Hello guys, I was wondering if someone can please tell me what should I do to install some skyrim mods, I just bought my new r9 270x so I wanted to make my skyrim beautiful lol. What I really do not understand is what is the ENB, the INI, those stuff. Sorry to be a pain in the ass cause I think that this might be pretty basic stuff, but I've never modded a game so yeah :)
Thanks in advance.
(Sorry if my english is not quite polished, I'm from Argentina).
Well, I'm still a little stumped on what exactly ENB is, and I've been modding games for a fair bit. From what I gather is that it is a tool/mod that allows for some really awesome processing efficts; other people will create ENB mods, or profiles, that changes how the game appears, most of which I've seen pertain to lighting.
Here is what I found:
ENBSeries is a powerful post processing modification available for Skyrim and other games. It was developed by Boris Vorontsov, who still maintains and updates the mod. The mod also enables users to create custom configurations (ENBs, ENB Profiles) designed to their own specifications by modifying rendering functions and the application of additional effects such as bloom, depth of field, and SSAO. ENB Series has also added a memory manager known as ENBoost which assists in offloading memory from the system memory (RAM) to video memory (VRAM) and avoid crashes. ENBs often enhance overall lighting, colors, and shadows among other aspects of the game, but comes with a performance loss of anywhere between 5% to 50% of total frames per second (FPS), depending on the hardware setup and the ENB features being used. Most users find this loss acceptable compared to the enhancements and features gained from the ENB.
Here is a review of a specific ENB profile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyZIc86SPdk
INI files are configuration files; they adjust settings within the game. These settings can be basic visual settings, controls, to things like adjusting game mechanics. It's an oversimplification because I don't fully understand ini files myself, but it's the gist of it.
Thanks, for the help jerm1027. I have a doubt though, to start modding the game, do I have to install something in particular? or do I download the nexus mod manager and start modding? My question is if I have to download like a patch or a file or something that works as a base so that I can put the mods. Sorry if I'm not clear but I can't explain myself better is 5 am here lol. Thanks :)
Hi, I wrote this for a friend the other day. Most of it will apply to the same to you. Appoliges if any hyperlinks are broken or any other anomalies.
Ok so you probably should start by making a account with NMM and download/install NMM mod launcher. This website is a good hub, it hosts most if not all of the mods and the app is also a loader/launcher. So with most mods you'll be choosing 'Download with Manager'(very convenient).
All mods can be controlled through the Mod Manager except the ENB mod. So i'll start with that first, the rest is effortless.
I recommend this ENB mod 'Sharpshooters', then click on 'Download (manual)', then download the "Sharpshooter enb V5 by hitting 'download manually'. I prefer the performance friendly option. (the other one has extremely unoptimized SSOA, but we can turn it on in options anyway with this copy if we want)
Once the files is downloaded extract all the files into your main Skyrim directory, overwrite if necessary.
Also download this , open it, go into the 'WrapperVersion' folder, copy only d3d9.dll and enbhost.exe into the same main Skyrim dir.
We're almost done. Go to your Documents folder, My Games, Skyrim, and open SkyrimPrefs.ini
Change these 3 values to 1
bTreesReceiveShadows=1
bDrawLandShadows=1
bShadowsOnGrass=1
ENB is now done. Skyrim may crash it this point with EVGA, Afterburner orr another OSD on. Just close it for now if you use one of these and test the ENB works and launch the game from either Steam or NMM. Leave any Anti-aliasing off when you launch as the ENB has its own internal AA.
Once you've loading into the game, press Shift & Enter to bring up your ENB options. I recommend adding Depth of Field and Sun Rays off the bat and saving it.
ENB should be working now.
If you want to do some extra things, here are a few recommendations,
SSMM (Skyrim Startup Memory Editor) - Simply put d3dx9_42.dll and ssme.ini in your Skyrim folder (the same place TESV.exe is located).
Pat yourself on the bat, the 'PITA' part is done.
Now its just shopping around for Mods you fancy and activating them once downloading in NMM. From here on things are super convenient, just 'download with manager'. Also start using this program to launch your game.
Recommendations
Skyrim HD - 2K Textures - there are about 6 packs to download here
Static Mesh Improvement
Skyrim Flora Overhaul
Relighting Skyrim
SkyUI - Download this if you want abit more control with your mouse in the menu's. The game's UI was designed around a Pad
Goodluck 
Nexus Mod Manager should place and extract the files to your Skyrim data folder. It's a pretty effortless process. One click download, one click activation.
If you want to/ have to install mods manually, just place them in the "data folder" yourself. Simples.
You may have to activate some mods via the mod manager in Skyrim. This will be found on the pause menu
Thank so very much TBoneSan, you've been very very helpful. In fact thank you all, now my skyrim looks beautiful and it wasn't that hard. I love this forum, thank you all :D