Malosar Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 So I've been fairly heavily modding now for several months and as such have become more familiar with a lot of the major ones and what kind of small/large mods are available to really tweak the Skyrim experience to your liking. I've heard about Frostfall a lot and have only just now researched it more, so I'm wanting to try out a hardcore mode survival experience as the whole concept is fantastic.I'm planning on wiping Skyrim clean with a fresh install then start from scratch with mods specifically to go with my intended experience, along with wiping all my saves (maybe back them up somewhere). Here is what I'm planning so far and I'm looking for suggestions on better alternatives and other mods to further an engrossing realistic lore-friendly Skyrim.Realism and Gameplay modsFrostfall (Hardcore mode)Wet and ColdRealistic Needs and DiseasesHunterbornUFODuel - Combat RealismDynamic Things - Woodpiles and BarrelsConvenient HorsesGraphics modsSkyrim HD TexturesEnhanced Lights and FXW.A.T.E.R.Skyrim Project OptimizationEnhanced Mighty DragonsEnhanced Blood TexturesBetter Dynamic SnowMore SnowGet SnowyBody Graphics modsUNPB-BBP BodyApachii Hair + NPC replacementsEye of BeautyYounger Faces Male & FemaleLuscious Faces UNPBetter Male BodiesHigh Res Face Maps for MenBeardsVHH walkMature skin and body texture UNPCustom Skeleton Pack 65World ChangesClimates of Tamriel 3.1Lightning during Thunder Storms - Climates of TamrielSkyrim Floral OverhaulGrass on Steroids Goldilocks editionMorning FogsFootprintsDrinking Fountains of SkyrimShooting StarsRiverwood RebornRainbowsLanterns of SkyrimWoodsmans ShackEquipment modsTavern Clothes Replacers UNPB-BBPImmersive ArmorsUltimate HD TorchHD Travel CloaksWIC CloaksaMidianBorn book of slience armor and weaponsaMidianBorn Wolf ArmorUI ModsSkyUIA Quality World MapLoadoutShowRaceMenu + PKENBI'm going to look at some ENB's again. I was using CoT Cinematic for awhile as I really liked the lighting and coloring of it, very realistic. Had some issues with blue lighting in sun and fire as well as some other minor issues but overall one of the best I could find, their DoF was good in both first and third as well (I switch between often). I've recently moved to RealVision ENB as it's also fairly realistic and their Bokeh DoF mechanism is great.... all apart from horseback which is really bad. Amazing visuals with ENB 157 but the horseback issue is almost a deal breaker.Since I'm going for a fairly hardcore experience, gritty and cold, I'm going to look at SkyRealism ENB Evolved as that had some different options bleak, unbleak, gothic etc? I some folks have suggestions for this I'll gladly take a look, there are so many ENBs out there. And no, K ENB is not something I like.I'm also looking at some possible combat mods. This is something I've never really tried out so I'm fairly clueless in this department. If anyone has some suggestions for some combat overhauls that would be compatible with what I'm planning, I'll take a look at them.Lastly, I've look at SkyRe which seems really nice as a big gameplay overhaul however I'm unsure about compatibility with the mods above and need to be a bit more research into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caithe Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 (edited) This would make your experience even more hardcore http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/34698/ Edited April 15, 2013 by Caithe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltoss Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Something that may help improve the hardcore survival feel is improved combat and blood. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/2700http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/3829http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/60 And since it is focused around Frostfall, you'll want to make those snowy hikes feel as cold as they are to your character, so better snow would help. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/8328http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/10383http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/19660 And the final thing I can think of to add to improve the feel of the environment is this thunder mod, which greatly improves the sound of thunder. You'd be surprised how well it adds to the immersion during storms. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/1702 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malosar Posted April 15, 2013 Author Share Posted April 15, 2013 This would make your experience even more hardcore http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/34698/ Wow, that sounds very interesting, I love the concept. Thanks! Something that may help improve the hardcore survival feel is improved combat and blood. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/2700http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/3829http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/60 And since it is focused around Frostfall, you'll want to make those snowy hikes feel as cold as they are to your character, so better snow would help. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/8328http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/10383http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/19660 And the final thing I can think of to add to improve the feel of the environment is this thunder mod, which greatly improves the sound of thunder. You'd be surprised how well it adds to the immersion during storms. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/1702 The Duel Combat Realism looks excellent, thank you. A lot of work gone into it and amazing amount of detail on the numbers provided by the author. I was going to use Enhanced Mighty Dragons, is Deadly Dragons more recommended? I had forgot about a blood mod, I was using some Crimson mod before but I don't like the look of the effects on some opponents, especially dragons. I'll check out that blood mod thanks. Doesn't Frostfall and Wet & Cold add snow effect like Get Snowy? I like the other 2 snow mods though, thanks! Regarding that thunder mod, it doesn't look to be compatible with CoT, only RCRN and I'm not going to switch. However now that you reminded me, I will add this Lighting during Thunder Patch for CoT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TehKaoZ Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/33201 Skinning, Harvesting Wildlife, compatible with Frostfall & RnD as well as just about every other mod http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/32448 Compatible as well with Frostfall & RND. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malosar Posted April 15, 2013 Author Share Posted April 15, 2013 http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/33201 Skinning, Harvesting Wildlife, compatible with Frostfall & RnD as well as just about every other mod http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/32448 Compatible as well with Frostfall & RND. How is that hunting mod compared to Hunting in Skyrim? They both introduce skinning/pelt mechanisms so I'm assuming they will conflict. I do like the features more suited to Frostfall and RND though so I might go with that one instead, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TehKaoZ Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Hunterborn changes how you access the loot when you kill something, like when you kill a wolf a menu will pop up for field-dressing and then skinning, harvesting and butcher however, there is also a button that will show up for manual loot or looting like in vanilla. if you click this you will loot normally and since hunting in Skyrim just adds pelts to loot lists it actually doesn't conflict. It would likely make it redundant though =P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltoss Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 The Duel Combat Realism looks excellent, thank you. A lot of work gone into it and amazing amount of detail on the numbers provided by the author. I was going to use Enhanced Mighty Dragons, is Deadly Dragons more recommended? I had forgot about a blood mod, I was using some Crimson mod before but I don't like the look of the effects on some opponents, especially dragons. I'll check out that blood mod thanks. Doesn't Frostfall and Wet & Cold add snow effect like Get Snowy? I like the other 2 snow mods though, thanks! Regarding that thunder mod, it doesn't look to be compatible with CoT, only RCRN and I'm not going to switch. However now that you reminded me, I will add this Lighting during Thunder Patch for CoT. There are a few great dragon mods, it's really personal preference in my opinion. I've used several but I don't fight dragons enough to have an opinion. I'm not sure if Wet & Cold or Frostfall add the snowy texture. As for the blood mod, I used to use Crimson Tide as well but like you said the effects aren't always the best looking. The Enhanced Blood Textures look amazing though, and I've never seen it look bad/out of place/buggy. For the thunder mod, it should be compatible even if it doesn't say anything about it. At least, I've been using both that thunder mod as well as CoT and not had any issues during storms, but maybe I've been lucky so far. I'm looking forward to seeing what other mods people find as I've also been thinking about doing a playthrough like this soon. One last suggestion, have you thought about disabling fast travel and getting some mods that improve the carriage system, increase the prices, and/or add ships? When I've used Frostfall before I've noticed it really loses a lot of its survival feel if you are just fast traveling to most places. Disabling fast travel really slows down the questing if that's what you enjoy, but greatly improves the survival experience with something like Frostfall and Realistic Needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malosar Posted April 16, 2013 Author Share Posted April 16, 2013 I noted in my original post that I'll be doing Hardcore mode on Frostfall, which disables Fast Travel, so yes I'm hoping to really immerse myself into it this time. I originally had a mod in my list called Scenic Carriages however from what I was reading it doesn't work very well after the latest patches however it looks like the author may have an update soon so we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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