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[aku:jiki]

What province is Beyond Skyrim depicting? I'm not really hip to ES lore as Skyrim is my first game in the series...

Yeah I know, not running any HD texturepacks and/or vegetation enhancements (to hide bad textures), because if I do.... ~sub 20fps with ENB turned OFF @ 1080p, got to weak hardware (660Ti).

Really? That sounds odd to me. Did you dial down Bethesda's default shadows, turn off vsync (and turn on some other form of frame-limiting) and are ENBoost features on and configured correctly? Those three things were pretty big for me as far as performance goes.

 

[RK9039]

What province is Beyond Skyrim depicting? I'm not really hip to ES lore as Skyrim is my first game in the series...

It's supposed to be the entire continent of Tamriel. All of Cyrodiil, the province in Elder Scrolls IV, is there for example.

It looks like Skyrim is missing from that map probably because they don't need to do anything with it and parts of some other regions are missing too, maybe still working on those.

 

[Mithos]

Really? That sounds odd to me. Did you dial down Bethesda's default shadows, turn off vsync (and turn on some other form of frame-limiting) and are ENBoost features on and configured correctly? Those three things were pretty big for me as far as performance goes.

Yeah, activating Skyrim HD textures and then I'm only using the LITE version even, make me loose ~5fps at the location of the screenshot, and we're NOT going to speak of what happens when I turn SFO on...

But yes, ENBoost is on and working correctly, but NO I'm following the Realvision guide for what/where to setup v-sync aka skyrim.ini + enbfiles so v-sync is on that way.

I have no idea about the Bethesda shadow part I'm running on a high.ini setting (not ultra.ini)

Same location, slightly different time, Skyrim HD Lite textures and SFO activated (edit: linking correct picture ^^).

 

[JimmyRustler]

It wasn't the patch itself, it was the way it was conflicting with another mod.

I uninstalled almost every single mod today in order to find out what caused the problem. The only ones I didn't delete were the interface mods. So you tell me with which one it was conflicting....

 

[Woorloog]

I uninstalled almost every single mod today in order to find out what caused the problem. The only ones I didn't delete were the interface mods. So you tell me with which one it was conflicting....

The only way to find conflicts is to have the only conflicting mods on at the same time.

Play with the UOP only and see if it causes issues. If yes, then the install is corrupted or missing files probably.

 

[Mesoian]

Updating OBIS
Updating AFT Patches
Updating Interesting NPCs

I just want to PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY and these updates are HUUUUUUUUGE!!!!

 

[aku:jiki]

It's supposed to be the entire continent of Tamriel. All of Cyrodiil, the province in Elder Scrolls IV, is there for example.

It looks like Skyrim is missing from that map probably because they don't need to do anything with it and parts of some other regions are missing too, maybe still working on those.

Cool, thanks. Is it supposed to be to scale with Skyrim's size? Because that sounds like it might be a little bit overly ambitious... I do hope they pull it off.

Yeah, activating Skyrim HD textures and then I'm only using the LITE version even, make me loose ~5fps at the location of the screenshot, and we're NOT going to speak of what happens when I turn SFO on...

Definitely start by turning off the vsync, that was the biggest one for me. I turned it off in the ini and turned on frame-limiting through Nvidia Inspector, but I suppose ENB limiting should work just as well.

You can also try Lush Trees & Grass + Grass on Steroids for a more lenient upgrade of vegetation. I use it because SFO costs me a few more frames (and I don't like how SFO2.0 looks), and it looks good enough for me. The GoS description has tips on how to customize the amount of vegetation to suit your setup.

Here are my shadow settings for skyrimprefs. It produces kinda ugly shadows if you stop and look at them, but that really doesn't matter for the gameplay experience.

 

[RK9039]

Cool, thanks. Is it supposed to be to scale with Skyrim's size? Because that sounds like it might be a little bit overly ambitious... I do hope they pull it off.

I think all the provinces are their own sections so you have to load yourself in those maps. Cyrodiil alone is like the same size as Skyrim. This is going to be huge if they pull it off.

 

[DrForester]

I want to start a new game with my new PC.

Anyone got a good list of graphics and other mods that will give me a great experience?

 

[Eirulan]

...I'd like some recommendations on an ENB to try as well.

I'd prefer something that stays somewhat true to the original and doesn't go too "drab" if you know what I mean, but also doesn't completely slay performance. Anyone have any recommendations?
...

