Skyrim – Mod Spotlight #2

I’ve lost track of time.  What day is it?  Is it still 2011?  Ugh.

Sorry, I’ve been lost in this game called Skyrim, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it.  You’re a viking guy who has dragon powers.  Anyway, if you happened to have heard of it, you might know the game has this insane modding community that works like dogs to bring awesome new features and content to the game.  Well, that’s what I’m going to cover In Steam Addict’s Skyrim Mod Spotlight #2.

Note:  Bethesda still hasn’t released the construction set for the game, leaving a lot of modders, and players for that matter, a little peeved.  There have been rumors that anxious modders have somehow jury rigged Fallout 3’s GECK in order to pump out mods for Skyrim.  Amazing stuff.  So until the tools are released, or the GECK workaround is more widely adopted, the only mods we have so far are re-textures and some minor tweaks.

#3 Glowing Ore Veins

My Orc warrior was often too poor to buy the things he needed via the many blacksmiths throughout Skyrim.  He was too busy stocking up on potions and arrows and expensive pieces of armor he didn’t necessarily need.  So when it came to black-smithing, the poor Orc had to run around the old fashioned way with pickaxe in hand, mining whatever he could find.  It sucked.  Not necessarily because there wasn’t enough ore, but more because finding the ore sometimes got the better of me.  Not anymore.

Modder Baratan has whipped up this nifty little mod that makes ore easier to see.  How?  By Making it glow.  This makes spotting the damn ore way easier, especially at night.  Download this if you’re sick of walking by ore veins or happen to be a Vampire who can only mine at night.  (With thanks to Baratan for special permission to host this download).

#2 Enhanced Skyrim Night

On the subject of darkness, I think it’s safe to say that nightime in Skyrim is one of the more visually appealing aspects.  Wether it’s hauntingly beautiful aurora borealis, or simply the starry Night Sky twinkling overhead, it makes me want to venture out into the world at night sometimes even more than day.  Well what if I told you there was a way to make it even prettier?

CptJoker over at the Skyrim Nexus made it possible, with his Enhanced Night Sky mod.  What it does, and I quote, “It replaces the night sky with high-resolution textures taken from real stellar photography, now including a brand new galactic nebula backdrop.”  Wow.  Although I didn’t expect anything less from the community, this just rocks.  There’s even three options of star density, giving you the ability to play with more or less stars.  Here’s a video showcasing some of the eye candy (thanks to YouTuber Sartekar.)

#1 Skyrim HD

One of the most prominent, and promising mods available to download right now over at the Skyrim Nexus is a little mod called Skyrim HD.  Made by NebuLa, it’s a re texturing of the entire world from top to bottom.  Vanilla Skyrim is pretty awesome to look at, but this mod takes it one step further.  Adding shinies everywhere.

The mod itself isn’t complete yet, and that makes sense.  Re-texturing an entire province of Tamriel has never been easy, and has always been time consuming.  So right now it’s a work in progress with just a few areas completed.  Some of these areas include the city of Whiterun, Windhelm, some cliffs, mountains, tundra rocks, and the ground inside caves.  But by the time it’s done, who knows.  It might turn Skyrim into the graphic whore’s dream come true.  Here’s a few snapshots to sate your curiosity, and even a link too.

As always, a big thanks to all you modders out there.  You take our games and make them like new again.