Hi, new to this community, and curious about whether some people here are into Skyrim VR modding, and if we can discuss stuff that works, stuff that doesn't, cool mod experiences etc here. It's my main way to play Skyrim these days.

I know it's kind of a niche. Skyrim VR is technically a very old SE that will never be updated and doesn't even support mods officially. Turns out, modding Skyrim VR might be a bit clunky sometimes, but it's also the way to make it remotely modern or immersive (VRIK, HIGGS and related mods are incredible). And thanks to the efforts that went into adapting tools and libraries, most often than not, SE mods work perfectly.

Any experiences to share?

Edit : If there is some interest for it, either from someone already using it or just wondering about what it's like, I can comment with a tour of my favourite VR-oriented or VR-compatible mods.

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[–] linkinkampf19@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I feel kinda awful not seeing this sooner. I play almost exclusively in VR, and I'm kinda sorta active over on the FUS Wabbajack Discord. Life gets in the way, so I've not played lately due to the daily rigamarole. I use a sub-pack called The Crew VR, and there's yet a sub-pack of that called Nordic Adventures. I highly recommend trying out Wabbajack and MO2 if you've been messing with Vortex. It's a game changer as the installation doesn't touch your SkyrimVR folder, but instead injects the files on launch in a virtual folder. Really clean setup and you just delete the modpack folder and it's uninstalled.

Oh, I also play with the updated master files from SkyrimAE, so I can use all the base CC content that was included with the freebie release version (Fishing, Saints & Seducers, etc), as well as the ability to use to latest Legacy of the Dragonborn (VR is stuck on v5.x otherwise).

I'm here to chat if you've got any good mods to try out.

[–] brsrklf@jlai.lu 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

No need to feel awful, I am aware lemmy communities in general are not that active and this is kind of a niche inside one.

I do use MO2, indeed it makes experimenting with mods a lot easier, since you can remove and swap everything cleanly. I have not tried using any mod list though, I mostly hunt for every mod the old way.

I wasn't aware you could get the free CC stuff to work with VR. I need to try that.

Obviously I use VRIK, HIGGS, PLANCK, spell wheel. Completely necesary for immersion and spending the less possible time in the inventory menu. Inventory is not even fun in flat Elder Scrolls, it's totally shit in VR. It was a bit hard to find good holster positions in VRIK and use them reliably, but once it works, it's very satisfying.

Oh, and weapon throw. Crazy fun. I am just using the Thor Hammer settings with a bit longer auto-return so it's not completely overpowered. I tried manual thrown weapon pickup but it doesn't work great IMO. But sheathing daggers everywhere on your arms/thighs to throw in a fight is great. Occasionally an axe for those "fuck you in particular" moments.

On a graphical level, I am using a lot of replacers (cathedral plants and armours, SMIM, 3BBB and HIMBO bodies and related clothes replacers). The plants in particular are impossible to not replace for me, the default models are so low poly and they're so literally in your face all the time in VR it's kind of unbearable. I got oBody (NPC-level body variants) to work and it's great for variety, although it has the con of needing Racemenu VR which is still a huge mess. Chargen UI is completely botched, list menus mostly don't work, overlays cause invisibility glitches and need to be disabled...

I have tried community shaders but never got it to work, lots of glitches, weird UI shadows, weird water that literally hurts eyes. So I just went back and just use LUX to improve lighting a bit. The effect is limited, Quest headset is not good with dark environments so I don't set it too dark, but it's still better than vanilla.

Interesting NPCs is a must to me, they've got good companions and I often wonder whether their flavour NPC are a vanilla character I had not noticed or from the mod. Well, until they start speaking for ages, because no vanilla NPC has that much dialogue, sometimes they really go overboard. But it's nice. Using Nether's Follower Frawework to manage standard companions.

My quest/NPC selection is a bit limited because I don't want to use Fuz Ro D-oh VR for non-voiced lines. I would if it was only acrivated for silent lines, but the VR version apparently can only work by always activating subtitles, and it's too distracting in VR IMO.

Tried some immersive stuff like the mine, chop and drop physics-based stuff (better than the glitchy vanilla non-animation, especially mining), auto-sneak and jump with headset height (works, but a bit hard to find good height thresholds and just a bit tiring if you sneak a lot).

And a ungodly amount of custom clothing and armour, but, that's just my unhealthy addiction.

[–] linkinkampf19@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

So I have 2 videos I've uploaded to YouTube "showcasing" the general vibe of my modded setup, so take a look if you wish. I'm using slightly different versions of The Crew VR in each, with roughly 200-300 mods piled on top (basically pushing near the 254 esp limit even with the esl support). This was just for fun and nothing scripted or whatever, just wandering lol.

I've avoided the auto sneak as I try my damnedest to play standing (even after my feet get numb from idling lol), although seated play is okay. I've tinkered with the Mantella stuff in the past as it was included with the Mad God Overhaul, but I'm trying to avoid external AI use. As for lighting, The Crew VR uses Light Placer, but previously used LUX, and still uses LUX Via for the fantastic road additions. Follower wise, I have way too many to count. Some are just plain eye-candy without too much depth, but I have a number that have deep stories and fun adventures attached. Still trying to find Val Serano before my next inevitable CTD or complete restart. I tend to use a lot of Eeekie/ColdSun overhauls, and I have way too many demon followers that I should probably trim back on lol.

Community Shaders is a weird one for me. It usually works really well, and keeps me from having to dip into the ENB drama that seems to follow Boris around, although I've not paid it much attention lately. These was one point where I was using Realm of Lorkhan and CS would have lighting glitches all the time over near the pool, and sometimes elsewhere in the vanilla worldspace too. It is a pretty awesome setup if you don't mess with updating version too much (plus I think the latest CS broke VR compat a little, although maybe that's been fixed by now).

One of these days I hope to mash up Crew and Nordic Adventures as the former has all the fancy PBR stuff, and the latter has a more fantastical worldview and plenty of eye-candy in many forms (although I'll take Something in Between over BD's armors, too scantily clad lol), although I'm also holding out hope for other packs like Panda's Sovngarde and maybe some sort of MGO lite, but that's kinda the niche that my current modpacks handle.

Anywho, videos!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAeVokmjgFw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93RPwfKWAwk