Question: How to fix these character models?

[jmck]

Hello,
Just recently began playing through Skyrim for the first time. I'm enjoying it. But the character models are, well, kinda ugly. And whenever I look up an article when I'm lost about something, I've noticed the art looks substantially better. It's almost like they're playing a different game.

I know Skyrim has a ton of mods, including some adult ones. I'm not looking for the adult stuff. I'm just looking for a mod that would update/improve the character models. One that involves relatively little effort to install and make work - I don't want to have to start using a bunch of console commands or deal with a buggy mess just because I wanted a nicer looking game.

Does anyone have a suggestion for your favorite character model update? Thanks in advance, and happy holidays.

[smr1957]

For females, you have these:

UNP Female Body Renewal - A female face and body replacer - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1699

Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer -CBBE - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/198

And for males:

SkySight Skins - Ultra HD 4K 2K Male Textures and Real Feet Meshes - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/6580

Tempered Skins for Males - Vanilla and SOS versions - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/7902

These are just the most popular and widely used - as such, you will find the most support for them. Still, make sure that you read the mod description page - which you should always do for any mod you are considering

[gnewna]

Well, UNP and CBBE are mainly useful as body mesh replacers, they do have skin textures but most people will use a better texture on top.

I would suggest Bijin or Tempered for Females as a good 'nicer than vanilla, not ridiculously airbrushed' start for skin textures. Both can be found on the Nexus and both have versions for UNP or CBBE, make sure you download the correct version. Tempered has the advantage of being designed by the same person as the one for males, and the two look good together.

[smr1957]

UNP Renewal included textures are actually pretty good ones as a matter of fact and I assume the same for CBBE - so, if you want to keep it super simple, it is not really an essential to use additional textures for them - though, as Gnewna suggests, the additional textures are very good if you want to take it one more step (and it's not a very big step - just pick one that you like and put it on top of the base of UNP or CBBE).

Different textures give different looks - some are more "pretty" and model like, and others are more realistic, more careworn and weathered. I agree with Gnewna as to Bijin and Tempered. I use Tempered for the males, and Bijin for the females in my game.

[Lady Aeleanor]

I use Fair Skin Complexion for my girl. Looks amazing.

[gnewna]

Really? TBF I haven't actually bothered even trying the base ones in a while, i remember the Oldrim ones being very plastic looking, maybe I'm being unfair, then!

Oh, also, if you'd like a 'vanilla plus' look which doesn't require a whole body mod (which then runs into possible compatibility issues with armour mods, though tbh most are made with CBBE or UNP in mind) you could try Lucid Skin (it also has options for CBBE/UNP)

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/53030

Total Character Makeover is also a good 'one stop shop' and also covers beast races, eyebrow and beard textures, eye textures and a few other things:

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1037

Personally I use it as a base overridden by CBBE, a skin texture that's not on the Nexus, and Tempered for Males with its non-nude body mesh option, generally speaking.

[jmck]

Thanks, I wasn't expecting such rapid responses! I'll take a closer look at these later, along with any other recommendations that come in. I did look at Nexus last night, but there are so many to look through it's a bit overwhelming.

[FauxFurry]

The best way to fix the models is to do it yourself with the customization utilities to tweak them to your tastes.
.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/201
https://vectorplexus.com/files/file/283-high-poly-head/
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/46311
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/31126
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/30174

[jmck]

Thanks everyone. I ended up downloading Total Character Makeover and WICO, which a friend suggested to me. I'm playing with TCM now, and will give WICO a try a little later on to compare the two. I don't have any other mods, and was hoping to keep it as simple as possible. As plug-and-play as I could get it. All your help is appreciated.

So far, TCM is a dramatic improvement.