There's a relatively new ENB that might be what you look for, T.A.Z. visual overhaul.
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/61826/?
You should also try out Natural Lighting and Atmospherics
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/50065/?
And Phinix Natural ENB
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/24235/?

 

[Mesoian]

So AFT is currently fighting against something or other which would normally allow it to work with interesting npc's. Finding that mess seems to be the order of the day

 

[Mithos]

Definitely start by turning off the vsync, that was the biggest one for me. I turned it off in the ini and turned on frame-limiting through Nvidia Inspector, but I suppose ENB limiting should work just as well.

I tried it, sat it to 0, and loaded a save and played for 30 minutes, then the same with setting sat to 1, no difference in fps, so I guess Realvision ENB settings seems to take care of the v-sync no matter what.

You can also try Lush Trees & Grass + Grass on Steroids for a more lenient upgrade of vegetation. I use it because SFO costs me a few more frames (and I don't like how SFO2.0 looks), and it looks good enough for me. The GoS description has tips on how to customize the amount of vegetation to suit your setup.

I have tried SFO, Verdant, and GoS since last post, and there is in my mind to much automatization when adding more grass so a lot of clippings in low floors, stubs, stones, and not to speak of roads getting overgrown that should not be, however...

SFO DO change the look of flowers/vegetation away from vanilla look, but I actually like it, however I noticed it looked less intrusive with Grass On Steroids Natural Edition for SFO addon and its settings. Might run with that have not decided yet.

Here are my shadow settings for skyrimprefs. It produces kinda ugly shadows if you stop and look at them, but that really doesn't matter for the gameplay experience.

Compared your settings with mine, I have lower settings so I'm set on shadows.


I'll just have to admit defeat and that I can not get Skyrim any prettier that I already have if I still want to have playable framerates. Maybe an SSD or a GPU upgrade someday in the future, or just wait a year or so and get a complete new system.

 

[threetri333]

Is there a Must have Mods 2/22/15?

I found this reddit post, but it's from 6/18/13. http://www.reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/1ikhrs/the_list_of_the_best_must_have_mods_for_skyrim/

 

[Eirulan]

... played around with Jon's new versions of The Grim and Somber ENBs today and wanted to share some screenshots

Jygallag:

Malacath:

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

*whistles*

Damn that's some sexy stuff.

 

[lazygecko]

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/62856/?

This looks like an interesting mod to improve the feel of the combat. Gonna try it out with two-handers cause I especially disliked the way they feel in Skyrim.

 

[aku:jiki]

I tried it, sat it to 0, and loaded a save and played for 30 minutes, then the same with setting sat to 1, no difference in fps, so I guess Realvision ENB settings seems to take care of the v-sync no matter what.

Ohh, you run an ENB at all times? That's just crazy when you're already struggling for fps!

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/62856/?

This looks like an interesting mod to improve the feel of the combat. Gonna try it out with two-handers cause I especially disliked the way they feel in Skyrim.

It does sound interesting but a lot of people are complaining that stunlocking is way too easy (for both sides)... That needs to be fixed before I test it out.

 

[Mithos]

Ohh, you run an ENB at all times? That's just crazy when you're already struggling for fps!

Yeah because.

1. "Vanilla" looks crap compared to it. So I have to have it running either FULL or Performance version at all times.
2. Finding a screenshot moment, and have to quit the game install FULL version (because I run ENB Performance @ 60fps) and then go back ingame take screenshots, quit game reinstall ENB Performance version would be such a bother.

Currently checking/looking if there is a possibility that the ENB toggle can go from ENB FULL -> ENB Performance instead of ENB -> Off.

 

[DeaviL]

I've asked before, but what settings are best for a 144Hz screen?
It's also a g-sync screen, but that probably won't work anyways.

I'm talking best settings, ideal framerate to limit to etc.

Spoiler

Asking here, because setting -> mods, ya know

 

[strafer]

I don't think vanilla Skyrim looks bad.

 

[Grexeno]

I don't think vanilla Skyrim looks bad.

It definitely doesn't look so hot compared to an ENB, though.

 

[Fata1moose]

It definitely doesn't look so hot compared to an ENB, though.

I think some ENBs can take away from visuals, especially if they are intrusive, I use an enb, but I always turn off depth of field in favor of Dynavision.

 

[Branson]

I don't think vanilla Skyrim looks bad.

It doesn't, but once you're used to modded Skyrim, even without an ENB, you notice the things that are held back by the consoles more.

