Improving Skyrim / Recommended Mods thread (Mostly about Requiem)

[Poseidon00]

I know that's small and inconsequential to many of you. But in my opinion immersive experiences are built on getting the smaller unnecessary things working. VR or pancake wise.

Modded Skyrim actually looks damn good in VR. Noticeable smoke from the candles and fires, potions with liquid in them, retextures of just about everything, really makes it enjoyable.

Weapon throwing mods are also incline in VR lol

 

[DJOGamer PT]

This mod came out around August and apparently it set the community on fire - the reasons being that supposedly it's a great foundation for combat overhauls

 

[rusty_shackleford]

This mod came out around August and apparently it set the community on fire - the reasons being that supposedly it's a great fundation for combat overhauls

is there a video like this except with a man narrating it

 

[Lemming42]

Yeah, I can't focus on anything unless the sultry tones of a big strong masculine voice are entering my ears, like honey in audio form.

Just open your soundcard's interface and knock the audio pitch down a few notches, then you can pretend your eardrums are being penetrated by a firm, authoritative, turgid, pulsating, throbbing manly voice.

 

[TheHeroOfTime]

Ffs just download The amazing world of bikini armor, it's all you need. Play as the boobakhiin.

 

[coldcrow]

It only took them 10 years, but skyrim fans are finally starting to realize the difference between professional artists working under a single unified direction, vs modders insisting they improved how the game looks because they made a texture BIGGERER AND BETTERER
https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods...come_to_a_realization_i_love_the_graphics_of/

I've been saying this all along, and used to bring it up tactfully on reddit and still got downvoted into oblivion by retards who would shit their pants if you tried to explain to them that just because one texture is bigger than another, doesn't mean it is better.

Most mod guides and modpacks are a horrendous waste of time and space. Skyrim, especially the special edition, is not a terrible looking game to begin with, and the aspects of it that are terrible (such as distant terrain) aren't even fixable by mods.

I straight up won't even bother with visual mods from now on. Its a huge waste of time, just download skyrim SE, install requiem (or YASH) and whatever other gameplay affecting mods from there. Done and dusted in like 30 minutes flat. And if it's shit, well at least you won't have wasted several days before finding that out.

Using Wabbajack too difficult for you? With a somewhat modern PC and connection you can install a modlist in under 30 mins.

 

[cretin]

It only took them 10 years, but skyrim fans are finally starting to realize the difference between professional artists working under a single unified direction, vs modders insisting they improved how the game looks because they made a texture BIGGERER AND BETTERER
https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods...come_to_a_realization_i_love_the_graphics_of/

I've been saying this all along, and used to bring it up tactfully on reddit and still got downvoted into oblivion by retards who would shit their pants if you tried to explain to them that just because one texture is bigger than another, doesn't mean it is better.

Most mod guides and modpacks are a horrendous waste of time and space. Skyrim, especially the special edition, is not a terrible looking game to begin with, and the aspects of it that are terrible (such as distant terrain) aren't even fixable by mods.

I straight up won't even bother with visual mods from now on. Its a huge waste of time, just download skyrim SE, install requiem (or YASH) and whatever other gameplay affecting mods from there. Done and dusted in like 30 minutes flat. And if it's shit, well at least you won't have wasted several days before finding that out.

Using Wabbajack too difficult for you? With a somewhat modern PC and connection you can install a modlist in under 30 mins.

You mean with a subscription fee to the nexus. It's still a horrendous waste of space. There's no wabbajack modlist that is just gameplay improvements. It's all 120gb+ bloated monstrosities where the modders insist on replacing every single asset in the game. I don't need nor care for that shit.

How big these modlists would be if they didn't include retextures and big tit anime girl models? Probably a few hundred mb at the most.

 

[Puukko]

I think I've settled on my least favorite mod and the worst part is, it's had a lot of effort put into it. Interesting NPCs. The mod page even has "3DNPC" in the title which is a complete lie - the mod is like Skyrim's terrible one dimensional character writing on verbose crack. If there are hidden gems under there, I wouldn't know it, but every NPC added by the mod that I've come across is built on one quirky character trait and are annoying enough to make me want to stay away and avoid any other NPCs as well. The cleaner who is obsessed with disease and has nothing else to talk about. The gossip who does nothing but gossip. If there's one of these NPCs around, you'll know it, and if you make the mistake of initiating conversation, they'll talk your ear off about their particular quirk. Not one of them made me think they fit in the world. How about instead of *interesting", you go with "believable"? You know, regular people with a problem to solve and some life stories to share afterwards, instead of whatever this is.

