Disclaimer: I am not claiming in any way that I am a pro or best or veteran in modding the Skyrim LE or SE, I am only sharing what I have done with my game through all the years of experience modding Skyrim starting from Skyrim LE and up to today Skyrim SE. I Started modding Skyrim LE manually and then I switch to Nexus Mod Manager and finally ended up using Mod Organizer. Now I am using Mod Organizer 2. I also know how to mod Skyrim using Vortex but this tutorial was not meant for that, and I will focus this tutorial using Mod Organizer 2.

 

This tutorial might  be effective to some people or players of Skyrim LE and might also not be effective as well to some, so it is still recommended that you do your own stuff, search for your own, resolve your issues, and mod your game with your very own style. Trial and error is  one of the best way to use in modding Skyrim. Yes if we mod a game, of course there will be a chance that you are also breaking the game. So if you are not ready to break or your game might get some problems or issues, then I recommend that you stop modding it. I also encountered a lot of issues before especially on this Skyrim LE, from simple issues up to the issues that I cannot resolve anymore. The very good thing I always do is to backup my Base Games because you don't want to buy your game from Steam or other game store every time you will encounter issues on it. BACKUP your game, backup your saves, backup your working mods and backup everything that is normally running. But for every failure you/will encounter, you will eventually learn from it. Each and everyone might have their own  unique taste/case/circumstances in gaming, and we can say as well in modding so that is why I am not saying that you do the way like I do, treat this as merely just a suggestion from me as well to make your modding easier in some way or somehow. In the first place, you might be using a diferent computer system than me. I am not using a high end computer system, just a mid tier gaming I think. Just enough to play Skyrim SE Base Game without worries, so modding it will/might be tough for it.

 

So if anyone  is claiming to be  the best out there, saying they are very good/the best/pro/veteran in modding, then get the hell out of here. If you are here just to comment bad words or troll, talking shits and making dramas, acting like a child here boasting about you, being the best. You are not needed here and so even your written words are not even meant to be here that is if your only goal or aim is to bark like a dog.

 

I will gladly accept my own mistakes and I even take good suggestions from good people*. I even accept reality or subjective criticism, but before you do that, think first for yourself. Do you have a right? Or do you have a right to bash/comment things the right way not hurting people because you are just suggesting and not forcing your own way/thinking to other people? Remember to respect other people so that people will respect you too. So first and foremost, please respect my Blog.  This is my very own blog, I only made this to share what I experience before to all the people that might be starting modding Skyrim LE or SE or in different circumstances - people that might have the same experiences/stories like me.  I have been modding Skyrim LE for a very long time, and the same principle of modding I apply to Skyrim SE now. There are some differences between Skyrim LE and SE but the very basics are almost the same in modding.

 

Think first before you write anything. This is my very own business. And if you are one of the people who are just here, very jealous on the content creations of others and you want to become popular by making Dramas here. I am saying it out now - loud in your face, that THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU. You are free to go and do anything you want, just don't involve me with it. In short, I don't care about you so just go ahead, kill yourself with it and mind your own business. Make your own blogs or content creations too if you want, no one is stopping you in doing it. Just don't spread your stupidity or negativity here. 

 

*Good People are considered true human beings while I considered Trollers/Shit Talkers as animals. So this is not the place for these animals, just go to the Zoo instead. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Back to Basic, Skyrim LE

Episode One - So it begins... Again?

 

 

 

 

I assembled my old PC again by fixing some of it's hardware issues. It is not a high end PC and maybe I can say that it is low system, enough to run or maybe Skyrim LE (Legendary Edition) may not be able to run on it. I will not use a graphics card and just use it's built in graphics software. I already ordered graphics card if I really encounter issues for this game when I mod it. I also am playing Skyrim SE to my another PC but like I said I enjoy modding Skyrim that is why I fix this old computer of mine. Without further ado, let us see if Skyrim LE will really run without graphics card and also if it is possible to mod it.

 

This is my Skyrim Legendary Edition Base Game

 

 

Like what I have done on Skyrim SE (Special Editon), I will not run this game through or using Steam because from what I said on my previous blogs - Steam updates every time I restart computer and sometimes it takes long time just for an update. This base game is a legal copy I bought before and I just back it up on cloud storage. Maybe I do have 3 cloud storages that contains my back up games, I install it fresh again so there will be no SKSE, ENBs, Creation Kit and other applications that will go here if you start modding it. I will mod it manually by using Mod Organizer 2.

 

I ran the game by clicking the TESV Application Icon there,

 

 

The Base Game is running smoothly as you can see, so maybe I can start modding this Skyrim LE. ?

