Skyrim Mods - A Comprehensive List & User Support Thread

To see if it is the grass causing the performance decline, open up the console and type tg. This will toggle the grass off/on.
 
Yeah it is grass. Goes from 25-30 to 60-65.

Grass density should be tied directly to iMinGrassSize.

I think 120 is default. The higher the value should give less dense grass.

You can also turn off grass shadows and keep the current density, if you prefer, as I imagine the shadows are even more costly. Of course, then you're left with grass that looks quite bad. Grass shadows were one of the best things Bethesda did when it comes to patches. :)
 
Grass density should be tied directly to iMinGrassSize.

I think 120 is default. The higher the value should give less dense grass.

You can also turn off grass shadows and keep the current density, if you prefer, as I imagine the shadows are even more costly. Of course, then you're left with grass that looks quite bad. Grass shadows were one of the best things Bethesda did when it comes to patches. :)

Doesn't make a difference changing the imingrasssize. Also, with the tropical mod, weather KILLS fps. Makes it unplayable. Might have to get rid of it.
 
Some mods that will be added:
Less Intrusive HUD II
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35154

Moonlight Tales - Werewolf and Werebear Overhaul
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35470

Forgotten Magic Redone
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35339

Book Covers Skyrim
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35399

Cultist of the Champion of Mora - Cultist HD Retexture
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35329

AutoSave Manager
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/34842

Doesn't make a difference changing the imingrasssize. Also, with the tropical mod, weather KILLS fps. Makes it unplayable. Might have to get rid of it.

I wonder how weather could cause such a performance hit.

Edit:
Cliffworms is back so expect updates to the Sounds of Skyrim mods.

Edit #2:
Will add to list:
Smoking Torches
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35819/?

Insanitys Dwemer Weapons
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35854/?

Warrior Within Swords
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35577/?

Monster Mod
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35631/?

Sounds of Skyrim - The Dungeons
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/8601/?

Sounds of Skyrim - Civilization
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/20193/?

Sounds of Skyrim - The Wilds
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/10886/?

Edit:
List is up-to-date.
 
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Helgen Reborn has been released:
skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35841

Will also add:
Dragonborn Mages Robes Retexture Pack
skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/35965

A big update for skyBirds - Airborne Perching Birds was released today as well. This is one of those "never play the game without" type of mods, at least in my opinion:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/23771/?

If anyone knows how to adjust the strength of Skyrim's static depth of field then please let me know. I know some mods allow the user to adjust this but I'm hoping to do it without the assistance of such mods.
 
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For awesome Skyrim realism and more difficulty install this mod which is my own and only touches GSM files so it needs to be last in load order to have full effect. It should be fully compatible with ALL mods that don't need to depend on GSM values. Basically what it does is removes the A.I. programed handicaps and makes the physics in the game much closer to real life. Also makes fighting dragons much more annoying as you won't be able to outmaneuver them nearly as easily and they will be much more aggressive at getting up close and personal to you.

This mod also works perfectly fine without SKSE and it will typically speed up the games physics calculations since I used values that round evenly and calculate with much greater speed however I also increased the LOD distance somewhat. ANY UI mod should be loaded after mine however as mine might conflict if it's loaded after UI mods. This mod should however overall increase your game performance though but be prepared to play with a much more realistic play-style since your old tricks might not work as well. I did not touch enemy levels though so starting out will be pretty easy still but mid-game and end game will be much harder.

This mod is only available with Steamworks.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=147199408
 

Adding those to my list. Just wanted you to know that my nephews and I still read this thread even though I may not post in it much. They are too lazy to get an account and are going to talk smack when they read this. But just wanted to say thank you for upkeeping the thread and making awesome suggestions no matter how much troubleshooting pain it causes me. Because I must own them all and mods are a helluva drug. :)
 
Will add to the list:
Superior Lore-Friendly Hair - HD textures
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36510//?

Raven witch armor and Apex Werewolf
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36497//?

Mods that are worth a mention, I suppose:
Enhanced Enemy AI
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36478//?

TairenSoul Layered Warpaints
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36505//?

Bounty Gold
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36534//?

And I'm surprised Helgen Reborn only has ~1,500 endorsements. It is an excellent quest mod that has one of the best rewards possible - Helgen rebuilt. I guess people are more interested in mods that add in high heels and whatnot.

