Bethesda’s 2011 action RPG The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim may well be one of the greatest PC games of all time, thanks to the dizzying array of mods that have been released over the last three years.
The announcement was made over at the official Bethesda Blog. “Get ready for bigger mods on Steam’s Skyrim Workshop,” the entry reads, “This week we’ve pulled the restraining bolt that restricted mod sizes to 100 mb – allowing you to upload mod projects to the file size your project demands!”
There are two primary avenues where PC Skyrim players can get their mods: The Skyrim Nexus, and the Steam Workshop. The former is a website in which the most massive mods are available, but mods downloaded from there must be installed manually or using third-party software like the Nexus Mod Manager. The latter is integrated with Steam and automatically installs mods into the game upon downloading.
Ever since its introduction, the Steam Workshop has had a 100mb size limit for mods. This meant that modders with large-scale projects, particularly graphical ones, had to separate them into multiple smaller mods. This upcoming patch will remove that limit, allowing for mods of astronomical size to be hosted on the Steam Workshop.
The full patch details are as follows:
Creation Kit 1.9.33 Update
- Creation Kit now supports unlimited file sizes for mods on the Steam Workshop.
- The Preview Image is limited to no larger than 1 MB.
Skyrim Launcher
- The Skyrim Launcher no longer downloads mods from Steam Workshop. Downloads are now managed by the Steam Client. The Skyrim Launcher updates the game after the Steam Client finishes the download.
Prior to its introduction, the patch is being tested in an open Beta that users can choose to opt into. To do so, follow these steps:
- Log into Steam
- Click on your game Library.
- Right click on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and select Properties.
- Click on the Betas tab, and from the drop down select beta – Skyrim Beta
- Next from Library, access Tools from the drop down.
- Right click on Creation Kit and select Properties.
- Click on the Betas tab, and from the drop down select beta – Creation Kit Beta
- Steam will now restart. After Steam restarts, Skyrim will be updated to the Beta version currently available.
The scale of Skyrim’s mods is almost beyond description. A large number of them take the concept of the chainmail bikini to new states of undress, others overhaul the game’s combat and RPG system, while others fix the game’s numerous kinks, such as the way characters do a little dance before dying: