I want to make skyrim look next-gen using mods. Help?

[docterfreeze]

This is what I got so far-

Better Males
Static mesh improvement
Caliente's better females
Better females by bella (for faces)
Pure waters
Full Skyrim HD - 2k textures
Apachii sky hair
A quality world map

If it requires me to mess around with the files myself then I don't want it. My PC can handle any skyrim mod, so toss a link and il check it out.

I need a lighting mod now, but there are so many choices. Any recommendations?

[Deleted]

Might want to look at Sharpshooters Extreme Graphics ENB on nexusmods.

[Marthenil]

Take a huge breath before opening the link, I warned you -> LINK
Extremely detailed instructions included. Some of the mods you have installed might conflict a bit so a clean installation is recommended. Depending on your hardware and along with some ENB this is the best the modding scene has to offer while maintaining the vanilla feel of a nordic realistic landscape.
You can head over to the S.T.E.P forums for discussions on lighting and ENB.

[docterfreeze]

Might want to look at Sharpshooters Extreme Graphics ENB on nexusmods.

I like 1 button installs but it seems simple enough.

I love that it doesn't modify textures either, i'll give it a whirl.

[Lazy Gecko]

ENB mods are your best shot overall. They do things like add sunrays, overhaul the shadow rendering, add bokeh depth of field, etc. You can only go so far with hi-res texture mods, and since Skyrim is a 32-bit application it will become very unstable and prone to crashing if you pass the 3.1gb memory threshold (which you will rather easily if you use tons of 2K+ textures everywhere).

[Deleted]

You can barely make it look current "gen" by using mods.

[Marthenil]

ENB mods are your best shot overall. They do things like add sunrays, overhaul the shadow rendering, add bokeh depth of field, etc. You can only go so far with hi-res texture mods, and since Skyrim is a 32-bit application it will become very unstable and prone to crashing if you pass the 3.1gb memory threshold (which you will rather easily if you use tons of 2K+ textures everywhere).

Yep that's why it's really important what texture mods you use.
But an ENB and a lightning overhaul will greatly improve the feeling, without texture mods and some other stuff you can't achieve the "next gen" feel imo.

EDIT for clarity: I mean the quality of the textures, not the resolution. A good texture can look a lot better at 1k than a mediocre at 2k.
Also things like project parallax really improve them.

[Ebonheart]

The best lightning mod I've found that really adds to the game is the "Enhanced Lightning" Mod.

However, the downside is that after 6.00pm in the game its quite hard to actually do anything in the world without a torch light. Everything is so dark and you can barely see much ahead of you.

Make sure you have the official HD textures for the game available for free on Steam.

[Achaman]

the ENB can make it look good but by now way next gen