 

[lazygecko]

It's mostly just the shadow rendering and the water shader that aren't good in vanilla Skyrim, which ENB can fix. Apart from that ENBs rely on a bunch of post processing that is way more subjective than anything like heavy usage of tonemaps, and DoF magnitudes that tend to lend themselves better to screenshots than actual gameplay.

 

[Crimsonsky]

Updating OBIS
Updating AFT Patches
Updating Interesting NPCs

I just want to PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY and these updates are HUUUUUUUUGE!!!!

AFT hasn't been updated since 2013. What are you updating? Perhaps that's the issue?

Interesting NPC updates are always huge since you basically have to reinstall the whole thing every single time.

 

[Thorgal]

and DoF magnitudes that tend to lend themselves better to screenshots than actual gameplay.

It does help covering up that horrible LOD landscape though .

 

[Sendou]

Skyrim Workshop file limit is now… limitless

Get ready for bigger mods on Steam’s Skyrim Workshop. This week This week we’ve pulled the restraining bolt that restricted mod sizes to 100 mb – allowing you to upload mod projects to the file size your project demands!

Before we go live with this feature for everyone, we’re beta testing things this week – both for Skyrim’s PC launcher and the Creation Kit, too.

Details below…

Creation Kit 1.9.33 Update

* Creation Kit now supports unlimited file sizes for mods on the Steam Workshop.
* The Preview Image is limited to no larger than 1 MB.

Skyrim Launcher

* The Skyrim Launcher no longer downloads mods from Steam Workshop. Downloads are now managed by the Steam Client. The Skyrim Launcher updates the game after the Steam Client finishes the download.

Source: http://www.bethblog.com/2015/03/02/skyrim-workshop-file-limit-is-now-limitless/

 

[lazygecko]

Does that mean the launcher no longer auto-updates mods without your consent? That's one of my biggest issues that keeps me away from the workshop.

 

[DrForester]

Where's a good place to get started with mods and everything? Which mods are the best, and things like that?

 

[Mesoian]

AFT hasn't been updated since 2013. What are you updating? Perhaps that's the issue?

Interesting NPC updates are always huge since you basically have to reinstall the whole thing every single time.

It was compatibility patches with iNPC's, OBIS, and some other things. For whatever reason, AFT is not playing well with iNPC's nicely at all anymore. I don't understand it, my last save game from my previous playthrough works beautifully, but this new one is tripping all over itself.

 

[NormalFish]

Where's a good place to get started with mods and everything? Which mods are the best, and things like that?

Hate to give you such a non-answer, but google is truly your best friend with this. There are so many lists and showcases available that you really should just explore a bit.

 

[Dr.Acula]

Where's a good place to get started with mods and everything? Which mods are the best, and things like that?

Nexusmods.com

DL the mod manager and use that, it's much better than the Steam Workshop. In fact, don't use Steam at all, just do everything through the nexusmods client.

The best mods are the unofficial patches and SkyUI. Instructions on their use and installation are on nexus. They're the most popular mods so they should be easy to find.

After that, it's up to you. The graphical mods are the simplest and least troublesome, then you can start getting into gameplay overhauls.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Where's a good place to get started with mods and everything? Which mods are the best, and things like that?

If you're interested in a lore-friendly experience.
Consider this website: http://skyrimgems.com/

All of the mods listed there are for enhancing the core game.
The site also mentions STEP which is an effective setup for beautifying your Skyrim.

The main reason to start here is because you want to decide on your most intensive mods first. And by intensive I mean mods that require a lot of scripts, change large portions of how the game works, etc. Mods that replace textures/add graphical effects/etc tend to be easily removable.

So yeah, just go through GEMS and pick out what looks interesting to you, and go from there.

Also this is IMO but these are my "Can't play Skyrim without them" mods:
-Alternate Start - Live another life - Skips the intro and lets you start the game from numerous locations around Skyrim.
-Unofficial Patches (one for the main game, the rest for DLCs) - Essential for avoiding headaches
-SkyUI & SKSE - A ton of mods require these two files, so you'll get them.
-Enhanced Lights and FX or Climates of Tamriel + Imaginator + some sort of ENB or sweetfx config - I use something called "I can't believe it's not ENB" since ENBs kill my frame-rate. Basically..vanilla Skyrim can look really flat, even if you replace a bunch of textures/character models. Lighting + post-processing can do a lot to improve the game graphically.
-Some sort of gameplay/perk overhaul such as Skyrim Redone, Requiem, etc. These change the game up quite nicely, making for new challenges.
-Safety load, Skyrim Project Optimization, and/or some other files that alleviates bloat. More mods mean more instability. With my current load I get very few CTDs(and they're mostly due to my lack of VRAM).