 

Like what I did on my previous blogs, I see the Base Game version in this way. Boxed in yellow 1.9.32.0.8, that is the game version of my Skyrim Legendary Edition.

 

I continue to look around before I quit the game.

 

Still pretty decent graphic looks for a very old game. It has no ENB which enhances the environment or overall look of the game. ?

 

 

To start modding Skyrim LE, of course you have to find an application that will organize or manage your mods. For this tutorial, I specifically chosen Mod Organizer 2 just like on what I used on the Skyrim SE from my previous blogs. Get your copy and download it from Nexus Mods, you will never find it anymore on the Skyrim (LE) because it was available on the Skyrim Special Edition Pages. The link is just below...

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/6194

 

 

If you cannot download it directly without an account, then just register and make an account there. It is free anyway so it will only takes a couple minutes just to register there successfully.

 

 

I made a new folder which I renamed as MO2 in the Downloads folder. I do this so in later time every time I make changes on the mods in the game, the mods will be very accessible then. Just like MO2, my Skyrim LE base game was also placed here in the Downloads folder. And also the same reason for MO2 folder, so that any changes I make on the Base Game itself will be very accessible in later time.

 

Then I install the Mod Organizer 2, you will see the first tab just like below. Tick the I accept the agrrement then tap next.

 

 

You will be given an option to where to place the Mod Organizer 2 files. In my case, I just find the MO2 folder I made previously so that all the mods that I will install will eventually go here. Just make sure you are on the correct output folder of the installer before clicking OK.

 

As you can see it is correct, then I tap Next.

 

On the next tab, you will be given a choice which of the following installers or apllication mods that will be installed by MO2 Installer. Normally you just leave it like that or by default just tap Next then.

 

Then on the next tab, you will be given an option rename or place made Mod Organizer folder on the Start Menu. By default just leave it like that then just tap the Next button.

 

And then an Option to make a Shortcut on your Desktop. Of course tick it so that MO2 application will be very accessible to you. Then tap Next.

 

And finally check all the informations if they are all correct before you tap the Install button.

 

Wait until the installation is done.

 

Untick the Launch Mod Organizer so that MO2 will not run right away when you tap the Finish button. We do this because we need to run the MO2 as Administrator because that is the right way to run it or else some part of the applications will be blocked or firewalled by your OS even if you turned off the Windows Security.

 

Just like I said on my Disclaimer, you don't have to follow  my every step in installing this or that. This is just a mere suggestion so you have a freedom to make your own way on how you do things especially in modding Skyrim LE. My steps are made this way because there are reasons behind it, but if you have your very own understanding in doing things then you are free to do so. 

 

When we already know the Base Game Version of Skyrim Legendary Edition we have, then we go to this link below,

 

https://skse.silverlock.org/

 

 

In this site, we find the correct SKSE version we need to install which matches the game version we have. In my case, my Skyrim LE base game  version is 1.9.32.0.8 which was the last and the latest version. According to the site we need to use SKSE 1.07.03 which was the last for the 32bit Skyrim LE.

 

I already have it before and was just stored on my backup cloud drives. I am just showing for the new modders where exactly to find the SKSE so that it will be a correct version and of course to be able to run the mods you will be using. SKSE is an engine that will run the mods in your Skyrim LE game.

 

After downloading the  SKSE, make a new folder and place the SKSE there. The new folder I made was also on my Downloads folder and I extract SKSE there. We do this so that there will be no overlapping of files and we can easily determine which files to be use on the SKSE extracted folder.

 

Go to the extracted SKSE folder, from there only choose/select the three files bosed in red. These three files namely skse_1_9_32.dll, skse_loader.exe and skse_steam_loader.dll. Copy these three files and Paste it on your Skyrim LE Base Game where you can find TESV.exe and SkyrimLauncher.exe files.

 

 

You can see that I pasted the three files from the extracted SKSE folder boxed in red and I placed them together with the TESV.exe and SkyrimLauncher.exe  files which are boxed in yellow.

 

 

After that I tried to run the game with SKSE by clicking the skse_loader.exe.

 

It runs and loads smoothly until I press ESC button on my keyboard, of course to see if the SKSE engine is working.

 

There is no error message saying for any issues or mismatch SKSE version. You can see the SKSE version besides the game version so we can say that the SKSE is working fine.?

 

 

After I verified that SKSE is working on my Skyrim LE game then I quit the game right away.

 

Go to desktop, then run the Mod Organizer 2 as Administrator by right clicking it.

 

Then you will see a new tab like below. For this just tick the never show this page again before clicking Next button.

