Skyrim PC mod claims to improve performance

@covertpetersen


Mods are quite simple, you basically just need to understand how to copy and paste something in the right location.
Bethesda games are even more easy to mod, If you're worried about installation you can always download the nexus mod manager from skyrimnexus, and that will handle all the downloading and installing...
Basically the same thing steam will do for you, but why wait? SKSE and this plug in they are referring to wouldn't be able to be installed through the nexus manager. but once again, they are simple cut/copy and paste jobs.

This plugin has been awesome, and I definitely see the difference. I hope to see Bethesda get to work and make the appropriate changes on their end, as it would improve performance even further. such optimizations shouldn't come to light from a 3rd party and of course is something that should have been done at release. It would seem they are either guilty of being lazy or of being lousy coders. My guess is the former, they got it 'good enough' and moved on.

@Draugdraugr

Lack of edit - I just wanted to add that modding certainly varies from game to game, but generally speaking it's all pretty straightforward in terms of just making sure things are in the right location.

@covertpetersen

It's an ideology that seems to immensely separate PC gamers from console gamers.

In the case of Skyrim, I spent a good two hours tweaking everything to my heart's content and getting everything looking the best it possibly could for my hardware. Meanwhile, my console brethren were already hitting level 6 and killing their first dragon.

Weeks later, I'm still tweaking, updating drivers, patching, etc. Console players that started around the time I did and play at the pace I do (about 5-7 hours a week) have far surpassed my in-game progress.

Ultimately, when I get everything perfectly optimized, I'll have the better looking and better performing game. But by then, console players will have moved onto another title.

I don't mind this, though. It's the difference between fast food and a home-cooked meal.

@covertpetersen
Wow. Is it really so hard to copy and paste files into the right folder?

@Ericss No, but it's much easier to just play the game out of the box.

@sonofman
Or... Steamline it!

@Draugdraugr The Nexus Mod Manager has made it even easier. Most of the mods on Skyrim Nexus support the mod manager, which puts everything in the right place for you, and tells you when there's an update.

@Ericss
Actually, I picked up Fallout 3 over the weekend on Steam, and I was looking at the different mods, and it is alot more complicated than just a simple copy and paste job. That being said, the mods I've done in Skyrim so far have been much easier to install.

@covertpetersen Theres an application from Skyrim Nexus called Nexus Mod Manager that manages and installs mods seamlessly. I've used the Oblivion Mod Manager (a similar app) with at least 2 dozen mods installed with very little trouble. I think modding games these days is much easier than before.

@Sylath

Funny you should mention that, because the two games you refer to basically have identical engines, and installing mods on them would be the same process.

However, just like skyrim, the nexus mod manager can handle all the downloading and installing if you want to do it. it works on all the beth games that use this engine, so FO3, Oblivion, FO:NV.
Beyond like SKSE or FOSE most everything can be handled through the mod manager. It's not that difficult, just follow the directions. or, just install through the mod manager and it gets taken care of with the click of a button.

@Draugdraugr

"It would seem they are either guilty of being lazy or of being lousy coders."

Can't tell if that's ignorance about what it takes to make an open-world game like this or complete disrespect for the people that make the games for your hobby.

I think there are many reasons why the game got released in the state it was (probably to hit that sweet 11.11.11 date) but I doubt laziness and lack of skill was anywhere near the top of the list.

@3ergling Maybe you should do a quick google search before you make snarky comments about technical terminology you're not 100% familiar with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X87

@iocane or possibly he was trolling

@iocane Oh, thanks for pointing that out. My bad.
But no, I don't think I should.

@Prakras TCys Hurr durr, I trolld all of you!
No, really, I was genuinely mistaken.

@Secolliyn

Hah, thats quite a bit of faith you have in bethesda, there are broken things in there games they never get around to fixing (and is left to modders to fix, or if you're not on PC you're just screwed), so for something like this to get attention would be pretty surprising. that being said they did put LAA back into the game on 1.13.10, so maybe they are turning a new leaf. I'm not holding my breath, though

Also, the nexus mod manager is basically doing everything that steam will be doing, but if you wanna wait for steam then go for it. Mod conflicts with different versions isn't something I have had a problem with. They certainly update them, for various reasons, but no new patch has broken any mods of mine, as what's usually updated in a patch and what mods do usually have nothing to do with each other.

I'm definitely interested in checking out the steam integration, when it comes out, but I'm not waiting around for it, as it's not really going to do anything different than the nexus mod manager, beyond being integrated in steam of course.

@The Joy of Cooking DeMat

This last phrase had a funny emoticon next to it to show it was a sarcastic remark, but for some reason Joystiq decided it was inappropiate for publication. So here's a picture of a cat instead.

http://blogs.dogster.com/vet_blog_information_advice/files/2008/09/600px-cat03.jpg

@The Joy of Cooking DeMat

Did it have a less than sign? The comment system takes those, and the words that follow, as a blood sacrifice to appease its immortal hunger.

@Viiral That's fantastic, but a shitload of people do have some on builds that shouldn't, including myself. My rig is pretty high end, not the highest, but it can run BF3 on most of its highest settings silky smooth. For how Skyrim looks graphically, there's no reason it should chug at below 30 FPS and constantly crash all the time.

@Viiral

And this will still boost your performance, so you'd still be a fool to not check it out because then you can push your settings even farther (higher ugrids, and in turn draw distance, being the most prominent, especially with this mod, as thats one of the things that is CPU dependant, along with shadows, for some odd reason.)

Check out this guide if you haven't, if things are running great you'll thank yourself.
http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1387

@Draugdraugr
Has anybody found a solution to not crash with ugrids set to 9 or 11? It's been a problem since Oblivion and Bethesda still insists on using the same engine (though now it has a new name for some f-ing reason). Yes, I do change the other related ini settings accordingly and I have an awesome gaming rig that I built a couple months ago, but I still can't do better than 7 without it crashing after traveling a distance outside in the wilderness. 11 is a little pointless I guess, but I wish I could do at least 9.

@Warlock234 I happened to be in Markarth when I started using this mod. Huge difference.

@JakeAuditore
Your processor and RAM will both play a big part in running this as well. From what I've seen on the forums, you really want 4 gig of RAM. I'm not really sure on the processor, but if you download the optimizer in this post, and keep the resolution at a modest setting, you should probably be ok.