Now, as for quality mods, Nexus is filled with vampire mods but this overhaul is by far my favorite:

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/10086

Vampirism with big upsides as well as big, but fitting downsides. No healing via magic or regular potions, only blood ones and feeding of course. You burn in the sun which is of course made much more impactful due to the above factor. Weakened when trespassing... Cool idea, but it applies a constant screen blur which is a pain. Detect living creatures passively from far away. Overall though, the most immersive vampire experience I've had by far. You're a vampire, you play by different rules now and have to adjust your playstyle accordingly.

 

[Delterius]

is there a codex 'wabbakak' thing that i can use or do we still just install requiem and move onward with our lives?

 

[Yosharian]

Yeah Interesting NPCs is one of the worst Skyrim mods. Fucking garbage-tier writing.

 

[DraQ]

Yeah Interesting NPCs is one of the worst Skyrim mods. Fucking garbage-tier writing.

Out of curiosity - what would you consider to be a Skyrim mod (but not a TC, at least lore compliant and preferably not a completely disjoint landmass/area) with good writing?

I can easily give you that:

• 3DNPCs has way more "so quirky, much wow"/"haha, 4th wall goes poof!" characters than it's good for it (most of the time I try to not interact with them too much).
• Writing is... uneven.
• In particular some player's dialogue options are not just bad, but inexplicably so.
• The author seems incapable of creating content beyond characters/dialogues/quest scripting - in particular new locations (and items) are generally a DA2 style copypasta that would be insulting if it wasn't a mod.
• The quest dependencies form an awful tangle not based on any in-universe logic but rather narrative one of needing characters alive or in specific states for specific quests, meaning you shouldn't hope to finish stuff without a guide and preferably a flowchart.

OTOH:

• The mod is really well integrated with the base game. Characters interact with vanilla content, comment on it, build on top of it. It's an important quality when modding an existing game.
• Characters are fairly reactive (espceially followers), though that's not Inigo-style freeform reactivity, more of a hotspot based one, but it works pretty nicely.
• Some followers are nice.
• A lot of stuff relates to (sometimes obscure bits) of TES lore.
  
• It really seems that point of the mod was to provide some spice to Skyrim's overall blandness (in terms of characters and quests) which is supposed to provide a backdrop for mod's numerous oddballs.
• I'd say that also the writing quality needs to take the backdrop into account, and while I wouldn't class Skyrim as terrible (especially not after Oblivion), it's not exactly a high bar to clear most of the time.

And seriously do link some well written, high quality Skyrim mods.

 

[Yosharian]

Yeah Interesting NPCs is one of the worst Skyrim mods. Fucking garbage-tier writing.

Out of curiosity - what would you consider to be a Skyrim mod (but not a TC, at least lore compliant and preferably not a completely disjoint landmass/area) with good writing?

I can easily give you that:

• 3DNPCs has way more "so quirky, much wow"/"haha, 4th wall goes poof!" characters than it's good for it (most of the time I try to not interact with them too much).
• Writing is... uneven.
• In particular some player's dialogue options are not just bad, but inexplicably so.
• The author seems incapable of creating content beyond characters/dialogues/quest scripting - in particular new locations (and items) are generally a DA2 style copypasta that would be insulting if it wasn't a mod.
• The quest dependencies form an awful tangle not based on any in-universe logic but rather narrative one of needing characters alive or in specific states for specific quests, meaning you shouldn't hope to finish stuff without a guide and preferably a flowchart.

OTOH:

• The mod is really well integrated with the base game. Characters interact with vanilla content, comment on it, build on top of it. It's an important quality when modding an existing game.
• Characters are fairly reactive (espceially followers), though that's not Inigo-style freeform reactivity, more of a hotspot based one, but it works pretty nicely.
• Some followers are nice.
• A lot of stuff relates to (sometimes obscure bits) of TES lore.
  
• It really seems that point of the mod was to provide some spice to Skyrim's overall blandness (in terms of characters and quests) which is supposed to provide a backdrop for mod's numerous oddballs.
• I'd say that also the writing quality needs to take the backdrop into account, and while I wouldn't class Skyrim as terrible (especially not after Oblivion), it's not exactly a high bar to clear most of the time.

And seriously do link some well written, high quality Skyrim mods.

A mod with good writing? There aren't any that leap to mind as having wholly good writing, but I will say that as the author of Inigo matured as a modder, the lines he wrote for Inigo became really quite good. He isn't the most lore-friendly character but he can be quite witty at times and some of his lines have caused me to lose my shit with laughter. There is one in particular that he spouts off when he is fighting a guard (usually happens just before you hit QuickLoad because you accidentally attacked someone or something) that is hilarious. Unfortunately he is still stuck with some of those cringy lines that were written at the start of his development but overall he is pretty solid. There is also something to be said for the sheer quantity of dialogue that Inigo has, it really is insane.

I disagree with all your positive points regarding Interesting NPCs and I'm not going to bother addressing any of them - you want to use the mod, have fun, I won't because it's complete trash.

And no I can't think of any other mods that have good writing. Guess why? Because modders, as a rule, can't write for shit.

 

[Poseidon00]

Out of curiosity - what would you consider to be a Skyrim mod (but not a TC, at least lore compliant and preferably not a completely disjoint landmass/area) with good writing?

I can easily give you that:

• 3DNPCs has way more "so quirky, much wow"/"haha, 4th wall goes poof!" characters than it's good for it (most of the time I try to not interact with them too much).
• Writing is... uneven.
• In particular some player's dialogue options are not just bad, but inexplicably so.
• The author seems incapable of creating content beyond characters/dialogues/quest scripting - in particular new locations (and items) are generally a DA2 style copypasta that would be insulting if it wasn't a mod.
• The quest dependencies form an awful tangle not based on any in-universe logic but rather narrative one of needing characters alive or in specific states for specific quests, meaning you shouldn't hope to finish stuff without a guide and preferably a flowchart.

OTOH:

• The mod is really well integrated with the base game. Characters interact with vanilla content, comment on it, build on top of it. It's an important quality when modding an existing game.
• Characters are fairly reactive (espceially followers), though that's not Inigo-style freeform reactivity, more of a hotspot based one, but it works pretty nicely.
• Some followers are nice.
• A lot of stuff relates to (sometimes obscure bits) of TES lore.
  
• It really seems that point of the mod was to provide some spice to Skyrim's overall blandness (in terms of characters and quests) which is supposed to provide a backdrop for mod's numerous oddballs.
• I'd say that also the writing quality needs to take the backdrop into account, and while I wouldn't class Skyrim as terrible (especially not after Oblivion), it's not exactly a high bar to clear most of the time.

And seriously do link some well written, high quality Skyrim mods.

Everything about Rigmor of Cyrodil was good...except Rigmor herself. A trashy waifu npc attached to one of the only decent lore heavy mods I have ever experienced.

 

[DraQ]

A mod with good writing? There aren't any that leap to mind as having wholly good writing, but I will say that as the author of Inigo matured as a modder, the lines he wrote for Inigo became really quite good. He isn't the most lore-friendly character but he can be quite witty at times and some of his lines have caused me to lose my shit with laughter. There is one in particular that he spouts off when he is fighting a guard (usually happens just before you hit QuickLoad because you accidentally attacked someone or something) that is hilarious. Unfortunately he is still stuck with some of those cringy lines that were written at the start of his development but overall he is pretty solid. There is also something to be said for the sheer quantity of dialogue that Inigo has, it really is insane.

I'm definitely not going to disagree with that because Inigo is great across the board and the reactivity is insane.

I disagree with all your positive points regarding Interesting NPCs and I'm not going to bother addressing any of them

Why? I'm actually interested.

 

[Yosharian]

A mod with good writing? There aren't any that leap to mind as having wholly good writing, but I will say that as the author of Inigo matured as a modder, the lines he wrote for Inigo became really quite good. He isn't the most lore-friendly character but he can be quite witty at times and some of his lines have caused me to lose my shit with laughter. There is one in particular that he spouts off when he is fighting a guard (usually happens just before you hit QuickLoad because you accidentally attacked someone or something) that is hilarious. Unfortunately he is still stuck with some of those cringy lines that were written at the start of his development but overall he is pretty solid. There is also something to be said for the sheer quantity of dialogue that Inigo has, it really is insane.

