Your Favourite Skyrim Mods + Help out a modding noob

[Mozza444]

So the main reason I'm making this thread is that I finally have a computer that can run Skyrim at a high quality with a bunch of mods.

I'm looking for any immersion mods and I'm trying to make the experience as realistic/Unforgiving as possible. I found a youtube lets play and it would be great if anybody could help list the mods that he has (Yes I know some are in the MCM, but most aren't).


Also any other recommended mods would be great, I'm not really bothered about graphics intensive as I imagine it will quickly slow my PC down.

Anyway to give discussion value what are peoples favourite mods and why?


EDIT: Also can anybody help with installing the Dual Sheath Redux mod as I'm having difficulty... something to do with needing BOSS?

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

http://www.youtube.com/user/GophersVids/featured I would recommend going their for much of your modding needs. Great channel

As for making it 'hardcore' there are a couple of overhauls to choose from such as SKYRE, ACE and Requiem to add a more in depth experience. This channel has a more some in depth look at these(along with other mods) http://www.youtube.com/user/Brodual.
Deadly Dragons and Dragon Combat Overhaul will make your experiences with dragons much more intense and dynamic

As for other realism/immersion mods Realistic Needs and Diseases is pretty good, iNeed is a solid alternatives. There are other even more hardcore options but these two seem to be the most polished.

Those take care of the food/water/sleep aspect, Frostfall is the go to for dealing adding the need for shelter. Death by blizzard and freezing water is a distict possibility. On that note Wet an Cold changes NPC behavior to equip hoods and cloaks when it is cold or wet.

If you don't want to role play as the Dragonborn than there are mods like Another Start, another life that lets your start a number of different ways. I can't seem to go into any Skyrim recommendation threads without also talking about SkyTEST Realistic animals and predators, it makes interactions with Skyrims fauna better than the vanilla, all predators are out to get you.

http://www.skyrimgems.com/ Otherwise this is a pretty good place to go for quality mods otherwise just browsing the Top files on the nexus is a good place to start.

For Dual Sheath redux have you run the dual sheath redux patcher that comes with it? The other common issue is do you have a skeleton replacer to support it like XP32? Those are the typical issues I have seen people have and that I had as well.

 

[Mozza444]

For Dual Sheath redux have you run the dual sheath redux patcher that comes with it? The other common issue is do you have a skeleton replacer to support it like XP32? Those are the typical issues I have seen people have and that I had as well.

Cheers man,
Yeah when running the patcher it then comes up with I need BOSS, I think i've managed to find that though now.

Another question....
Just been modding, going all well and surprisingly easy.... but now everything is gone. It's all in the data files and I'm starting using SKSE_Loader, but none of my mods are there. Any idea on that one?

EDIT: Fixed this issue but now crashes. Oh shit have I got a lot to learn.

 

[Esotera]

My favourite mod is probably one where you can grow trees via a magic staff, and they gradually get larger each day. I can't remember what it's called, but it's absolutely awesome seeing Whiterun surrounded by a forest of conifers...

 

[leberkaese]

If you really want a realistic, harcore and unforgiving mod you can check out Reqiuem - Roleplaying Overhaul. It raises the games' difficulty a lot and changes many of the game mechanics. There are a few videos posted to explain most of the stuff that has been changed

Personally, I'm a big fan of realism and roleplaying-mods. Most of them already meantioned in the video you posted and by SapphireKnight: Frostfall, Realistic Needs and diseases. Other stuff that adds immersion:
- Alternate Start - live another Life:alternate starts that let you chose, where and how you begin
- Even Better Quest Objectives: changes your quest objectives into somewhat more immersive instead of your normal 'follow the quest marker'
- Take Notes - Journal of the Dragonborn: if you really want to go immersive, you can write your own diary

Other mods I would recommend:
- Vilja: voice acting that needs getting used to, but a very well made story-driven companion mod
- Heart of the Beast & Werewolf Perks Expanded, if you want to expand the Werewolf game mechanics
- better or new guilds: Enhanced Skyrim Factions - The Companions Guild, The Dark Brotherhood Ressurection, Hunting in Skyrim
- quest mods: Wyrmstooth, Falskaar, Moonpath to Elsweyr

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I used to use Duel Sheath Redux, but that mod actually messed up my game so much I had to do a full reinstall, it may still have problems, but be careful with it.

Are you using the Nexus site[footnote]This baby: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/?[/footnote] for mods, or sticking to Steam, because that will affect the mods available to you.

Also first thing you should look at is installing SKSE. http://skse.silverlock.org/


A lot of the more ambitious mods require SKSE to work as it allows more extensive changes to the core coding of the game.

Large Popular mods for immersion:

Real Shelter [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/52612/?] (shown in the vid you posted) - stops rain and snow travelling through rooves and other cover while outdoors.

Expanded Towns and Cities [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/13608/?] More NPCs, houses and ornamental stuff around some major settlements. Compatible with Real Shelter.

Immersive Patrols [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/12977/?] Adds some skirmishes along the roads and forts between soldiers and bandits.

Small mods for immersion:

Various guard outfits for Every cityTS Edition [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/6770/?]

Fantasy Soundtrack Project [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/46518/?] More awesome tunes for exploring. It will amaze you what a huge difference a new adventuring song can have on an old, well trod path.

Follower commentary overhaul [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/52019/?] Adds in unused lines that were left out of the final game.

Guard commentary overhaul [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23390/?] Same as before, but specifically for the guards, to stop them mocking you in later game.

Realistic Boat Bobbing [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/52694/?] Makes boats bob in water instead of being static.

Dynamic Loot [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/42662/?] Lets you augment drop ratios, add improved or enchanted weapons and armour to drop lists (and therefore enemies)

There are several mods that do the same thing, but with different takes on it. Probably best to read the descriptions / try them all out and choose which ones you like best.

Hypothermia/Frostfall - Mods that add negative effects from getting too cold or wet, right up to death if you don't get warmed up fast enough. These are the two most popular, you can search for others as well.

Camping mods, some of which are Hypothermia/Frostfall compatible (to provide shelter) allow you to pitch tents, fires etc. to make a camp for staying out in the wilds.

Various food/drink/sleep mods that add negative effects to going too long without them. Best just search them on your own on Steam/Nexus

And of course, weapons and armour pack mods.
Heavy Armoury [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/21120/?]
Weapons of the Third Era [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/12892/?]
Immersive Armours [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19733/?]
Immersive Weapons [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/27644/?]

That should keep you going for a while (just try and pace yourself when adding mods - add them one at a time, then load up the game and try and access the content to make sure it works)

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

Cheers man,
Yeah when running the patcher it then comes up with I need BOSS, I think i've managed to find that though now.

Another question....
Just been modding, going all well and surprisingly easy.... but now everything is gone. It's all in the data files and I'm starting using SKSE_Loader, but none of my mods are there. Any idea on that one?

EDIT: Fixed this issue but now crashes. Oh shit have I got a lot to learn.

Just to check are you using the Nexus mod manager? There are other options out there but it is the most common and most likely to have solutions for problems you run into.

The first link I had to Gopher's channel will really help with both trouble shooting mods and finding new ones. If it is a crash to desktop right after the Bethesda logo then the issue tends to be caused by a problem with your load order. You just downloaded BOSS but there is actually a new tool that I believe evolved from it called LOOT which is actually a much more accurate way to sort out your load order(though you should learn how to do so on your own as well). I recommend starting here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzsBKYUrcbE. It explains it probably better than I could, but the general idea is that the game tries to load something but it is missing the master files related to whatever it is it is trying to change. This can happen in any number of ways but as an example if you try to install a mod that required Dawnguard, but you didn't have Dawnguard installed the game will crash.

Modding skyrim tends to accompany a lot of tools and there is another one called TES5Edit which can help with both diagnosing your problems and cleaning files(which will help with stability). Gopher also has a video on this as well.

Crashes are just part of the process, I have had my fair share, especially since I like to live dangerously when it comes to Skyrim mods(SOOOO MANY).