Skyrim mods to make the game an epic survival game.

[kekiev15]

I've been modding Skyrim for nearly a year now, aiming for a realistic and immersive game, but not so much that it makes the game a chore. My combo of Frostfall, Hunterborn, and Realistic Needs and Diseases for survivalism are great, but I feel like RND is overly obtrusive with the needs mechanic. I could eat a filling meal while I'm peckish and then be hungry ten minutes later, even with the timescale set to 5. I would post my currently installed mods, but I don't have the time currently. What mods do you use to make Skyrim as realistic and immersive as possible?

 

[Aetrion]

I just use my imagination. I've never liked mods that try to make stuff like eating food mandatory, because they never work out in a way that feels realistic. You don't suddenly think "Oh shit, I'm hungry" in the middle of a life and death battle, but that's kind of what survival mods and games always try to do. There are unfortunately no games I know of that really reward stuff like having a good meal or sleeping in an inn in any kind of way that feels realistic. They always try to make it like not having three square meals a day just flat out kills you.

 

[Tayh]

Could try Death Alternative: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/45894/?
If reloading every time you die breaks your immersion.

 

[Aetrion]

That actually sounds like a really cool mod. Getting knocked out and robbed actually is a better "punishment" for losing a fight than just reloading and trying again.

 

[kekiev15]

A little side note: I enjoy using SkyRe for the Wayfarer tree, but also like using Requiem for the intense realism.

 

[Tayh]

I could eat a filling meal while I'm peckish and then be hungry ten minutes later, even with the timescale set to 5.

Another thing, I'm fairly sure you can set how much hunger and thirst you accumulate over time in the MCM menu.

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

*Wet and Cold is definitely great for ambiance by making NPCs react to the weather. It does add a few 'realistic' options. Rain blindness when you look up, slower movement speed in blizzards, blurring in dragonborn ashstorms without goggles.

*ELFX makes nights and dungeons feel much more threatening especially falmer dens. The lighting is based on logical light sources rather than just having so much ambient light like vanilla does.

*True Storms is a great visual and sound mod that makes you want to seek shelter. *Immersive armors adds a lot more frostfall friendly armor for a winter/survivalist. On top of that there are *Cloaks of Skyrim and *Winter is Coming to keep you warm.

I would just tone down the hunger rates in RND if you are having issues with it. Otherwise I would recommend the *Harvest overhaul which allows you to harvest more than one alchemy ingredient and has an option for changing animal drop rates as well.

*SkyTest is a great overhaul for making the wildlife behave in a more natural way(Hunting, grazing, searching for water), no more wolves teaming up with bears and sabre cats to murder you. It also adds proper herds/packs of animals as well and young animals(man does is make you feel guilty when you kill two sabre cats only to see the small ones wandering around...)

It may not necessarily be a 'survival' mod, but *Populated roads adds traveling NPCs on the roads such as merchants(plus bodyguards), pilgrims, adventurers, bounty hunters, hirelings. It helps make Skyrim feel more alive on the road with something other than bandits. Especially with a survivalist character you won't be forced to go into town as often.

A mod I haven't used, but have seen to fit with the theme are *Useful Dogs if you want a helpful companion

 

[Hero in a half shell]

A camping mod is always good. I use Camping Lite [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/11526/?]: Because it's pretty minimal, and easy to get started.
Stopping for the night and having to set up camp halfway up a mountainside because it's gotten dark and you are starting to get frostbite from other mods is amazing for immersion. Adds a whole new aspect to the game.
There are other camping mods, so search around the nexus and see what you prefer.

There's also Compass Mod - Immersive undiscovered locations [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/64249/?]:
It means you just see blank triangles on your compass bar for locations you haven't been to instead of instinctively knowing there's a mine or a village, or a cave in every direction.

Crafting 300 - Armoury of Tamriel [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/2933/?] Is a weapon material overhaul. Instead of having all iron swords a particular design, all dwemer swords a particular design etc. this mixes the design and style of every weapon. So you can have a steel mace that looks like an orcish mace, or a glass battleaxe that looks like the daedric battleaxe etc. It's well explained with in-game books. I highly recommend at least checking it out.

Follower Commentary Overhaul [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/52019/?] Adds a lot of dialogue that was restricted to certain people so you'd never really hear it in game. Just gives your characters a bit more variety in what they say, which is nice.

Guard Dialogue Overhaull [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23390/?] Similar to the previous one, just adds a bit of refreshing new quotes throughout the game.

iActivate [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/58510/?] replaces the button prompt telling you which specific button to push with one that doesn't specify, so [E OPEN DOOR] becomes [OPEN DOOR]

Take Notes [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/48375/?] Adds a notebook you can write stuff in like a diary. Very excellent for any roleplayers who want to keep a record of their characters backstory/experiences etc.

 

[kekiev15]

Alright, so what I'm using:

Spoiler

Bandolier - Bags and Pouches
Bellyaches Animal and Creatures Pack
Belt-Fastened Quivers
Civil War Overhaul
Cloaks of Skyrim
Expanded Towns and Cities
First Aid
Frostfall
Handyman
Helgen Reborn
Hunterborn
Immersive Armors
iHUD
Immersive Roads
Immersive Weapons
Inconsequential NPCs
More Travelers
No More Blocky Faces
Open Cities Skyrim
Populated Cities
Climates of Tamriel
Project Ultimatum
RaceMenu
RBEs Enhanced 1st Person Camera Bob
Realistic Humanoid Movement
Realistic Lighting Overhaul
Realistic Needs and Diseases
Relics of Hyrule
Skyrim - Enhanced Camera
Skyrim Immersive Creatures
Skyrim Unleashed II
SkyTest
SkyUI
Tundra Defense
UFO
The unofficial patches
Wearable Laterns
Wet and Cold
Wet and Cold - Ashes
Winter is Coming

I'm trying to make it this game of winter survival but still has epic quests and adventures for the PC to go on, in an immersive way. @Hero in a half shell and @Tayh, I'll be sure to check those out. Thanks.

Also, I know this could be another forum post in general, but what's Wrye Bash all about and how does one use it?

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I'm trying to make it this game of winter survival but still has epic quests and adventures for the PC to go on, in an immersive way. @Hero in a half shell and @Tayh, I'll be sure to check those out. Thanks.

Also, I know this could be another forum post in general, but what's Wrye Bash all about and how does one use it?

Happy to help.

As for Wrye Bash as far as I understand it, it's an organiser that make mods more compatible with each other by adding them more intelligently (This is only really an issue if you have a noticeable conflict, and even then it may not fully solve it) and to let you exceed the limit for the amount of mods that you can have active in Skyrim (the limit is well over 200 so very few people actually need it for that reason.)
So it's very situational.

Unless you are getting visible mod conflicts where one mod is overwriting another and not allowing it to work then I really wouldn't worry about it.

 

[kekiev15]

Update: I've also installed the mods that Hero in a half shell and Tayh recommended and it increased my immersion by one hundred percent. To be honest, I think those mods are what I was really looking for. It's awesome to see Money Courier (from one of the population mods already installed) walking around with a glass battleaxe that has gems imbued into it. However, this does not mean that other users should consider this thread "dead." By all means, post all the mods that fit under the topic.

I also read up on Wrye Bash, and it essentially is just as Hero described it. It'll make a bashed patch for all your mods to make them more compatible. While I don't really need said patch, I also don't need a ridiculous amount of freezing or CTDing. Anyways, enough about my modded Skyrim. Keep posting awesome survival/immersion mods for any other Skyrim modder out there.