One of my paramours ( who I cannot currently see in person because ahahahaha /gestures at the entire planet) is lending me their Steam Link Device. My plan is to put that on the TV downstairs so I can once again begin Operation: My Mom Plays Skryim.
Since we're now doing this on my rather decent PC (32 gigs RAM, AMD Ryzen 7 2700, NVidia GeForce RTX 2070), I figure I should load up the Special Edition and put at least a few mods on it. So I'm looking for mod suggestions!
My primary goals here are to get a mostly Vanilla Skyrim experience, but to make it look super nice, and any quality of life/ease of use mods you guys can think of to make this as painless as possible for my mom would be great.
Some notes about my mom:
* She's 65
* But she introduced me to Computar Arr Pee Gees when I was 5 by letting me create a character named "That Guy" in Ultima: Underworld (That Guy wanted to be friends with every goblin. This didn't work as well for him as he'd have liked. But anyway...)
* Unfortunately, she hasn't played any computer RPGs since, I think, about 1997. Combo of busy and lost interest. She's looking to retire soon so I'm trying to get her back into some hobbies. This is why I'm interested in any QoL / ease of use mods.
* I have no idea yet if she'll find KBM or controller easier x_X we'll find out, I guess.
* She loved Dragonriders of Pern, Heralds of Valdemar, and Marrion Zimmer Bradley stuff, and basically anything 80s Feminist Fantasy, so if there's any small, specific mods you guys can think of along those lines (cool psychic horses? better dragon riding tools? angry talking feminist swords? idk?) that'd be neat easter eggs to put in for her. Emphasis on small.
* She's the chair of the theater arts department at her college, so, on a similar note, any theater arts/entertainment/music related mods might be pretty cool. Nothing *huge* but some small Bard's College expansions, musical instrument mods, or literally any coy theater references would be nice.
wooo. hopefully we can get her past the intro this time! Only reason we stopped is bc my brother's used old PS4 has like no memory. But my desktop does! woo.
Okay, so first you swing by Lover's Lab, and then....
Okay, so since you're talking via a TV, if you're using a controller, I'm of no help for the controlling side of things.
Similarly, improving the look is so determined by personal taste I'm not sure what to recommend. Start with a major texture pack (Skyland, Skyrim 2017-2020, Nordic) as a base and go from there. Pick a weather system (Obsidian and Cathedral still being the most popular two, I think), and then find an ENB which has what you think is most appropriate. The two things you'll see the biggest bang for your buck on are learning how to run DynDOLOD and ENB. I'd also look into some NPC improvement things like Diversity or WICO, even if you don't get too deep.
Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
If she struggled to get through the intro, I would definitely suggest Alternate Start. Lets you pick how your character comes into Skyrim and completely skips the drawn-out intro. I would also suggest a dual-analog controller; Skyrim doesn't need a million keys, and it's much easier to learn the controls with a fraction of the buttons available (I've played Skyrim a ton with KBAM and controller, and controller is far more comfy). Skyrim can also be easily tuned to not harshly punish somebody using a controller, and there's virtually zero need for twitch-fast precise aiming from a mouse. Maybe a mod to make animals act like actual animals, i.e., one that makes most or all of them avoid humans? And a better map mod, one that notes all places you visit and adds roads to the map. I rather like flora overhaul mods myself (some breathtaking additions this way), and there are mods that add extra music to the game as well.
I don't think you should need much to change the base gameplay. Base Skyrim is pretty approachable, and there's a looooot of stuff somebody can do even if they just want to walk around looking at stuff.
I'd say sit her down, get her used to playing, and then ask if there's anything she wants different. Chances are good that a mod exists for the changes she might want, if she wants any change at all.
I don’t even really know that mods are particularly required for a first time player in skyrim honestly.
I’ve never been as down on skyrims default textures as a lot of people though.
I would say the three absolute must-haves are
The Unofficial Skyrim Patch for your edition.
The Script extender
Sky UI.
99% of any other mods you might consider either expect or outright require you have one of those mods to begin with, and even with them you'll avoid having to deal with tons of broken stuff and get a UI that's 1000x better than the default.
Other than those, I'd start with a "clean" playthrough, and once you have a better idea on how you'd want to see the base game changed/"improved", then start looking around for the mods that fit your interests.
I don’t even really know that mods are particularly required for a first time player in skyrim honestly.
I’ve never been as down on skyrims default textures as a lot of people though.
I would say the three absolute must-haves are
The Unofficial Skyrim Patch for your edition.
The Script extender
Sky UI.
