The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Mod Discussion and News [Creation Kit released]

aku:jiki said:
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.
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Thanks. I will check it out.
 
Well, I've gone down the rabbit hole that is modding skyrim...the sickness has spread...

Just starting though, and I think I'm picking up most of the must haves, but seem to be confused between a few, hoping people can point me in the right direction. So...three areas:

1. Body/Face mods... I've found quite a few, but a number of them just don't work with existing equipment, or have other issues. Is there any go-to mod that people use to make the characters look better?
Also, there seem to be a lot of eye mods...do I just choose one in addition to the body mod? Or should they be separate?

2. Combat mods...which one do people like? I assume they'd all screw with each other, so just choosing one seems the way to go.

3. Weather mods...seems people are stacking these? Or am I just seeing that wrong?
 
I remember hearing about a mod that got rid of quest markers and instead gave in game descriptions on how to solve quests. Can't find it though, was I dreaming? Anything like this? I want more immersion.
 
Was browsing around for high res Oblivion textures but found most of them to not be very good... When I take a closer look at them in photo viewers it's evident that they are mostly just upscaled versions of the original 512px textures with some sharpening, noise and other types of processing, and some finer detail overlay. That will really only get you so far though and there are many details you just can't enhance just using macros and algorithms.

I decided to start creating my own and put some more manual work into it using brushes and stuff.

rfdrmfloor001copy2pux3.jpg

rfdrmwalllower01copy9luhe.jpg

rfdunxfloor001copy8pu5k.jpg
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lazygecko said:
Was browsing around for high res Oblivion textures but found most of them to not be very good... When I take a closer look at them in photo viewers it's evident that they are mostly just upscaled versions of the original 512px textures with some sharpening, noise and other types of processing, and some finer detail overlay. That will really only get you so far though and there are many details you just can't enhance just using macros and algorithms.

I decided to start creating my own and put some more manual work into it using brushes and stuff.
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You're my hero. Few things that I've noticed with the current texture pack offerings:

- The normal mapping for some textures is all kinds of nuts. Makes some textures look absolutely ridiculous (might be able to pull a screenie of one or two such instances if you would like)
- Some modders seem to be looking on too micro of a scale when working on the textures, resulting in a texture that looks nice by itself, but when seen next to the other nearby textures is horribly out of place.

HERE's a (actually pretty great) texture pack that suffers from this issue to varying degrees. Might help to give you a picture of what i mean. (and pictures: 1 and 2)

I realize this isn't an easy thing, but if you manage to make a texture pack that isn't just the vanilla textures with sharpening (as you said) and that doesn't suffer from those two issues, I'll use it until I die.

**Oh, forgot to mention. I'm using your sound mod. It's great! Good job. Some things are a bit quieter or louder than I would personally put them, but outside of that it's wonderful. Kudos.
 
Oh for fuck's sake!
I close Skyrim because i forgot i have to adjust some SKSE plugin .ini files. I go to where they should be and...
What.
The whole SKSE folder has vanished from my /Skyrim/Data folder. I swear i didn't delete it myself.
*sigh*
Have to install everything again and redo all settings...
 
NormalFish said:
You're my hero. Few things that I've noticed with the current texture pack offerings:

- The normal mapping for some textures is all kinds of nuts. Makes some textures look absolutely ridiculous (might be able to pull a screenie of one or two such instances if you would like)
- Some modders seem to be looking on too micro of a scale when working on the textures, resulting in a texture that looks nice by itself, but when seen next to the other nearby textures is horribly out of place.

HERE's a (actually pretty great) texture pack that suffers from this issue to varying degrees. Might help to give you a picture of what i mean. (and pictures: 1 and 2)

I realize this isn't an easy thing, but if you manage to make a texture pack that isn't just the vanilla textures with sharpening (as you said) and that doesn't suffer from those two issues, I'll use it until I die.

**Oh, forgot to mention. I'm using your sound mod. It's great! Good job. Some things are a bit quieter or louder than I would personally put them, but outside of that it's wonderful. Kudos.
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I think the problem with user-made normal maps is that they are often of the mindset that more noise = more detail = better, which results in really cluttered normals that at worst glitter in the dark and distract the hell out of you. Those are definitely things I try to avoid when making normals.

