Do I need to download a file to open my mods?

[bearclaw22]

I am new to modding games, I just got Skyrim for my laptop and i was wondering if there was some kind of program i needed to open the mod. I've downloaded the SkyUI but it won't let me open it. Thanks for the time if you read this and thank you even more if you help me.

[ninjamestre]

Download nexus mod manager then you can download mods from this site just but clicking"Download with manager"heres the link http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/modmanager/

[tredmillion]

nexus mod manager is a very useful utility for mods, but not all mods install properly with it, mods that require things like scriptdragon have to be done manually....but all mods should come zipped up either in a 7zip file or a rar file, downloading 7zip is a very good idea as its a widely used format for zipping up and unzipping files, once you download a mod and have unzipped it, its simply a case of plopping the files in the right place and activating the .esp file in the skyrim launcher.

 

as a general rule, all files go in your skyrim/data folder....if you use steam it'll be located in steam/steamapps/common/skyrim/data.....if you dont then im not sure, but pretty much wherever you installed skyrim :).....if dumping the files in the right place requires either overwriting or merging files or folders, say yes, as the folder structure needs to be correct for the game to find all the files, inside the data folder all .esp and .bsa files will be there and there will also be a meshes folder a textures folder, and so on....a .bsa goes into the data folder as it has a sort of internal file structure, its like a weird kind of zipping i guess, but its a lot more stable and better than having loose folders :)

 

anyways theres a lot more to modding but there are some of the basics, if you have any queries just drop us a message and im happy to answer your questions :)....but the easiest way to use mods is simply to use nexus mod manager!