Randox

Summer finally arrived here. Yay. Me and my parents went up onto their roof to watch people set off their Canada Day fireworks on Tuesday. Our neighbors must have bought like a wheelbarrow full of them. They were having a party, and I think their show lasted a solid 20 minutes. As a side note, trying to take pictures of fireworks at night with a cellphone is a totally pointless endevour :lol: I did manage to get some pictures of 'bold bunny' though. Was watching him in the driveway and crouched down about 20ft away. He bounded up to about 10 ft away from me before getting bored and going onto the lawn. I have no idea how a bunny gets that brave without being eaten by any of the feral cats in the area. Then again, the Pheasants are still going pretty strong. Actually saw one of them flying while I was at my parents. I've only ever seen them flying upwards into trees before. They really are quite fast flyers even if they don't go far. I thought it was going to faceplant when it landed it was moving so fast.

Moderator Trainee Recruitment Drive 2014 Application Deadline: July 20th at 11:55PM GMT General Information, About the Role, & Who Can Apply We are looking for 2-4 new people to join our moderator team as trainees! If you're interested, active, and think you'd make a great moderator, keep reading! What does a moderator do? The most obvious role of a moderator is patrolling the forums to remove inappropriate content and handle user-submitted reports. Moderators lock threads, remove posts, move misplaced threads, issue warnings to users who violate the rules, and our higher ranked moderators also issue bans. But other less obvious roles (but equally important) include continuing to browse the forums as a regular user, being a leader of the community, setting a good example, and participating in private moderator discussions to form new policies, re-evaluating old policies, and working together with the team to make the Tip.It Forum as enjoyable as possible. Do not apply to join the team if you think the role is just about dealing with reports now and then. Trainees will be expected to do that too, but the most important part of the role is being involved in the community, being able to work together as a team, and constantly looking for ways that you can help improve Tip.It. What are we looking for and what do we expect from new candidates?Ultimately, we're looking for new moderators with initiative. We want people with a passion for Tip.It, fresh ideas to bring to the team, and the desire to implement them. If you can think of forum rules you don't like or policies you want changed, that means you have a desire to change things and make them better. Qualities like that make for a good moderator!We need active moderators! We expect our trainees to browse Tip.It on a daily basis. We understand that sometimes you're unavailable due to holidays, vacations, exams, and other reasons, but on a typical day we expect daily participation. We want active and community-involved moderators!Candidates must be confident in a leadership role. We do not immediately expect moderator trainees to lead themselves and function without guidance. We will be there to help you in the beginning! But as the months go on, moderators progress through the ranks and are expected to help train new moderators and answer their questions. Some moderators even go on to become admins, who are the leaders and managers of the entire website and forum! So it's important that moderators are comfortable in working with others and acting as leaders.Being a moderator means you need a good sense of judgement, the ability to make decisions without bias, and a professional attitude. We're not a boring, serious group of people and we do joke around, but it's also important that moderators are professional in their decision-making and in the way that they interact with users in their official capacity (such as issuing warnings).Who can apply?Below are a list of requirements needed to apply:You may not be part of the Tip.It Crew. However, you may apply if you are a member of the Editorial Panel or Tip.It Monster Hunting Team.You must have registered at least 3 months ago and be active in the community.You must have a post count greater than 150.I applied last time and got denied - can I apply again? Or what if I have been warned or banned before? If you applied last time but were unsuccessful, we highly encourage you to apply again if you meet the requirements! We are always re-evaluating our standards and changing what we're looking for in candidates, so even if you were rejected last time, you could be accepted this time! If you're still interested, give it a try! If you have received a warning or ban from a moderator in the past, you are also still welcome to apply. We do not blacklist people who have broken the rules before. If you have broken multiple rules on multiple occasions recently, then yes your chances will go down. But we always keep an open mind. We will consider the severity of the offence(s) and how much time has elapsed since your most recent offence. We promise to be fair and consider everyone. How To Apply If you are interested in applying, fill out the below form and send it in a private message to Staff_Applications with the subject "Moderator Application." Remember, this is your chance at a good first impression! Put some effort into it, don't rush, and make sure you answer every question. We're only looking to accept 2-4 new people so put your best foot forward! A tip: it's usually better to write too much than too little! Good luck! [b]Forum Name: [/b] [b]Link to Forum Profile: [/b] [b]RuneScape Username: [/b] [b]Age: [/b] [b]Timezone: [/b] [b]Boards you are Interested in Moderating: [/b] [b]How often do you browse the Tip.It Forums? (How long each day or how many times a week) [/b] [b]What does being a moderator mean to you? [/b] [b]Why do you want to be a moderator and what would you bring to the team? Why do you think you deserve to be selected? [/b] [b]What ideas do you have to help improve the Tip.It Forum (not the website)? What changes would you want to make? [/b] [b]What do you honestly think about the Tip.It Forum (not the website) and community? [/b] [b]Tell us a little bit about you! What are your interests, hobbies, aspirations, favorite sandwich, etc.! This is your chance to just tell us a bit about yourself as a person: [/b]

