I have to have Frostfall and Realistic Needs and Diseases when I play because I want my Skyrim experience to be as punishing as possible. Seriously, I must be a masochist. :p
Frostfall by Chesko is a mod which adds hypothermia to the game which, in my opinion, should have been a toggle in the vanilla game since Skyrim is such a harsh and unforgiving province. Realistic Needs and Diseases by
I also want to give a shout out to a wonderful companion mod, Vilja in Skyrim, created by Emma, Amgepo, and Lycanthrops. Vilja outstrips the vanilla companions but luckily the mod creators have put time and effort into making her interact with them. This way it doesn't have to feel like everyone else following you is a cardboard cut-out.
For people looking to get into modding, I suggest taking a look at S.T.E.P. It's a project run by a chap named TheCompiler (as far as I remember) and will basically hold your hand through the process of making Skyrim prettier and more realistic. Another great source is Skyrim Gems, a "1-page, quick-reference catalog of lore-friendly game-play enhancement mods".
So tell me, what mods are you into?
Oh! And what happened to that caravan mod one of the Bethesda devs released? Did it ever get fixed?
I hope this post fits in here. My apologies if it doesn't.
When I was still playing there were quite a few that I considered "must-have".
SMIM, Hybrids HD Plants and Herbs Retexture, Closer Quivers and Longer Arrows, Unofficial Patches, SkyUI, Wet&Cold, Ruins Clutter Improved, Realistic Boat Bobbling, Gemling Queen Jewelry, Dynamic Tymescale, Vivid Landscapes, Elegant Circlets, Main Font Replacement (Tara Type for me), Customizable Camera, Warburg's Paper World Map, Ultimate HD Fire Effects, Heart of the Beast, Footprints and Quiet unsheathing of enchanted weapons
Ahh, I see. Thanks for explaining. :)
I'm trying not to add any more mods to this play-through, though at least I'm below the "mod limit" I've seen others talking about. I think it's 250 but I was well past that the last time I was playing.
I hope eventually I'll pick up all the terminology and ideas but for now I'm just glad I have learned to use Wrye Bash (mostly).
"Alternate Start - Live Another Life"
Really adds to the re-play-ability for me.
Skyui and IHUD is two big ones for me. Pure waters and convenient horses would be next on my list i think. Beyond that i pick and choose for the character profiles. It's really easy with MO to manage things, and you can have different mods for different characters. You can even boot up vanilla if you just want to test some things, or get the original build experience.
I also use alternate start alot, and JAyus swords.
I've not seen many other sites than steam really. I don't really know why a mod author would not publish on nexus because that is the biggest and safest. Maybe some rogue modders who got thrown out I guess, it happens.
The days of Morrowind where you had to look up the individual authors web pages to get mods are over.
Here are a few mods that I absolutely NEED to use in order to play the game.
To me, these are all must-have mods. They make the game even better than it is (and I didn't even get into ENBs and Overhauls)!
Mods that MUST be on my load order are:
Technically, these are the only mods I'll ever need, but my chronic modding disorder makes my load order larger whether I like it or not.
Ah, I see. Well, in RND a sound is used as well as toggleable messages, as far as I can remember (will be able to confirm in a day or two when I start the next play through).
Pretty sure it is yawning for sleep, coughing for thirst, and tummy rumblings for hunger. I prefer sounds to messages personally.