99% of any other mods you might consider either expect or outright require you have one of those mods to begin with, and even with them you'll avoid having to deal with tons of broken stuff and get a UI that's 1000x better than the default.
Other than those, I'd start with a "clean" playthrough, and once you have a better idea on how you'd want to see the base game changed/"improved", then start looking around for the mods that fit your interests.
Yeah.
Now that I think about it, I might throw on Run For Your Lives (to keep important NPCs from getting smashed) and maybe Guard Dialogue overhaul and Relationship Dialogue overhaul, as those have few drawbacks but help companion/guard personality a ton?
I think a big danger with mods is that you can get something that either doesn’t work well with your computer setup (for graphics mods) or that isn’t really to taste (for gameplay mods)and it can hose a playthrough, and you really want things to run as smoothly as possible for a first run as a new player.
And Lucid_Seraph is talking about streaming the game to a TV, so perhaps SkyUI (which, like Foefaller, I consider to be one of very few must-have mods) is not actually a must-have in this case.
I hit a wall making patches and just decided I wanted to play when I had the opportunity, so I powered through a couple more things, decided I was comfortable disabling some stuff in-game as I run into it, and deferred making the last couple patches until something I know is in the works is actually released since everything I'd be moving is a temporary object so I can adjust that mid-game without worry!
So with this, I'm going to highlight one more mod which is getting completely overlooked but which I love the idea of, and then go watch my house of cards crumble.
So you know how you can run around to farms and pick the crops and use them and just...whatever? And then you can sell to the farmer and they love you for it? And how it seems kinda silly? What it actually is doing is supposed to be an invisible quest where you're picking crops for the farmer and they're paying you for the work. Yes, seriously.
So landscape and water fixes ends up fixing ownership of a lot of the crops. But this guy put out something which makes the quest work the way you'd expect it to:
It's stealing, until you talk to them. After you talk with them, you can pick the crops, or you can sneak and steal them. Picking the crops DOESN'T ADD THEM TO YOUR INVENTORY. Then when you talk to them after the fact, they pay you for however many you picked.
I feel the need to note that I had no problems with the cart despite not using LAL. First try. (Hadvar didn't appear until late, but that didn't matter, and I had a slight hitch upon entry to the keep where I had to teleport myself to get my bindings cut, but that's like.... Better than you sometimes get in vanilla.)
Tomorrow, I really am going to dive back in and install all the crap to actually mod the thing, and then test to see if Steam Link is really just a fancy ass way to remote into my PC or what
(if it is that, then I should be able to play it fully modded on the TV no problem) (Mostly, I'm doing this to flex on my brother, who just started another Special Edition run on the PS4, and I just. Really want to install the shiniest texture mods to be like "This could be you, but you're a console pleb :V " )
I hit a wall making patches and just decided I wanted to play when I had the opportunity, so I powered through a couple more things, decided I was comfortable disabling some stuff in-game as I run into it, and deferred making the last couple patches until something I know is in the works is actually released since everything I'd be moving is a temporary object so I can adjust that mid-game without worry!
So with this, I'm going to highlight one more mod which is getting completely overlooked but which I love the idea of, and then go watch my house of cards crumble.
So you know how you can run around to farms and pick the crops and use them and just...whatever? And then you can sell to the farmer and they love you for it? And how it seems kinda silly? What it actually is doing is supposed to be an invisible quest where you're picking crops for the farmer and they're paying you for the work. Yes, seriously.
So landscape and water fixes ends up fixing ownership of a lot of the crops. But this guy put out something which makes the quest work the way you'd expect it to:
It's stealing, until you talk to them. After you talk with them, you can pick the crops, or you can sneak and steal them. Picking the crops DOESN'T ADD THEM TO YOUR INVENTORY. Then when you talk to them after the fact, they pay you for however many you picked.
It like....actually fucking makes sense now.
Anyway, this is where my insanity ended:
I'm ready to crash and burn.
Meanwhile, I run Stellaris with a measly 147 mods and the game takes, without exaggeration, 18 minutes to reach the first menu.
Tomorrow, I really am going to dive back in and install all the crap to actually mod the thing, and then test to see if Steam Link is really just a fancy ass way to remote into my PC or what
(if it is that, then I should be able to play it fully modded on the TV no problem) (Mostly, I'm doing this to flex on my brother, who just started another Special Edition run on the PS4, and I just. Really want to install the shiniest texture mods to be like "This could be you, but you're a console pleb :V " )
It is and it isn't. I use it all the time.