I'm definitely not going to disagree with that because Inigo is great across the board and the reactivity is insane.

I disagree with all your positive points regarding Interesting NPCs and I'm not going to bother addressing any of them

Why? I'm actually interested.

[*]The mod is really well integrated with the base game. Characters interact with vanilla content, comment on it, build on top of it. It's an important quality when modding an existing game.
[*]Characters are fairly reactive (espceially followers), though that's not Inigo-style freeform reactivity, more of a hotspot based one, but it works pretty nicely.
[*]Some followers are nice.
[*]A lot of stuff relates to (sometimes obscure bits) of TES lore.

[*]It really seems that point of the mod was to provide some spice to Skyrim's overall blandness (in terms of characters and quests) which is supposed to provide a backdrop for mod's numerous oddballs.
[*]I'd say that also the writing quality needs to take the backdrop into account, and while I wouldn't class Skyrim as terrible (especially not after Oblivion), it's not exactly a high bar to clear most of the time.

• I don't think it's well-integrated, the NPCs stick out like a sore thumb, either because they are written differently or worse, or because their dialogue systems don't match how Skyrim does things.
• I don't really care if followers are reactive if I don't like their writing in the first place.
• This is just an opinion so I can't comment much on this.
• I don't really care that much about lore.
• Spice is fine but it's an issue if it doesn't fit alongside the rest of the game's content.
• Skyrim's quest writing isn't amazing but the NPC writing isn't that bad. There's a reason half the NPCs in the game have become memes, they are quite memorable and well-written actually. It's Beth's dogshit quest writing and design that causes most of Skyrim's issues in this department.

 

[Yosharian]

Watch this video for example and examine the dialogue writing. It just doesn't fit the rest of Skyrim, and it's not particularly well-written either. It doesn't help that the VA is very hit or miss.

I'm not even going to touch on the quest design which is probably ass too because in a real life scenario I would just nope out of this quest the minute I read this garbage dialogue.

 

[Rabbid]

Requiem ported to SE:
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/60888

 

[mastroego]

I just uninstalled the damn thing.
I mean the old version. I might decide to buy the SE.... some day.

Right now the idea of going through the whole mods setup again....

 

[Yosharian]

I just uninstalled the damn thing.
I mean the old version. I might decide to buy the SE.... some day.

Right now the idea of going through the whole mods setup again....

W a b b a j a c k

 

[mastroego]

Oh, you mean the megamod pack?
I'm sure it'd install a lot of stuff I wouldn't want, and vice versa.

 

[Yosharian]

Oh, you mean the megamod pack?
I'm sure it'd install a lot of stuff I wouldn't want, and vice versa.

 

[purupuru]

I just uninstalled the damn thing.
I mean the old version. I might decide to buy the SE.... some day.

Right now the idea of going through the whole mods setup again....

If you own the old version on Steam you should already have SE in your library for free.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Requiem ported to SE:
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/60888

Great, by the time I am saturated with Yakuza this should in good shape to go.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I think I've settled on my least favorite mod and the worst part is, it's had a lot of effort put into it. Interesting NPCs. The mod page even has "3DNPC" in the title which is a complete lie - the mod is like Skyrim's terrible one dimensional character writing on verbose crack. If there are hidden gems under there, I wouldn't know it, but every NPC added by the mod that I've come across is built on one quirky character trait and are annoying enough to make me want to stay away and avoid any other NPCs as well. The cleaner who is obsessed with disease and has nothing else to talk about. The gossip who does nothing but gossip. If there's one of these NPCs around, you'll know it, and if you make the mistake of initiating conversation, they'll talk your ear off about their particular quirk. Not one of them made me think they fit in the world. How about instead of *interesting", you go with "believable"? You know, regular people with a problem to solve and some life stories to share afterwards, instead of whatever this is.

They went with quantity over quality. Use the Inigo mod instead. It's a single follower with thousands of lines of dialogue that is highly reactive.

 

[mastroego]

If you own the old version on Steam you should already have SE in your library for free.

I wasn't a big Steam user back then.
But I suppose when reasonably discounted I will get it and just store it there with the rest. I've come to appreciate this aspect of steam.

What about the Anniversary edition? Is it actually different? Does it break mods all over again?