Of course, I also make sure that the replacement textures match the color and tone of the originals, as you can see in the comparisons. I want them to look as close to the vanilla feel as possible. Even though Bethesda's textures are low res and heavily compressed, they have a strong artistic coherence to them which is usually lost by texture mods, which is what makes me weary of using them.
 
lazygecko said:
I think the problem with user-made normal maps is that they are often of the mindset that more noise = more detail = better, which results in really cluttered normals that at worst glitter in the dark and distract the hell out of you. Those are definitely things I try to avoid when making normals.

Of course, I also make sure that the replacement textures match the color and tone of the originals, as you can see in the comparisons. I want them to look as close to the vanilla feel as possible. Even though Bethesda's textures are low res and heavily compressed, they have a strong artistic coherence to them which is usually lost by texture mods, which is what makes me weary of using them.
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You articulated what I meant much better than I did. Teach me to post whilst scatterbrained. Looking forward to the result.
 
I need a reverse vampirism mod. That is, you lose power if you go without feeding, preferably with people hating a vampire at final (least fed) stage.
There are such mods... but i have no idea which ones are good.
As vanilla-like as possible, preferably with no extra "crap". Don't need Vampire perks or complex Sun Damage systems, or whatever people have cooked up. EDIT I am willing to consider them if they're not overdone. Prefer to keep things simple and intuitive.
Must be Dawnguard compatible, of course. And generally working mod, there are some rather suspicious (and old) ones.

Really, Bethesda buffed vampires too much in Dawnguard by removing the hate from normal Vampires...
Heck, getting "hated at stage 4" alone back might be OK, any mods that do that?
EDIT Seriously, this alone would be wonderful. As it is, there is no reason to feed as a vampire with Dawnguard installed, the bonuses are simply much, much better than the penalties, in my opinion anyway, with my playstyle.

EDIT, it is going to boil down to Better Vampires or make your own, no? Going through all mods with "vampir" in Skyrim Nexus makes it pretty clear there are no reasonable alternatives, unless they're with names that i didn't search for.

EDIT Meh, Better Vampires has too much stuff i can't toggle off despite extensive customization. Like that damn perk progression. Don't care for it.
 
What would you guys say is the best modded custom home? I've been spoiled from using Breezehome Fully Upgradable and using all of it's modular systems so I don't have to think about item management when it comes to crafting or tempering, but i'm looking for something that has the same capabilities with a little more style.
 
I stopped playing Skyrim when the DLCs started coming out, with an official update that broke my mods..
Just the other day, I started anew, trying to reclaim the awesome experience I pretty much perfected with my old mod list.. But now everything is so sensitive to the other mods, it's hard to have that comprehensive experience without running into big issues.

I had a decent thing going on recently, but tried starting over again after I noticed my weather never ever changed for some reason, despite having all the sweet weather/climate mods.

So I started anew trying to start with what I felt was essential, but it's so tough, because each thing is a companion to some other thing, which may interfere with the first thing.

Now, even after removing all the old mods when it started happening and starting again, my fire effects for whatever reason have stopped being displayed correctly.. The fire and magic effects are invisible, and even fireplace fires are just a wavy heat without fire.

I wish these mods were more readily pimped out in functioning bundles, because a la carte is an absolute mess. The unfortunate truth is, if you jump down the rabbit hole, expect to spend 10-20 hours just fucking around with mods and learning the jargon, installing additional programs, etc.. In an attempt to avoid all that this time, I thought I'd do my mods purely on workshop, but many or even most only offered weakened or not up to date versions and referenced the nexus link to a superior version..

I really wish they would have just taken the most beloved enhancements, like the SkyUI, immersive weapons, wearable lanterns, flora overhaul, weather enhancements, etc, and just worked with he community to integrate them into an update to the game, with of course in game adjustment ability.
 
MikeDip said:
I remember hearing about a mod that got rid of quest markers and instead gave in game descriptions on how to solve quests. Can't find it though, was I dreaming? Anything like this? I want more immersion.
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I don't think it's intentional, but after I downloaded SkyUI, none of my quest markers show up anymore.. Not even on the map. I don't even know how to handle this, and I don't care all that much about completing quests compared to just enjoying my own sort of quests, but it is a bit distressing.

Check out 'better quest descriptions' or something to that effect. The goal is to accomplish what you said, though I'm not sure it changes quest markers. I suppose you can not activate your active quests and just follow the newer, better descriptions.
 
Polioliolio said:
I don't think it's intentional, but after I downloaded SkyUI, none of my quest markers show up anymore.. Not even on the map. I don't even know how to handle this, and I don't care all that much about completing quests compared to just enjoying my own sort of quests, but it is a bit distressing.

Check out 'better quest descriptions' or something to that effect. The goal is to accomplish what you said, though I'm not sure it changes quest markers. I suppose you can not activate your active quests and just follow the newer, better descriptions.
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Thanks so much, it was the "better quest descriptions" I was trying to find again! I was searching stuff like "better journal".
Thanks!
 
NormalFish said:
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!).
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The problem with overhauls is that they can't account for everything and as such you either limit yourself to a very small subsection of mods that are compatible... or you install something and inevitably break the overhaul.
 
NormalFish said:
Seriously though, you're my hero. This looks brilliant. How extensive a pack are you planning to make?
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All of the fort interior textures will be changed. I think most of the base pieces are done now, and then it's on to clutter like braziers and pedistals. Maybe after that, I'll start working on the sewer and ayleid tilesets. I'll be releasing everything as separate packs though. Won't be doing caves since someone actually ported over the excellent amidianborn cave textures from Skyrim to Oblivion and it looks fabulous:

http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/44585/?

Also, ISC just passed 10,000 endorsements! I'm working on updates for both that one and the Oblivion sound pack.
 
Polioliolio said:
I don't think it's intentional, but after I downloaded SkyUI, none of my quest markers show up anymore.. Not even on the map. I don't even know how to handle this, and I don't care all that much about completing quests compared to just enjoying my own sort of quests, but it is a bit distressing.

Check out 'better quest descriptions' or something to that effect. The goal is to accomplish what you said, though I'm not sure it changes quest markers. I suppose you can not activate your active quests and just follow the newer, better descriptions.
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Are you using Loot? It sounds like your mod configuration is all messed up.

Id suggest running Loot, then running WyreBash and creating a good bash patch. And if youre still having problems, clean your mods with TES5Edit.
 
Mesoian said:
Are you using Loot? It sounds like your mod configuration is all messed up.

Id suggest running Loot, then running WyreBash and creating a good bash patch. And if youre still having problems, clean your mods with TES5Edit.
Click to expand...


Well I've been using BOSS and was hoping that was enough.

I started learning about the cleaning thing, but I saw some people saying that some mods will be flagged that way, don't need cleaning, and if you do clean then, they could break.

Maybe I'll check out LOOT and WyreBash then, but I'm afraid I may just end up messing things up.


Open to more tips on using these if you have them. Thanks!
 
Polioliolio said:
Well I've been using BOSS and was hoping that was enough.

I started learning about the cleaning thing, but I saw some people saying that some mods will be flagged that way, don't need cleaning, and if you do clean then, they could break.

Maybe I'll check out LOOT and WyreBash then, but I'm afraid I may just end up messing things up.


Open to more tips on using these if you have them. Thanks!
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Loot is just the updated version of BOSS, so you should definitely be using it.

And yeah, there are mods that don't need cleaning, but if you're using loot, it'll tell you whether or not you should clean the mod or not.

It's pretty straight forward once you get used to it.
 
lazygecko said:
All of the fort interior textures will be changed. I think most of the base pieces are done now, and then it's on to clutter like braziers and pedistals. Maybe after that, I'll start working on the sewer and ayleid tilesets. I'll be releasing everything as separate packs though. Won't be doing caves since someone actually ported over the excellent amidianborn cave textures from Skyrim to Oblivion and it looks fabulous:

http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/44585/?

