[Gaming] Elder Scrolls 5 - Dawnguard is HERE!

OK, so, off the Steam workshop, what are the must-have graphics mods (I don't tend to tweak the gameplay)?
I want to help but I seem to be having issues logging into the workshop to use the search. I have to search in order to make sure I point out the right ones. Until I get home I may have to just give general suggestions.

Sounds of Skyrim - There are a few of these, each one handling different areas of the game. It's not really "graphical", but does add a lot of atmosphere to the game.

Improved Water - There are a lot of these, and I forget the exact name of the one I use, but there are some that make the water look much more natural.

Bellaches Animals - Texture improvements for all the animals in the game, makes them look a lot nicer. Not sure if it's on the workshop yet but I would hope it is.

Once I get home I will post more, and a bit more detailed.
 
I'm going to try and hop back into Skyrim so a nice list with details on the latest/best mods would be nice Scythe. I'm looking forward to your full post.
 
Hey while at work I have been fleshing out an idea I had for a house mod, but I am still having trouble with the creation kit. Has anyone had success adding items to the world space?
 

Dave

Staff member
The Creation Kit has made me it's bitch. I try and use it but end up on the floor in the fetal position crying.
 
Any chance anyone here has a 50% off Skyrim/Bethesda coupon from Steam? Looking to get Skyrim when I get paid Wednesday (TOR is no longer holding my interest).
 
Any chance anyone here has a 50% off Skyrim/Bethesda coupon from Steam? Looking to get Skyrim when I get paid Wednesday (TOR is no longer holding my interest).
Skyrim's cool, and will definitely hold your interest (took me out of my MMO for a month-ish), but if you're an MMO person, try Rift: www.riftgame.com. They have a free trial up to level 20 (of 50), and personally, I think it's the most solid MMO on the market right now, but I'm biased. And hint: if you want to be able to do everything, roll a cleric. All the other callings are great too, but for a "most versatility" perspective for trying the game out, roll cleric.


Skyrim's still cool though. Single-player RPGs (western or otherwise) are so different from MMOs that it's GOOD to have a change IMO. Hence why I like playing both.
 
Sorry guys, when I got home I got a bit distracted having a quick workout and then getting stuff done around the house, never did get to that list. I am going to try again to do it here at work. What I may have to do though is base it around Skyrim Nexus and then if it's not listed as a Nexus exclusive, it should also be on the workshop.

Okay here is my list. As only graphical based mods were requested, I am only going to concentrate on "graphical" based mods. If I started going into mods that altered gameplay or added items/characters, I would be doing this all day.

Bethesda HD Texture Package - This one was rather obvious, get the package off Steam for free. However, you will also need to get HD Textures DLC Fix, as it corrects a few of the errors that came with the updated textures.

Static Mesh Improvements - A mod that attempts to alter the meshes for nearly all the little items in the game. He goes a long way to remove much of the "blocky" look you see in many items. It's a very large upgrade in looks, though there are some choices he made I may have not agreed with, but not enough to make me not use it for the rest.

Skyrim Flora Overhaul + Lush Trees - These mods work well together and really make the forests look more wild and alive. The person who made Lush Trees also made one for the grass, but I didn't find it as much of a drastic improvement. If you want it though, it's called Lush Grass.

Skyrim Sunglare V3 - A simple mod that alters the sunglare, but holy crap what an improvement. It makes you want to stand and watch the sunrise everytime you see it.

Sounds of Skyrim (Dungeon and Wilds) - Adds a lot of new sounds to the game that boosts up immersion and really makes it feel a bit more alive.

Quality World Map w/ Roads - Increases quality and does a better job showing roads on the map, which helps a lot when you are attempting to plot out a pathway to a certain city you have yet to discover. Also has a version that looks like a real map rather then a birds-eye look.

Pure Waters OR Immersive Water 3 - At first I used Pure Waters when it came out, but have since moved to Immersive Water 3, thus why I am posting both of them since I like both of them. There are other water mods around that alter the look and textures, but I always found these two to be the best.

Enhanced Blood Textures - I always felt the old blood looked more like liquid mercury then actual blood. This mod went a long way to improving it and making it feel like something I would see on the ground around a corpse.

