UESP Forums

Do you still enjoy vanilla Skyrim graphics, without ENBs, mods, etc.?

Do the steps of High Hrothgar or the view of the Jeralls to the South still encaptivate you?

Does the forest of Falcrenth hold delude you sometimes, in it's beauty, that nature is at work and that nothing can harm thee that is so beautiful?

Does the sight of the Hjaalmarch moors at night instil a fear into you that it used to?

Well, I mean, it's not the same as going outside, y'know, into the wilderness in the real world, but I'm someone who enjoys graphics in games that are older than most players, so...yeah.

Well....yes....but....ok!

After a fashion it all tends to blur together, but there are some places I just can't get enough of, Sovngarde is always so vibrant, Eldergleam Sanctuary is beauty in such a rough barren area, and who isn't both fascinated and slightly disturbed by Blackreach?

Oddly enough, I always tend to avoid Falkreath Hold, I think it is because of all the trees making it easy to be ambushed or running into the odd spriggan or hagraven nest, but the area always makes me uneasy. Which is ironic, given I live in an area known for that exact terrain and high concentration of pine trees >.>

I don't play any of the ES games with mods; I play plain vanilla everything. I know how popular mods are with other players, but to me they just seem... wrong, like buying an album but dubbing in a different bass player, or buying a painting but pasting cut-out photographs of trees onto it, or buying a movie but photoshopping a different actor into it.

I was playing Skyrim Special Edition early this morning because the ESO servers were having their usual maintenance. I'd started a new game recently, so I was still up at High Hrothgar. I always get nauseous getting too close to the edge up there, but I love the idea of standing on a ledge and being able to look down upon the world-- except there are always clouds obscuring the view.

Skyrim SE is mostly fine to play as it is. A few non-graphical fixes (fps, mouse) and it's good to go.

Regular skyrim looks harsh, sad, cold in comparison.
Also the technicalities behind it are simply worse.

As a console player who has not the time nor money for SE, the only Skyrim I've ever played is vanilla. And yaya, I enjoy the graphics a lot! They may not be as good as other games out today, but they're better than most of the other games I play (which are a bit older). And things are still pretty and nice to look at, so I like them.

Vanilla Skyrim has a look, and I quite enjoy that look.

Do I enjoy it without mods or an ENB? Sure, It's better than not being able to play at all.
Do I prefer to play with an ENB, graphics mods and etc? Oh hell yes!

I love the views, the forests and the moors.

@ Imbalance "...older than most players..." Really?
Since the median age of gamers is 34 years old, http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/EF2018_FINAL.pdf page 6, "...older than most players..." would be games from 1984 or older.
Did you prefer the Atari or ColecoVision? I bought a ColecoVision in '82 because Donkey Kong was the pack in. It beat the devil out the Atari's graphics, imo.

@ SeaGtGruff I think your analogy comparing modding to photoshopping or over-dubbing the bass is faulty.
What you describe is what George Lucas did to Star Wars.
To me adding an ENB or graphics mods is like the difference between a VHS copy and the 2006 Original Trilogy box set on DVD.
The movie is the same but it looks so much better.
Now if Disney would only release the Original Trilogy on Blu-ray without the "upgrades" Lucas made.

Those are my thoughts on the subject.
Play in whatever way makes you happy!

Yes, really. Of the two, I prefer Atari. But you seem to be inferring something else.

Are we ancient gamers such a rare breed as to appear mythical when we discuss the legacy of the hobby? Are folks genuinely in astonishment that one can appreciate the look of and enjoy games that are so old? Or do we immediately disregard the possibility of one who enjoys games that were made before they were born? I'm curious.

Oh dear, what have I created?

My thoughts. I have a very minor ENB that, at most, I think affects weather effects, lighting, maybe smoke. I'm not into a pretty, beautiful Skyrim experience; I like it rugged and tough. But darn if it doesn't look spiffy with a few tweaks. In fact, the rig I still use was created for Skyrim's release. I started on a laptop with super terrible graphics and got quite the (loving) tease from my UESPF pals. (Before and the after, more or less. Still haven't booted SE, though.)

However, I will say I have no quest-changing or adding mods, with the exception of the Live Another Life alternative start (which I've used only once or twice itself) and the Bruma mod (because it's well done and I couldn't pass it up!). So, in essence, the experience is still vanilla, I guess you could say. I still get the same feeling of awe climbing those mountain steps or cresting over a range into a long field for the first time...the view is simply enhanced.

I conceed, I love that mod

After having installed every graphics mod possible no I can't really, still got some beautiful moments in the game like aurora borealis or whatever you call it at nighttime in the snow.

Very much so. I just wish, like most players, that the visual distance was better( the shrubbery growing in front of you and needing to be pretty close to enemies for them to show up).

With a slower system, there aren't many great titles available to play. Fortunately, Skyrim is a great game both high end and low-end gamers enjoy. Unless you are planning on modding this game like crazy, your old gaming laptop should run this game just fine.