Its fancy in that it tries to only give you control over the game, and once you close the game, it ends the connection. It also scales the resolution really nicely to my phone and laptop.
It isn't in that weird remote access shit happens all the time. Am I on the lock screen? Well then I'll be staring at the in-game menu trying desperately to click on shit before I remember to try typing in my password and hit enter. Oh look now I can play. Also sometimes you see your desktop because the game has its own launcher, so instead of just viewing the launcher you get everything, until the game starts.
Tomorrow, I really am going to dive back in and install all the crap to actually mod the thing, and then test to see if Steam Link is really just a fancy ass way to remote into my PC or what
(if it is that, then I should be able to play it fully modded on the TV no problem) (Mostly, I'm doing this to flex on my brother, who just started another Special Edition run on the PS4, and I just. Really want to install the shiniest texture mods to be like "This could be you, but you're a console pleb :V " )
It is and it isn't. I use it all the time.
Its fancy in that it tries to only give you control over the game, and once you close the game, it ends the connection. It also scales the resolution really nicely to my phone and laptop.
It isn't in that weird remote access shit happens all the time. Am I on the lock screen? Well then I'll be staring at the in-game menu trying desperately to click on shit before I remember to try typing in my password and hit enter. Oh look now I can play. Also sometimes you see your desktop because the game has its own launcher, so instead of just viewing the launcher you get everything, until the game starts.
and I presume that I couldn't, say, let my mom play Skyrim, and then use my own PC while she's doing that.
Tomorrow, I really am going to dive back in and install all the crap to actually mod the thing, and then test to see if Steam Link is really just a fancy ass way to remote into my PC or what
(if it is that, then I should be able to play it fully modded on the TV no problem) (Mostly, I'm doing this to flex on my brother, who just started another Special Edition run on the PS4, and I just. Really want to install the shiniest texture mods to be like "This could be you, but you're a console pleb :V " )
It is and it isn't. I use it all the time.
Its fancy in that it tries to only give you control over the game, and once you close the game, it ends the connection. It also scales the resolution really nicely to my phone and laptop.
It isn't in that weird remote access shit happens all the time. Am I on the lock screen? Well then I'll be staring at the in-game menu trying desperately to click on shit before I remember to try typing in my password and hit enter. Oh look now I can play. Also sometimes you see your desktop because the game has its own launcher, so instead of just viewing the launcher you get everything, until the game starts.
and I presume that I couldn't, say, let my mom play Skyrim, and then use my own PC while she's doing that.
Hmm, lemme test later today and get back to you.
I know when I remote in from my laptop, definitely not, it takes over my user session. Though it may be possible for me to switch to another tty and get around that, hard to say.
Steam Link with a phone/tablet, though, I think maybe makes its own session? I'm curious now.
I am now also realizing I'm in the Elder Scrolls thread and not the Linux thread lol.
So as noted above, I got a little burnt out, so I stopped working on new stuff. I've finally gotten around to uploading all the collections I've made, but to go alongside the last one, I took the time to write up a tutorial which follows the general pattern with which I approached making patches, in case anyone is interested:
One of these days I really want to do a wildlife mod (for a rather broad definition of wildlife - I’d probably include trolls and werewolves/bears) - nothing too fancy but some fallout 4 style higher level variations of things like wolves and sabrecats that don’t have them with alternate community-sourced skins, some small horse and wild cattle herds, boars and werebears in skyrim proper, some more “critters” spawns like feral dogs and chickens in appropriate areas, etc.
I did a proof of concept at one point for oldrim with a few added creatures but never really had time to work on it.
Things which I found from talking to people that I had no idea about but have confirmed in my current playthrough and makes for some interesting roleplay scenarios: You can switch sides in the civil war.
They never tell you this in-game.
After you've done your initial quest and they send you to get the crown, you can take it to the other side and defect
Daggerfall Unity is still in alpha though. Looks good.
Is the core gameplay there? It sounds like they are altering the gameplay some. They are trying to make it where you can re-join groups, which makes sense.
And Lucid_Seraph is talking about streaming the game to a TV, so perhaps SkyUI (which, like Foefaller, I consider to be one of very few must-have mods) is not actually a must-have in this case.
What's Foefaller? I can't find it, but am curious.
Steam Badger A greasemonkey script for better gifting and peering
And Lucid_Seraph is talking about streaming the game to a TV, so perhaps SkyUI (which, like Foefaller, I consider to be one of very few must-have mods) is not actually a must-have in this case.
What's Foefaller? I can't find it, but am curious.
Foefaller is the person with whom I was agreeing, but I can see how that sentence can be parsed in two different ways! Oops!
