About to get the game, would like some mod advice

[kaindjinn]

It's been a long time since I modded (let alone played) a Bethesda game, and since I'm about to start Skyrim six months late there are way too many mods to sort through. Are there any good mods to get me started? I have a pseudo-gaming laptop (video card is kind of crap, but manageable) so I don't think it could handle any HD overhauls. I like stuff that expands the game, like cool weapons (I had Rick Deckard's gun in New Vegas, for example) and good armor sets... and I also like playing as a Wood Elf. I saw on my brother's game that wood elves have kind of spooky eyes and crappy hairstyles. Are there any mods that give elves white retinas and/or human hairstyles? The only eye mods I found were HD eyes and the only hair mods were for giving women crazy hairstyles.

 

If this is the wrong section of the forum to post this, I'll readily move it to the correct place.

 

Thanks. :)

[archerkb]

Hey first of all welcome back ;D

 

Hmm I don't have toooo many crazy mods yet, some that I personally use are:

 

-glowing ore veins (really helps if you're a miner)

-hires road signs

-skip bethesda intro

-LoTR weapons collection by Isilmeriel

-15% larger swords

-jaysus swords ( yes i like swords :P)

-extensible follower framework

-killable children (*shifty eyes*)

-coverwomen

-caliente female body mod

-beauty presets

 

For interface, a lot of people swear by skyUI.

For improving fps, I've heard skyboost does WONDERS. There's also a competitor to it but its name escapes me.

 

If you're into ENB and his legion of disciples and their shaders, there are a number of really amazing ones out there. I've tried a couple, but I'm not really qualified to judge them. xD

 

I also keep meaning to get some of those badass mesh and texture improvement mods but I keep procrastinating!

Edited May 10, 2012 by archerkb

[David Brasher]

Don't play any mods.

 

Beat the game a time or two without any mods before you decide how you want to change the game and therefore what type of mods you need to install to change it that way.

[jet4571]

Archerkb is there a %15 smaller swords mod? I hate that WOW anime giant sword crap lol.

[kaindjinn]

Don't play any mods.Beat the game a time or two without any mods before you decide how you want to change the game and therefore what type of mods you need to install to change it that way.

I don't exactly have a ton of time anymore, so beating the game the way I like to beat a Bethesda game is already an 80+ hour affair. I saw a couple menu interface and sorting mods, for example, that look like they would make the game better for PCs. One playthrough should eat my entire summer. :P

[kazan]

What kind of mods do you want and how good can your pc handle mods?

 

I'm running 50ish mods (some are novelty) but in general I'd get

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=3222 Immersive Hud

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=14037 ultimate follower overhaul

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=2812 Better females

Civil War something something

 

Workshop searches:

Unofficial skyrim patch (check workshop)

Realistic lighting

Enhanced High lvl Gameplay (if you know your way around Previous TES games this is a very nice mod)

SMIMM

Kill move no blur

Non leveled item rewards

 

Best thing to do is check youtube though, there are loads of channels which give a nice impression of mods and who show some footage rather than just screens

[BeastlyBeast]

I got sky ui. It says you need skse, but i dont have it, and it works great. the only nuisance is the message at the upper right that says it's not going to work properly (which it does) but the message only comes up when you pull up your inventory. LOL.

[flobalob]

I got sky ui. It says you need skse, but i dont have it, and it works great. the only nuisance is the message at the upper right that says it's not going to work properly (which it does) but the message only comes up when you pull up your inventory. LOL.

 

I may be wrong but I think SkyUI needs SKSE for the sorting/filtering, if you don't use them then you're right. But It's an excelent mod and highly recomended.

 

If you want new weapons & stuff you may want to try Dragonbone Weapons & More Craftables

[kaindjinn]

I'll hold off on weapons for now. At this point I'm still waiting to actually get and install the game, but since I'm doing this at a friend's house (this is a thing between us) I want to get some character creation mods in first. So far I've downloaded (but not installed) the NMM, TesModManager, Glowing Ore Veins, Natural Eyes (so my wood elf doesn't have scary eyes), and the Script Extender in preparation for SkyUI.

 

Are there any good hair mods for male characters? Or a mod that has color sliders for hair like in Oblivion? The wood elf hair styles I saw weren't the greatest, and more importantly I really want to have my sky-blue-haired elf again. (8-Bit Theater fan. :D)

 

Great tips so far, guys! I'm getting primed and ready to go for tomorrow. :D

[Bannor9]

Apachi Sky Hair might be up your alley, you just have to make sure to grab the version that matches whatever body mod you choose.

 

Personally, I like the UNP body mods better than the CBBE versions. Some folks prefer the curvier/bustier CBBE style, others prefer more natural. Both offer a slim version as well.

 

Beyond that, as others have mentioned, Better Sorting by Headbomb, and whatever 'required' files he mentions.

 

Categorized Favorites Menu Which coincides with Headbombs better sorting.

 

A Quality World Map with Roads is useful.

 

SKSE is nearly required for a huge number of other mods out there, and works fairly well. The only issue with using something like SKSE is that it is almost always a week behind in patch versions, although the SKSE team works very hard to have a patched version uploaded as soon as possible. IE, if Bethesda patches today for instance, all your save games will break and you won't be able to play until AFTER SKSE patches.

 

Skyrim Community Uncapper originated by Elys, but now maintained by the community at large with a bigger team of folks.

Uncapped Perks works well with the Community Uncapper.

 

Of course, I play with Steam in offline mode, and set to NOT auto-update (after your first install anyway) so that I can continue playing until after SKSE updates, then grab that update, and allow steam to auto-update again.

 

I play on XP, with 2gig ram, so my system is mem constrained, playing in offline mode gives me at min an extra 100meg of ram that Steam uses to flash attack you with ads when in online mode.

 

Steam is still absolutely required to play, but works fine in offline mode after you grab whatever updates, including the CK, that are currently available.

Edited May 10, 2012 by Bannor9