Just completed the extended STEP install of Skyrim, and it's running like a champ. 25-40 FPS, and it looks gorgeous. Night, dusk, and dungeons are something to behold.

http://wiki.step-project.com/STEP:2.2.8

Can you post a few more shots please?

I was very interested in STEP but was put off by the very long winded installation.

Great shot!!

Here you go. I took a bunch but a lot of the screencaps look dark, darker than the in game. Night looks fantastic in the game. The nebula have been much improved. There are shooting stars. Tons more natural life in the game, too. Roadside lanterns, much much MUCH improved rocks, water, objects. Using mostly 2K and 4K textures throughout the game. Natural ENB setting. During boss fights for some reason my FPS drops to around 20, which is a pain in the ass. But there aren't that many boss fights (doesn't happen fighting dragons). Other than that, about 30 on average, which is plenty fast for me, and for combat.

There's no getting around the complexity of the STEP installation. This isn't your daddy's random mashup of Steam workshop mods. It's a few weeks, for me at least. But this time I seem to have finally gotten it right. And am loving it. And done right, I think even an Extended STEP install of 250 mods is more stable than half that amount randomly tossed together.

Put simply, for me it's STEP Skyrim or no Skyrim at all.

Wow that looks fantastic. At the moment I have Skyrim with some stuff from the Steam workshop and a few mods I added myself. I might have to set the time aside to get STEP installed.

It's so worth it. It look/feels that much nicer in motion. Still pics don't do it justice, especially the volumetric sunlight and the way it throws shadows across the water and NPC faces and other objects. I'll take some shots of NPCs so you can see how much better they look (especially the eyes, hair, and clothes).

Just take it SLOW. You might consider doing a second install (a test install) of the game and doing the STEP process to that install. And make sure to install Skyrim outside of the Program Files X86 folder on your C drive. That will save you some headaches.

FWIW, the instructions are really well written and clear for the most part. If a nincompoop like me can follow them successfully, 90% of the SimHQ crowd can, too.

Skyrim remains impressive, even 3 years later.
As good as it can look, it's the gameplay mods that make it an incredible gaming experience. It's so hard to stop adding on to it and just play. LOL

Ha ha. That's true. Other than possibly adding a mod/collection of mods that expands towns and cities, I am finished modding. It can be a black hole. I've never even finished the main quest, so now that STEP is purring nicely, it's time to play!

STEP includes a good number of mods that improve the gameplay, as well. Basically, Skyrim is optimized for PC like never before.

I think that at the very least, it should be called STEPS. I mean, I am not a stickler for grammatical accuracy, but in this case it would be a kindness to mentally prepare you for what is ahead! (just kidding, it is impressive)

STEP= Skyrim Total Enhancement Project

But yeah, it's a beast of an install process, even with the guide.

I tried this ages ago and didn't work for me, either something errored out or not installed properly but didn't have the stamina to try again.

Looks lovely though.

Yes, it does require patience, that's for sure.

Looks fantastic, thanks for posting those screenies.

Once my new gfx card arrives I'll go for a complete reinstall of Skyrim with STEP.

I have been modding Skyrim for about a week or so with the guide "Skyrim Beautification Project" has anyone ever tryed it? How does it compare to step. I have to say even skyrim looks marvelous with it, now that I've seen the STEP shots I'm not sure wich one is better. Also what body/ character mods does STEP use?

Hmmm... Seeing as my last two playthroughs have become pretty much unplayable from too many mods added halfway in, it's probably time to start over. Again. I looked at this a while back but was a bit intimidated by the complexity of the install. Might be time for another look there.

Things like this are how I've somehow logged over 300 hours in this game over the last 2 1/2 years.

I encourage everyone to try it, and to be prepared for failure the first try. It took me a few times, but finally I am playing the game I always wanted to play. The one the vanilla version merely hinted at,


If you guys do try it, use the STEP forums, which are excellent. I have always gotten prompt and helpful answers.

Ok I'm in! Just read that you can get the Requiem mod working with STEP.

Now I just have to set aside the time to do it.

Sold...

I am at level 15 and the game has crashed once, when leaving Markarth. This happened to me in vanilla so its not due to STEP.

Did that include the memory mod? Allows you to use 8GB of memory. Very helpful for the game.
Also, enable vsync. The game just doesn't run well above 60fps and can crash from it sometimes.
Either in your driver software or (copied from steam forum):

editing the SkyrimPrefs.ini to change iPresentInterval from 1 to 0. This file is located in C:\Users\(your name)\My Documents\My Games\Skyrim\

I believe there is a memory mod of some sort in the STEP install somewhere.
With all the graphical goodness I am running, my frames never go above 60. I think 45 is probably the highest. 30 is enough for me, since I am a slower more methodical gamer and would rather awesome visuals at 25-35 than mediocre ones at 60.

I have had so many problems with jammed up Skyrim installs in the past that this time round I am only doing things that have been vetted by the STEP team. Those guys know what they are doing. They have achieved a great balance between ambition and stability.