Even More Skyrim Mods

[Wolfram23]

Oddly, I already use every one of those mods lol. Actually that's probably not odd. I should just list my entire mod list, as I've found a ton that are great for enhancing the vanilla game but that don't actually change the gameplay elements at all. The worst offender would be my crafting mods, but really, being able to smelt old weapons into ingots, or craft arrows, is hardly an offense haha.

I do have some issues with the graphics tweaks though... Well, ok, not so much in their advice about increasing the visual fidelity... but it kind of ignores that this game is very CPU limited and particularily by increasing ugrids you end up needing a lot more CPU power. I have ugrids at 7 and shadows at 4096 and am getting a pretty solid 56-60 fps everywhere except cities. My GPU usage rarely caps out, though. When I run higher shadow resolution it looks nice, sure, but the bad thing is it takes even more CPU usage to calculate all the details and I end up with a fair bit of stutter/slow down. I'm running an i5 750 at 4ghz and a pair of 5850s with 20-30% OCs.

 

[Sicram]

To get rid of the loading screen you can also delete the video file. You have to do it every single time the game gets updated but its an easier, mod free, solution to the problem.

This is way easier than fiddle with a mod. Have done this since day 3... or 5. It gets a bit blurry...

 

[Scars Unseen]

No offense intended, but complaining that you have to keep Skyrim Script Extender updated to make a mod work is inane. Anyone who has played Morrowind or Oblivion on PC(and modded it obviously) can tell you that the Script Extender series is pretty much key to getting the most out of your TES experience. In time, the majority of mods that affect gameplay(rather than those that affect appearance or content) will require SKSE. It's best just to get used to that now.

That said, I do agree that SKYUI is more a mod to watch than anything else right now.

I think his mindset it more like mine right now- the SKSE just came out, so it has a lot of potential to fuck up. I'm waiting until about a month after the construction kit comes out to use any mod that needs it, just to be safe.

And that would be fair enough if true, but that's not what he said. It wasn't the possible bugs that SKSE might have that bothered, him, but rather the fact that SKYUI was dependent on a third party scripting program, despite the fact that this scripting program is just the next iteration of a series of such programs with a long history of being incredibly useful for modders(which is why so many mods are dependent on it).

 

[Greg Tito]

And that would be fair enough if true, but that's not what he said. It wasn't the possible bugs that SKSE might have that bothered, him, but rather the fact that SKYUI was dependent on a third party scripting program, despite the fact that this scripting program is just the next iteration of a series of such programs with a long history of being incredibly useful for modders(which is why so many mods are dependent on it).

Well, I think it's more annoying to have to go to a different site to keep a another mod up to date, and SkyUI doesn't do enough (yet) for me to justify that extra step.

Greg

 

[Greg Tito]

Also, just pointing out QD Inventory IS compatible with SkyUI, meaning you can have SkyUI for your main inventory and have QD manage the rest whilst you wait for SkyUI to completely update.

Really? I assumed cause they both modified the interface file that they wouldn't work together. How did you get it to work?

Greg

 

[Fearzone]

I'm really liking this series. My reaction to SkyUI was exactly the same, but it is definitely one to watch, and I agree that shadows are the most problematic element of Skyrim graphics so will give some of your tweaks a try.  I don't need them exact, but I can't stand them being pixelated as they are.  

Whoever voices Lydia needs to make a mod that replaces her dialog in two occasions:

"I have a bad feeling about this" would be changed to: "don't forget to quicksave", and

"I am sworn to carry your burdens" would be changed to "thank you sir, may I carry more?". Or just redone in a different tone. Or better yet it can just be turned off entirely. Maybe I'll work on a mod for that. 

 

[SextusMaximus]

Good mods so far, but damn things are going to skyrocket when the creator kit comes out. Just wish they'd release it with the game is all!

 

[Zagzag]

Also, just pointing out QD Inventory IS compatible with SkyUI, meaning you can have SkyUI for your main inventory and have QD manage the rest whilst you wait for SkyUI to completely update.

Really? I assumed cause they both modified the interface file that they wouldn't work together. How did you get it to work?

Greg

It is entirely possible to use both at once, as Joccaren and myself (in an earlier post than his which I am not at all bitter about not being noticed...) have already said. I installed QD inventory first, but I'm not sure if that is even an essential step. They just both seem to work at the same time. The SkyUI inventory is used for everything it can do at the moment, and QDInventory does the rest. This means that you don't have to put up with the really terrible vanilla bartering UI elements.
I imagine that in the future SkyUI will be able to do both, but until then a mixture of both is better than nothing.