 

On the next tab, you will be given two choices either Create a global instance or Create a portable instance. You will choice first if you will use MO2 for another game which will use this. And if not then just choose the 2nd choice which is Create a portable instance. By default, this instance will make a mods installation folder for one game for example Skyrim Legendary Edition. And since I have no way to play another game which will use MO2, then I just choose this 2nd choice.

 

When you click Next from the the previous tab, then you will proceed on which game to be mod. By default MO2 detect your storage if there are games that are active and may need to be modded there. In this instance, it has detected Skyrim LE in your Hard Disk right away. By default just choose this and then click next afterwards.

 

Then you will be directed to the new tab just like below. Normally MO2 will find where it's base folder was located. By default, the location is correct. But the problem with this is it will create a new folders for downloads, mods, profiles and overwrite into another system folder called Documents. We have to avoid the MO2 in doing that so just tick the Show advanced option below.

 

The tab will expand and it will show you what particular folders it is going to make. These are the downloads, mods, profiles and overwrite folders.

 

We have to do these one by one in the MO2 folder we have created before or the base folder of the MO2 in the Downloads folder we have created before. Mo2 will find the downloads folder but it will just say that the path does not exist.

 

So even with these tabs opened, we can create a New Folder there directly and just renamed this with downloads. Don't tap the Select Folder yet until you are very sure that it is really the downloads folder that was chosen. You can see below that the folder name is New Folder. Just right after renaming the downloads folder, click it again.

 

Now you can see that after clicking the downloads folder it matches the folder name below which is downloads as well. Then when they matched up you can finally tap the Select Folder below.

 

 

You have to do this on the other three folders left namely mods, profiles and overwrite. You can see that you have the right folder paths when the names matches the red boxed informations below. When you are done, then you can finally tap Next buttton there.

 

 

On the next tab, you are given an option to link your Nexus account on the MO2. For me it is alright to connect it to Nexus Mods when you have an internet connection so that when you download mods from the Nexus site, it will be easier later on. Below shows that it is not connected so just click the Connect the Nexus.

 

 

It will read or load just like below and your browser will automatically goes to the Nexus Mods site when you are logged in there. If you are not logged in, then just log in and reload  teh Connect to Nexus on your MO2. When the two was connected, you will see just like below that you are given a choice to Authorise it. Of course, just click AUTHORISE in the Nexus site.

 

After authorizing, when the link is successful. You will see the notifications on the MO2 just like below. Then proceed Next afterwards.

 

Then you will be directed to another tab, just like below. There you will just check if all the informations listed inside the box are all correct before selecting Finish button under.

 

The Mod Organizer 2 will load up and for the first time use of it,You will be asked out if you will need a tutorial for it. If you are really new to modding Skyrim LE using MO2, just don't tick the Never ask to show tutorials because it might have some helpful tips for you. But since I already know what I am doing, I just tick it then click Yes afterwards.

 

After loading you will be asked again if you want MO2 to handle Nexus Mods link, just tap Yes  since it is very useful in downloading mods coming from the Nexus Site.

 

For the first opening of the Mod Organizer 2, you can see on the right panel that the .esm and .esp files are not ticked or checked there.

 

Just don't forget to tick everything there so that those plugins will work on your game. It short even if you install a mod and you don't checked it on the right panel of MO2, then the mod will not run in your game. The left panel list of Mod Organizer 2 is called Mod List while the right panel is called Mod/Load Order. It will start to read from the very bottom to above mods. So if you are prioritizing a mod, just place it on the very below of the Mod List. When starting to mod Skyrim LE, there are a lot of plugins on the right panel of MO2 compared to Skyrim SE which are fewer. The reason for this is Skyrim SE was a game on high resolutions so it doesn't need a plugin fot it anymore. It will be less later on once we installed the UNSLEEP patches which includes the updates for the Unofficial .esp files listed there.

 

 

Then let us go back to the extracted SKSE folder we left before. Select the Data folder there and compress it using RAR or ZIP Application files. In my case I use WinRAR to compress files just like what you can see below.

 

When the compression is done, rename the Data.rar into Scripts.rar just like what I did below.

 

Then let us open the Mod Organizer 2 as Adminstrator and let it load until you can see just like below. In the left panel of MO2, there are icons there that represents different uses. The 2nd Icon above which represents Install a new mod from an archive is the one you have to use when manually installing .rar, .zip or .fomod files. Just click that Icon.

 

Then find the location of the Scripts file we have compressed before. That is the very first mod we are going to install in the Skyrim LE Game. That mod will not actually adds up a plugin file so you will never see another file appearing on the right panel of MO2 but instead it will place all the scripts  mainly composed of .pex and .psc files in your Skyrim LE game. These files are very essential files for your game. Select the Scripts.rar file and then Open it.

