Skyrim isn't the most graphically technical game released recently but it still manages to look amazing (so long that you don't go running around actively looking for bad texture work). But like any good PC game it hasn't stopped modders from releasing high resolution texture packs and other bits and pieces that make a Bethesda game better. Just like the game itself these the differences are subtle but as they come together as a whole it's properly amazing to look at. So, I've decided to compile a list of some of the texture packs that I use. Screenshots are in the links.
Races and Characters
Xenius Character Enchancements - A collection of enhancements from one modder. Highly recommended.
Telthalions Finer Hair - Improves hair texture. Three varying degrees of saturation to choose from.
AOF Believable Hair - Another hair texture mod.
No Dirty Bodies - Caucasian Female Races - Gets rids of spots and dimples on female body texture. Supports Nords, Bretons and Imperials (for now). SFW.
I Wash - Removes spots, zits and other nastiness from the body texture. Males races only.
Environmental
Skyrim HD - High resolution pack. Mainly deals with world textures. Currently WIP though nearly complete. Fairly large size so a good PC is recommended.
Alternative Road Textures - Put these textures in last so it overwrites whatever texture you previously installed.
Daroozs Stonefloor Whiterun - Better stonefloor texture in Whiterun. Install this last so it's not overwritten by previous texture packs.
Visible Windows - Better, detailed windows.
Enhanced Night Skyrim - High resolution texture for the night sky. Separate from the constellations textures so you can still enjoy both without sacrifice.
Vurts Skyrim Flora Overhaul - Higher resolution textures for all trees. Includes a variety of colours to choose from. Currently WIP.
Lush Trees - Makes trees more fuller and wholesome with low hit to FPS. Designed to work with Vurts Skyrim Overhaul as well.
Lush Grass - Same as the above albeit grass instead. Compliments Vurts Skyrim Flora Overhaul well. Minimal hit to FPS.
Skyrim Sun Glare - Adds sun glare when looking at the sun. Two versions to choose from.
Realistic Sun Glare - Adds sunglare. Does not add any lens flare as the one above does.
Realistic Water Textures - High resolution textures for water. There are a few other water textures but I think this is the best one.
Nicer Snowflakes - Gives a variety of snowflake textures to use from a choice of four. Recommended.
Better Snow Textures - Replaces the somewhat dirty looking snow textures of the original.
Real Ice_Dull Edition - A brighter, ice texture using parallax shaders. I dunno if it's more realistic but nicer nonetheless.
Moon Texture Replacer Pack - Replaces the current moon. Lots of options to choose from so check the screenshots. Read the instructions too to avoid any errors.
Immersive Skyrim Thunder - Better thunder. There's two videos worth checking out if you're curious.
Intricate Spider Webs - More intricate spider webs. Essentially a high res texture.
Armour, Weapons and Items
Armour Improvement - More detailed textures for all armours.
Improved NPC Clothing - Less shitty clothes for everyone!
Weapon Retexture Project - Considering the amount of time you're walking around with a weapon in your face this seems like an obvious choice.
A Higher Quality of Shields - Higher resolution shields. Currently WIP. Could do with a better name.
Better Gold - More detailed septims to make you feel more rich.
High Quality Food and Ingredients - More detailed textures for food and ingredient items.
Super Realistic Ore Textures - A bit of of a hyperbole but an otherwise nice touch to the ore textures.
Improved Torches Textures - A less bocky texture for torches.
Weapon Ebony Gold Complete Set- Better textures for the ebony set. Adds some gold to the finish. All races and genders.
Nightingale Prime - A slightly different and prettier texture for the Nightingale armour.
Magic
Deadly Spell Impacts - Improves decals left by spell effects. Highly recommended.
Realistic Magical Impacts - Alternate textures for spell decals. More faithful to the original textures in terms of style.
Miscellaneous Textures
FXAA Post Process Injector - Not a texture pack but a mod that adds post processing effects and more. Makes a huge difference.
Skyrim Enhanced Shaders - A tweak pack that adds HDR lighting and prettier shaders along with some other tweaks. Cheers to TheSeductiveMoose for pointing this out.
Enhanced Blood Textures - High resolution blood textures. Quadrupedal in resolution in comparison to the originals so you can tell the difference.
Main Font Replacement - Gives a variety of fonts to use over the original. Seven to choose from.
Alternate Skyrim Cursors - Gives a handful of cursors to use over the default cursor.
Realistic Paper - A good texture replacement assuming that you're arsed to read books anymore.
HD Furniture & Barrels - High resolution texture for furniture and barrels. Two slightly different variations of furniture textures to choose from.
HD Clutter & Furniture - More detailed textures for furniture, clutter, and other items. May overwrite some files from HD Furniture and Barrels.
Glowing Ore Veins 300 - Makes ore veins slightly more visible by adding a subtle glow to them. Useful and makes is slightly more vivid.
Realistic Rain Ripples - Makes ripples from rainfall look better. Two resolutions to choose from.
HiRes Road Signs- High resolution texture for road signs so they're readable at the very least.
Realistic Smoke & Embers - More smoke. Less haze.
Skyrim Logo - High resolution texture for the Skyrim logo in the main menu. No that you'll be looking at it a lot but it's still nice.
A Quality World Map - Replaces the world map with alternative textures. Worth a look.
NPCs & Mobs
Monster Retex Pack - Retextures all monsters. Offers recoloured textures for certain mobs.
Improved Dragon Textures - Exactly what it says it is.
Enhanced Horse Skins - Prettier horsies. Bella Sera would be proud.
Retextured Wolves and Pelts - Better looking wolves and pelts.
Animations
3rd Person Dual Wield Animation Fix - Corrects the animation whilst dual wielding.
Gameplay Changes, Fixes & Improvements
SkyBoost - Improves framerate. Seems like a hit or miss for some people.
SkyUI - A GUI replacement that makes inventory management a lot more bearable.
Categorized Favorites Menu - Revamps the favorites menu for easier use. Good for magic users by the looks of it. (Thanks to AhmadMetallic)
Rich Merchants - Gives merchants extra gold to barter with. (Edit: Apparently there's a bug if you install this and/or turn it off when you join the Thieves Guild. I'll edit the post again when it's fixed. Cheers to mak_wikus for pointing it out. Sorry for any problems caused.)
Dovahkiin Hideout - A hideout that every house is connected to. Lots of storage and tools. Handy for loot driven folk, like Vinny. (Thanks to AhmadMetallic)
Faster Horses - Makes horses faster. Varying speeds to choose from.
Improves Destruction Magic - Makes destruction magic more effective but relatively balanced as well.
Any texture packs/graphic mods you use that you would recommend to others?
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