Mods to make a game + character/clothing look good

[calranthe]

Hello,

I am about to do a new install of Skyrim, will probably follow the basic STEPS  no frills install first just to get Skyrim to a stable point, then comes the decision point and where I always call down, I add so many nice and cool mods that once I want to start adding the naughty mods the script engine is already overloaded.

 

So what I am looking for is 5-10 mods you would put into a base Skyrim game to make make the character and environment look good but also to tailor it to my likes because it is going to be my main naughty game.

 

I also fall down because I like to have realistic mods in the game like frostfall and ineeds both of which I believe are high cpu usage mods, so if there is more efficient alternatives please let me know.

 

Character models, I usually go with CBBE is there a good alternative that has a lot of clothing good quality clothing like skirts and dresses.

 

What is the best oriental face style ?

 

Any clothing packs you recommend ?

 

I know lots of questions but thank you for reading.

 

[Lodakai]

I started off with CBBE as well.   But I've just started using UUNP.    With UUNP it feels like there are more options overall, but you need to hunt down some of the bodyslide files.  

So far I'm enjoying the change (although maybe it was because I liked switching it up a bit and the complexity of changing everything out).

 

There are also in game body changers that allow you to try out different bodies in your game as you play.  Although if you are already script heavy.. you may not want to use the second one with more options below. (although you may be able to disable some of the automatic stuff.. never tested it with my current load order)

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37546/? for player 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/40280/? for NPC and player

 

 

I'm using INEED and Frostfall as well as many of the script heavy mods from here.   It has not been easy.   

 

I like using this http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/25259/? for CBBE as a nonreplacer version.   The armor is too skimpy to have on EVERYONE.. but being able to recraft everything is nice.  There is also a UUNP version that uses these assets I believe.   

 

The Tera Armors are also pretty nifty  http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/29411/?

 

For skirts.. you cant beat the HDT Effects such as those found here http://www.loverslab.com/topic/70512-amiella-skirt-cbbe-hdt-bodyslide-full-physics/  make sure to get the source files that this one alters.

 

This one is good for adding hair movement to npcs  http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/73137/?

 

Note on HDT... sometimes you will get a bug that makes them become invisible.  You have to be aware of who you place skirts and wigs on and be prepared to remove those items and add them back on to clear this bug.

 

Using the campfire Instinct feature (I hotkey it to X) will help you locate them if you cant see them.  It will make their bodies glow if you get close to them.

 

Fair skin complexion makes faces appear a bit younger and there is an oriental type makeup set.  I like using that or Pure Skin for lighter skintones.  Leyenda and demoniac are also pretty nice.

 

for asian type face you should look around the lower end of this thread  http://www.loverslab.com/topic/19129-where-can-i-find-non-adult-skyrim-requests/page-195

 

 

[valcon767]

the Tera Armors mentioned by Lodakai are very nice

 

I have a suggestion for you though.  if you do not have them you should consider getting (and learning how to use if you don't have them) the

Merge Plugins Standalone ( http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/69905 ) and the 1.9 XEdit Script (for TESVEdit) ( http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37981/ )

I personally use the standalone for all non scripted armor and weapon mods and the XEdit script for all the scripted ones (I have 2 armor compilations made this way taking up 2 ESP slots

that would otherwise takeover 70 slots).

bear in mind doing it this way is very nice for putting more in while saving esp/esm slots but some mods (from here on LL and other places) will require the individual mods to be installed

(because they are looking for the specific name in the esp/esm file name).

one example of a mod that does just that is Captured Dreams Shop when it look at the Tera Armors mod (it add some stuff for the stuff worn by Master/Tessa/Nissa and to the sold items lists).

it works beautifully with the Tera Armor mod installed normally but with it in a merged mod it does not use it (it just does not SEE the mod).

 

this same process can be used on most followers that use the vanilla following system (those with in game body changers will be merged BUT lose the in game body change option).

I do not advise merging custom voiced, expanded follower, or non standard followers this way (examples would be Arissa, Vilja, Ceridwin, Mrissi followers).

 

one last thing, if you do this please make sure to have a backup copy of the mods you are merging so that if something does not work right or gets goofed up you at least have the original to fix or replace it with.

 

 

[Lodakai]

Oh yes.. most definitely you need to merge your armor and clothing packs!  Good call.

On a similar note I've also found this handy to keep NPC visuals merged into one plugin too.  Although you will need to be a little more careful with this.. as it is only for visuals and not functionality of some follower mods.

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/64875/?

[x0101x]

Nexus user DonProtein (Sinitar Gaming) made two great guides. About graphics mods and gameplay ones. You really should read them (I made my modlist inspired by this guides)

 

Skyrim Ultimate Modding Guide - Gameplay and Immersion:

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/77928/?

 

And

 

Skyrim Ultimate Modding Guide - Graphics:

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/76373/?

 

Also if you like UUNP body, follow Skyrim Shitty UUNP HDT (don't look at name, those UUNP conversion are great) tumblr:

 

http://wtfuun.tumblr.com/

 

Also some info about Skyrim modding basics:

 

1) Even if your computer is too weak for ENB, ENBBoost (It is a part of ENB) is a must have for stability. More info in this guide:

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/50214/?

 

2) Bethesda default ini configs are shitty, so you should fix it. If you don't know anything about ini modding, better leave job for one of the modding tools. Install and use BethINI (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/69787/?), It will do many great ini tweaks (Don't worry, this program was made with consultation with many Bethsheda's ini moders).

 

3) Did you forget about:

 

- Good load order (use LOOT for it)?

 

- Bash patches (Wrye Bash)? When you have many armours, weapons and monsters, you need bash patches to fix your level lists.

 

- Cleaning vanilla and official DLCs esp's form ITM and dirty edits? (https://www.creation...uide_-_TES5Edit )

 

- Did you use mod mangers? (Mod Organizer is my favourite, but Nexus Mod Mangers isn't that bad). Please don't install mods manually for Stendarr's sake.

 

You really should do this things and use tools for it. For compatibility and stability. If you know about that congratulations, you done some basics of Skyrim's modding.

 

4) Know your hardware better, for example if you have weak graphics card (with only 1GB Vram or less), don't install textures bigger than 1k (and learn how to optimize textures (maybe you will find a good guide?), or when your bottleneck is processor limit script heavy mods in your load order

 

Maybe I will find more things in the future,

 

[calranthe]

These are all great advice slowly working through it all now,  I am lucky invested in a good cpu (i7 6700k) and a good Graphics card (Nvidia 1080) to use my rift with so hardware wise should be good.

 

I use Nexus Mod Manager as you said it isn't bad, a lot of good features were introduced (it used to be really bad hehe) Loot is a mainstay on my pc, like a lot of things with Skyrim its tweaking and messing about my problem is and I think this goes for others, I find it hard to enforce a hard limit for mods as in I will spend a week getting a nice stable version of skyrim, some reasonable sexy mods and all is good then I add more and more lol.