Adding those to my list. Just wanted you to know that my nephews and I still read this thread even though I may not post in it much. They are too lazy to get an account and are going to talk smack when they read this. But just wanted to say thank you for upkeeping the thread and making awesome suggestions no matter how much troubleshooting pain it causes me. Because I must own them all and mods are a helluva drug. :)

Thanks for the kind words. :)

Edit:
FMO - Forge Menu Overhaul
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/37003//?

Armor Of Intrigue
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36875/?

The Witcher 2 - Eilhart Dress
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36738/?
 
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Shadow acne is due to the normal offset being too low. You may be able to increase the offset, but it will cause shadows to not fall appropriately where they should.
 
Shadow acne is due to the normal offset being too low. You may be able to increase the offset, but it will cause shadows to not fall appropriately where they should.
Which setting in the .ini effects offsets?

I'm thinking its a texture issue because I rebuilt the default ini files and the problem persists.
 
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I'm not sure what the offset is but increasing iBlurDeferredShadowMask might help. Using ENB will likely eliminate it.
 
Turns out it was the fShadowBiasScale was set too low. Don't know why, but it was set at .05 when the default (ultra) is 0.15. Change the value back to the default fixed the issue.
 
I haven't had the urge to play Skyrim or any game for a couple months, hence the lack of any considerable updates to the list. As always, feel free to recommend mods to be added to the list or the thread itself.

Here are some that I've found:
Superior Rock Textures
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/37256/?

Armor Of Intrigue
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36875/?

Bosmer Armor Pack
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/37289/?

Dwemerverse - Dwemer Magic Package
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/37420//?

Customizable Camera
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/37347//?

And the one Cod posted looks good:
Immersive Settlements
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/33162//?
 
Adding those to my list. Just wanted you to know that my nephews and I still read this thread even though I may not post in it much. They are too lazy to get an account and are going to talk smack when they read this. But just wanted to say thank you for upkeeping the thread and making awesome suggestions no matter how much troubleshooting pain it causes me. Because I must own them all and mods are a helluva drug. :)

Lol was getting ready to add a thank you and saw this. Dj thanks so much for keeping us fans of the game updated on these mods.

Love the game and the mods you guys put out are amazing. Closing in on 300 hours played. No other game besides fallout has given me such enjoyment.

Thanks again dj!
 
Have any of you tried ENB v.188 with the latest Nvidia drivers? Supposedly this version makes ENB compatible with recent Nvidia drivers.

And Falskaar has a release date of July 12th.

Some fun info on the project:
- The mod has around 10,000 lines of dialogue, with a total length of over 7 hours!
- Estimates by me and my QA team put the main quest at round 7-10 hours in length.
- Side content should provide an additional 15-20+ hours.
- Upper estimates for VERY slow, thorough players could be anywhere as high as 40-50 hours of content.
- While I did all of the Creation Kit and production work, over the last 20 months of development nearly 100 people took part in some form or another, helping Falskaar become what it is now.
- During development I logged just over 2,200 hours in the Creation Kit, with an estimated additional 1,500 if not more outside of the creation kit working on the project.
- Falskaar has 26 marked quests, and 57 total quests under the hood controlling things from dialogue, to the bard, and more!
- Uncompressed (Not in a zip), Falskaar totals out at ~1GB in size.

Some more mods:
Rocking Stones Parallax
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/38004/?

UFO Dragonborn Patch - Unofficial
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/37990/?
 
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What exactly does the Unofficial Follower Patch do? I've never really had trouble with followers, except when I jump down the side of a mountain or something. Then they get lost, but if I just wait for an hour, they show up.
 
What exactly does the Unofficial Follower Patch do? I've never really had trouble with followers, except when I jump down the side of a mountain or something. Then they get lost, but if I just wait for an hour, they show up.

It is for use with UFO. I don't use UFO but, judging by the description page of the Unofficial UFO Patch, it sounds like UFO didn't work for DB followers.
 
It is for use with UFO. I don't use UFO but, judging by the description page of the Unofficial UFO Patch, it sounds like UFO didn't work for DB followers.
I mean, what does UFO (the basic patch) do? Vanilla followers work just fine from what I can tell.
 
I mean, what does UFO (the basic patch) do? Vanilla followers work just fine from what I can tell.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/14037//?

