starting terrain and folage mods

[dollhobbs]

looking for mods to change the look of terrain, trees grass and so forth. I need ideas on what to install first, and maybe a small list. Am running a GTX950 so nothing EXTREMELY intensive. Thanks for the help ahead of time.

[anjenthedog]

I'd recommend that you review the "most endorsed" listings and review the first few dozen pages of entries. You'll see what others have chosen, regardless of any feedback you receive here in this thread.

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/trendingalltime/

 

For instance, on the first page of those listings, Realistic Water Two shows up as the 9th entry.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/2182

 

Skyrim Flora Overhaul shows up as the 12th entry.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/2154

 

And so on, and so on, and so on...

 

Both of those examples are, in my opinion, great mods... granted I want to be perfectly clear... In MY opinion. Yours might differ.

[Algabar]

Repacked and re-uploaded, therefore not on the "most downloaded/most endorsed" billboards, but IMHO one of the greatest texture mods - if not the greatest of them all:

 

Skyrim HD by luxor

 

I'd definitely recommend to try it out. It's a very complete package - if you like the style, you won't need much else.

[dollhobbs]

thanks for the replies but what I am also looking for is a mod or plugin that will improve the appearence of my toon and the NPC's. I am not sure what to seach under for this as I haven't messed much with adding mods. My son has but not me. Can you give me an idea on what search line I should use to find what I am looking for? this is a fresh install and only have Flora overhaul and realistic water 2 installed.

[anjenthedog]

Vas is das???? >>>>>> my toon

 

To be honest, I'm not sure if you mean the

• weather/lighting/environment
• coloration (ie lush purple, violent green, lemon yellow, etc)
• literal cartooning of Skyrim (I've seen a couple mods along that line, ie replacing characters with saturday morning cartoon style npcs and player)
• your player character's level of photo/physics realism
• or what.

I apologize for being (or at least seeming to be) thick as a brick, but could you rephrase that "toon" thing in commonspeak?

[Algabar]

Vas is das???? >>>>>> my toon

"Toon" usually refers to "player character". And there were two questions: The first one was about landscape, the second one was about character customization.

 

As always, it's a matter of personal taste. For female characters, CBBE is very common. An alternative would be the new UNP. There are many more - choose what you like. You might also want to use a hair mod like Apachii's or KS HAirdos.

 

For males, "Skysight" looks very nice. It works on the vanilla male body, so no dependencies and no male body replacers required.

[anjenthedog]

 

"Toon" usually refers to "player character". And there were two questions: The first one was about landscape, the second one was about character customization.

With all due respect... Now who's being thick? :dry: First off, "Toon" is usually a reference to a cartoon or comic strip (that's why that definition comes up first in a dictionary) , not a cartoon character, and second, I already responded to the first part of the OP's query. But thanks for clarifying for the OP. My initial presumption was that he or she was referring to the player, BUT, since a certain new generation has a glaring tendency to redefine common terms to mean something entirely different, I wanted to make sure before responding.

 

To the OP:

 

CBBE , 3BBB, and 3BBB Advanced are all options for increasing photorealism in a player body (generally speaking, a female player, since that's where most of the focus on this has been from developers). In order, each represents an evolution of the CBBE type with increasing levels of realism CBBE >> 3BBB >> 3BBB Advanced

 

UUNP or BHUNP are options for bodies for those who want to stick with the older UNP spec. (I use BHUNP for modifying ported followers based on the old UNP standard) UNP >> UUNP >> BHUNP

 

Many new Skyrim Special Edition players seeking to improve the realism in their player character opt for CBBE to start, but depending on how technically savvy you are, and what you want out of you "toon", you may want to review the other body types noted above.

 

None of the above will change the default appearance of a player's FACE.

 

While Racemenu or ECE can be used to modify body characteristics (and is often used as a finishing step), when it comes to improving faces, using one of the two is crucial. (crucial for most or many players, since we generally don't have the external tools and/or aren't qualified artisans that can use them)

 

Note: you'll find that there are also racemenu presets that can be downloaded and loaded to your character via the racemenu presets tab....Be aware up front that for these, what you see isn't what you normally get, unless you have exactly the same configuration as the racemenu preset author has. It does not replace what you have. What happens is that said racemenu presets modify our original faces/bodies by morphing the preset definition with our own. It can go either way, making the character more or less appealing... in my direct experience, worse is the norm, but rarely, it can improve the player realism.

 

Warning: You will probably see stuff about ECE and Racemenu as you browse mod entries for face/body modification in game... You need to decide if you're going to use ECE or Racemenu, since they don't "play well together". AFAIK, most people use Racemenu. Many newbs like myself install(ed) both and find out later they don't play well together, which is why I included this warning. Just in case you're a newb... (I don't want to presume, but I have to make a guess call on this one)

 

There's also the issue of skin textures. The Pure Skin, Leyenda, Demoniac, SG Female Texture renewal, and several others. See the "Bodies, Face and Hair" section of mod-categories to become acquainted with the choices. There are many options for female skin textures, and a few for males. Seeing the images that each offers in its mod page and reading the descriptions tab and requirements will help you decide which one suits your fancy.

 

And then there's clothing and armor for your player, which is another area of realism. Mainly, you'll find a lot of stuff for females, few for males.

 

----

 

IMPORTANT!!! Bodyslide and Outfit Studio is a mod that I encourage you to add, as it will allow you to build bodies and fit clothing/armor. Without it, forget everything else except racemenu, since none of the rest of the augmentation process will work without its use.

 

Make sure Bodyslide and Outfit Studio is installed before you install any "bodyslides" (a file containing slider preset information), armor/clothing, or any of the body types (CBBE, BHUNP, 3BBB, etc), so that the slider definitions they offer are incorporated into Bodyslide during installion of said body type definitions (CBBE, 3BBB, etc) or bodyslide, or for that matter any armor/clothing with a bodlyslide included. (not all clothing/armor has them, but many do)

 

Doing so in reverse order (installing Bodyslide and Outfit studio AFTER) will mean you'll need to reinstall the bodyslide preset(s) or body (CBBE, 3BBB, BHUNP, etc) spec(s) previously installed, or the info they provide won't be added to Bodyslide and Outfit Studio for your use in building said body or fitting said armor/clothing. Save yourself the hassle that many of us previous newbs suffered through (myself included) and do it right the first time...

 

---

 

Anecdotally, I use 3BBB Advanced for my female player. I started by using CBBE but moved to the newer CBBE specs as they were introduced over the past year. (i've been playing Skyrim for just about a year now...)

 

I use a stock UNP male player for my other vector.

 

I used Racemenu to improve both of their facial characteristics and make them look more 'real' (or at least less of "a face only an equally ugly cartoon mother could love")

 

 

 

- edited for typos and content

[dollhobbs]

My apologies as I play alot of WOW and we usually refer to them as toon's. I meant player character. Thanks for the info I will check out the suggestions. And thanks for the warnings about what doesn't work well together. P.S. I am 62 years old .

[anjenthedog]

No biggy. I was just trying to make sure I understood your reference and didn't spew out the above (or similar) and then face a reply of "I was talking about the trees and grass" ;)

 

(I'm 60 fwiw)