMultiSample=16

iShadowMode=4

bTreesReceiveShadows=1

bDrawLandShadows=1

bFull Screen=1

iSize H=1080

iSize W=1920

fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000

fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000

fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000

fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000

fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=10000000.0000

fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=10000000.0000

iScreenShotIndex=126

bShadowMaskZPrepass=0

bMainZPrepass=0

iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=25

iMaxDecalsPerFrame=350

bFloatPointRenderTarget=1

sD3DDevice="NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 "

bFXAAEnabled=0

iShadowMapResolution=4096

fShadowBiasScale=1.0000

iShadowMaskQuarter=4

iAdapter=0

iPresentInterval=1

iShadowFilter=3

bShadowsOnGrass=1

bTransparencyMultisampling=0

bDeferredShadows=0

bDrawShadows=1

[Grass]

b30GrassVS=1

fGrassStartFadeDistance=25000.0000

fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=7000.0000

fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000

[MAIN]

bGamepadEnable=1

bCrosshairEnabled=1

fHUDOpacity=1.0000

bSaveOnPause=1

bSaveOnTravel=1

bSaveOnWait=1

bSaveOnRest=1

fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000

[GamePlay]

bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1

bShowQuestMarkers=1

iDifficulty=2

[interface]

bDialogueSubtitles=0

bGeneralSubtitles=0

fMouseCursorSpeed=1.0000

bShowCompass=1

[Controls]

fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.4050

fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0125

bAlwaysRunByDefault=1

bInvertYValues=0

bGamePadRumble=1

bMouseAcceleration=1

bUseKinect=0

[Particles]

iMaxDesired=750

[saveGame]

fAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000

[AudioMenu]

fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000

fVal7=0.2500

uID7=402733843

fVal6=0.2500

uID6=3954

fVal5=0.4000

uID5=410705

fVal4=0.3000

uID4=522251

fVal3=0.3500

uID3=94881

fVal2=0.2000

uID2=466532

fVal1=1.0000

uID1=554685

fVal0=0.0500

uID0=1007612

[Clouds]

fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000

fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000

fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000

fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000

[TerrainManager]

fTreeLoadDistance=300000.0000

fBlockMaximumDistance=250000.0000

fBlockLevel1Distance=70000.0000

fBlockLevel0Distance=35000.0000

fSplitDistanceMult=1.5000

bShowLODInEditor=0

[NavMesh]

bUseThreadedMeshes=1

fObstacleAlpha=0.5000

fCoverSideHighAlpha=0.8000

fCoverSideLowAlpha=0.6500

fEdgeFullAlpha=1.0000

fEdgeHighAlpha=0.7500

fEdgeLowAlpha=0.5000

fTriangleFullAlpha=0.7000

fTriangleHighAlpha=0.3500

fTriangleLowAlpha=0.2000

fLedgeBoxHalfHeight=25.0000

fEdgeDistFromVert=10.0000

fEdgeThickness=10.0000

fPointSize=2.5000

[Trees]

bRenderSkinnedTrees=1

uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=20

bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1

bShadowMaskZPrePass=1

[Decals]

bDecalsOnSkinnedGeometry=1

bDecalMultithreaded=1

uMaxDecals=1000

bDecals=1

bSkinnedDecals=1

uMaxSkinDecals=100

uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=60

[LOD]

fLODFadeOutMultObjects=15.0000

fLODFadeOutMultItems=15.0000

fLODFadeOutMultActors=15.0000

fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1.0000

[Launcher]

bEnableFileSelection=1

bShowAllResolutions=1

uLastAspectRatio=3

[blurShaderHDR]

bDoHighDynamicRange=1

[blurShader]

bUseBlurShader=0

[Water]

iWaterReflectHeight=1024

iWaterReflectWidth=1024

bReflectExplosions=1

iWaterBlurAmount=4

bAutoWaterSilhouetteReflections=0

bForceHighDetailReflections=1

bUseWaterDisplacements=1

bUseWaterRefractions=1

bUseWaterReflections=1

bUseWaterDepth=1

[backgroundLoad]

bBackgroundLoadLipFiles=1

bLoadBackgroundFaceGen=1

bUseMultiThreadedFaceGen=1

bBackgroundCellLoads=1

bLoadHelmetsInBackground=1

bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1

 

 

 

Skyrim.ini

 

 

[General]

sLanguage=ENGLISH

 

uExterior Cell Buffer=36

bUseThreadedTempEffects=1

bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1

bMultiThreadMovement=1

bUseThreadedMorpher=1

 

[Display]

fShadowLODMaxStartFade=1000.0

fSpecularLODMaxStartFade=2000.0

fLightLODMaxStartFade=3500.0

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048

bAllowScreenshot=1

fDecalLifetime=256.000

 

[Audio]

fMusicDuckingSeconds=6.0

fMusicUnDuckingSeconds=8.0

fMenuModeFadeOutTime=3.0

fMenuModeFadeInTime=1.0

 

[Grass]

bAllowCreateGrass=1

bAllowLoadGrass=0

iMaxGrassTypesPerTexure=6

 

[Actor]

fVisibleNavmeshMoveDist=12288.0000

 

[GeneralWarnings]

SGeneralMasterMismatchWarning=One or more plugins could not find the correct versions of the master files they depend on. Errors may occur during load or game play. Check the "Warnings.txt" file for more information.

 

[Archive]

sResourceArchiveList=Skyrim - Misc.bsa, Skyrim - Shaders.bsa, Skyrim - Textures.bsa, Skyrim - Interface.bsa, Skyrim - Animations.bsa, Skyrim - Meshes.bsa, Skyrim - Sounds.bsa

sResourceArchiveList2=Skyrim - Voices.bsa, Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa

 

[Combat]

fMagnetismStrafeHeadingMult=0.0

fMagnetismLookingMult=0.0

f1PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.7

f3PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.7

fMagnetismStrafeHeadingMult=0.0

fMagnetismLookingMult=0.0

 

[VATS]

bVATSDisable=1

 

[Camera]

fVanityModeMaxDist=2000.0000

fVanityModeMinDist=10.0000

fMouseWheelZoomMinDelta=0.0050

fMouseWheelZoomSpeed=0.8000

fMouseWheelZoomIncrement=0.01

fMinCurrentZoom=0.001

fChaseCameraMaxAngle=30.0000

fOverShoulderPosZ=26.0000

fOverShoulderPosX=0.000

fOverShoulderCombatAddY=0.0000

fOverShoulderCombatPosZ=26.0000

fOverShoulderCombatPosX=0.0000

 

[Papyrus]

fUpdateBudgetMS=800.0

fExtraTaskletBudgetMS=800.0

fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS=2000.0

iMinMemoryPageSize=256

iMaxMemoryPageSize=512

iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=153600

bEnableLogging=0

bEnableTrace=0

bLoadDebugInformation=0

 

[Water]

bReflectLODObjects=1

bReflectLODLand=1

bReflectSky=1

bReflectLODTrees=1

 

[backgroundLoad]

bBackgroundLoadLipFiles=1

bLoadBackgroundFaceGen=1

bUseMultiThreadedFaceGen=1

bBackgroundCellLoads=1

bLoadHelmetsInBackground=1

bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1

bUseBackgroundFileLoader=1

 

[Animation]

bMultiThreadBoneUpdate=1

 

[HAVOK]

iNumThreads=4

 

[Decals]

bDecalMultithreaded=1

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Oh great, this threads a year old....

 

Glad I put the time and effort into this post. Thanks guy who necroed it!

Edited April 10, 2013 by ArtMurder

[Soulsbane96]

Don't get entirely mad Art, I'm still planning ok checking out your recommendations (though I won't be surprised if my computer hates me afterwards) and I'm sure others will too

Just because the OP may not see it doesn't make it worthless

[LadyMilla]

Thread necromancy.

Topic closed.