I want what they have!

[AdamDevine]

Howdy fellow Skyrim players! I've been downloading a few graphic mods through Steam, since it's super easy and convenient and I didn't have an unzip program. Well now I do! Now I've seen screenshots of people's Skyrim and it looks phenomenal! Draw distance and most notably their foliage. And as the title says, I want what they have. With the graphics bump I have now Skyrim still runs super smooth so I have room for improvement (aka more mods). So now that I have 7-Zip...what graphics mods can you suggest to me via Nexus or possibly through Steam Workshop I could've missed? Also I haven't downloaded any of the RCRN's or anything like that. Should I? If so, which one do you prefer? Any help, pointers, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!

[ryanthevampire]

There are some pretty spectacular ENB mods that you might want to check out if you've got a high-end gaming setup.

Here's one but there are lots that build on the original ENB mod.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/822

 

Also I would recommend using NMM vs Steam for your mods.

Edited August 29, 2012 by ryanthevampire

[TheUninvitedGuest]

I've been meaning to ask actually. Not really having gone in for the Full ENB sh'bang to start off with I've always always gone a different route to improve my game graphically.

 

At the moment I have the following distinct mods:

 

Skyrim 2k

Realistic Lighting with customisation

SMIM

Dynavision

HD DLC fix

 

Would I see better results (graphically and/or performance-wise) if I went for an ENB mod ? (I am aware that these two setups do not overlap entirely - so a valid answer would be both!).

[Thingamajig]

I can suggest the following mods:

 

Vurts Skyrim Flora Overhaul

 

Pure Waters

 

Climates of tamriel (would replace that realistic lighting of yours)

 

Crimson Tide (If you want some improved gore)

 

Claralux (for more street lights)

 

Footprints (For...footprints :D)

 

SkyUI (For an improved User Interface)

 

IHud (For a dynamic hud that appears/disappears as and when you need it)

 

 

 

These are a few off the top of my head. A quick nexus search should find them for you. As for ENB - i used to run ENB myself but graphical glitches such as grass shadows and underwater problems put me off. I havn't gone back since but i hear newer ENB versions have fully sorted this issue. If true, i may go back to it.

Edited August 29, 2012 by Thingamajig

[TheUninvitedGuest]

Is Climates of Tamriel really better than realistic lighting ?

I have SkyUI and IHud but the others sound great - cheers for the recommendations!

[bben46]

You no longer need an unzipper - although 7-zip is my zip program of choice. Both the Nexus NMM and Steam workshop handle that part very well without the unzipping.

 

As for which is best - that's based on opinion. Workshop is simpler, but doesn't have the range of mods that Nexus does. It also has you 'subscribe' to the mods rather than download them. And they are automatically updated - which may or may not be a good thing. An updated mod can cause conflicts that cause a game to crash and you may not even know the mod was updated.

 

Then Nexus, using NMM it download the mods and installs them. It does tell if you there is an update but you have to initiate the download and install it yourself using NMM. (one click to download, one click to install) Not all mods can be installed using either Workshop or NMM. However those are still available on Nexus for manual installation, and NMM will be able to manage them once installed. :happy:

 

As far as I know, Workshop will only manage the mods obtained from Workshop.

 

Nexus NMM can also install mods downloaded from other sites and then manage them just as it does with those mods downloaded from Nexus. And it can install mods downloaded manually from Nexus also, as the download and install are actually separate and independent functions. :thumbsup: