Which mods to use?

[Badgreeny]

Hello all,

I'm looking for opinions of which types of mods would be suitable for someone that has never used mods before. According to steam, I have been playing Skyrim for about 530 hours, most of which was on the one character. I recently began my second character, then a friend mentioned I should try experimenting with mods to have a different experience. A Google search led me to a website that had literally thousands of mods in many different categories.

How does one go about deciding which mods to use? My question is rather open and the answer is highly subjective, but the combination of your opinions would be very helpful in narrowing down the options for me.

Thanks,
Badgreeny

[Believe]

I basically don't have a plan or specific thing in mind with mods, I just go through the most popular list, and if something catches my eye, I read more about it.

If it then sounds like it could be go, I'll grab it and try it. The good thing is that if you don't like it, just turn it off and your game goes back to normal.

SO basically, just be curious. Read about any mod that you think looks cool, and then decide to either try it yourself, or not.

[Badgreeny]

Thanks Believe,

I spent some time last night watching step-by-step videos on Youtube on how to install mods properly, as well as using a mod manager. I was able to successfully download quite a few mods from the "best of all time" category, but the game won't run if all are selected. I've been systematically trying to eliminate which mods may not be compatible, with out any luck. I've noticed that the expansions and patches for the expansions keep getting turned off with almost every attempt (it's not consistent). When I view the "data files" from the original Skyrim launcher, sometimes they're selected, sometimes they're not. Sometimes I select them, close the window, re-open the window and they've been deselected again. These are files that I've had running on my system for about a year now without having to view the "data files" function.

I'm probably less computer literate than most players, so I'll be honest in saying I've probably caused my own error. I'm hoping someone will be kind enough to help me with the information I've provided.

[Believe]

I would suggest going to http://www.nexusmods.com/games/? and downloading the Mod manager, (or NMM for short).

It is easy to learn how to use, and has a feature which automatically sorts your Mods into the correct load order, which should remove the problem you have with the game not working properly.

You will need to create an account, but it's easy as and you don't have to actually use it for anything afterwards.

[Badgreeny]

I've found the problem. I actually did download NMM last night and used that to install all my new mods. The problem was that I installed the unofficial patches for Skyrim, DG, HF, and DG about a year ago directly into the Skyrim data folder. In other words, not through NMM. I've just added all four patches into NMM and everything seems to be working, although my frame rate seems to have dropped quite a bit. It's probably caused by the high textures mod, and that my graphics card is not particularly fancy (Nvidia GeForce GT 640).

Thanks for your help.

[Badgreeny]

Hello again,

I've just killed a dragon, but I don't seem to be taking its soul. It's body is just laying there in full (not just a skeleton).

Any ideas how to fix this?

[Lynda R]

Troubleshooting can be a complicated endeavor. What mods are you using? Are you running LOOT? What's your load order? Are you using SKSE and/or SKYUI (lots of mods require this)? I'm afraid you'll have to provide a little more information if you need help. Also, it isn't as simple as "try a mod and if you don't like it, deactivate it." To the best of my knowledge if you play a mod, then delete it and continue with your current save, problems can ensue. The only way to avoid problems is to go back to a save you had before adding whatever mod you decide you don't want. You can't add and delete mods willy nilly without giving any thought to it. To quote something someone smarter than I am said, "Mods tend to get baked into your saves," hence the reason you have to go back to a previous save when deleting a mod.

If I were you I would follow the guide, Modding Beginner's Guide over at Nexus Mods. Great guide and answered a lot of my questions. I tried to post a link but this site wouldn't let me, so you'll have to Google search it. Sorry 'bout that.

This tutorial is built around Mod Organizer, which, in my opinion, is a better tool since it gives you greater control over the mods you install. Makes it easier to remove mods too, since nothing is actually overwritten like the files are when they are going directly into your data folder.

So post your mods and what order you have them in with Nexus Mod Manager and I'll see if I can help.

[Badgreeny]

I'll do my best to explain.

In no particular order, the mods I'm using displayed in NMM are:
SKSE
SKYUI
Skyrim HD v1_5 LITE - Landscape-607
A Quality World Map and Solstheim Map - With Roads User interfaces
Enhanced Blood Textures - Visuals and graphics
Enhanced Lights and FX Immersion
The Dance of Death - A Killmove Mod - The Dance of Death 4-0 - Ultimate Edition
Unofficial Skyrim Patch-19-2-0-3
Unofficial Dawnguard Patch-23491-2-0-4
Unofficial Hearthfire Patch-25127-2-0-3
Unofficial Dragonborn Patch-31083-2-0-4a

All of these mods were downloaded a couple of days ago and were all from the best files of all time section.

When viewing "data files" in the Skyrim launcher, some of these files seem a little confusing. Some mods seem to contain more than one file and others use a slightly different names, making it a little complicated to work out which file matches which mod.

"Data files" from the Skyrim launcher in no particular order:
SKYUI.esp
Unofficial Skyrim patch.esp
Dawnguard.esm
Unofficial Dawnguard patch.esp
Hearthfires.esm
Unofficial Hearthfires patch.esp
Dragonborn.esm
Unofficial Dragonborn patch.esp
dD-Dragonborn-Dawnguard-EBT patch.esp
dD-Enhanced Blood main.esp
dD-Larger splatter size.esp
ELFX-exteriors.esp
ELFX-enhancer.esp
Enhanced lights and FX.esp
The Dance of Death - Ultimate Edition.esp

Sometimes after I have ticked the "load" box for some files, then clicked "OK", then gone back into the data files again, I've found that the files I've just loaded are un-ticked again. Sometimes no matter how many times I repeat this, my computer keeps un-ticking them. Other times It does work, so I play for a while with no problems (apart from bugs, like not being able to take the dragons soul). When I return to the game after a previous successful session, I sometimes find that all the mods have been un-ticked again.

I installed SKSE with the aid of a detailed step-by-step video and now run my game through the SKSE loader.exe

I wasn't aware of a beginner's guide. Thanks for drawing my attention to it, I'll check it out.

I'm downloading LOOT. Hopefully that will help.


Cheers,
Badgreeny

[Badgreeny]

I installed LOOT and was able to load my mods again (for now, at least).

Order according to LOOT is as follows:
Skyrim.esm
Dawnguard.esm
Dragonborn.esm
Hearthfires.esm
Unofficial Dawnguard patch.esp
Unofficial Dragonborn patch.esp
Unofficial Hearthfire patch.esp
Unofficial Skyrim patch.esp
Update.esm
dD-Dragonborn-Dawnguard-EBT patch.esp
SkyUI.esp
dD-Enhanced Blood Main.esp
dD-Larger Splatter Size.esp
ELFX-Exteriors.esp
ELFX Enhancer.esp
Enhanced Lights and FX.esp
The Dance of Death - Ultimate Edition.esp

*Skyrim.esm I presume is the main game, which may explain why it does not appear in the data files list.
*Update.esm also doesn't appear in the data files list. Is this designed to look for updates to the main game?

Apparently all of these are now loaded and ordered correctly; however, there are still a couple of issues. Past experience tells me that these may not stay loaded for long. When I play again on another day, I may find they've been unloaded again without my intervention. Also, there's still the issue of the dragon that did not give me its soul upon death.

[Lynda R]

Your load order should be:

SKSE
SKSE ini (If you have it, and you will if you follow the beginner's guide I directed you to)
Skyrim.esm (This is the game's masterfile)
Unofficial Skyrim patch
Dawnguard.esm
Unofficial Dawnguard patch
Hearthfire.esm
Unofficial Hearthfire patch
Dragonborn.esm
Unofficial Dragonborn patch

After that your mods should be in whatever order LOOT directs for you.

I've read that Enhanced Blood can cause issues with freezing. It's a mod that makes major changes to the game. Enhanced Light makes major changes too. In fact, anything that makes huge changes to the game is going to require a lot of your computer's resources like its memory. And Skyrim can't access much memory to begin with. It's limitation of the game itself. The guide I directed you to explains all this better than I can. This is the guide in case you weren't able to find it:

http://www.nexusmods (dot com)/skyrim/mods/56894/?

I had to write it that way because this site won't let me include links for some stupid reason.

