Skyrim Mods and Tweaks

[Bez]

This looks like a nice mod if I wasn't playing Dragon Age at the moment I would definitely be trying it out.
Thanks for the link Madman

[MadManCK]

`Pirate mod is still buggy as hell. But a nice addition anyway. I recommend waiting for a couple of versions later without all these bugs.
You fight Pirates and do not become one btw. At least it appears to be like that.

The harbors addons are very well done and a nice extension.

I switched back to Legendary difficulty to have a bit more resistance and also installed "Dead Alternative", where you can get robbed and have to try to get your stuff back. Unfortunately i can not really try it, as my character is so strong he regenerates faster than a few bandits can cause damage. And my wild bunch of companions is very well trained now as well.

There are also a lot of Open Cities patches now, so my next play through will be with open cities and also Civil War overhaul, that makes the war develop a bit less predictable and also provides a bigger challenge. I have not even started the war in this play through yet.

The player developed new lands, Wyrmstooth and Faalskaar have had updates as well. I also placed new travel markers, so you can travel directly between all the locations without having to return to Skyrim every time.

With new animations and a lot of new clever mods, Skyrim is still very much alive.

[MadManCK]

Just started a new playthrough with Open Cities. I had to disable some incompatible mods and also picked a few that needed a clean save to start, like Civill War Overhaul.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37216/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

I also used Alternate Start - Live another life and picked the Shipwrecked version. This makes you start on a sinking ship near Dawnstar with absolutely nothing, except some loot and you immediately need to swim for your life with the slaughterfish in the Sea.
An alternative start also skips the long intro sequence that is often bugged, especially with certain mods active. But you will be able to pick up the Helgen storyline later, if you want. Also needed for the War sequence with this character.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/9557/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

I play on Legendary, so i have to be really careful in the beginning. But i also gave all merchants some coin to trade. I don't like the hassle with merchants without money. Not immersive IMO.

The cool part about open cities is that it does not limit your gameplay like the vanilla game does. Battles continue in the city and you can ride your horse right before your city homes.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/8058/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

There are a lot of patches available now, to make many mods compatible with open cities.
Right now i use JK city overhauls. There is a patch for the dawn of skyrim as well. Up to now i used 2 city mods from JK and 3 from the Dawn series. Especially the Dawn of Whiterun is very cool as it turns it into a trading hub with 6 extra market stands and does not completely stuff the city like JK's mods do.

I also added a companions guild mod that enhances the companions and makes it more tough to level up within the ranks.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/22650/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

Needless to say that i used Dawnstar to do some mining and wood chopping and left soon® afterwards with a carriage to Whiterun.
Touring carriages is epic as you can make the driver stop along the way and while you drive, everything you pass will be unlocked as well
If you want to speed up you can always ask the driver to fast travel. But i like to ride and enjoy the scenery. It is still a safe way to get to your destination.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/38529/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This playthrough is off course with my favorite mods Helgen reborn,

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/35841/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

Wyrmstooth

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/25704/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

And Falskaar

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37994/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?


And off course all official DLC.

And if you have not tried it already, FNIS

My character is a Nord (again) and will probably turn out to be a Barbarian Mage, my favorite. What can i say? Skyrim belongs to the Nords

[MadManCK]

I removed JK's city mods and only installed individual files from Riften and Markarth as they are both epic.

For Whiterun i wait for individual files of the Dawn of Whiterun, as that citymod turns Whiterun into a trading hub with 6 additional merchant stands and only some crates and other functional stuff.
JK Whiterun is way too cluttered. Sometimes less is more, so to speak. Even the Skyforge was completely built in. I always liked the open character of it.
Maybe the different cities need different mods from different people to stand out.

