Overhauling graphics.

[Mewwt]

Hello. I don't know if this is the appropiate sectin to discuss this, but I'd like to completely change skyrim's graphics in the most possibly efficient way. I don't like having a trillion mods only to change, idk, the textures of a lamp, so I'd like to keep it simple but with as many changes as possible.

 

So far, I tried the 2k textures mod, but I didn't really see THAT much of a difference (for a 1'8gb mod, it didn't really change much, to be honest).

 

I also have SMIM which makes a lot of a difference, and I'm loving it ('dem sexy chests, this mod should go on the adult section. NNNNGH)

 

For people, I'm using UUNP with fair skin complexion and remodeled armor replacer whatever. It's cool. Some armors look derpy but I'm just going around replacing some to make them more "quality"-looking. If y'all know a better armor replacer which doesn't make girls look like John Cena with a barbie head while also showing a bit of skin (between "hello my character looks like a tin can with arms" and "why is this steel armor a bikini?") would be very helpful! Also, better females, fitness body and eyes of beauty.

 

For dungeons (which are pretty ugly tbh) I'm using ruins clutter improved, which doesn't make a MASSIVE difference, but fixes the "little things that bother me", which is cool.

 

On another side, I'm using skyrim project optimization. I don't know if it's THAT useful, but eh, if it improves performance without messing anything, it's welcome.

 

 

The mods I'm looking for (yes, yes, "google them yourself!", I'm looking for suggestions if you guys don't mind) are lighting mods (you know, 'dem lightrays and such), make the flora better looking and cities more colorful, vivid and/or buildings more.... "defined". An overall landscape textures mod would also be welcome (let's admit it, even if we don't look at the rocks on the mountains, every time we look at the vanilla ones, everyone cringes a bit).

 

I tried using an ENB, but while it made skyrim look just ungodly-ly beautiful, it had a huge performance hit to the point of making some areas unplayable (insert some fps thing here). It also required a lot of mods, tweaks and things I couldn't be arsed with and by the time I finished installing this, I was so done with skyrim I didn't play for two months.

 

Thanks in advance!

[prm339]

Maybe you should give Purity http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/65242/? a try. It's not an ENB but will give your Skyrim a very different look with lot of "wow" effects and no FPS losses.

I'm using classic version since two weeks... it's awesome... but there are some more patches and versions available.

 

 

[spoonsinger]

Re: -"make the flora better looking"

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/users/5851384/?tb=mods&pUp=1 - Not all to my taste but quite a lot are pretty damn good, some are a bit meh or show up the flatness of the originals. (Unfortunately no one big pack, so some leg work is involved)

 

Other textures on the Nexus by Gamwich's , (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/users/5712421/?tb=mods&pUp=1 ) are good. Actually there are shit loads of others out there. For nexus just go to the category menu and look at textures. Also you could also just download large textures and reduce them yourself.

[Mewwt]

Awesome, thanks guys! I just installed purity and the Authentic *whiterun*, *solitude* and *riften* mods. They all looked awesome and just about what I was looking for (as spoonsinger says, a bit of leg work was required (yes, only three mods, but a big ass all-in-one pack is always better, am I right?)); as much quality as possible with as little performance impact as possible.

 

I'll now take a look on spoonsinger's stuff. I appreciate you recommending me the mods even if you don't like them. Is there a personal favourite you use or recommend me to use (inside the list you gave me)?

 

Thanks so far!

[prm339]

Oh I forgot in my former post, I found Purity too by looking at the "Authentic" city overhauls, they really look great also in combination with SMIM  

[Mewwt]

Yep, got them!

 

Also, if anyone is interested, I got some weapon texture thingies; a mesh-based weapon improvement (let's be honest, some weapons look just dumb or don't make sense, like a glass sword that looks like a damn paddle), and textures to go with it.

 

Edit: I'll point out the weapon textures mod isn't fully completed, so I'm going to combine the first one with this one, so I can cover as many weapons as possible (giving priority to the first one). If anyone knows ONE mod that covers ALL weapons, I'll be very thankful!

 

I got some of the "rustic" mods (soul gems (just beautiful), potions (omfg they look amazing), word walls, cabbages, standing stones and a few others). I have a lot of things covered for now, anything else is welcome!

[Mewwt]

Update: Everything looks awesome. There are a few things I'm missing, though. While the "Authentic" city mods are cool, I'm missing the other cities and a few more things to be fully satisfied (I already am, don't get me wrong!).

 

An "overall" change to flora (renthal311's are awesome, but I'm not going to install a mod for every single type of flower in the game) would be awesome. A few friends suggested me to use the flora overhaul one, but some others told me they're not very fond of it. If someone could give me a reason why should/shouldn't use it, or an alternative, I'd appreciate it.

 

On the other hand, I feel like skyrim looks "dull". Purity gave it a better look, but the colours still look, to be honest, like shit. I'd like it to look more colorful, with a shinier sun and things like that. I'm thinking about using enhanced lights fx without replacing any of my previous mods (because I like them as they are right now), so it can fill anyhing they could be missing.

[Gagoloth]

I'd like to recommend Dynamic Distant Objects LOD - DynDOLOD. Depending on your pc setup this can most definitely give your game an aesthetic boost. Just a forewarning though Dyndolod is quite a resource hog and can also be a pain to install. 

 

Step by step guide Here.

[Kinky]

Logical grass