Coverwoman - Improved the female face textures, making them a bit more smooth and attractive. Personally I go with Look 3, which is close to the original textures without excessive extras that attempt to make them into near glamour models. If you want to get as close to the originals as possible you would want to go with Look 4. Also, Coverkhajiits.

High Res Face Maps for Men - Similar to what Coverwoman does, only for the Males in the game. The biggest difference is rather then smoothing out the faces, it attempts to keep as much of the definition as possible, thus keeping the men a bit more rugged, with things like stubble.

Enhanced Eyes - While the developer of Coverwoman has an eye replacement mod, I found it was overly bright and taking much out of the spirit of the characters. Enhanced Eyes increases the look of eyes, making them really stand out without overly taking over the frame. It also corrects the "eye glow" that can sometimes happen under certain light conditions.

Bellyaches Animal and Creature Pack - Greatly improves many of the textures used by animals. There are many variations allowing you to pick and choose how you want the animals to all look, or you can just use his personal package to have the textures he recommends. Also recommend his Fur and Quilted Saddles mod.

This is pretty much it for the graphical mods I simply find myself unable to live without. I find none of the other then Lush Grass really altered my performance of the game, but obviously that may vary on system.
 
S

Soliloquy

Do you know what the world needs? Low-definition graphics mods. Get rid of all those pesky processes that keep low-end computers from playing the game.

[My computer stopped recognizing its graphics card and now I'm kinda pissed :mad: ]
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
Finally, a level-up and 50 in Smithing. Finally I got to change from Dwarven to Steel Plate. No more looking like C-3PO's butch cousin :p
 
BTW, My new character finally became a vampire. I wish it were on my first sneak/archery/sniper character, but I don't know if he had crazy high resistances or what, but he would not contract the disease from those vampires.
 
OK, now that I've done it, FUCK being a vampire. Fuck it right up it's stupid ass. The invisibility's broken so it makes in nearly impossible to feed when you're starved for blood.
 
I didn't have Lydia. Also, I didn't know that your companions would leave your service. I had Uthgerd the unbroken with me and she left me in the middle of a dungeon and because I was a vampire, she insta-aggroed on me.

I just finished the quest to get rid of the vampirism.
 
So, finishing the vampire cure quest, I'm feeling oddly bad about what I've done in the last few days in that game. First I killed Grenda and had the dark brotherhood come calling. I killed the Kahjit, because he seemed like he deserved it the most, though killing an already bound person didn't sit well with me. Then, to finish the cure quest, I ended up soultapping and killing one of the other folks that were tied up all to get back to normal.

It's weird how moral choices in this game seem to effect me more than any other game I've played so far. The funny thing is it probably wouldn't have bothered me if I were going with a balls-out evil character.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
So, finishing the vampire cure quest, I'm feeling oddly bad about what I've done in the last few days in that game. First I killed Grenda and had the dark brotherhood come calling. I killed the Kahjit, because he seemed like he deserved it the most, though killing an already bound person didn't sit well with me. Then, to finish the cure quest, I ended up soultapping and killing one of the other folks that were tied up all to get back to normal.

It's weird how moral choices in this game seem to effect me more than any other game I've played so far. The funny thing is it probably wouldn't have bothered me if I were going with a balls-out evil character.
I FUS RO DAH'd all three in one shot.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
So the Gamer Poop for skyrim is up. It's a liiiiiittle gay. Yes, gayer than even those Oblivion gamerpoops that came before it. There wasn't a really memorable joke in it, but I guess it's hard to follow up "STOP RIGHT THERE, criminal scum! You violated my mother. You ruined my wife!"

 
Finally finished it. What an amazing game. I've done... got to be close to 90% of the entire thing. Only a few very piddly quests I didn't bother with.
Now... about the "end":
Meh. Alduin took all of 3 hits to kill. And then... 3 people cheer for me and no one else in the damn game even knows anything happened. This wasn't an ending. It was just wrapping up another quest. Which is fine but I had kind of hoped for both a more satisfying and challenging fight and a more satisfying conclusion to such an epic storyline.
Those bitchings aside... I invested 5 MONTHS of my life into playing nothing but this game and it was so worth it.
 
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