Skyrim Mods for PC: Creation Kit features to make game better

By: Alan Ng | November 14, 2011 | 71 Comments

So you have been playing Skyrim on PC for a good few days now – what are your overall impressions? Have you played enough of the game to know what features would make the game more enjoyable? More specifically – what PC mods do you think Skyrim needs?

If you played Oblivion on PC, you’ll know that it was the release of endless unofficial mods that made the game even better – if that was possible. Oblivion was a great game without mods, but the fact that you could download custom features such as even changing the whole menu interface, character models, new skills and so on made the experience twice as good.

You can bet that it won’t be long until similar mods appear for Skyrim, but we’re guessing that everyone is still addicted to Skyrim at the moment so it may be a while before we see some worthwhile mods available for download. The latest news on the vital Creation Kit needed for modding is that Bethesda’s Pete Hines has clarified that the team are still working on it, just for those who were wondering why it didn’t release on day one with the PC launch

”Still some work left to do on both the Creation Kit and the wiki that goes with it. In the meantime, enjoy the game!”

With that in mind, we want to know your best mod ideas for the game so that we can give Bethesda some great feedback for future titles. Are there any gameplay elements in Skyrim you don’t like and want to see an improvement on? We doubt the menu interface needs much work this time around as it’s a lot more slicker than Oblivion, and we are loving the new perk tree system.

If you’re looking for mods to improve graphics, you can also bet that there will be one or two packs to improve graphic performance as well – the possibilities are really endless thanks to the Creation Kit. If you have the PC version and are looking to download mods straight away, let us know what you want to see released. Click here for a full list of Dragon shouts.

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Tags: Bethesda, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Sam
Well, for now it’s only stuff making the game run and look better. If I can run BF3 maxed there is no way I’m gonna have a hard time running Skyrim running on max settings. Later, well, anything will be nice to look at. I mean it’s free DLC and stuff. It’s awesome. I already saw some early texture enhancement stuff but more will be welcomed. I hope bethesda will fix it on their own but I don’t trust them. Got tired of waiting for fixes on Fallout NV
Mike
I actually wanna just make a basic catagorizing system for inventory for things such as seperating weapo n types and such
Mashintao
“We doubt the menu interface needs much work this time around as it’s a lot more slicker than Oblivion”
LOL are you kidding me, “more slicker?” The UI is the worst in PC gaming history… okay maybe second or third worst but good grief does it suck mudcrabs. A functional UI is #1 priority for my modding needs. I can’t think of one single aspect of that UI that is even remotely decent, let alone good.

guest
He played it on a console. It’s obvious. Chances are, his claims about vanilla Oblivion… he played that on a console too.

morrolivian
Agreed the UI is gross. Clearly it was designed for the console and got shoved onto us playing the PC version. Don’t forget your roots Bethesda. Not to mention the loss of a ton of character customization options from Oblivion.
All would of course be forgiven if they had released the creation kit at launch. My fault for not checking when I bought it, remembered reading an article at the beginning of the year saying it would be and never looked back. Oh well live and learn.
Markus
I want to know open eq slots so I know what I can equip and compare stats easier.
Toy-toyuts
Dragon rider mod
Toy-toyuts
Dragon rider mod
Jon
Better UI, suited for PC, and spell making possibilities…dunno why they didn’t include that to begin with.
Leanton31
Th ui sucks big time.
Pheregrim
be able to attack from the horse and use dragons as mounts

Sonnychristie
This isn’t Mount & Blade….. wow.. I just sank to that level. Hi down here.

Heather Gray
It would be sweet to somehow be able to really customize your house, the placement of bookcases and such. Perhaps I can actually learn how to use the creation kit and make myself a custom house!

Pheregrim
this isnt the Sims.

Haterade
Right. Cause everyone has to play Skyrim the same way. Pffffft.
Zar’ok
true but alot of the old oblivion mods allowed for unique locations that could be owned through quests like your own room on top of the imperial tower in oblivion somethings along those lines would be cool like your own fortress with guards in the mountains etc.
Zar’ok
true but alot of the old oblivion mods allowed for unique locations that could be owned through quests like your own room on top of the imperial tower in oblivion somethings along those lines would be cool like your own fortress with guards in the mountains etc.
Apollyna
How do I dislike a comment?

http://twitter.com/EmperorVaktus Seth Drake
What mod I really, REALLY want to see, is one that allows you to play as a pure-blood Dragon and fight on their side against humanity and the other races for control of Skyrim.
Just imagine soaring through the mountains and across the plains of Skyrim, then proceeding to burn and pillage the nearby towns and cause havoc!
Oh I just can’t wait. Looking at the mods from Oblivion/Fallout 3/New Vegas, we should be seeing every type of mod imaginable VERY soon. And that includes a Dragon Mod. *Fingers crossed*
Annon
The skill leveling should be a lot better. Say, for smithing, you gain xp for the item you make, not some set amount. I was making dragon armor 5 hours into the game (iron daggers). For combat, the experience should be raised based on the damage dealt and the enemies level. Also, it’d be nice to tone down how everything levels with you. At level one, it should be a rape fest. By level 10, you should be able to explore weak caves. By 20 you have your foundation, but cannot complete most dungeons (bosses). By level 30, you should be decently strong. 40 is when slaying dragons should become easy. 50+ should be god-like.