Yeah, its never a good thing when it results in yet more exclusivity.
It sucks for people on Sony and Nintendo consoles but MS will make a lot of money off it so they'll get what they want out of it.
I do get the sentiment, but Microsoft has been WAY more willing to share their toys than Sony has. In fact their Big Thing is getting their software (albeit by way of their service) on all platforms.
As to the news itself, holy shit I couldn't be happier.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
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augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
Yeah, its never a good thing when it results in yet more exclusivity.
It sucks for people on Sony and Nintendo consoles but MS will make a lot of money off it so they'll get what they want out of it.
I do get the sentiment, but Microsoft has been WAY more willing to share their toys than Sony has. In fact their Big Thing is getting their software (albeit by way of their service) on all platforms.
As to the news itself, holy shit I couldn't be happier.
I (and several others in the [Xbox] thread) expect this not to last...or to have already changed (Microsoft published 7 games on Xbox and Windows 10 PC since their last multiplatform release, Minecraft Dungeons, and their sole upcoming multiplatform title is Psychonauts 2 which was languishing in development literally years before Microsoft purchased Double Fine). That being said, considering Sony has been swinging money around hard to get timed exclusivity ("6 and 12 months, baby!") in the lead up to the Playstation 5 launch, and spent years buying exclusivity during the PS4, this is not as surprising as it might otherwise be.
The good news, one could say, is that Microsoft is still very much into publishing in Windows 10 (you know, their flagship OS), and that includes Steam (and EGS on occasion). So Psychonauts 2 might be the last game they ever publish on Playstation, but they'll still have plenty of PC releases.
Yeah, its never a good thing when it results in yet more exclusivity.
It sucks for people on Sony and Nintendo consoles but MS will make a lot of money off it so they'll get what they want out of it.
I do get the sentiment, but Microsoft has been WAY more willing to share their toys than Sony has. In fact their Big Thing is getting their software (albeit by way of their service) on all platforms.
As to the news itself, holy shit I couldn't be happier.
As someone pointed out, we could have choice of, say, Elder Scrolls 6 for $70 on PS5, or included on Gamepass, day one.
Either way, Microsoft win.
Talking of ESO, I wonder if the Gamepass version will include all expansions, same as Destiny 2, in the future ?
Posts
Okay, so first you swing by Lover's Lab, and then....
Okay, so since you're talking via a TV, if you're using a controller, I'm of no help for the controlling side of things.
Similarly, improving the look is so determined by personal taste I'm not sure what to recommend. Start with a major texture pack (Skyland, Skyrim 2017-2020, Nordic) as a base and go from there. Pick a weather system (Obsidian and Cathedral still being the most popular two, I think), and then find an ENB which has what you think is most appropriate. The two things you'll see the biggest bang for your buck on are learning how to run DynDOLOD and ENB. I'd also look into some NPC improvement things like Diversity or WICO, even if you don't get too deep.
As to "Vanilla Plus", maybe this discussion is a good place to start? https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/ei694g/what_term_vanilla_plus_means_to_you/
I don't think you should need much to change the base gameplay. Base Skyrim is pretty approachable, and there's a looooot of stuff somebody can do even if they just want to walk around looking at stuff.
I'd say sit her down, get her used to playing, and then ask if there's anything she wants different. Chances are good that a mod exists for the changes she might want, if she wants any change at all.
I’ve never been as down on skyrims default textures as a lot of people though.
I would say the three absolute must-haves are
The Unofficial Skyrim Patch for your edition.
The Script extender
Sky UI.
99% of any other mods you might consider either expect or outright require you have one of those mods to begin with, and even with them you'll avoid having to deal with tons of broken stuff and get a UI that's 1000x better than the default.
Other than those, I'd start with a "clean" playthrough, and once you have a better idea on how you'd want to see the base game changed/"improved", then start looking around for the mods that fit your interests.
Yeah.
Now that I think about it, I might throw on Run For Your Lives (to keep important NPCs from getting smashed) and maybe Guard Dialogue overhaul and Relationship Dialogue overhaul, as those have few drawbacks but help companion/guard personality a ton?
I think a big danger with mods is that you can get something that either doesn’t work well with your computer setup (for graphics mods) or that isn’t really to taste (for gameplay mods)and it can hose a playthrough, and you really want things to run as smoothly as possible for a first run as a new player.
the default UI is made for consoles, to be viewed/used on a TV.
SkyUI is a UI for a PC game.
Really, I over-exaggerate. The only problem is that there is this black line on the right side of the video.