I had no idea Rainbow Six 3 was on the PC. I have it on Xbox, and it's a fantastic game. Took me a while to beat that one. I think it's still the only shooter I have played where you aren't really any tougher than the people shooting back at you, and you have to make it through the whole level without healing. Really makes you think and plan things out.

I've played through New Vegas twice, and I don't think I've probably only ever seen half of the base game. Did the same thing the first time I played Skyrim. Haven't gone through Vegas again since picking up the DLC's because I'm watching Gophers playthrough of it right now, and I'll need to take some time after that before playing the game myself wont be boring. Picked up SpinTires which has finally hit a retail release. It's not an easy game, so if you aren't good at driving games, you will probably despise this one. That out of the way, the physics in this game are nothing short of spectacular, as is the terrain deformation (and it's doubly impressive when you realize this game only has a single coder who also built the entire game engine himself). Also managed to release it with a pretty minimal amount of bugs, and the only one I found (and I think the only serious one) has already been patched. But what really impressed me are the cranes some of the trucks carry. I have never played a game where using a crane or other object (like a forklift) to pick up other little objects has been anything but a royal pain in the ass. In this game, it can actually be really fun to just take a couple minutes and use your logging crane to clear some of the more offensive rocks off a path to make driving easier. Also of note since I show it off so much in the following screenshots, when using the winch to tow vehicles, there are options to control the towed vehicles steering. Left and Right are obvious, and auto will attempt to follow you, which makes towing things around relatively pain free. And here are a few of my screenshots to accompany some of the fun I was having yesterday: [hide] When the little ZIL can't make it across a river, the local Ural is always happy to lend a hand and tow it through upside down and flip it back over: Deciding that it needs backup, the Ural decides to take the ZIL home with it: This turned out to be a fantastic idea. Here is the ZIL with a utility trailer inspecting an accident. Unfortunately, the little ZIL was unable to help the Ural, so he continues on with the trailer to repair someone who can; the Kamaz: The ZIL wasn't able to climb the next hill to go repair the Kamaz the Ural needed. So the Kamaz, very slowly and with less than 100 health left, came to the ZIL for repairs and helped it up the hill before heading out to help the Ural: Teamwork Saved the Day. Once the ZIL was safely at the still locked garage, the Kamaz made it's way to the Ural and got it back on its wheels. The Ural then set off once again and finished unlocking the second garage. This one isn't part of the story, but I though I would show it off anyway. It's form later on with the same map, now driving a Kraz (very much like the Ural). The mud is so deep, but I'm not quite stuck. [/hide]

Not as often as I would like to, more when I was younger. Best I've done in a while was an agility course with my cousin last summer. A lot more than climbing involved, but all good stuff. Mostly it's indoor stuff since my university has a couple rock climbing walls. I've also done a bit of bouldering including a memorable granite formation that was not unlike climbing a large chimney (witch a side missing, it wasn't fully enclosed). I'm sure there's a word for that. I've also had the pleasure of repelling a couple times. Such a treat.

Got 7 days to die. I think this is going to be what I always wanted minecraft to be. A zombie survival game where the zombies are the big threat, with free form building to make your own fortress and defend it with traps and stuff.