Roark5t6
Just turn up the difficulty if you think it’s too easy. What I’m wondering is if we’ll be able to change how perks work. I’d love to get my hands dirty on that.

http://twitter.com/TechnoBanana TechnoBanana
I am sorry but the UI is HORRIBLE, but not to fear fellow PC gamers, there are mods underway already, one making the UI like oblivion which is sexy but its early WIP and one that is changing the way the keys and mouse work in the UI…. patients ; D

gus
not if you play with a controller. I plugged my 360 controller in and it works fine. But the UI is horrible for M+KB

Grant_hammerhoof
If I was playing with a controller I could have just gotten it on Xbox or whatever.
No, the issue -I- have isn’t just that the UI is bad (lack of item organization in chests is a huge issue for me), but that if you use custom keyboard controls, THE HELP PROMPTS DON’T RECOGNIZE THAT. So every time it says, [R] Drop Item, I have to press [X]! But when I put an item into a chest, it’s still [R]! And if I want to take out an item from a chest, I assume it’s [R], but nooo, that takes -everything- out of the chest! So you have to click an item to take it out of the chest! But don’t click an item to put it -in- to the chest, otherwise you’ll equip the item, or in the case of consumables like potions and foods, YOU’LL WASTE IT BY CONSUMING IT.
Rant rant rant etcetera–game is absolutely wonderful, great presentation, okay story, the difficulty needs to take a moment to decide where it’s at otherwise, and the controls from console to PC are terribly implemented if you decide to stray from the default format, but it’s still functional, it plays well, it’s everything Oblivion was and a ton more, so it’s good.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jonathan-Wint/100000431453834 Jonathan Wint
Creation Kit needs work??? why? Just give us the tools you used to make the GAME like you did in morrowind, No more of this dumded down Ceationkit/set for the fans like you did with oblivion, GIVE US YOUR TOOLS! As they clearly do not need work as you were able to use them ! GIVE US THE REAL EDITOR ,no more of this second hand crippled crap.

bada-bing
I think there’s a happy medium in there somewhere. A more user-friendly interface means more mods. Not everyone out there has experience with a raw development kit.
…but can we have the raw development kit, too? Please?

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jonny-Rolleston/100001194831684 Jonny Rolleston
I agree that they shouldnt cripple the creation kit – Lets face it, in order to get around the limitations of the oblivion construction kit, people ended up making 3rd party dll’s to add the functionality that bethesda should have included in the first place.
Bus as far as ideas for mod’s go – I wana see some decent vampire mod’s .
Im sick and tired of there not being a vampire faction to interact with.
Would also like to see Nekhanimals Vampire Mod ported to Skyrim.
Ryanhalo94
already hard at work on pen and paper drafting a mod for a Dwarven Spider Drone companion. figure it could be constructed under Dwarven smithing and would be spawned upon dropping the final product
AlchemyMadness
Gardening mod like the planting sack one would be nice.
Daniel Lantos
1.) A mod where when you hit enemies with melee weapons they react to your hits, vice versa.
2.) A mod which make the npc’s acting movements more dynamic in quests ( eg. the intro when you run ito the tower and flames are everywhere they just stand there stiffly with very little emotion.
3.) A mod with more factions. One of them being really secret so they are hard to join and hard to find their base. (eg. Liche lair can become a liche, or a secret cult.)
4.) A mod that add more Unique creatures
Overall what i loved about morrowind was that you had to find places/people yourself making the immersiveness better. Oblivion just held your hand to much, it told you the pinpoint location where to go all the time which was ridiculously boring not to mention the fast travel. nothing seemed secret either.
Gabbinbar
TYhis game i have to say is almost perfect, what i think it needs is.. Waaay more land to explore, it’s far too small

John Ellis
Yep, I’d sure love to get a bit more scenery, High Rock sounds like a nice place.

http://profiles.google.com/zfriedcod john henry
mods that add more unique artifacts hidden all over the place, some with books and people saying rumors, and clues of like, what region some artifact might be in. … morrowind had a book of arifacts and i tryed to hunt em all down was super fun. … little slips of paper hidden in libraries that have some little information about them… dead guys diarys saying i used to own this weapon, and i lost it in some mountains when i had to run for my life … or something like this.
i love treasure hunting so much…. like indiana jones.

