Improving Skyrim / Recommended Mods thread (Mostly about Requiem)

[mastroego]

To my surprise I had a dramatic improvement in performance (i.e.: A LOT less crashes) after running a texture optimizer.
Acronym for the tool is SMCO or something like that.
It worked wonders, honestly. Of course it will depend a lot on the machine and installed textures, but I seriously suggest anyone who hasn't to try it ASAP.

I have a remaining problem for the external areas: since I've used the ASIS patcher to increase the number of monsters, when outdoor it happens that sometimes I "activate" too many at once. Too many actors for the engine to handle => crashes.
Next time I'll run the patcher I'll lower the amount of extra creatures, possibly to the minimum. Better gameplay wise too, since I literally am getting no pause from roaming monsters as it is.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

IIRC they also promised snow/rainwater would accumulate on roofs and eventually fall down, changing the town's landscape. Molyneux would be proud.

Projectile killcams are particularly annoying because the shot will end up below where you're actually aiming, so unless you are aiming for the head you'll probably hit the ground (and even then you may hit the ground if your opponent is on a higher or lower place)

 

[hiver]

Did anyone try SkyRe and how is it?

 

[Gord]

Similar idea as Requiem, different execution. Not as hard, definitely better than vanilla.
Eventually it's still Skyrim, though, so keep that in mind.

I tried it for one playthrough, but that's been a while ago.
The start is much harder, but around level 30 it became similar to vanilla in terms of difficulty.

 

[DraQ]

Too much arbitrary changes on one hand ("I WANT TO BE A D&D" for instance), expansive perk trees on the other.

 

[Gord]

Don't think Requiem is that much better in that regard, tbh.

 

[Akratus]

Requiem doesn't try to be D&D, nor are the perk trees very big. So what are you talking about?

 

[Bubbles]

Just wait for TESO.

 

[GarfunkeL]

SkyRE is very good. Makes the skill/perk trees much more sensible and useful. Makes combat harder. Doesn't arbitrarily pump enemies for no reason.

 

[Lancehead]

The sense of SkyRe:
Restoration Divine magic.
Pickpocketing and Lockpicking are the same thing.
Speechcraft and Shouting are the same thing.

 

[DeepOcean]

Do anyone know of good quest/new landmass mods that are compatible with Requiem? I just found Falskaar and wyrmtooth.

 

[JrK]

Probably, with a patch.

There, top result for googling 'skyrim requiem falskaar': http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/38563/?

 

[DeepOcean]

Probably, with a patch.

There, top result for googling 'skyrim requiem falskaar': http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/38563/?

I have falskaar and wyrmtooth already installed but there are a ton of quest mobs that don't mention compatibility with requiem, I was wondering if there was any other that had compatibility with requiem.

 

[mastroego]

Ok, I'm going to ask for suggestions myself.
I want to get more serious and play with an unleveled version of Skyrim (please don't destroy me, Skyrim is my first real experience with an Open World game, and up until now I didn't feel comfortable changing something that "big").

Now, I know SkyRe has a module that adjusts the minimum level of areas, but that's not for me, since it always scales up and I want low level areas to stay that way as I get more powerful. Also, I'm not interested in SkyRE, being happy with ACE, Deadly Combat and all the rest. Similarly, I'm not interested in Requiem (it changes too much and in ways I do not care about).

So apparently it comes down to:
- ASIS Encounter Zones plugin
- ERSO Module 08 (Real Unleveled Skyrim).

Does anyone have first-hand experience with these two mods?
Thanks for any help!

 

[Clockwork Knight]

That ERSO module works as intended, but it's part of an entire overhaul so I'm not sure I'd recommend it on its own. I'd at least use it alongside module 9, which rebalances the NPCs so they'd fit better in the new zones.

You might also want to take a look at this one, sounds like the kind of thing you're looking for.

 

[Bubbles]

Unleveled mods are generally not offered in isolation, because the game changes so drastically that everything else needs to be tweaked as well. What happens to loot and quest rewards? What about escort/companion quests? What happens when you install a dragon mod alongside a leveled mod? What if you don't install a dragon mod, and your first dragon kills 20 NPCs and then gets one-short by a scamp?

 

[mastroego]

Thanks for the replies, I see your points. Let me elaborate a little more though.

Skyrim Unleashed is indeed a possibility I haven't ruled out (as I have the other overhauls), still I'd prefer something less invasive.
My plan was to add a module like ASIS - Encounter Zones to my setup, that includes Ace Combat, Deadly Combat, Deadly Dragons, Immersive Creatures, High Level Enemies and so on.
My assumption is that it would work something like this:
since the module sets a level range (20 levels-wide, which is good imho) for each zone, the additions from Immersive Creatures and High Level Enemies would show up if/when they meet the level range of a specific zone. Same for Dragons.
I like that, rather intuitively, the more dangerous zones are the ones farther from roads and cities, or specific dungeons which are supposed to be played later in quests and so on.
I also plan to use Morrowloot, which I assume won't conflict since there's no mention of ASIS changing item placement.
As you might guess the problem is that, while I've seen several people pointing to ASIS Encounter Zones and apparently being happy with it, there's little actual information to be found (mod interactions and so on), so that's what I'm after mainly.

I do worry a little about the points Bubbles raises, but I guess I'm ready to "boldly experiment" if I can't get more first-hand informations

 

[theSavant]

Mounted Combat is in Skyrim since version 1.6, Crossbows were added by Dawnguard DLC and spears, footprints, changing seasonal foliage were all added by mods listed on this thread.

So you mean, they implemented mounted combat, which doesn't even work on all weapons?
So you mean the single 1 goblin spear that can be used?
So you mean the Dragon riding where you can't even control the dragon?

I thought this game could be above average after the patch, but after finding out the details of their half-assed implementations it's worse than before. Ridiculous.

 

[racofer]

 

[mastroego]

So I went ahead and set up the unleveled world for my next playthrough.
To summarize, the challenge-oriented mods are the following:

- ACE (except for the Speech tree, for which I've chosen the one from Treebalance)
- Stealth Skills Rebalanced
- Deadly Combat
- Deadly Dragons
- Dragon Combat Overhaul
- ASIS
- ASIS Encounter Zones
- Immersive Creatures
- High Level Enemies
- Killing Traps
- Morrowloot

I plan a run without direct Magic, only alchemy and potions. Possibly smithing and enchanting (ACE style).
I imagine I'll handle difficulty spikes with followers - realistically enough, me thinks. Serana possibly, or Vilja, Inigo or Nadina (considering mods).

If anyone's interested I'll report how it plays out (though I'm not sure when I'll be able to actually play, you know)

 

[RK47]

Is Skyrim Nexus fixed yet?
They've had so many login issues that I've given up trying new mods for now.

 

[meeneque]

Is Skyrim Nexus fixed yet?
They've had so many login issues that I've given up trying new mods for now.

Works for me atm.

 

[racofer]

The good mods are on Loverslab, RK. I don't see why you would need the nexus? Unless you use the mod manager for installing mods, which then I can understand.

 

[Turisas]

Does ENBoost help with crashes related to having too many HD textures, or are those still to be avoided?

 

[RK47]

The good mods are on Loverslab, RK. I don't see why you would need the nexus? Unless you use the mod manager for installing mods, which then I can understand.

Spoiler

Do you even know how many mods I've tried from there?
How many countless hours I've burned on the imagery and interactions?
The chains that binds every slave? The force that compels the weak to obey the strong?

There is a limit to how much amusement one can derive from witnessing such debaucheries repeated over and over for hours.
I've crossed that line.

There is no going back, brother.