Okay. The most I've ever modded a game was by adding a removable helmet for Chinese Stealth Armor in Fallout: New Vegas. Thats the full extent of my modding experience. Now though in Skyrim, I find myself really wanting things like more trees, cleaned up cities and above all, better looking character models. I'm pretty sure all of those exist in the Steam Workshop, but I'm interested in Nexus mods too.

Thing is, I have no idea where to even start, which is why I'm here. Walkthrough, hand-holding, whatever you want to call it, I just need information and help so I can have Skyrim be what I want it to without screwing over my already existing save files.

Can anyone lend a modding newbie a hand?

First thing I do is download TESVEdit - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/25859/?

This lets you clean your mods/official DLCs to remove dirty edits that might cause issues down the road.

Second thing I do is download BOSS - http://code.google.com/p/better-oblivion-sorting-software/downloads/list%C2%A0%C2%A0 is the actual download for the utility, more information about BOSS is on its Nexus page at: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/6/?

Basically it sorts your mods properly so there is the least amount of conflicts/overwriting.

I also highly recommend using Nexus Mod Manager (NMM) for downloading/installing mods.

Now, regarding the Mods themselves - Start with the Unofficial Patches. There is one for the main game (USKP), and one for each of the DLCs, including the High Res Texture Pack. The USKP is at: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/19/?%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0

It makes the forests feel ancient and epic. Using NMM, there are some customization options.

Another must-have for me is No NPC Greetings - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/746/?

It affects how close the NPCs have to be to you before they start spouting their life story. Three files; pick one. One removes the greetings completely, the other two change the distance.

For sound, I like "Sounds of Skyrim" - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/10886/?

Adds a lot to the atmosphere. The link above is specifically for "The Wilds", if you click on the author's name it will bring up his other mods; there are Sound mods for Dungeons, Cities, etc.

General good mod - Even Better Quest Objectives - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/32695/?

Expands the quest objectives in the journal so you can play without quest markers if you like, and just improves the detail overall.

Overall Graphic Improvements: SMIM (Static Mesh Improvement Mod): http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/8655/?

And, if you don't like the UI, there's SkyUI - http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/3863/?

**This requires SKSE (Skyrim Script Extender), available at http://skse.silverlock.org/

If you DO like the UI (or don't like SkyUI) BUT you want to use the MCM (Mod Configuration Menu), there's

SkyUI-Away - http://skyrim.nexusm...m/mods/29440/??/a>
Basically you install it after SkyUI and it reverts the menus back to Vanilla while keeping some of the additional functionality of SkyUI like the MCM.