 

[praetor_alpha]

I've had a no intro video mod for some time. Do it yourself:

Go to Skyrim's directory/Data/Video. Delete everything inside.

It also works for most other games as well. And you can tell quite easily if a new patch came out: it's back!

 

[Joccaren]

Also, just pointing out QD Inventory IS compatible with SkyUI, meaning you can have SkyUI for your main inventory and have QD manage the rest whilst you wait for SkyUI to completely update.

Really? I assumed cause they both modified the interface file that they wouldn't work together. How did you get it to work?

Greg

I just installed them one after the other, SkyUI after QD. Checked on the forums to make sure they were compatible in the first place, and turns out SkyUI, QD and better sorting are all compatible. Makes things a bit easier whilst the other SkyUI screens are getting done.

 

[donspyd]

What about a mod to removing the jarringly bad 3rd person kill animations? Any suggestions?

set killmove to 0 (in console)

although this also removes first person ones...will have to wait for toolset to disable independently.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I think I'm gonna hit up that Enhanced Night Skyrim one. I'd love to recreate the look I gave Oblivion.

Spoiler: Starry Nebula Goodness Here

 

[Fearzone]

Mkay. I've been playing with shadow settings this morning, both with recommendations here and elsewhere, and I have yet to find a better option than simply increasing iBlurDeferredShadowMask from a 3 to a 5.

Cranking up iShadowMapResultion does make shadows look much better and gets rid of almost all of the blockiness, but on my system the framerate went from fluid outdoors to a grinding unplayable halt inside Breezehome and Dragonsreach--and based on your system specs, I'd be surprised if the same thing didn't happen to you.

I think it would be a small change for Bethesda to make things a lot better, without compromising frame rate much, and no changes in the graphical engine: simply use different shadow settings for players, npc's, monsters, and all other structures that could be adjusted accordingly, with the highest map settings to the player to remove the blockiness, and then weaker maps going to other things. It is mainly the blockiness of my own character and housecarl that I have an objection to, and the only other time I even notice pixelated shadows is inside Breezehome.

Other than that, I don't know if there is a setting that makes shadows lighter, but I would like that. Also, indoors, if no other shadow is cast, they should have a shadowy circle underneath the player, and maybe a minimal shadow setting like that even for outdoors. In most games that is what I set shadows to, being the frame-rate whore I am.

 

[him over there]

I've already got some of the graphical mods and I'm pleased to say I'm not having any problems with them. What would really make me happy though is a complete aesthetic overhaul that nakes the entire game looks like tloz:wind waker. But thats just ridiculous. An all text no voice actor patch would be nice too. I'm pretty content with these for now though.

 

[Aisaku]

Today dec 24th skyrim is on sale on steam: $40 till noon tomorrow.

Since the front page didn't mention it I thought the escapist readers deserved to know.

 

[Folji]

Personally I'm just gonna stay away from Skyrim mods until the creation kit is released. Don't trust any of the actual mods to be all that stable, which pretty much leaves .ini tweaks and a growing pile of texture mods. The enhanced blue galaxy looks nice but HD texture mods just strike me as pointless. Seriously, who needs 2048x2048 textures for eyes? (You better believe it [http://skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=498].)

When the creation kit is finally released, though, it'd be pretty sweet if someone were to silence some of the skill/apparel/whatever comments from the NPCs so that they can shut up about the Thieves Guild armour and stop pointing out that I have Azura's Star. I feel as though I'm wearing the thing around my neck, or as a belt buckle, or as a decorative emblem on the invisible backpack I keep all my gear in.

'Course, it's obvious that such a mod will appear sooner or later. In between all the levels of crazy that's likely to come crawling over from Oblivion's modding scene. Looking through the TESNexus' "hot files" list nowadays just makes me want to slap someone.

 

[Ewyx]

skyrim mod? why not zoidberg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od-b82jxj4E

 

[Zenoss]

I have a decent gaming computer (2ghz Dual Core duo CPU, nVidia Gforce 285 and 4 gigs of RAM)

Wait, what? Do you mean a Core 2 Duo? If so, I'm impressed with the results you're getting out of it, considering those chips are a few years old now.

And for the record, the numeral 2 in the the name of the chip isn't there to signify it's a Dual core (the Duo does that), it means it's the second iteration of that chip architecture. That's why mine is a Core 2 Quad.

I'm still blown away by how well Skyrim works on older hardware. the same machine that I have now (My C2Q, 4GB, Radeon 4890), is smashing through Skyrim on Ultra, and yet the Witcher 2, even on medium, dropped frames so much that it looked like stop-motion. I spent most of my time in that game looking for Grommit.