The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an amazing game, no doubt about it. However, Skyrim has been out for a decade now, and the graphics have certainly seen better days. Luckily, thousands of mods are currently available to rectify the problem. With a little work, Skyrim has the potential to look absolutely stunning with the right mods installed.
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These graphics mods serve as an excellent base to get the player started. Obviously, there exists a literal multitude of graphics mods. In fact, some only deal with the re-texturing of a single object! The mods on this list provide the broad strokes to get Skyrim to look its very best. More of them can always be added alongside these ten essential enhancements.
One of the easiest ways to make Skyrim look better is to install an all-in-one texture pack. Skyrim Realistic Overhaul gets the job done admirably without slowing down one's system to a crawl. The mod itself is massive and covers a little bit of everything when it comes to re-texturing various objects.
The scope of the mod is so broad that this could conceivably be the only mod a beginner may need. Conversely, if a player wants a beefier load order Skyrim Realistic Overhaul blends quite well with other graphics mods that focus on more individual areas of improvement. It's a sort of "building block" mod no fan should overlook.
Much of Skyrim's gameplay is experienced in the outside environment. As such, it's important the foliage looks its best. Veydosebrom Regions is a great choice as it diversifies and sharpens the game's plentiful vegetation. Each region of Skyrim is given its own unique feel to it by expanding the variety of flora.
The mod is very lore-friendly in its approach, so nothing should feel unusual for an Elder Scrolls game. When installing, choosing "Standard Quality" is the best choice without making the environment too dense with grass and shrubbery.
Skyrim is teeming with NPCs. By now, these NPCs are really showing their age. For them, a great choice for an all-in-one graphics mod is Windsong Immersive Character Overhaul. This mod is quite impressive as it makes NPCs look more like actual humans without radically changing their overall vanilla appearance.
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This mod works great with other small, cosmetic enhancements. The Eyes of Beauty mod makes NPCs look less dead inside. Superior Lore-Friendly Hair complements WICO quite nicely by making hair look more natural. Just sign-up for a Nexus account to download WICO.
The look of water is one of those details that can sometimes be easy to overlook. But water is plentiful in Skyrim, so it definitely deserves some attention. Arguably the best of the bunch is Realistic Water Two.
This mod adds some much-needed color and vibrancy to bodies of water. Ponds, marshes, streams, and rivers are all given some diversity. New sounds are added as well. Stunning shades of green and blue really make the overall landscape pop. Swimming in Skyrim's rivers and streams never looked so good!
Skyrim involves a lot of dungeon-delving. It's fair to say that players will spend much of their time in various ruins and tombs. Ruins Clutter Improved is a rather large texture mod that focuses on the junk items found in dungeons.
Looking at the same ugly objects over and over again can become tiresome. Improved meshes and textures for objects that are seen almost constantly makes them easier on the eyes. Combined with other mods on this list, dungeons will look better than ever.
If Skyrim is going to look better, then the sky can't be ignored. More specifically, the night sky deserves some attention. The aptly-titled Enhanced Night Sky mod makes stargazing a veritable feast for the eyes.
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Stars, as well as nebula, are given high-resolution replacements, the effects of which are quite dazzling. The mod includes some customization presets, although the "Colorful" option is arguably the best choice. Stopping periodically to enjoy the night sky is something that's hard to resist with this mod.
The world depicted in Skyrim is filled with countless objects. Things the player sees all the time can definitely benefit from a visual upgrade. The Static Mesh Improvement Mod, or SMIM as it's popularly known, gives the game's more mundane objects a fresh coat of paint.
According to the mod author, the goal is "to make the Skyrim architecture, clutter, furniture, and landscaping much nicer." The sheer breadth of this mod is impressive. Tens of thousands of improved meshes for various everyday objects are included.
Older games often possess poor lighting effects, especially when compared to today's standards. Lighting, however, plays a critical role in how a game is presented. Enhanced Lights and FX adds some realism to Skyrim's lighting animations and effects.
One of the most noticeable features of this mod is how light shines through windows and underneath doorways. Burning candles will emit smoke. Shadows and reflections are given more detail. All of these things greatly affect the mood of the game. Inns are cozier. Dungeons are darker. It's a mod that seriously improves the atmosphere in both large and small ways.
Dungeons make up a large part of the exploring in Skyrim. Whereas Ruins Clutter Overhaul upgrades the textures of the miscellaneous items, Underground - A Dungeon Texture Overhaul improves almost everything else.
When the two mods are combined the player should immediately spot a noticeable difference. Floors, staircases, archways, rocks, and stones are given the high-definition treatment. Everything is more sharply detailed rather than blurry, which is always a plus.
The mountains that dot Skyrim's landscape are certainly majestic. Enter the Majestic Mountains mod, an enhancement that truly brings out their beauty. Mountain textures look less like they were painted on and more like actual rocks, especially when viewed from a distance.
Another cool little detail is the improved look of the moss that adorns certain rocky outcrops. The manner in which the lighting is reflected off the sides of the mountain are also reworked, which gives the environment a more natural feel to it. Definitely a graphics mod that shouldn't be neglected.
Graphics mods are all well and good on their own. But making the game really pop requires an ENB, or Enhanced Natural Beauty. ENBs are not graphics mods per se. Rather, they upgrade many of the game's post-processing effects, such as Ambient Occlusion and Anti-Aliasing.
ENBs fit hand-in-glove with graphics mods, making details sharper and colors more vibrant. A player is really cheating himself by only having one without the other. A good choice that works well is Natural and Atmospheric Tamriel. This particular ENB gives things a photorealistic quality to them, which makes the overall environment look awesome when paired with the above mods.