Anonymous
I’d support this.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jonny-Rolleston/100001194831684 Jonny Rolleston
I hope the Creation Kit allows us to play with the magic in the game, maybe even create our own shouts?
I’d imagine it gives us the ability to create word walls, our own words of power, and magical effects to attach to the said words.
I’d like to see conjuration spells get a portal/rift spell, that rips open a portal to oblivion or perhaps one that lets those Anomalies escape into he world, and they fight for you.
rich
I eagerly await some talented modders creation of a dragon mount, complete with ability to fly while riding.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jake-Pigdon/100001072623924 Jake Pigdon
please someone remake Hammerfell from Redgaurd it would be epic!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LKOIWGG2WMBIQPTW6MXQPGSG6U gary
first things first. the default 3rd person cam needs to be centered. the way the cam looks in 3rd person with weapons drawn is better, but not quite right. its the one issue i have with the game.. the horrible ots view.

Jon
I believe they have it that way so when you make any ranged attacks, you can use the cross-hairs without having to be first person.
Otherwise your target would be hidden behind your head.
Anonymous
That was the way they did it in Oblivion and it looked good, but it was in NO way functional or seriously playable. This camera doesn’t let you get as good a look at yourself, but is much, MUCH better for combat. You can actually do archery effectively in third-person now!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1531355966 Brett Kampf
Wish they would fix the satellite view for the map; the game came with a nice blown up classic map like in Oblivion, so why can’t I toggle between each type of map so I can actually see depth without having to zoom in all the way.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Lane/789279919 Brian Lane
Id like to see the ability to call on your Dragon soul to empower your physical
form becoming a kind of half Dragon i.e. Long Dragon tail, Dragon wing (If
flight is an issue just have the slow your fall so you don’t take damage from
it), Dragon horns ect. But still be able to use weapons, and armor. Maybe they
could add it in an expansion/DLC.
Kkirby
A decent ui for pc that at the least selects what you click on. I love the game but the ui is horrid for pc.
The and hot keys for sets that you can swap out on the go no stupid pause menu selecting.

Crandell1023
Read the help. If you do, you’ll learn that weapons can be bound to hot keys and that you can customize your settings. Next time try checking the “help” window before you complain.

Sterling
um a mod that lets me choose as many freaking perks as i level up to get as in not cutting me off at 50 seriously whats the point in cutting off potential

Anonymous
…I haven’t been cut off at 50. I dunno what’s going on with your game if that’s happening.

Eh
The menu is the FIRST thing id want modders to mod. it SUCKS.
Fadf
Extra perks in the mage trees to boost spell damage output.
http://profiles.google.com/missshaohuan Carine Appleby
Yeah, the menu needs some serious work. When I click on a dialogue option in a conversation it jumps to the top option and the menu starts half way down the screen – why?

Mad Matt 4000
Haha, I know exactly what you mean. Did you play Oblivion? Remember all of the flaws with its menu? Remember how many of them got fixed by modders? Yep, It’ll happen again. I’d bet money on it. You know, I thought Fallout’s menu system was well tailored for PC. Why couldn’t Skyrim’s? In my opinion, you should be able to control the menus COMPLETELY with a mouse. It’s not that difficult of a concept, really.

http://profiles.google.com/missshaohuan Carine Appleby
I did yes and I hated the vanilla menu. I installed the Dark UI mod as soon as it was ready and never looked back. It’s a bit silly that they can’t just tailor a game for the PC, especially one such as Skyrim.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MDCVHNZSXJWBVAEBUZFVTP6WPQ Mets Fan
I play with the Controller and find the menu works pretty well. I am guessing that is the problem, it works really well with a controller and not so much without.
Ruby
SkyUI mod on the skyrim nexus site has been great for me. It actually behaves like it should on a PC. I would still like a few more improvements but it is WAY ahead of the vanilla version.

Mad Matt 4000
I love the treasure hunting idea. I loved morrowind too, you see. But the most pressing issue is the GODAWFUL MENU!!!! Also, Jonathan Wint, I understand what you’re saying, but Morrowind didn’t exactly give us complete freedom. It was completely impossible to overhaul the menu in it, yet people found ways to in Oblivion. They need to give us OFFICIAL nif plugins like they did for Morrowind though. It did seem almost as if they didn’t want us to mod oblivion.
They. Can’t. Stop us.
Jon
Realism being important, a mod that would make the game better without shoving it in your face would be NPC Burials. When a dragon kills a Town Guard, after 3 days in game that dead NPC is removed, looted or not.
No way would people leave a dead body in the road.
Even better? Any NPC that dies outside of a city has its dead model replaced by one of the mummies with all its loot on it to show it’s decomposing after it’s been dead a weak.
Vipar
You seem to be missing the fact that Bethesda already promised to make a PC specific UI, as well as HD textures etc. to make it more a PC specific version, since they know that the UI works perfectly fine with a controller, but god awful with a mouse and keyboard.