Did some thread cleaning. Did my best to make sure any posts contributing to the legitimate topic of this thread were left alone. In the future, it does help the moderation team when people do not needlessly respond to trolls, as that only creates more work when all those posts ultimately need to be removed. Cheers, @Randox

So a while back, I tried writing a story, and naturally, that didn't go anywhere. Giving it another shot, and it still might go nowhere, but I am enjoying the fact that I seem to have had an original thought. Had a dream last night that was pretty weird, like usual. And then I had another dream set in the same 'story', and managed to finish it up with a couple more semi lucid dreams also set in the same 'story'. My waking mind can't come up with an original story to save it's life, but my dreaming mind managed to cobble together a cohesive setting, a character with some character development, and rules for the world the story is set in. Of course, trying to make an actual story out of a few isolated scenes leaves a lot of important important information about the plot out of the story, but given that the story is being built out of crazy dream logic, that might not be a bad thing. Or maybe I'll be able to have more dreams in the same story and fill in some holes that way. In either event, I've been itching to do a little writing for a while, and now I have a story worth puzzling out.

I don't see why the research quest would have to be a lower requirement quest anyway. I took the option to be something more along the lines of 'okay, we know these are a thing now, so lets get out in the field and do some real work'. It's already been pointed out that researching them in a library sense would be utterly futile since we already seem to know everything any of the sentient races know, so unless Zaros want's to sit down to tea and let us pick his brain, research means fieldwork. Field work would presumably mean Indiana Jones-ing our way into some ancient crypt/temple full of ancient and powerful enemies and maybe coming across some sort of ancient guardian. If Jagex want, they could even treat it as a 'we don't know' option and just run the quest on whatever Elder Gods they feel like, and just set it up so we are researching, which was probably going to be the pretense anyway. As a side thought, didn't the entire Elder God line of quests start with a Master or Grandmaster?

EDIT: Never mind, was hoping this was the fps version of the game. Thinking about Dark Souls 2 (didn't play 1), though I think this is a game I need to try before I buy it. I have a suspicion that this is a game other people make look like fun, that I won't actually enjoy at all. I am not a huge fan of the prospect of grinding, and the max hp reduction mechanic when you die seems like it would be incredibly annoying (I know you can reverse it with an item). I guess, in a game specifically designed to make you die a lot, I don't like the idea of including a mechanic that punishes you for dying by making it easier for you to be killed each time, until you use an item found in limited quantities. We'll see.

@Kimberly, has decided to pass the torch and return to her former position as a Senior Moderator. I wish to thank Kim for all the hard work she has put in during her time as our first ever Moderator Leader these past few months. It is a continued privilege to have her on our team. @Stev has been doing awesome work for the site, for both the Crew and Moderator teams. Please join me in a big congratulations as we welcome Stev into his new position as Moderator Leader. Congratulations!

Looks like friends might have dragged me back into RuneScape. Wasn't sure I would ever go back, but I still had some goals to reach, so yay for that. Started loading up my parents trailer with their stuff. They still need to get it moved into the proper position then they can really fill it. Good exercise though. I've also decided that I am almost certainly not afraid of heights. Also helping with cleaning the windows, and there is a set on the second floor that can only be done from the outside. To avoid putting the ladder through the windows, it has to be extended out a bit past 30 feet because the ground drops off there a bit (head would be about 24 ft up?). Now, between the ladder being really bouncy and a not insignificant cross wind, that makes me nervous. But I figure if I were really scared, I probably wouldn't be descending one handed or planning out my landing if the ladder tips in the wind (though I'm happy with a 14ft fall being my record. The lawn isn't 3 inches of pea gravel to help absorb the impact and I'm not a child).

13 beers + pretty girl + privacy = dissapointment. If you think otherwise, it's because you don't remember :P Parents bought a 28ft trailer for some storage and had that delivered over the weekend. That they managed to park it is actually pretty spectacular. Anyway, they delivered it early and we arrived right after they unhitched the trailer after getting the truck stuck in a hole and on the carpet of leaves on that driveway. Tomorrow I'll get my dad to send me a couple of the pictures of our SUV helping to tow the 18 wheeler up the driveway. Was pretty fun to watch. Also was speaking to one of my older RuneScape friends who got it touch with me right before I was out for the weekend. It's a friendship I've missed, so that's pretty awesome.

I am happy that you found your answer. However, as the original issue was resolved, I am going to lock this thread to make sure it is allowed to fall off the front page again.

This has caught my attention. I've not actually finished DA:O yet, but it's been a fantastic game so far (it is however not the type of game that I primarily play, hence the slow pace). DA2 looks dicey to me from the get go, so if this comes out in time, I might skip that.