I had mods that changed the weather, and the lighting, and added more grass. My computer choked and my game became impossible to play. I had to get rid of all those heavy-duty mods. And since my graphics card is only one gig, I especially had to focus on getting rid of anything that re-textures anything. I still have a couple of texture mods -- Coverwomen and Better Males, which re-texture skin, and Superior Lore Friendly Hair which re-textures hair. My game runs very smoothly for the most part, and any hiccups I have are minimal. I have 192 mods, but most of those are little mods, like armor mods which affect only my character and my followers, not every NPC in the game. The only mods that affect all NPC are the ones I already mentioned. I also have a mod that changes the appearance of children, but since there aren't that many kids in the game, the mod doesn't impact things too much. Do you see where i'm going with this? But even though you are using some heavy-duty mods, you aren't using very many so you might be okay. If you find you're having freezing, get rid of a couple of them and see if that helps.

Another thing to consider is what in your app data folder. The game likes to deposit information there about what mods you are using and what order they are in. If you're having trouble with the launcher un-checking your mods, it's probably because it's reading what's in the app data folder. I know, because I had some of the same troubles you are having, and deleting the files in that folder fixed my problem. Just go to C/users/whatever your name is/appdata/local/Skyrim and delete everything but the Plugins.tes5viewsettings file. Don't worry, the game will re-generate these files the next time you open the launcher. You might have to put a check mark on the mods you're using, go in and delete the files again, then re-check your mods in the launcher again. I hope that makes sense. I had to re-check my mods and delete twice for the launcher to get it right. But since I use Mod Organizer, nothing is in my data folder, so I don't have to even mess with the launcher at all.

[Lynda R]

This page taught me a lot too:

http://forums.nexusmods (.com)/index.php?/topic/753253-only-you-can-prevent-forest-fires/

Man, it sure is frustrating to not be able to post a link.

Edit: Also, a quick Google search about your not being able to absorb dragon souls problem is related to the order your DLCs are in. The unofficial Dragonborn patch is supposed to fix this problem (of not absorbing dragon souls), but the load order has to be right. One of your mods may be causing the problem, but my guess is that your load order isn't right.

Let me know how things go and I'll see if I can help you further if you need it.

[Badgreeny]

Hi Lynda, I appreciate the trouble you've gone to to try and help me, but it's not working out.

I've been through that guide and followed it carefully, but I'm still having the same problem. When I try to re-order my mods to the recommendations and hit "OK", it does not seem to save my preferences. When I go back into data files, they've all been been unloaded (the box on the left is un-ticked). Also, I have both SKSE and SKSE ini, however neither show up in data files or in LOOT despite being activated in NMM.

Without the ability to load and order the data files, there's not much more than can be done.

[Lynda R]

If you're using Nexus Mod Manager you don't need to bother with data files at all. You'll be starting your game through NMM, not your data files. Actually, you'll be starting your game through SKSE, but SKSE is supposed to be ran with Nexus Mod Manager. You shouldn't have to even bother with data files.

Gopher has some great tutorials on YouTube. You might want to check them out. I learned a lot from them.

[Badgreeny]

I was under the impression you still need to run the Skyrim launcher to activate and order your mods/plugins, then close the launcher and run through SKSE loader.exe? I've found that if the mods/plugins haven't been activated and ordered via the data files, then they also wont be activated or loaded correctly with running SKSE loader.exe. When loading a save file I receive a message something along the lines of..."your save requires plugins to work properly. Some things may not display properly".

Fortunately, I have made progress. When the mods/plugins behave themselves, I've noticed the game is not only graphically enhanced (by the enhancer mods) but performance has also increased. I believe Step 6 "Patch your game" in the Modding Beginner's Guide you've directed me to is responsible for the increase in performance. Thank you very much for that. My graphics card isn't anything special (Geforce GT 640), yet it seems to be handling things rather well.

I'll see if I can just run the game through SKSE via NMM as you've suggested. I'll also take a look at those youtube videos you've mentioned.

Hopefully everything will run well now. Thanks for your help.

[Lynda R]

Yeah, step 6 helped my game too. I also had to get rid of the mods that overhauled my game and stick with mods that make small changes. That helped a lot. Let me know if you need more help, but I think watching Gopher's videos will teach you a lot. His videos are professional as well, unlike so many others I watched.

[Dalos]

You might also watch the S.T.E.P. Official Video Series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6UPIWX ... LlBLlwo73A