Also, ISC just passed 10,000 endorsements! I'm working on updates for both that one and the Oblivion sound pack.
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Ayleid ruins could use a texture pack for sure, that's a good plan. Sewers as well. Odd one out, but the arena might be a decent project as well. I don't think there are any texture packs that look good and mesh with vanilla texuees for the arena.
 
Mesoian said:
Loot is just the updated version of BOSS, so you should definitely be using it.

And yeah, there are mods that don't need cleaning, but if you're using loot, it'll tell you whether or not you should clean the mod or not.

It's pretty straight forward once you get used to it.
Click to expand...


Thanks. I've been following these instructions:

Step One: Open TES5Edit, select only the mod that needs cleaning and open.
Step Two: Right click on the mod to be cleaned and select "Apply Filter for Cleaning"
Step Three: Right click on the mod to be cleans and select "Remove Identical to Master Records"
Step Four: Select Yes when it asks to edit the file
Step Five: Right click on Cleaned Mod and select “Undelete and Disable References"
Step Six: Close TES5Edit. I dialogue box will pop up and ask you to save the edited file, pick yes.
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And LOOT has them coming up clean.
Cleaning the last one now, then will boot the game.

So with clean mods and LOOT, I should be able to add more mods, and everything that's ever not in order should be flagged in some way, right?

edit: Funny thing, Update.esm which I think may have been an official update, had 90+ dirty edits in it. Yeouch!
 
Polioliolio said:
Thanks. I've been following these instructions:



And LOOT has them coming up clean.
Cleaning the last one now, then will boot the game.

So with clean mods and LOOT, I should be able to add more mods, and everything that's ever not in order should be flagged in some way, right?

edit: Funny thing, Update.esm which I think may have been an official update, had 90+ dirty edits in it. Yeouch!
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Yeah, the official esm files are really dirty, it's kind of crazy.

That looks good. Remember to use WyreBash to create a new bashed patch, and run FNIS if you did anything to skeletons/animations.

Beyond that, you should be good. Should being the operative word. If you're still having trouble, then you need to start looking into mod conflicts.
 
Polioliolio said:
Well I've been using BOSS and was hoping that was enough.

I started learning about the cleaning thing, but I saw some people saying that some mods will be flagged that way, don't need cleaning, and if you do clean then, they could break.

Maybe I'll check out LOOT and WyreBash then, but I'm afraid I may just end up messing things up.


Open to more tips on using these if you have them. Thanks!
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Make sure your SKSE is up to date, that could help too.
 
Alright. Well the game plays fine.. Except my fire effects are still missing, as well as some models like Direwolves and Mountain Lions.. invisible but attacking me.

I'm uninstalling and reinstalling the wildlife overhaul mod.. not sure why those models would be missing.

The fire effect seemed to go missing after installing 'dynavision' though I since uninstalled that as it didn't seem to work at all.


Is there some kind of reboot or refresh that can or ought to be done on the game to free it from possible leftover effects from old mods?
 
Polioliolio said:
Alright. Well the game plays fine.. Except my fire effects are still missing, as well as some models like Direwolves and Mountain Lions.. invisible but attacking me.

I'm uninstalling and reinstalling the wildlife overhaul mod.. not sure why those models would be missing.

The fire effect seemed to go missing after installing 'dynavision' though I since uninstalled that as it didn't seem to work at all.


Is there some kind of reboot or refresh that can or ought to be done on the game to free it from possible leftover effects from old mods?
Click to expand...

You can try validating the game in steam, should replace anything that's straight up missing.

Downside is you might have to clean the official .esm's again.
 
OK, so I've borked my Skyrim with the latest mod addition (Perkus Maximus).


What I'd like to do is uninstall Skyrim, and then reinstall it, and slowly install my mods (I've about 75 total). But I really don't want to go through redownloading them all. Is there a way to do this? I'm using NMM, by the way.

I figure that the best would be to be able to reinstall Skyrim, then open NMM and see my downloaded mods, and go through and activate/install each one slowly.
 
That did the trick!

