*rubs hands together* I've been digging through a -ton- of mods lately for Skyrim to enhance my gaming experience, and after some people appeared interested I thought I should share this.
All these mods are downloadable from the Nexus Mods. I'll link to each mod. Remember that you can download, install and manage most, if not all of these mods with the Nexus Mod Manager!
I have a whole bunch more mods to share, but the list would get too long. These are the basic mods I recommend for anyone who wants a more realistic, immersing and fun game to play.
Lanterns of Skyrim
This mod improves and adds lanterns all throughout Skyrim. Commonly traveled roads now have lanterns posted alongside the road at regular intervals. Lighting of lanterns is improved to be more realistic. There are multiple versions to choose from, try them all or just pick one you like best from available screenshots.
Populated Cities
This mod adds NPCs into cities that walk around and interact with their environment. They change looks regularly, so you'll always feel like you're bumping into new people! You can't talk to them and they have no quests or shops, but they do give the cities a busier feel - especially taverns at peak hours.
Sounds of Skyrim
Make your cities come to life by adding 200+ new sounds of busy cities, interior weather sounds (thunderstorms) and tavern activities. Skyrim is sound wise very quiet, this mod has really livened up my game tenfold!
Immersive Patrols
So, who's lighting all those lanterns on the roads? Why, the patrols of course! Imperials and Stormcloaks both patrol the roads regularly. They'll help you fight if you get attacked, too.
Convenient Horses
This improves horses in the game and allows your followers to use horses as well! You can adjust the horses' speed, health, stamina and even dress them in various types of armor. (Think Leather, Nordic, Dwemer, Daedric, Ebony and Dragonbone) This mod gives you the ability to call your horse with a Horse Horn wherever you are - no more lost horses.
If you run into combat, there's no awkward long waiting period until you dismounted. Combat dismount means you literally jump off the horse and automatically draw your weapon, ready for the fight! You can harvest herbs and talk to NPCs while on horseback.
UFO - Ultimate Follower Overhaul
UFO is an amazing mod that expands on what you can do with and to your followers. This mod is compatible with Convenient Horses and allows up to 15 companions at once. You can access their inventory and remove their armor to replace it with your own (because Skyrim is really picky about that stuff). You can make any NPC essential or non-essential. (Note: Go to the stable owner in Whiterun and talk about the 'convenient' horses, this will disable the UFO horses which are, essentially, obsolete with Convenient Horses)
Disable Fast Travel
Does what it says in the box! Load this data file as the very last file, and you can't fast travel. I found this makes the game much more fun, as you're forced to walk, ride or use carriages and feel much more immersed in the game.
Better Fast Travel - Carriages and Ships
To compensate for the lacking fast travel option, this mod adds more carriages that take you to the smaller towns, as well as allows fast travel by ship. This is a highly recommended addition if you don't want to waste time by walking or riding so far, but don't want the convenience of map-clicking fast travel.
101BUGS
This mod adds tons of new bugs, retextures of existing bugs and makes the bugs worth something as far as ingredients go. It mostly makes them look very pretty, and I often find myself stopping to admire these bugs!
Wearable Lanterns
A VERY useful mod for non-mage players who dislike dragging torches everywhere. Oil and Torchbug based lanterns can be purchased or crafted, and torchbugs can be trapped to give off light! If you're a hardcore player, you have the option to feed the torchbug every x hours to keep it alive or you'll have to capture a new bug when it dies.
A Quality World Map
Why get a new map if you already have one? Why, because it adds the roads! No more wondering which way to go because you don't know which road leads where, exactly. This mod has cut down a lot of frustration on my end, so I recommend it.
WATER - Water And Terrain Enhancement Redux
Greatly improves the way water looks and flows. Adds some water plant life near ponds and rivers that are otherwise missing.
Sneak Tools
For all the thieves and murders in Skyrim, this mod is a must! Adds new gameplay features to Skyrim's sneaking, like throat slitting with daggers, knocking people unconscious with fists, killing sleeping NPCs, identity-concealing masks, rope arrows and more to come!
See you sleep
This mod basically shows your character sleeping before they wake up and get out of bed, their bedroll or haystack. Adds a bit of an immersive touch to the game.
WARNING: NUDITY MOD UNP Female Body
This is one of my favorite mods for nude female body replacements because of the realistic builds compared to other mods. No insane boobage or bottomage, but fit ladies all around.