So with this, I'm going to highlight one more mod which is getting completely overlooked but which I love the idea of, and then go watch my house of cards crumble.
So you know how you can run around to farms and pick the crops and use them and just...whatever? And then you can sell to the farmer and they love you for it? And how it seems kinda silly? What it actually is doing is supposed to be an invisible quest where you're picking crops for the farmer and they're paying you for the work. Yes, seriously.
So landscape and water fixes ends up fixing ownership of a lot of the crops. But this guy put out something which makes the quest work the way you'd expect it to:
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/36822
It's stealing, until you talk to them. After you talk with them, you can pick the crops, or you can sneak and steal them. Picking the crops DOESN'T ADD THEM TO YOUR INVENTORY. Then when you talk to them after the fact, they pay you for however many you picked.
It like....actually fucking makes sense now.
Anyway, this is where my insanity ended:
I'm ready to crash and burn.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1014940/Nehrim_At_Fates_Edge/
okay
Tomorrow, I really am going to dive back in and install all the crap to actually mod the thing, and then test to see if Steam Link is really just a fancy ass way to remote into my PC or what
(if it is that, then I should be able to play it fully modded on the TV no problem) (Mostly, I'm doing this to flex on my brother, who just started another Special Edition run on the PS4, and I just. Really want to install the shiniest texture mods to be like "This could be you, but you're a console pleb :V " )
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
Meanwhile, I run Stellaris with a measly 147 mods and the game takes, without exaggeration, 18 minutes to reach the first menu.
*shakes fist at Paradox*
It is and it isn't. I use it all the time.
Its fancy in that it tries to only give you control over the game, and once you close the game, it ends the connection. It also scales the resolution really nicely to my phone and laptop.
It isn't in that weird remote access shit happens all the time. Am I on the lock screen? Well then I'll be staring at the in-game menu trying desperately to click on shit before I remember to try typing in my password and hit enter. Oh look now I can play. Also sometimes you see your desktop because the game has its own launcher, so instead of just viewing the launcher you get everything, until the game starts.
and I presume that I couldn't, say, let my mom play Skyrim, and then use my own PC while she's doing that.
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
Hmm, lemme test later today and get back to you.
I know when I remote in from my laptop, definitely not, it takes over my user session. Though it may be possible for me to switch to another tty and get around that, hard to say.
Steam Link with a phone/tablet, though, I think maybe makes its own session? I'm curious now.
I am now also realizing I'm in the Elder Scrolls thread and not the Linux thread lol.
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/37651
I did a proof of concept at one point for oldrim with a few added creatures but never really had time to work on it.
They never tell you this in-game.
https://wiwiki.wiwiland.net/index.php?title=Daggerfall_:_DaggerfallSetup_EN
That’s a decent way to get the game files but no one needs to or should use dosbox to run Daggerfall anymore:
Is the core gameplay there? It sounds like they are altering the gameplay some. They are trying to make it where you can re-join groups, which makes sense.
What's Foefaller? I can't find it, but am curious.
Steam Badger A greasemonkey script for better gifting and peering
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
It sucks for people on Sony and Nintendo consoles but MS will make a lot of money off it so they'll get what they want out of it.
Wasteland 3 (which I love) suggests otherwise.
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
I do get the sentiment, but Microsoft has been WAY more willing to share their toys than Sony has. In fact their Big Thing is getting their software (albeit by way of their service) on all platforms.
As to the news itself, holy shit I couldn't be happier.
I (and several others in the [Xbox] thread) expect this not to last...or to have already changed (Microsoft published 7 games on Xbox and Windows 10 PC since their last multiplatform release, Minecraft Dungeons, and their sole upcoming multiplatform title is Psychonauts 2 which was languishing in development literally years before Microsoft purchased Double Fine). That being said, considering Sony has been swinging money around hard to get timed exclusivity ("6 and 12 months, baby!") in the lead up to the Playstation 5 launch, and spent years buying exclusivity during the PS4, this is not as surprising as it might otherwise be.
The good news, one could say, is that Microsoft is still very much into publishing in Windows 10 (you know, their flagship OS), and that includes Steam (and EGS on occasion). So Psychonauts 2 might be the last game they ever publish on Playstation, but they'll still have plenty of PC releases.
As someone pointed out, we could have choice of, say, Elder Scrolls 6 for $70 on PS5, or included on Gamepass, day one.
Either way, Microsoft win.
Talking of ESO, I wonder if the Gamepass version will include all expansions, same as Destiny 2, in the future ?