Carine
When did they say this? If what you say is true then I look forward to it, but it would have been nice to have had a keyboard-friendly UI fron the start …

Guest
Replacement npcs, or the ability to revive dead ones (without cmd), maybe a soulstone?
Ringwaull
The most obviously needed mods for Skyrim:
1) Allow NPC followers to ride horses. In the command mode for companions, selecting a horse would not send a never-actually-used “attack horse” order, but command them ride it. What may also be interesting but much more difficult to implement would be to allow a companion to sit behind you on your horse.
Why: riding a horse is irrelevant if you have to wait for companions to catch up, constantly.
2) Horses should not attack enemies, ever. It’s just idiotic when they charge in to fight a dragon, and promptly die of third degree dragon fire burns.
Why: Horses get in the way of combat, stopping you from legitimately fighting the enemy and quite regularly get themselves killed. Stupid, stupid, horse.
3) Enemies shouting “you win” and “I submit”, should, well… actually submit. Like, run away. There’s no point being merciful when after begging to live they get back up to attempt a fresh round of murder as though nothing happened.
I’m only level 26 and I’ve killed over 275 people. I mean, damn! Remember the good old comic book heroes who tried to save the villain instead of killing him and every follower of his?

gaidheal
One enemy who yielded to me cowered on the ground for a few moments, then recovered and performed a tremendous finishing attack on me. I was gobsmacked, and rather enjoyed the unexpected dramatic move, but it’s unlikely such a thing would happen, given their physical state (nearly dead).

Solymer89
Just gotta say I really appreciate the controller based system. I am a Daggerfall alum. and absolutely love the keyboard and mouse setup, but it is killer on the wrists. Plus it is easy to see that the controller was intended to be used with this game. After all the graphic tweaks and changing the fov I really feel comfortable with the controls in this game, and that is a deal maker/breaker for me in any game.
Cdr-1234
I have a real problem, the cursor keys stoped working, now I cant put any thing in to chests, I can still sell using the mouse but every time I try and use the mouse to place some thing in a chest it just closes the chest.
I have played the game for over 100 hours, until now the cursor keys worked ok, then stream told me the game was unavailable for over 3 hours, and then when it came back on line the cursor keys didn’t work.
Im using dial up, the speed is slow, as low as 0.0 kbs, most often between 3.0 and 15 kbs, so down loading takes a long time. I live in a area that is still waiting for it’s 1950 phone exchange to be updated, board band is no faster than dial up here, so to save money we just use dial up.
My system is a Intel I5 sandy bridge 2, running at 3.2 gig quad core, 8 gig of DDR 3 ram running at 1200, a Samsung spin point 1 tera hard drive. All drivers are up to date, windows 7 64 bit is also up to date, after a 9 hour down loading on dial up.
Ant one have any ideas on how to get the cursor keys back please ?
Helen Thank you

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Hulse/100000867466615 Ryan Hulse
im not sure what to tell you about the downloading but what i do for many games once they are downloaded is use the Steam back up tool and place a copy on an External hard drive that way when i reinstall windows or have a problem i don’t have to download 5+ GB of a game

Anonymous
I want the RGB hair color sliders back. If I wanna have anime hair colors, that’s my prerogative, dammit.
Mike Sharp
A mod that fixes the bug that prevents players from marrying aela the huntress and lydia please.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Hulse/100000867466615 Ryan Hulse
you can fix that all by yourself…….. don’t marry them!
Anonymous
Aela can be married once the player has finished the Companions questline.

Luke
I’d like a mod which fixes all of the quest bugs. What? They should be fixed in a patch you say? No no, I said “which fixes” not makes things worse. Skyrim has to be the least tested title of the year, don’t know about the best. Not impressed with all of the obvious bugs right out of the box. No excuse for it. Not in this day and age. Proper testing isn’t hard to come by, just costs money. Yes Skyrim is complex but there is still no excuse, what so ever. Fans are willing to closed beta test for free etc.
I won’t be buying the next title until the game of the year edition.
purplepat
Maybe this is picky, but I want food and sleep to have more relevance. All food seems to be good for is giving you back a few health points, but you can simply walk around for a minute or two and be completely healed as well. No one in real life can go days or weeks without food, except in Skyrim. Same goes for sleep. No one in real life can survive with no sleep for a week. Maybe if you don’t sleep or eat, you would start losing health points in battles much more quickly, and recover much slower. Maybe you’d lose strength as well.
blahbert
I plan on attempting to add a nature spell tree, complete with spell books and maybe weapons/armor.
Frank
Hopefully it’ll be available without Steam since my Skyrim machine has no Internet connection!