And yeah. Steam workshop (aside from a few exclusives) is a waste of time. Stick to the nexus and only branch out once you get a feel for what you're doing.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

-Unofficial Patches (one for the main game, the rest for DLCs) - Essential for avoiding headaches

I would add to that ...
Bring Out Your Dead
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/14178/?
Cutting Room Floor
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/47327/?

Both of those mod are by the same person (Arthmoor) that does the Unofficial Patches

also
Flora Respawn Fix
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31268/?

 

[Sarcasm]

So I have changed nothing and started up the game with my profile in mod organizer. I think my save is corrupt. It is playable still but I lost all my magic and shouts, even the basic shout you get for the first time.


Without cheating how do I fix? Start over?

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Steam workshop (aside from a few exclusives) is a waste of time.

That's a damn shame. I was really looking forward to user-friendly, no-extra-time-required, no-fiddling-needed mods for Skyrim using Steam workshop but it appears to have been a pipe dream. I've tried modding previous Elder Scrolls games using the unofficial methods and it was always a time-intensive pain in the ass that would result in game-breaking glitches as often as it helped. I ended up having to reinstall on a couple of occasions. I'd love to mod Skyrim but I don't think I want to invest the time and effort to do it the hard way. I just wish the workshop had been successful.

Are there any worthwhile mods on workshop if that's all I'm willing to do?

 

[Feel_The_Pain]

I just installed a HD pack from somewhere in steam, and some other little mod. As far as I know it's easy to install.

 

[Pollux]

That's a damn shame. I was really looking forward to user-friendly, no-extra-time-required, no-fiddling-needed mods for Skyrim using Steam workshop but it appears to have been a pipe dream. I've tried modding previous Elder Scrolls games using the unofficial methods and it was always a time-intensive pain in the ass that would result in game-breaking glitches as often as it helped. I ended up having to reinstall on a couple of occasions. I'd love to mod Skyrim but I don't think I want to invest the time and effort to do it the hard way. I just wish the workshop had been successful.

Are there any worthwhile mods on workshop if that's all I'm willing to do?

Depends on what you're looking for. Workshop has been good for me so far...

 

[Unai]

That's a damn shame. I was really looking forward to user-friendly, no-extra-time-required, no-fiddling-needed mods for Skyrim using Steam workshop but it appears to have been a pipe dream. I've tried modding previous Elder Scrolls games using the unofficial methods and it was always a time-intensive pain in the ass that would result in game-breaking glitches as often as it helped. I ended up having to reinstall on a couple of occasions. I'd love to mod Skyrim but I don't think I want to invest the time and effort to do it the hard way. I just wish the workshop had been successful.

Are there any worthwhile mods on workshop if that's all I'm willing to do?

There are tons of worthwhile mods on workshop.

 

[Hakkelus]

Yeah, workshop has worked flawlessly for me. I have installed around 30 mods, never even crashed yet. Of course not all mods are there, but there are plenty of good ones.

 

[vio]

I don't think vanilla Skyrim looks bad.

Doesn`t look bad compared to Fallout 3 or Oblivion.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Workshop has been good for me so far...

There are tons of worthwhile mods on workshop.

Yeah, workshop has worked flawlessly for me. I have installed around 30 mods, never even crashed yet.

Awesome. Can you guys share a few of your favorite workshop mods so I can check them out? There are tens of thousands on there and separating the wheat from the chaff seems pretty daunting.

 

[lazygecko]

Whether you use the workshop or not has no real bearing on the ease of use or stability when it comes to modding. Sooner or later when stacking mods you're going to have some that overlap with eachother and cause conflicts. The workshop won't solve any of that for you.

 

[Pollux]

Awesome. Can you guys share a few of your favorite workshop mods so I can check them out? There are tens of thousands on there and separating the wheat from the chaff seems pretty daunting.

Honestly, just go to te workshop, and click top rated all time in the drop down menu and go from there. I have the better bodies and face mods, the realistic blood spatter, interior lighting, grass, realistic vegetation, water mod, and some random weapon and armor mods I though looked cool. Also, a realistic hunting prices mod. Changes the value of furs and animal meat to reflect more realistic prices.

Didn't realize theee were mods for unlimited leveling and resources. Tried those but ended up uninstalling them because they ruined the game for me.

 

[aku:jiki]

Whether you use the workshop or not has no real bearing on the ease of use or stability when it comes to modding. Sooner or later when stacking mods you're going to have some that overlap with eachother and cause conflicts. The workshop won't solve any of that for you.