FEATURES:
1)Dialogue:
a)You know... (a dialogue branch containing various options depending on NPC you are interacting with)
--You are important./Everyone dies... (Set follower essential so that it takes damage, but only goes down on one knee or mortal. Mortal = can be killed and does not regenerate hp)
--You could dress better. (Converts unmovable, invisible outfit follower has to regular gear that can be removed so followers will wear whatever player places in their inventory)
--Relax for a while./Time to go. (Follower stay on the location doing various things. If set to mortal, relaxing regenerates health as of 1.1b)
--In combat mistakes happen. Forgive and forget./Anyone hurts you, make them pay.(Set follower to react/ignore friendly hits by player)
--You are naked... (Makes a naked follower dress)
--Speaking of magic... (a branch containing dialogue concerning magic)
----Study that book, you will find it useful. (Make follower use a spell tome from inventory to learn a spell[vanilla])
----Forget you ever knew magic. It is a vile art. (Make follower forget learned spells)
--I need your help./You are dismissed. (Recruit/dismiss guards from party. Requires you be a Thane and have a houscarl with you)
--Nothing, sorry. (End conversation.)
b)So what are you good at? (Will display follower statistics with current equipment bonuses)
c)Train some, you are weak... (Will level up follower statistics to match current level)

2)Follower Limit -- Amount of followers you can have accompany you has been raised to 15 (not including dogs or quest NPCs). This limit is shared with the number of followers you can have relaxing at place of your choosing.

3)Riding for followers -- 8 follower horses can be found at major cities and stables around Skyrim for followers to ride.
Gear for horses can be bought at Whiterun Stable.
From Skulvar at Whiterun stable you can buy:
-- [Horse Tack] Basic Gear -- When placed in UFO horse inventory: UFO Horse will follow you while you are mounted, fast travel after you while you are mounted. Followers will port ahead and horses will come after you wait for 1h. Price: 1000 gold
-- [Horse Tack] Martingale -- When placed in UFO horse Inventory: UFO Horse will wait in place when dismounted. Used to leave horses at desired locations. Price: 200 gold
-- [Horse] Interact -- Also you can get training in horse handling. This will add "[Horse] Interact" item to your inventory. Equip it in hand and use on UFO horse. This will open UFO horse Inventory. Price: 500 gold [As of 1.2g works on players horse too.]
UFO horses with no Horse Tackle will go back to location you found them once dismounted.
-- While mounted--
Follower and horse will fast travel with player [with 1.6 followers will fast travel ahead of horses, waiting 1h will port horses to your location. being worked on atm to restore old functionality.]
Follower horses will follow the lead horse when ridden by player (allows you to relocate horses)
Followers will not engage in combat unless player is attacked
Using Relax Voice Command 2x(twice) will command followers to dismount (should you not wish to wait for them to dismount on their own)
--Not mounted--
Follower horses will not fast travel
Follower Horses will stay on location where they were dismounted by follower

5)Group commands:
Book "Field Command" found in Breezehome will teach you voice commands. They are used as any voice power pressing Z(voice cast button by default).
- Can be bought from Skulvar at Whiterun Stable. Requirements: 50 Speechcraft, 5000 gold (1.2f)
--Command Relax (All followers within range will enter sandbox behavior waiting on the location and doing different things. Group relax does regenerate mortal followers. Use again for followers to stop relaxing)
--Command Stop (All followers withing range will receive wait order. Use again for followers to start following you.)
--Command Flee (If battle is going poorly command your followers to flee. They will disengage and run after player. Use again to stop fleeing behavior. While fleeing followers will not use horses.)
--Command Stop Fighting (Should followers start fighting among themselves this will shout them to a stop.)
TIP: Commands can be hotkeyed to number buttons for faster use (in my case i bound them to 5,6,7, 8 buttons and i cast them by Q)

5)Misc.:
a)Houscarls --All houscarls will move to their towns player house when you purchase it
b)Level caps --Level limits have been removed on vanilla followers (some possibly require new game for level limit to be gone depending on type of npc introduction to the world)
c)Dual wield -- All followers can dual wield if given appropriate weaponry
d)Gender animations -- All follower animations are gender appropriate (example of Lydia by default using male animations)
e)Weapon drawing -- Followers draw weapons in combat and no longer each time a player does.
f)Sneaking -- Followers will not engage while sneaking, unless spotted or combat starts.
g)Marriage -- All followers have been marked with flag to be available for marriage.
h)Bow/arrows -- Endlessly spawning bow and arrows have been removed
 
For someone who hasn't really played Skyrim, is there a list of like 5 must have mods? I'm not a fan of installing 50 mods to a game, but I know a few might be really big improvements. So I guess I'm looking for the "essential" mods that everyone should install without getting crazy with it.