Tried to start a new playthrough of Mass Effect with a male shepard (done female twice now). It was so weird that went back and made another female character, this time changing up the character design a bit, and aiming to make some different choices. I also stumbled across Ghost Recon Phantoms (online). I both love and despise the game. On the one hand, it is overall a pretty solid game, and I've never seen so much teamwork in an online game with random people before (you don't always get awesome teamwork, but when you do, it's just so fantastic). On the other hand, the game is beyond pushy on the 'give us money front' (it's at a level that I'm not sure the game is sustainable. Like it or not, you need the non paying majority to fill your game out and get that population up, and this game does have a bit of a population issue), and they don't seem to be super eager to fix obvious balance issues. I guess, it's typical work for ubisoft. On the one hand, they have some really talented developers who really love what they are doing, and make really good games. But it's also ubisoft, a company which has no apparent interest in customer satisfaction or loyalty, as they are infamous for doing diddly squat to fix issues if they aren't getting more money for the work (that is, don't expect them to fix bugs beyond the initial sales rush period). If unbalanced guns force people to buy the new gun of the month (and they are keen enough to nerd the old op gun to prevent a death spiral of power creep while still introducing the new best gun each month), there will be unbalanced guns (and there are). Bugs will be ignored so that shiny new features can be added. So yeah, I do think it's a really fantastic game. I wouldn't go into it if you aren't willing to throw $10 at it for one of the steam starter bundles (for the love of god, play the game for a couple hours first and see if you like it, and which class you might want to throw money at). It will get you a point where your gear won't keep you from being competitive without dropping 30+ hours into the game to get there. I also wouldn't expect this game to last forever, because it's being done by ubisoft, and ubisoft is much more prone to milking a project dry and then moving on the next big thing (which is obviously working or they wouldn't keep doing it, possibly because they create some really good games which makes them hard to avoid). Oh, and the launcher needs to be closed with task manager (two programs. launcher and launchinspector). See not fixing bugs above.

Probably different for people that can't see hidden posts, but Saq, you are the top post on this page and the last for me. What happened between those two posts? Was trying to remember when I was last posting here, and I realized that I never got around to posting something, which might be part of why I've not really posted in...two weeks or so. A couple weeks ago or so my grandmother passed away (not quite in her sleep, but probably too swiftly for her to know what was happening) at the age of 93. A mighty old age to make it too, but almost young when you consider that her mother died days shy of 104 and was still sane (stone deaf, but all there upstairs) when she passed. It was not expected. For us, or we think, for her. Anyway, that's been difficult. Still is sometimes. I have however made a new addition to my collection of stuffed animals. Years ago one of my cousins boyfriends gave her a big stuffed dog, and my grandmother loved it, and that's been passed to me (he's actually on the bed right now because he doesn't fit anyplace else). Then of course easter and exams, so lots of fun, though all the time with family is actually pretty nice. My cousin in Australia even made it home for a few days (she only went back like 2 weeks before that after her and her husband being in Canada for a few months). For only the second time ever, every cousin of my generation who is currently alive was in the same place at the same time (first time was for grandmother's 90th birthday). That's something that might never happen again. In less depressing news or whatever (none of this is really news, so I'm not sure why I said that), it's now may which I think means most of the shows I like are wrapping up their seasons. I don't typically watch the new episodes until the season is done (because I tend to binge watch them), so there is a whole lot of new material coming my way. I also found the show Warehouse 13. It's a bit goofy, but I definitely like it. Might even be a good warm up if I ever decide to watch the X files. I've also been watching From Dusk Till Dawn and The 100 on Netflix. Loving both of them, though The 100 takes the cake hands down. I also managed to stumble onto two new songs I like at the same time. I only listen to the radio (and thus hear new music) when I drive, and I don't own a car, so this is actually a notable event for me :D Hey Brother - Avicii San Francisco - The Mowgli's (actually heard that on the radio in Sims 3 and figured out what song it is)

The Official Thread can be found on the RuneScape Official Forums here: [qfc]199-200-192-65328727[/qfc] The Runescape Gathering is an annual event held once a year, usually during a weekend in April, and this year is no different. This event is a massive in-game gathering where you can meet players of all sorts; streamers, videomakers, highscorers, and sometimes even a Jagex Mod or two! This year the entire event will be streamed from the official Runescape twitch channel, and may include some exclusive competition prizes for those who watch the stream. Date: Saturday 19th April 2014 Time: 11am Pacific | 1pm Cen | 2 pm Est | 6pm GMT | 7pm BST | 4am (Sunday) Aus East Location: Ice Mountain (North of Falador) World: 80 (F2P)

Done.

