Skyrim really took the cake this year. With its awe-inspiring gameplay, much improved combat and leveling system, and a fresh new look, it's no wonder the game has already received a Game of the Year award. But for hardcore gamers, the fun may be over. You've played the game for thousands of hours, and have exhausted the entire game's main and auxiliary quests. You need more.
PC games have a distinct advantage over console games in that they can be freely modified when the developers allow it (and sometimes, even when they don't). This is called modding. A mod consists of a file or files that are meant to replace, modify or expand parts of the game. You can modify anything, from graphics, to story line, to interface. This is a great, free way to add hundreds of hours, if not more to your game—and your experience. Let's check out some of the cooler mods for Skyrim.
Requirements
- Windows OS
- Skyrim installed
Install Nexus Mod Manager
The Nexus mod manager is a must have tool that allows you to manage all of the mods in the Bethesda games. It grants queued downloads of many mods simultaneously and tells you when they have updates—it even allows you to pause and resume them.
Download here.
1. Skyrim HD - 2K Textures
By far, the most absolutely killer mod for Skyrim. This mod enhances the graphics in the game with completely redesigned textures. These new textures are four times the resolution of the originals! Take a look, you won't be able to pass it up. It didn't even lower my framerate.
Download here.
2. Serious HD Retexture - Landscape
This mod couples nicely with the 2K textures. This changes ground flora graphics and enhances them to 1028 or 2024 resolutions.
Download here.
3. 4GB Skyrim
Skyrim4GB is a tool to load Skyrim with the Large Address Aware executable flag set so the entire 4GB Virtual Memory Address Space can be used by the game. This means that the game caches more data and runs everything far smoother. A definite must if you need a performance increase.
Note: This is now included in the latest patch!
Download here.
4. No More Blocky Faces
This mod changes the default NPC graphics for faces to a much sharper and more defined alternative. This adds a lot to the immersive element of the game. The NPCs almost look real.
Download here.
5. Tytanis - The Ultimate Mod
This mod adds an unbelievable amount of extras to the game. New armor, weapons, spells, companions, quests, houses and more! It's almost like the first illegitimate expansion for the game. My only beef with it—most of the graphics are recycled. By this, I mean they use the same helmet and rename it as something else.
Download here.
6. iHUD - The Immersive HUD
This immersive HUD does just that—immerses you further into the game. Its a smart heads up display system that disappears when it isn't needed, intelligently—when you have a nice, full, uncluttered screen. It really helps with focus on the game, and with spotting enemies before they spot you. It may even help you find treasure!
Download here.
7. FXAA Post Process Injector
If you find that the default look of the colors in Skyrim could afford to be a bit more intense, then this is definitely the mod for you. It makes the game look better with no performance loss.
Download here.
8. Enhanced Night Skyrim
Breathtaking is the only word that I can use to describe this mod. It replaces the default night sky textures with your choice of a few other cluster colors and start field densities. The results are more spectacular than the skies we have here on Earth.
Download here.
9. Skyrim Flora Overhaul
The default objects and flora are a little cheesy. They look blocky and unappealing. This mod replaces them with high quality redesigns that make the overall game a lot more attractive. You can even pick the tree set types upon installing.
Downloadhere.
10. Improve NPC Clothing
This replaces literally all original 29 outfits in Skyrim with 4x larger textures. The original garments looked pretty shoddy. Check out the improvement.
Download here.
Keep your eye out for more great mods on the Skyrim Nexus. The official mod tool for Skyrim will be out soon, that means that we will see a huge increase in mod volume.
Follow and Chat with Null Byte!
Just updated your iPhone? You'll find new emoji, enhanced security, podcast transcripts, Apple Cash virtual numbers, and other useful features. There are even new additions hidden within Safari. Find out what's new and changed on your iPhone with the iOS 17.4 update.
14 Comments
It should be noted that the latest patch includes 4GB RAM optimization. Finally Bethesda heard our cries!
Also, should we expect another mod roundup after the Creation Kit hits in January?
After I see some good mods hitting the floor, for sure :).
And yet i don't see anything to fix the inventory system?!
Very nice list though.
Did somebody say "UI mod"?!
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/12/21/hooray-a-skyrim-ui-mod-skyui/
Yeah, I didn't include any of the modded UIs because I don't really think any of the replacements are better enough to actually use x]]. Thanks Max :D.
Those of us who play console.. Must do without these sweet mods I suppose. That said, the texture and resolution issues seem to be much less severe on 360. Also the game plays pretty smoothly on console, give or take load-screens.. Better save game to HDD, say bye to 8 hours or so :|
When the game came out, and the PC users were complaining about the texture/graphics issues, I just laughed. PC gamers get to mod the hell out of skyrim, the things we've seen so far are the just the tip of the iceberg. We've all seen what they could do with morrowind, then oblivion. Now a game that's already as polished as it is, just waiting to be improved by the user. I'm a jelly as helly PS3 player.
^ good point, i've also heard that someone is trying to add the oblivion content to skyrim as a mod, so you'll be able to swap worlds back and forth.
not sure if it's concrete, never the less it would be cool.
Without mods of any kind other than those allowing you to get there, the islands of Oblivion and Morrowind are already included in game, just far enough out to sea the users can't normally reach them. They are rough outlines, not fully detailed, and slightly smaller than the originals, but still cool to know someone put in the time and effort.
I wonder how close I can get with clipping turned off...
Not sure, let me know when you do!
Is there anyone out there who could run fraps and post a clip showing all these mods installed in tandem? I would totally do it yet there's not enough hp in this system to handle it.
Next time I boot into Windows, I'll make a video.
Win, I totally want to see what I'm missing!
…ish.
Share Your Thoughts