The other cool part is that i played for 2.5 hours this afternoon without a single hick-up. So a stable skyrim is possible with 500 mods active

As i play on Legendary difficulty, you can not engage every fight and sometimes have to avoid them carefully.
I installed death alternative, that prevents your character from dying and instead lets you bleed out, while some bandits take your stuff or a Dragon steals your powers.
As soon as you are recovered, you can hunt for them to get your stuff back. You will also find out who your friends are
Very cool mod that is much better than simply restarting from the last save point if you mess up.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/45894/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

[MadManCK]

If you dont want to look the high skyrim girls to be dressed like a horker, this mod comes in handy

Noblesse Oblige

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/63634/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

[MadManCK]

It seems like Skywind is coming along nicely. I still have an earlier version somewhere and it was already playable back than. Well over a year back. So they surely take their time to release it. But recreating Morrowind in the Skyrim engine takes time to do right.

[BBvideo 640,360][/BBvideo]

[Bez]

Looks nice, I had forgotten about this thanks for the reminder.

[MadManCK]

Legendary Cities - Tes Arena - Skyrim Frontier Fortress

This mod adds a couple of Towns and settlements to the game, based on the Skyrim map of TES Arena.
They blend in nicely in the game and give you a few merchants to get rid of your over-encumbered appearance. Always good to have a few extra trading hubs around.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/47989/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

[MadManCK]

So, after hitting L100+ with a nice playthrough, i was confronted with the fallout of CWO, Civil War Overhaul.
This mod promises an enhanced civil war experience, but in reality only messes up your game big time.
Not only did the guards attack each other the whole time, they also attacked civilians and were looking for enemies in buildings that were not there. I tried to ignore that, as i though once the war had started these side effects would be gone. But things only got worse.

One of the cool ideas of the CWO mod is to extend the civil war and give the option to lose a battle. Unfortunately a battle was registered as a loss, that i clearly won. I mean if there are no soldiers of the other party there anymore, how can you lose, right?

There were some cool things, like the Stormcloaks attacking Whiterun with everything you can imagine, like giants, wolves and hard trained soldiers. So that part was good. Unfortunately i had to remove the mod and therefore to start all over with a new playthrough. There are so many scripts connected to this mod that you can not remove it without consequences. So nice try from the mod maker, but bad execution.

So do NOT use CWO. You're warned.

I started the new playtrough by escaping from the prison, the Live an Alternative Life mod starts from; The abandoned prison. The first battle with the ghosts there did not turn out too well. So i had my first left for dead experience within minutes. And the ghost stole half my equipment. But i managed to get my gear back and am now on my way to whiterun again. Playing at Legendary level makes you cautious in the beginning. And with an Iron axe at 18 it is a challenge even slaughtering a bunch of wild animals. But we will get there.

I was also impressed with the Racemenu and now use a "Witcher" hair style, as that one supports HDT Hair physics, which is kinda cool. I had this mod lingering on my list, but activated it for this playthrough. If you have not tried it yet, just do.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/29624/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

HDT physics extensions are awesome. Hair, capes, butts and wigglin' boobs, they are all there. Also the new animations for the combat and walking are very nice. I use this in combination with XP32 skeleton and FNIS

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/53996/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

https://code.google.com/p/hdt-pe/wiki/AddonMods" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The "Live Another Life" and "Death Alternative" mods, make your gameplay totally different.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/9557/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/45894/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

I have been rescued by an apprentice mage from Winterhold and by the brothers from the Companions, Vilkas and Farkas. And there are many more things that can happen when you get rescued. Or robbed.
Much better than starting from last checkpoint if you lose a battle.

Now i have to climb the whole perk tree thing again...

[MadManCK]

More and more stuff from TES Arena makes it to Skyrim.

I'm not really into fast travelling as i think it breaks immersion and also rips you from improving your skills along the way. But for High Hrottgar i always made an exeption.
Now there is a "new" way of fast travelling without time loss, that blends in nicely into the game and adds a cool fast travelling option. Including to High Hrottgar.

Skyrim Wayshrines - Immersive Fast Travel

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/64201/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?