Having finished the series, Divergent is the one I would read again, I'm not sure about the others. The second book is a bridge, and it's really well done, but the betrayal/lack of trust is a story arc that I don't like, and that I can really only enjoy the first time through. The third book is a fantastic story, but there is a problem. I really only read two genres, fantasy and science fiction. Fantasy is my 'native' genre, the one where I feel the most comfortable with, but I get more out of the science fiction thought experiment, and I read dystopian stories like Divergent or The Hunger Games as science fiction. The problem is that dystopias are ultimately something else, which means that I am often not happy when I get to the end. I think the only time I have ever gotten to the end of a dystopian series and been happy with it was The Hidden Children. It's also quite possible that I don't actually remember the ending of that series, because it seems unlikely those books would have culminated in a place I like. The first book sets a pretty different tone about that. Also, I think Among the Betrayed was my favorite in that series. That was a good story. Today I remembered that City of Bones is a movie they made and released. There is definitely something off about the movie, like something was cut right before the finale started. I've read the first three books, and it's not exactly a simple story, and from what I remember a fair amount was cut out. A lot of it I am fine with because when push comes to shove, there aren't many movies I honestly wish were five hours long. What that movie seems to lack in particular is some of the explanation for why things are happening, almost like someone telling you a story without context. You can follow along, and even enjoy it, but your never quite sure just what is going on. But I did enjoy the movie, as I often do, so I hope that they get on with making the next one, and that it does well enough to get a third and so on (soon to be six books, not sure if there are plans for more).

Pretty certain it's just my brain screwing something up. It's just weird, as deja vu is. I can feel my head telling me that what I am reading matches a memory, but I can also say with certainty that the memory itself only exists because I tried to remember it. I can tell that blanks are being filled in as I try to remember a specific detail, my brain guessing at things based on past experience. Just writing this post I can suddenly remember where I was, in what position I was laying on the bed, how heavy the book was, and what time of day it was, details that didn't exist 20 seconds ago, because I never thought to try until now. If the ending reminds me of another story I once read, then I've probably truly lost that memory now, blocked by the stronger link to a memory fabricated to explain why a book seemed familiar. I think I was simply able to guess a couple things because quite frankly, they were the sort of things anyone should see coming, especially after having read 900 pages of how that author crafts a story. The human mind is totally fantastic.

So, I caved and started reading books again. Got through Divergent, Insurgent, and I think I have a hundred pages left of Allegiant. The ending of Insurgent was really weird. Might just be because I was pretty tired. I read Divergent on Friday night in lieu of sleeping, and Insurgent Saturday afternoon/evening (so, the end of the book was my 14th hour reading and my 40th hour since I last slept). Anyway, it felt really strongly like deja vu, like I have totally read the ending of that book before. In fact, I think I predicted a couple of the things that happened, a pretty fantastic feat for someone who is at about double their usual endurance for both time spent reading and time spent awake (I was pretty close to falling asleep and dropping the book on my face for the last 30 pages). I dunno, I think my mind just got confused because it was so tired, probably fudged up the memories. I don't think it's possible I've read the story before, though I suppose I could have read it as a preview. A lot of material for a preview though, and my memory is suggesting I know the story from perhaps a couple years before it was published. Going to go with my brain might have been having trouble with being so tired. Anyway, I think that's as good an endorsement as I can give any book. It's the same one I have the Hunger Game series, which coincidently, I think is the last series I actually read. I hadn't read a novel in far too long. Nice to know I still read at exactly one page per minute (give or take 25 minutes over 8 hours, though the Divergent pages are perhaps a bit less text than average, probably speeding up even my sleepy brain a bit).

And I continue the tradition of liking acting performances/actors that other people hate. No issues with Ender or Bean here. Also, been playing around a bit with PC cooling. Knew it was almost certainly not going to be enough with my new GPU running at high load. Wasn't wrong. Thought that maybe taking the side off the case would increase cooling capacity. Not even close. Apparently I vastly underestimated how much airflow it does create, since running high load without the side instantly adds 5-8 Celsius to the internal temperature. Right now the solution is a desk fan and noise cancelling earphones.