My fire effects and quest marker are now back!


.. But I've got a new problem.. I just spent all night playing through Markarth.. I went to prison and joined the Forsworn rebellion.. They started killing everyone in town (except for some reason Yngvar the Singer won't die even though I have a no-essentials mod) ... but the problem is, I can't leave the city!

Each time I try to leave the city, the game hangs at the loading screen. I can go anywhere within the city, and was running quests for hours inside of it, and the ruins, and the excavation site, prison, etc... but when I leave for skyrim, the game stops responding during the loading screen.

Not sure how I'm going to get out of this one..
 
AMUSIX said:
OK, so I've borked my Skyrim with the latest mod addition (Perkus Maximus).


What I'd like to do is uninstall Skyrim, and then reinstall it, and slowly install my mods (I've about 75 total). But I really don't want to go through redownloading them all. Is there a way to do this? I'm using NMM, by the way.

I figure that the best would be to be able to reinstall Skyrim, then open NMM and see my downloaded mods, and go through and activate/install each one slowly.
Click to expand...

I recommend switching to mod organizer which eliminates touching the actual data folder. Also has a profile system which is awesome. Wife plays with only three or so mods while I got my forty. One profile is vanilla. Thing is I didn't so skse in mo but the normal way so skse loads with vanilla. To hesitant to try to fix it and mess up saves in the process.
 
Sarcasm said:
I recommend switching to mod organizer which eliminates touching the actual data folder. Also has a profile system which is awesome. Wife plays with only three or so mods while I got my forty. One profile is vanilla. Thing is I didn't so skse in mo but the normal way so skse loads with vanilla. To hesitant to try to fix it and mess up saves in the process.
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No profiles needed, I'm the only one who uses my computer, and I haven't run into anything that I can't do with NMM that MO can, so I don't see much need to change. Unless it does what I described above and NMM won't?
 
It not touching the data folder is worth it alone. You don't have to reinstall/verify. Beck to fresh data in a click.

Even as a single user this benefits you greatly. Just make sure to install skse the mo method way. But skse installed normally is okay too if you really not worried about scripts.


But yeah do the active thing and find culprit. Only way.
 
So...make a list of my mods, reinstall Skyrim, download MO and install that, then go through and redownload each mod through MO.
Yeah, if I can figure a way to just have NMM retain it's info and reapply the mods after a fresh Skyrim install, I'll take that way. Redownloading 80 different mods doesn't sound fun.
 
AMUSIX said:
So...make a list of my mods, reinstall Skyrim, download MO and install that, then go through and redownload each mod through MO.
Yeah, if I can figure a way to just have NMM retain it's info and reapply the mods after a fresh Skyrim install, I'll take that way. Redownloading 80 different mods doesn't sound fun.
Click to expand...

If you already have the mods downloaded, you can just readd the files into MO after you reinstall Skyrim.
 
Polioliolio said:
That did the trick!

My fire effects and quest marker are now back!


.. But I've got a new problem.. I just spent all night playing through Markarth.. I went to prison and joined the Forsworn rebellion.. They started killing everyone in town (except for some reason Yngvar the Singer won't die even though I have a no-essentials mod) ... but the problem is, I can't leave the city!

Each time I try to leave the city, the game hangs at the loading screen. I can go anywhere within the city, and was running quests for hours inside of it, and the ruins, and the excavation site, prison, etc... but when I leave for skyrim, the game stops responding during the loading screen.

Not sure how I'm going to get out of this one..
Click to expand...

That's a new one. You might have to refresh the cell (Wait for 30 days) or try command prompting yourself to another town.
 
Mesoian said:
That's a new one. You might have to refresh the cell (Wait for 30 days) or try command prompting yourself to another town.
Click to expand...

So I looked this up..
Apparently leaving Markarth, specifically, is a problem for people using SFO (Skyrim Flora Overhaul). Deactivating it has worked, but I'm gonna give the mod 'Safety Load' a shot first.
 
So I have Skyrim looking how I want it to look other than the races / NPC's.

Does anyone mind giving me a mod list that works well to make much better looking people?
 
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