Legendary Edition - must install via Steam?

[mtar925]

Hi! New STEPper here and raw noob to Skyrim, though I wasted many hours modding Oblivion. I say wasted because I bit off more than I could chew as a new modder and after many hours wound up with a corrupted game. Which is why I was so happy to see a project and community like STEP for Skyrim...thanks in advance for all the help I'm sure STEP will be!

 

Now let me reveal the depths of my ignorance with my first question. I've done a quick search of the forums but don't see anything similar....I must be further behind the curve than most. I am trying to install the DVD of Skyrim LE that I bought recently. I deliberately waited to play Skyrim until such a compilation came out, assuming the game would also be fully patched and the mod options somewhat mature by this time.

 

Anyway. The DVD does not autorun on my Dell XPS notebook (Win7, i7 @2.8ghz, 8gb RAM, nVidia GT555m w 3gb VRAM). All the Setup exes on the DVD point to Steam. I thought I was buying a standalone DVD but since there's only one disc in the package and I'd be surprised if one could hold all the files, I figured I do need Steam. So I installed and created an account, having never been on Steam before. I clicked Add Game, entered the code on the DVD box and it's downloading Skyrim right now. I guess once it's done I'll be able to launch Skyrim via Steam as directed in the SIG and be good to go.

 

So my question is.....was all this really necessary? If I missed an opportunity to install Skyrim without Steam I'd rather go back and do that, to avoid possible complications down the road. Also, I installed Steam on my second HDD, with filepath D:/Steam. Windows is on my C drive; both drives are old-fashioned spinning HDDs. Am I going good so far?

 

One more thing: if it gives me the option should I wait to install any or all of the DLCs until after playing through the Main Quest? I recall that with Oblivion it was better to wait with some of the DLCs but that would add complexity to the modding process.

 

Considering my hardware, and obvious noobishness, can anyone point out any obvious pits that I'm about to fall into?

 

Thanks!

 

Matt

[mtar925]

OK, the Steam install went fine and I launched the game. Backing it up now as directed in the SIG. But I got no option to install DLCs. Does that mean they installed automatically? Or do I need to go looking for them on Steam?

 

Nevermind, I see them in the Skyrim directory. So they are installed and operative, and I need to choose mods compatible with DG, DB and HF. Right?

 

I don't see the Hi-Res DLC that I've read about anywhere. Not in the directory, and don't see it to download on bethsoft.com. Is it already included in the Legendary Edition? Do I need it for STEP or will it be overwritten by mod textures anyway? The Skyrim-Textures.bsa I have now is 1.29gb which doesn't sound very hi-res.

[Omolong]

The high res DLC pack is here.

 

Parts of it will be replaced by mod textures, but there are other parts that currently aren't replaced, so you should get it.

[mtar925]

Thanks for the link! Though I just noted there are tabs along the top of the SIG page and one of them gives detailed instructions re:HRDLC. I will follow them.

 

At this point I am guessing there is no avoiding Steam, as per my original question.

[WilliamImm]

Skyrim, even the official disk versions, require you to register the game with Steam; That's just how it is. If you end up getting a version that does not require Steam for some reason, then it's a pirated version, and you'll get called out on it (and banned) if they find out you are using one of those unofficial versions.

 

Since at this point, many mods (and STEP) will assume you have all three DLCs installed. For some reason, they are not on the DVD itself (prob. because, techinally, they are no different from actual mods), so that will have to be downloaded via Steam. Get the high-res texture pack too, it's certainly worth it.

[mtar925]

OK, thanks.