Saw Divergent a couple nights ago, and Enders Game last night. Did like Enders Game, though I end up with the feeling that there are a couple scenes missing, and it's a little weird given that the movie isn't that long. I'm not talking about any comparisons to the book (I get that things are cut or changed, and am totally cool with the modifications they made to make this into a movie), I mean I can actually tell that in certain places scenes were written and either cut, or not filmed. Probably could have given specific examples yesterday, not so much today. Still do really like the movie, but it felt strange a couple of times. Divergent though was fantastic, and now I really need to read the freaking book (I've had it for months). It's been a while since I watched a movie, and wanted to watch it again almost immediately. Not happy about the dvd apparently coming out in August (seems a little further away than usual. Was thinking it would be like June). Sorely tempted to actually go to the theatre to watch it again. Also had my last test of the term before finals, so yay.

I actually had a mod in mind when I posted that. The combat has been an annoyance for a while, but it was watching Gopher's second Skyrim playthrough that put the idea in my head to actually do something about it. Up till then, I was sticking purely to graphics oriented mods, not ones that touched on gameplay. The mod is a total overhaul of the game called Skyrim Reborn (SkyRe). What made this one click for me is that weapons in this overhaul do a lot more damage, but as far as I can tell, health has not been scaled up. Among many many other things, the mod also enhances both weaknesses and strengths. There is a video by Gopher covering SkyRe on the mod page if your interested. This idea also meshed well with starting a new game after reverting my game to vanilla and rebuilding the mods list. I've spent all my free time over the last couple days learning way more about modding, and what things cause problems and so on, and then downloading and setting up a bunch of new mods, and I think it's to the point where I am happy, and ready to start the game once more, this time for real (I've had to start the game entirely too many times while testing this setup out). To the best of my knowledge, anyone who wanted to try just the graphical side of my setup without the SkyRe overhaul, and other gameplay altering mods I have added to accompany it, should be able to simply not install these mods without any problems (none of the graphical ones depend on them or anything). This is my exact load order, dictated largely by boss with unrecognized mods placed manually. If you want to duplicate this entire setup, you must read the installation instructions for each mod. It is important that some of these mods be installed in a particular order, and I will make note of special cases as I remember them, however it is likely I do not remember them all. Also, it's good practice to read the documentation for any mod you install. For anyone wondering about these mods, Gopher has done reviews of pretty much all of them. These can be found in his mod review playlists on his channel. Also note: Some of these mods require one or more DLC to function. Some of them have alternate versions, or patches that you will see. At least one has no non DLC version (I think it requires dawnguard), and don't remember which ones are which. Again, read installation instructions! [hide=esm/esp list and load order] Update Dawnguard HearthFires Dragonborn ClimatesOfTamriel Unofficial Skyrim Patch Unofficial Dawnguard Patch Unofficial Hearthfire Patch Unofficial Dragonborn Patch HiRes TexturePack01 HighRes TexturePack02 HighRes TexturePack03 Unofficial High Resolution Patch Chesko_Frostfall Supreme_Storms - CoT Version (requires Climates of Tamriel. Non CoT version available) Chesko_WearableLantern (this is handy for Climates of Tamriel. Little to no gameplay impact) WetandCold SkyUI (requires SKSE) iHUD (immersive HUD. Requires SKSE) BlackSacramentArmour (complicated with SkyRe, covered bellow) Cloaks (Cloaks of Skyrim. I've decided not to use this myself, but this is where the mod would go if it were still enabled) DragonbornArmourFix (I've forgotten which mod this actually belongs to. It is not a mod on it's own) DeadlyDragons (SkyRe does not overhaul dragons. This is one of the mods you can use instead. I am using the lore version which does not add new dragon types) SkyRe_Main (these are the SkyRe modules I have chosen. They are all part of the same mod) SkyRe_Combat SkyRe_CraftingFix SkyRe_EnemyAI SkyRe_EnemyScaling SkyRe_StandingStones SkyRe_Survivalisim dD - Enhanced Blood Main dD - Dragonborn-Dawnguard-EBT Patch (you must pick the appropriate compatability patch when using DLC. No patch required to cover Hearthfire) Open Cities Skyrim (no loading screen to get into cities) OCS + Hearthfire Patch OCS + Dragonborn Patch (these are patch files for open cities. There are a couple others for specific mods that I am not using) Realistic Lighting Overhaul - Brighter Dungeons (BOSS doesn't