The workshop really is the worst way to mod Skyrim simply because of this and the auto-updating. The load order will most definitely cause an issue eventually and refusing to learn about the modding basics like load order will only lead to frustration and irritation when it happens and you have no idea why the game won't launch.

I guess it's my "if something's worth doing" mentality, but I just don't see the point in taking the easiest and laziest path with something like this. All you're doing is setting yourself up for save corruption and launch CTDs that you don't know how to solve because you refused to learn a few simple basics.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I guess it's my "if something's worth doing" mentality, but I just don't see the point in taking the easiest and laziest path with something like this.

I'm not looking for the absolute best experience, just an enhanced one that won't take much time away from gameplay, and time is my concern, not laziness or difficulty. I just wanted a short list of specific mods (X, Y, and Z) a couple Gaffers used so I could get back to playing without worrying about compatibility or whatnot because presumably they use these same mods together. What I want to avoid is picking mods a la carte from a huge list and figuring out if they are good or work together. For simplicity's sake, I wanted to stick within the confines of Steam. Some people are saying that workshop is a poor way to do it, but others are saying it works fine for them.

If there's some all-in-one turnkey download like the Morrowind Graphics Overhaul that does everything in one swoop, that would be fine too but I haven't seen that if it exists.

I have the better bodies and face mods, the realistic blood spatter, interior lighting, grass, realistic vegetation, water mod, and some random weapon and armor mods I though looked cool.

Thank you for the suggestions but I'm looking for specifics. There are many 5-star "grass" mods on the workshop when you search. I'd like to know which one you are using.

 

[Travolta]

Check out Skyrim gems, it is a site that collects all the best mods by category. Don't have the link here but Google can help you.

 

[aku:jiki]

I'm not looking for the absolute best experience, just an enhanced one that won't take much time away from gameplay, and time is my concern, not laziness or difficulty. I just wanted a short list of specific mods (X, Y, and Z) a couple Gaffers used so I could get back to playing without worrying about compatibility or whatnot because presumably they use these same mods together. What I want to avoid is picking mods a la carte from a huge list and figuring out if they are good or work together. For simplicity's sake, I wanted to stick within the confines of Steam. Some people are saying that workshop is a poor way to do it, but others are saying it works fine for them.

I get it, time is our most valuable resource, but the problem is that this can't be done with Skyrim. The engine is so sensitive and taxing for your system that it's just not possible to throw on an all-in-one installer and improve the game in every way. You simply have to cherry-pick to get the best experience for your system, for the specific parts that annoy you (like do you fucking hate vampire attacks like I do?) and in relation to what you can tolerate (is 40fps good enough or do you need 60, etc).

I posted my full mod list earlier in the thread, it's a bunch of pastebin links. I try to run a tight ship and all of my mods are conflict-free, script-light, current and require no trickery beyond a mod organizer (Nexus Mod Manager) and load order sorter (LOOT), plus I've attempted to improve every single aspect of the game. The only things I don't have are civil war improvement mods and one of the big gameplay overhauls (SkyRe, SPERG, PerMa). You absolutely should avoid my mistake and install one of the gameplay overhauls I just mentioned, it's my biggest regret with the game (and feels too late now that my character is level 99).

Some people are saying that workshop is a poor way to do it, but others are saying it works fine for them.

Well, keep in mind that one of the people telling you to avoid Workshop is an actual mod creator and the people telling you that Workshop is fine are knowledgeable enough about mods to refer to what they have installed as "that grass mod"...

Check out Skyrim gems, it is a site that collects all the best mods by category. Don't have the link here but Google can help you.

All the best mods released in 2013, anyway... Both GEMS and STEP are pretty outdated. They do have new additions, but they don't seem to bother with finding improved replacements for old ones.

Also worth noting that GEMS actually recommends a few notoriously broken ones and GEMS cannot be used as a shortcut since you would have to research the whole list to see what conflicts as they have several redundant recommendations (tthey recommend Pure Waters, WATER and Realistic Water Two, for example).

 

[NormalFish]

Since you brought it up, SkyRe or a similar overhaul might be what he's looking for. Some of them are easier to install than others, but they basically seek to improve the overall gameplay of the game in a single mod. Don't think any of them are on steam though (yet!).

 

[Grexeno]

You simply have to cherry-pick to get the best experience for your system, for the specific parts that annoy you (like do you fucking hate vampire attacks like I do?)

Do you use a mod that gets rid of vampire attacks completely?