Bethesda has announced it will release a Survival Mode for Skyrim Creation Club, and while it hasn't released just yet, you can opt into the Steam beta right now. It's an appealing mod if you're keen on punishment: it adds hunger, fatigue and weather-oriented survival systems, and you can't fast travel either.

But it looks like the mod itself won't be free. According to the announcement, "both PC and console players will get Survival Mode free for one week once it launches on their preferred platform." While no price is specified, it does imply that you won't be able to subject yourself to this punishing mod unless you fork out.

Still, assuming you don't mind paying what will probably end up being a small fee (and assuming you can overlook the fact that similar community-developed mods are probably available free of charge), it looks pretty good. The map is split into climate zones, all of which will require different levels of preparation to tackle. You won't be jumping into rivers willy nilly in Survival mode, because if the water's too cold it can kill you.

Meanwhile, health won't regenerate, and levelling up will require sleeping in a bed (so no mid-game health replenishments when you hit that next milestone). Carry weight has been "significantly reduced" which, to be honest, sounds like torture to me. But some people love to survive.

There's a whole lot of detail involved: head over here to read about every way Survival mode will make your playthrough a living hell. Creation Club will roll out imminently for Skyrim.

At E3 this year, Bethesda unveiled the Creation Club—a mod-driven initiative for Fallout 4 and Skyrim in response to its ill-fated paid mods scheme of 2015. The developer maintains this iteration is not a paid-mods scheme, and Fallout 4's portion is now live. Skyrim Special Edition's isn't just yet—the main game has not yet been updated—but its dedicated Steam page has been rolled out.

"Get Credits to be used in Creation Club—a collection of all-new game content for Skyrim Special Edition," so reads the Steam page's blurb. "Content is fully curated and compatible with the main game and official add-ons. Using Creation Club is easy—browse the selection in-game by category and use Credits to download the content. Credits can be purchased in packs of various sizes, and you’ll receive a discount on larger packs."

Similar to Fallout 4's Creation Club, credits can be purchased in packs of 750, 1500, 3000, and 5500—which translates to £5.99/$7.99, £10.99/$14.99, £18.99/$24.99, and £29.99/$39.99 in real money. Chris spent $15 in the wasteland and subsequently wrote about whether or not he got his money's worth. 

Despite Bethesda's reasoning, its Creation Club has been divisive, to the point where this No More Creation Club News mod has, at the time of writing, been downloaded 28,906 times in less than four weeks.  

Modders and mod users alike have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a version of Skyrim Script Extender that is compatible with Skyrim Special Edition. That day still hasn't arrived, though after some delays and news that SKSE64 wasn't even being worked on, there's still some good news here. An alpha has appeared, and while it's only intended for mod authors to check out and begin testing, it's still a good sign that someday a full version might be available for everyone.

The Script Extender is a mod other Skyrim mods rely on, as it expands Skyrim's scripting capabilities and allows for added complexity and functionality. A number of mods for the original Skyrim have not been ported over to the Special Edition yet, simply because the same level of functionality isn't available without the SKSE.

So, yay! Good news, it's being worked on. Just to say this again, however: this is an alpha build for mod authors to take a look at. If you're a mod user, don't expect support or questions to be answered by the team working on the new SKSE. Just be patient and keep your fingers crossed that we'll see a complete and working version of the SKSE64 sometime in the future.

If you do want to take a look at the alpha, there's a link within this Reddit post pointing you at the download link, and SKSE's somewhat minimalist site is here.

After discovering a handful of cool user-made mods, I've recently enjoyed returning to Skyrim's Special Edition. If you're yet to pick it up, know that it's free on Steam now through Sunday 9pm BST/1pm PST.  

Be it Dark Souls in Tamriel, angel wings, or dueling with unassuming NPCs, plundering Nexus Mods on any given day is sure to unearth a host of fresh and exciting tweaks to Special Edition's base game. If you prefer the latter, though, it improves the 2011 original with remastered art and effects, new quests, environments, characters, dialogue, and armour and weapons.

If you wind up enjoying all of that beyond its free to try window, Skyrim Special Edition is subject to a limited time 50 percent discount from now through Tuesday, September 19—which brings its Steam price down from £29.99/$39.99 to £14.99/$29.99. 

However you play is of course up to you, but I'd suggest reading Chris' thoughts on why Skyrim's Special Edition is a reminder of just how much mods bring to Bethesda's RPG. 

Head to Skyrim Special Edition's Steam page to give it a spin.