recognize this, but does recognize the normal version) Realistic Lighting Overhaul - Dawnguard Interiors (all these realistic lighting are from the same mod) Realistic Lighting Overhaul - Major City Exteriors Realistic Lighting Overhaul - Major City Interiors Realistic Lighting Overhaul - Minor Cities and Towns Interiors ClimatesOfTamriel-Nights-Level-4 (this is the last CoT mod file. DO NOT use any of the other types with realistic lighting installed. For example, don't use one for dungeons) Dual Wield Parrying (requires SKSE and a NEW SAVE) SPTConsistentOlderPeople (makes sure everyone with old people faces has old people bodies) Purewaters (I consider this, or another water mod, a must have) PrinceandPauper (redoes the clothes for children to add variety and reflect class/wealth) Warburg's 3D Paper World Map - Texture 2 (there is also one in the style of I think Oblivion. This map removes satellite view and includes a detailed and accurate rendition of roads) Warburg's 3d paper world map - dawnguard (compatability patch)\ Warburg's 3D Paper World Map - Dragonborn (this adds the map style to dragonborn. Not strictly required, but recommended for consistency) ReProccer (patch for adding things like armour mods to SkyRe) ReProccerNONPLAYERfix (from balbor reproccer patch detailed bellow) ReProccerDragonborn (from the same mod as above) [/hide] [hide=Mod List - Categorized] Graphical - For visual effect. These do not alter gameplay Enhanced Blood Textures Enhanced Blood Textures - Dragonborn-Dawnguard Parth Enhanced Distant Terrain 2 Lush Trees and Grass (using vanilla trees and lush grass options) Project Reality - Climates of Tamriel V3 (using options that can be seen with my load order) Pure Waters Realistic Lighting Overhaul (options can be seen from my load order) Supreme Storms for Climates of Tamriel (non CoT version available) Warburgs 3D Paper Map - Beta Dragonborn addon Warburg's 3D Paper Map - Dawnguard Addon Warburg's 3D Paper Map - Texture 2 Wearable Lanterns Wet and Cold Consistent Older People Prince and the Pauper - Alternate Overhaul - These mods alter gameplay Arise - Chapter 1 - The Black Sacrament - Black Sacrament Armour Cloaks of Skyrim (no longer activating this one, but that's the name) Deadly Dragons Frostfall - Hypothermia Camping Survival Open Cities Skyrim (may also require patch files, download and install manually. Includes readme with instructions) Skyrim Community Uncapper (very much suggested for SkyRe) T3nd0s Skyrim Redone (SkyRe) Patches - These are mods that handle stability and compatability The Unofficial Patches (I'm not typing them all out again. There's 5, seen in the above list) ReProccer (automated SkyRe patch generator) Balbor and Steelsouls SkyRe ReProccer Project (this is a patch for the ReProccer. Very much suggested) SUM - SkyProc Unified Manager (used to run ReProccer without sorting mods with BOSS. Used because not all mods are BOSS recognized) SKSE Mods - These mods require SKSE Categorized Favorites Menu Categorized Favorites Menu Oni Edition (this is a compatibility addition for the above) Duel Weild Parrying Immersive HUD (iHUD) RealVision ENB (ENB post processing mod) SkyUI (includes the Mod Control Panel, which several mods outside this category use, such as frostfall) Other Almost forgot about this one because it has no esm/esp file at all. You'll see it in my screenshots (maybe) though. I hate the Breton female skin because I can't make a character who looks either marginally happy, or less than 40. I have installed "SG Textures Renewal" (UNP version) which is just textures added to the data folder. THE MOD PAGE IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK! I don't believe ANY of the body texture mods are safe for work! I mean, in game they can be fine, but the mod pages are unfailingly more graphic. [/hide] [hide=What's with ReProccer] This is complicated. Gopher has an excellent video covering this. SkyRe uses higher damage values on all weapons as part of the balancing, and a different armour scale (up to 900, which is 90% protection). This means that armour and weapons being added to this mod such as immersive armors, or the black sacrament armor I have added, will be unbalanced and completely useless in SkyRe. ReProccer rebalances armor, weapons, and some other things automatically when it's accompanying program is run (which generates the file in my esm/esp list). The patch for it has some fixes, as well as specific information on a number of mods (including black sacrament) to ensure they are well balanced. [/hide] If you are going to use these mods, make your life easy. Sign up to nexus, and use the mod manager. A number of these mods have options that NMM can keep straight, and it makes removing the mods much easier since many of them include long lists of files beyond the esm or esp files that you activate. NMM will take care of that in the same way as the Steam Workshop. Some of these mods are more involved to setup. As a rule, put in the graphical mods first, then the overhaul mods. SkyRe I think requires that frostfall be installed first if they are to integrate (so that skyre wayfarer perks can help with frostfall). The ENB mod requires a number of graphical mods be installed first as well. The ENB mod is by far the most involved to install. Read the instructions, and Gopher naturally has a video showing you how to add one. He also covers a number of ENB mods if you want a different look. I highly recommend the use of ENB. If your computer can handle it (and there is a performance version of the one I picked that gets a lot of the look without the computer murder you can try), these mods add as much as all the graphical mods put together. Just follow the instructions to the letter. I have included an ini tweak that fixes a few decals that fade way faster than they should (noteable the moss on whiterun stone walls around the city). It has a negligeable affect on performance. Thus far, I have done no other ini tweaking aside from that required for ENB (running based off ultra settings). Simply add these 3 lines to the bottom of the Skyrim.ini file located in Documents/My Games/Skyrim [LightingShader] fDecalLODFadeEnd=0.2000 fDecalLODFadeStart=0.3000 You are also going to have to install SKSE, and run Skyrim through that. As always, Gopher has a video (just search SKSE on his channel, and there is a link to the channel down at the bottom of this post) to walk you through it. Made me a lot more comfortable with it. This should be pretty much the first thing you add, before any of the SKSE mods. For bonus points, the game launches way faster with SKSE. SKSE is Skyrim Script Extender, and it's a tool for mod developers that just gives them way more things they can play with. For example, mods can't detect key presses without SKSE. Lastly, I have some pictures of my game with these mods (except lush trees in most of them, as I hadn't yet remembered it) from testing up on my steam page that I don't want to reupload right now, so you can view them there (last time I reuploaded them I lost a lot of quality and I don't feel like looking for another site right now). Pictures 'getting back' and forward (the ones from today) are with all the mods running, including enb. 'Pretty Sky' is the first (and as of this post only) one with lush trees running as well. http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198053093491/screenshots/?appid=72850 Gophers Playlist Page: http://www.youtube.com/user/GophersVids/playlists And his biggest mod playlist, which doesn't show up right away because it started a while ago: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL96C073B0B8BFC01D Again, this setup is demanding. It pushes my HD 7950 graphics card (which is no slouch) near it's limits. CPU seems to be a bit less of an issue. For me, this puts my computer under more total load than games like GTA4 or Fallout 3, mostly because my CPU would give up on those games before my GPU was even trying. That's actually pretty awesome, because this means my computer can really push it's potential. I will of course post back here if I find this build to be unstable. I know open cities will cause at least some minor bugs (it activated a quest for me entering windhelm that involved talking to a guard on the other side of the city), but I am going to try it. Not running the cloaks mod might also help with this, I'm not entirely sure (to the best of my knowledge, with the correct load order it is compatible with SkyRe. Be mindful of it's list of mods it does not play well with, and put it as low in the load order as possible). Using NMM didn't work for me with this mod, so I downloaded manually and added the required files which I have added to my load order. EDIT: Forgot a couple things. First, I forgot to add the compatibility patches for Open Cities itself. They are kind of important. Needed for both Dawnguard and Dragonborn DLC. Also relating to open cities, there are memory issues in the latest version of Skyrim, which this mod requires, that can cause crashes and infinite loading screens. The fix is to run SKSE version 7.0 or greater, and add the following to the SKSE.ini file, located in Skyrim\Data\SKSE (you may need to make this file. To do so, create a text file with notepad, rename it to SKSE.ini including extension, say yes to the prompt if there is one, then open and add the text): [Memory] DefaultHeapInitialAllocMB=768 ScrapHeapSizeMB=256 I should also emphasize that if running SkyRe and using the ReProccer, it is vital that you rerun the reproccer program anytime a mod is enabled or disabled, or the load order changes. The generated patch files depend on the master list that was in use when the patch was created. For the sake of caution, rerun this anytime the data folder (or folders in the data folder) is modified. Doesn't take very long. Also, it is probably a good idea to get TES5edit and use it to clean the update and DLC files. Gopher has a walkthrough on how to do it properly, use it. The game files are all perfectly fine to run the vanilla version of the game, but cleaning them properly ensures maximum mod compatibility. This will take a few minutes.