Help me please!

[TeFNedal]

Ok so im pretty new to pc gaming i really love skyrim on the console but the pc version just seems so much better and i really want to mod things myself and at the same time i want to download a lot of mods. anyways it seem like you have to have steam to download mods or is that if you got the game through steam. second what all do i need to access the mods other than the nexus mod manager and the creation kit anything else i need. third really new to pc gaming my computer is not that great i went to canirunit.com and it ran a quick check and my computer is capable to run the game at the minimum settings

 

my specs-

AMD A4-3400 APU with Radeon HD Graphics, what is recommended Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU

 

3.6 of free ram space is what i have. the min is 2, what is recommended is 4

 

AMD RADEON HD6410D Graphics, what is required DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1 GB of RAM (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 or higher; ATI Radeon HD 4890 or higher)

 

What Is Required

 

Pixel Shader version 3.0

Vertex Shader version 3.0

Dedicated Video RAM 1 GB

 

 

What I Have

 

Pixel Shader version 5.0

Vertex Shader version 5.0

Dedicated Video RAM 512MB

 

what im trying to figure out is exactly what i need to do to get mods and create them more important to actually get them will make mods once i no my way around. but with what you guys see here can i run skyrim smoothly and would i look better than the console versions or will it run just as smooth as the console versions and look as good at the minimum requirements on my pc.

 

if someone could help me it would be greatly appreciated.

 

and what i have all passed the canirunit.com check it pretty much tells me that i can run the game at the min requirements. just want to be shour that i can run and all the mods and all that good stuff again if anyone can help greatly appreciated.

 

and memory wise do the modes take up space on my hardrive if so i got more than enough for that just need help if you help could you also tell me things i may not have mentioned before hand.

Edited July 6, 2012 by TeFNedal

[Rennn]

It does look like you'll probably be able to run Skyrim in some capacity, but it won't look very good. I'd recommend finding a mod to turn off Skyrim's shadows, because they're a massive performance killer, and they don't look very good anyway unless you have a strong gaming pc. Anyway, that's just my recommendation. Review sites do say that your pc is capable of running Skyrim at minimum settings, but don't be surprised if it's not smooth or pretty unless you do something with mods to lower the graphics even more. You won't run it as well as the consoles. I gamed on a laptop with worse specs than those for a while, and mods do make a game a lot better even without having good graphics. Make sure you run Skyrim in fullscreen mode.

 

To answer some other questions...

The Steam version of Skyrim and the disk version are exactly the same. Both require Steam in order for you to play or mod Skyrim, and one version isn't really better than the other. The only real difference is that if you get the disk version it'll install on your computer faster. After that initial install, they're exactly the same.

 

To make many kinds of mods you only really need Skyrim and the Creation Kit.

Other kinds of mods require extreme, specific skills, but for learning to mod you'll mostly want the Creation Kit from Steam. There are several tutorials online for modding and you'll want to start small, because it can get really complicated otherwise. With the Creation Kit you can mostly make things like new characters, new dungeons, etc. You can modify stats, equipment, and locations from the game. You can do more than that with the Creation Kit ofc, but those are the basics.

 

Mods will take up space on your Hard Drive, but most won't take very much space. You're going to want to avoid any mods that improve graphics, because your pc is on the border as it is. You're also going to want to avoid mods that add a lot of people at once, such as Civil Unrest. Most mods should be fine, however, because most mods don't affect performance much if at all.

 

Most mods come with a few different types of files. Normally when you download a mod from the Nexus, it'll be in something called a zipped folder. You'll need a free program like this:

http://7-zip.soft32.com/free-download?gclid=CK3w-ozihLECFWaFQAodaHjcFw to open a zipped file. Once you open the mod, you'll need to install it where you have Skyrim installed. There are separate tutorials for that. It sounds really complicated, but it's really pretty easy after you do it a couple times. Just make sure you always keep a copy of your Skyrim folder backed up in case you break it while modding something.

 

Getting mods from the Steam workshop is easier, but they don't have as wide a selection as the Nexus, and they don't have many complicated mods. Mods from the Steam Workshop just require that you hit the "subscribe" button on the mod page. After that it'll install automatically the next time you launch Skyrim. To activate a mod after this, you go into the menu that comes up when you play Skyrim, hit the Data option, and place a check mark by the name of the mod. Once you see the menu it'll be easier to visualize these instructions.

 

There's more to it than that, but this is getting pretty long and I should have been asleep three hours ago...

[bben46]

First, Steam IS required. Without it you will have problems using mods and patching - and it can be a very frustrating experience. We do ban pirates here - we do not support people who do not support the game makers.

 

Install steam outside of the default location, If you have already installed it, it can be moved easily without losing anything. https://support.stea...php?p_faqid=231

 

Just being the administrator on a PC does not mean you have admin privileges for every file ( Thanks to Microsoft for this bit of insanity) To run a file as admin, RIGHT click on it. select 'Run as Administrator' from the drop down menu.

 

Do not expect a PC version that is modded to work like a console version. Every console is exactly like every other console and that makes it easy for the maker to design for. Every PC is different, and that can make for various differences in operation. A good PC can run far better, while one with certain hardware, or underpowered can run far worse. You will have to learn how to optimize your PC to run at it's peak while with a console, the maker did that for you. We can help with this. :thumbsup: