After sinking 25 hours and counting into Dishonoured and completely falling in love with it in the process the next couple of games I started playing just didnt even come close to the immersion and polish - I got 3hrs into Borderlands and gave up after doing nothing but shooting dogs in the face and Enslaved Oddessy to the West was such a lazy, buggy and almost unplayable port that i gave up after just 2 hrs.
Being a massive fan of the Zelda series I wanted something epic to get my teeth into so with Skyrim in my library from the Christmas Steam sale I hit the install button and was met with whuuuu.......
What the hell are these textures and terrible UV mapping?? Why does this lighting look like something from 10 years ago?? Why does everyhting that is animated seem to have clipping issues?? Why is combat like slashing at thin air followed by a random animation?? Why have Bethesda paid Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica to do voice acting but not paid someone to develop a semi useful UI?? How did this get 94 on metacritic when it has so clearly been nerfed for consoles??
I installed and fired up Nexus mod manager and figured that it must be worth my time fixing all this given the massive modding community around this game, and also to learn about modding in general. Though I'm still having problems installing an EMB and everytime I think I have watched the correct video from Gopher I then find I have missed a different essential one.
Tell me that it is woth my time, that all this will be worthwhile because the writing and development will suck me in.
Also tell me which mods, outside of the essentials such as better world map and SkyUI, that won't make my 760 catch fire are the best for making me persevere with this.
Skyrim is a large open world/sandbox, Dungeons and Dragons type of fantasy game. Most people that enjoy Skyrim are sold on that alone. As for the combat, if you don't like the way that the melee plays, then don't use melee. I know people who did use melee, but I personally only really ever liked the bow. The textures and lighting aren't all that great in vanilla, but it was made for consoles after all, and the old generation ones at that. Mods can make Skyrim look like one of the best game graphically that exists today, but if you don't really like the game, then why bother with it? To see some pretty scenery? Play Crysis instead. From the little bit of Dishonored that I made it through (before getting bored and stopping), Crysis should feel more your speed. Crysis is much more linear than Skyrim, just like Dishonored as it isn't open world/sandbox. They both aren't as involved with skills and stats as Skyrim. Neither have as much side mission content as Skyrim. They are both more graphically appealing than vanilla Skyrim. etc etc etc
If it isn't a game that you are interested in, then don't bother with it. There are plenty of other things to play.
Install as many mods as your computer can handle, watch Gopher's tutorials if you're lost, really make an effort to make the game better, and maybe you'll get close to what that disappointment of a game should've been. And please, when you're all set, don't rush the main quest, and don't stay holed-up in Whiterun, explore the world. Alot of people do this, it kills the game.
It's a step by step guide that focuses on fixing bugs, improving performance and graphics. By the time you've completed this, you'll have a good idea of modding and can confidently get on the nexus and spend more time modding than playing :P
Your two videos in Beergamesbeer youtube channel were the first ones I had a look at, but not being properly aquainted with Nexus they bamboozled me slightly. Now that I've had a chance to get used to it I've cherry picked the ones from them that i think would suit the way I want to interact with the game.
I have installed a tonne of mainly visual based mods so far (prior to chosing an EMB) with zero hit to my 60fps at 1440p with a 760, the only one that did was lush trees and grass and I didnt care for it much anyway so I unistalled it.
I have gone with the Grim and Somber ENB for the moment as it has only reduced my fps to 40-50 (not ideal but still playable) and looks close to what I would describe as "fantasy epic." I'm going to see if turning off depth of field in the EMB settings and running Gophers own depth of field mod will get this back up again as he claims a zero fps hit with it, though i dont know if that is zero extra over an EMB's own depth of field.