I've got Skyrim, all the DLC, and the high res pack from Bethesda installed.
 
For someone who hasn't really played Skyrim, is there a list of like 5 must have mods? I'm not a fan of installing 50 mods to a game, but I know a few might be really big improvements. So I guess I'm looking for the "essential" mods that everyone should install without getting crazy with it.

I've got Skyrim, all the DLC, and the high res pack from Bethesda installed.

SkyUI
UFO - Ultimate Follower Overhaul - if you plan to use followers
and the one that adds alot of functions to horses i forget its name (been a while sorry)

with those 3 u would be set but if you want more just look at the top 100 on the nexus you can pick a few from there :)
 
For someone who hasn't really played Skyrim, is there a list of like 5 must have mods? I'm not a fan of installing 50 mods to a game, but I know a few might be really big improvements. So I guess I'm looking for the "essential" mods that everyone should install without getting crazy with it.

I've got Skyrim, all the DLC, and the high res pack from Bethesda installed.

Looking for anything specific? Otherwise a top 5 is very difficult as there are a lot of must-have mods, IMO.

Programs:
SKSE
Wrye Bash or NMM
TES5Edit (Not needed for the following mods)

Mods:
SkyUI
Unofficial patches
ENB (not really a must-have but for me it is :))
 
Frostfall mod brings a different aspect to the game that I enjoy. I feel it adds a bit more immersion without going crazy. Besides...I like camping
 
List is up-to-date. It is missing some descriptions since Nexus is down, yet again (DoS attacks probably).

And ol' Boris is really cranking out new versions of ENB. He is even tackling things like the RAM limit. Oh, and he finally purchased himself a new video card. :D

Edit:
Since ScenicCarriages is abandoned, I have replaced it with Touring Carriages. Touring Carriages is a much cleaner mod that implements the same type of stuff as ScenicCarriages. The author is also active.

Link: skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/38529/?
 
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For someone who hasn't really played Skyrim, is there a list of like 5 must have mods? I'm not a fan of installing 50 mods to a game, but I know a few might be really big improvements. So I guess I'm looking for the "essential" mods that everyone should install without getting crazy with it.

I've got Skyrim, all the DLC, and the high res pack from Bethesda installed.

I'm in the same boat, I just installed the legendary edition a few nights ago, installed the official HD texture pack, and played a few hours. However the clunky, console-optimized menu system was getting on my nerves so I realized I better orient myself with mods. So far I have:

1. Installed SKSE (required for SkyUI) http://skse.silverlock.org/download/skse_1_06_16_installer.exe
2. Created NexusForum account and installed NMM http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?
3. Installed SkyUI http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/3863/?
4. Installed Ultimate Follower Overhaul: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/14037/?

At this point I'm not sure about doing much more, my thought was do one playthrough of the vanilla game - warts and all - then loop back around and continue tinkering with more mods, the idea being that if I dont go through it once then I won't know/appreciate what the mods have actually changed. I'm on the fence about the Unofficial Skyrim Patch- any downside for a first timer? Thx.
 
Nope, no downside to installing the unofficial patches. Even with a mod-heavy installation, it is rare for the unofficial patches to cause any serious conflicts.
 
1) Can anyone confirm which ENB is working well for them with latest NVIDIA drivers?
2) Is BOSS broken/not recommended right now? For anyone that doesn't know, that's the load-order optimizer for mods, but in the NexusMods thread for it, its locked with people complaining its broken. How are you guys optimizing load order if not with BOSS? Its too bad they haven't figured out a way for NMM to optimize its own load order.

BTW I guess I've officially caught the modding bug. My last post I swore I'd only run SkyUI & UFO (a must), now I've got like 25 mods installed :)
 
1) Can anyone confirm which ENB is working well for them with latest NVIDIA drivers?
2) Is BOSS broken/not recommended right now? For anyone that doesn't know, that's the load-order optimizer for mods, but in the NexusMods thread for it, its locked with people complaining its broken. How are you guys optimizing load order if not with BOSS? Its too bad they haven't figured out a way for NMM to optimize its own load order.

BTW I guess I've officially caught the modding bug. My last post I swore I'd only run SkyUI & UFO (a must), now I've got like 25 mods installed :)

BOSS works fine. The Nexus thread was locked in 2012, likely because of people posting idiotic/troll-like comments. Official thread is here: http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1466541-relz-boss-for-skyrim/
 
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