WARNING: NUDITY MOD Nude Male Bodies
Again, one of my favorite mods for nude male bodies. Nothing extreme or overwhelming, but a realistic touch to the male form in Skyrim.";
All these mods are downloadable from the Nexus Mods. I'll link to each mod. Remember that you can download, install and manage most, if not all of these mods with the Nexus Mod Manager!
I have a whole bunch more mods to share, but the list would get too long. These are the basic mods I recommend for anyone who wants a more realistic, immersing and fun game to play.
Lanterns of Skyrim
This mod improves and adds lanterns all throughout Skyrim. Commonly traveled roads now have lanterns posted alongside the road at regular intervals. Lighting of lanterns is improved to be more realistic. There are multiple versions to choose from, try them all or just pick one you like best from available screenshots.
Populated Cities
This mod adds NPCs into cities that walk around and interact with their environment. They change looks regularly, so you'll always feel like you're bumping into new people! You can't talk to them and they have no quests or shops, but they do give the cities a busier feel - especially taverns at peak hours.
Sounds of Skyrim
Make your cities come to life by adding 200+ new sounds of busy cities, interior weather sounds (thunderstorms) and tavern activities. Skyrim is sound wise very quiet, this mod has really livened up my game tenfold!
Immersive Patrols
So, who's lighting all those lanterns on the roads? Why, the patrols of course! Imperials and Stormcloaks both patrol the roads regularly. They'll help you fight if you get attacked, too.
Convenient Horses
This improves horses in the game and allows your followers to use horses as well! You can adjust the horses' speed, health, stamina and even dress them in various types of armor. (Think Leather, Nordic, Dwemer, Daedric, Ebony and Dragonbone) This mod gives you the ability to call your horse with a Horse Horn wherever you are - no more lost horses.
If you run into combat, there's no awkward long waiting period until you dismounted. Combat dismount means you literally jump off the horse and automatically draw your weapon, ready for the fight! You can harvest herbs and talk to NPCs while on horseback.
UFO - Ultimate Follower Overhaul
UFO is an amazing mod that expands on what you can do with and to your followers. This mod is compatible with Convenient Horses and allows up to 15 companions at once. You can access their inventory and remove their armor to replace it with your own (because Skyrim is really picky about that stuff). You can make any NPC essential or non-essential. (Note: Go to the stable owner in Whiterun and talk about the 'convenient' horses, this will disable the UFO horses which are, essentially, obsolete with Convenient Horses)
Disable Fast Travel
Does what it says in the box! Load this data file as the very last file, and you can't fast travel. I found this makes the game much more fun, as you're forced to walk, ride or use carriages and feel much more immersed in the game.
Better Fast Travel - Carriages and Ships
To compensate for the lacking fast travel option, this mod adds more carriages that take you to the smaller towns, as well as allows fast travel by ship. This is a highly recommended addition if you don't want to waste time by walking or riding so far, but don't want the convenience of map-clicking fast travel.
101BUGS
This mod adds tons of new bugs, retextures of existing bugs and makes the bugs worth something as far as ingredients go.
It mostly makes them look very pretty, and I often find myself stopping to admire these bugs!Wearable Lanterns
A VERY useful mod for non-mage players who dislike dragging torches everywhere. Oil and Torchbug based lanterns can be purchased or crafted, and torchbugs can be trapped to give off light! If you're a hardcore player, you have the option to feed the torchbug every x hours to keep it alive or you'll have to capture a new bug when it dies.
A Quality World Map
Why get a new map if you already have one? Why, because it adds the roads! No more wondering which way to go because you don't know which road leads where, exactly. This mod has cut down a lot of frustration on my end, so I recommend it.
WATER - Water And Terrain Enhancement Redux
Greatly improves the way water looks and flows. Adds some water plant life near ponds and rivers that are otherwise missing.
Sneak Tools
For all the thieves and murders in Skyrim, this mod is a must! Adds new gameplay features to Skyrim's sneaking, like throat slitting with daggers, knocking people unconscious with fists, killing sleeping NPCs, identity-concealing masks, rope arrows and more to come!
See you sleep
This mod basically shows your character sleeping before they wake up and get out of bed, their bedroll or haystack. Adds a bit of an immersive touch to the game.
WARNING: NUDITY MOD UNP Female Body
This is one of my favorite mods for nude female body replacements because of the realistic builds compared to other mods. No insane boobage or bottomage, but fit ladies all around.
WARNING: NUDITY MOD Nude Male Bodies
Again, one of my favorite mods for nude male bodies. Nothing extreme or overwhelming, but a realistic touch to the male form in Skyrim.";
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