 

Upon installing it, you will be directed into a new tab just like what we can see below. Just press OK there.

 

Then when it is done on it's installation, it will be included on the Mod List on the left Panel of MO2. Just don't forget to tick or check the box to make it work on your game.

 

When you try to Run the game on SKSE in the right panel of MO2 for the first time, a notification just like what we can see below. I will not use Steam just like what I said previously because it only adds up on the long loading of the game instead. So I choose to Continue without starting Steam and also select the Remember my choice below so that it will never appear again on the next Run of Skyrim LE game.

 

I already skipped a lot and just install all the mods that are required on my game. As you can see below, there are a lot of mods there already. I just saved them before on my cloud storages and download them to use again on my game. You can see that I am using the NINI mods which are quite complete already by itself. The NINI mods are not in the compressed file but separated and numbered by folders, I just follow the numbering of NINIrim which tells on where to place them on the Mod List. I also installed all the required and essential mods for the game, for example I installed the Alternate Start-Live Another Life mod which will be very helpful to me so that I will not go through the prisoner opening scenes in the start of the game. Instead, I will start on a prison cell where you are modifying your starting character.

 

Also if you noticed, I am not using RaceMenu mod for chracter modifications and creations but instead an alternate one which is the Enhanced Character Edit. I didn't use the ECE mod included in the NINI Pack because it was in Korean and not updated. I just download and install the ECE from the Nexus Mods. Remember that you can only use one mod that modifies a character so I just unchecked the other ECE there and also if you will have a RaceMenu mod, make sure to uncheck it as well so that it will not overlap the ECE mod. RaceMenu will always overlap ECE in whtever position you place it in your Mod List or Load Order. In short, ECE will not work anymore once RaceMenu was installed and checked in the Mod List. You can install it but never check it if you are using ECE in character modifications.

 

When you check ECE, it also adds up three plugins namely RaceCompatibility.esm, EnhancedCharacterEdit.esp and CharacterMakingExtender.esp. RaceCompatibility.esm is a plugin required if you are going to use another Race on ECE modifications while EnhancedCharacterEdit.esp is a plugin for your character modifications and sliders, And lastly CharacterMakingExtender.esp is to expands the number of character presets you can save and also to be able to use CME Presets as well.

 

I Run the game again under SKSE, it loads up and I just make a New Game. This time you will not undergo on the prisoner opening scenes anymore but instead you will begin on a prison cell just like what you can see below.

 

The Character Creation and Modifications UI is almost the same on the default UI of Vanilla Skyrim LE. And since I want to create a female character, I will Select the Body above the UI. I just leave the Nord Race there which represents human race as well. 

 

I switched into female by sliding the Sex slider into 1 and then I Select the Slot Load. When you slide this, you can choose among the CME Presets loaded in your CME Saves. There are no available Saves yet in the beginning of the game of course so we just press R in you keyboard and you will be directed into Naming your Character. Just name it whetever you want, then OK. And you will be directed on to what Slot you want your default character preset to be saved. Just choose Slot 1 by default.

 

 

Then the game will officially begins but for now is just Save it and then Quit the game.

 

When you look on the Documents folder, you will find out that there is a New Folder that was made there namely My Games. This folder was made by the Skyrim LE game in default so that all your saves will eventually go here. This will only appear if you made a Character Preset Saves and also your Game Progressions Save.

 

 

Opening it, you will find all the Saves, Presets and Configs of your Skyrim LE game. The folder we are looking for is this CME_save folder.

 

Then I Right Clicked the CME_save folder to make a Desktop Shortcut for it.  In this way this folder will be very accessible for us when we are going to use another CME Presets.

 

 

I already have some CME Presets I am using in Skyrim SE. Remember that not all the CME Presets used on Skyrim SE are going to work on Skyrim LE. I already tested these presets before and it is working on either Skyrim LE or SE. The CME Preset of Ari was set on CME 1 namely _1_commonTriRaces.slot and when you copy these on the CME_save folder then it will going to replaced the default or existing one there for the Slot one of course.

 

 

Then I reRun the Skyrim LE game again on MO2. At first you will just continue on your last game progression and will not start on chracter creation anymore. To be able to access the RaceMenu while on game just type in this key "~", then on the cursor just type in the words "showracemenu" continuously without space and then Enter. It will load a bit and the RaceMenu UI will open just like what we can see below. Just press "~" again to close the cursor and just proceed on the RaceMenu character modifications.

 

 

On the UI, select Body again on the above choices. Then under it, select Slot Load. By clicking the Slot Load slider or presing the arrow keys left or right, you will go to another UI which lets yo select on where/what slot you are going to use on your character. From our previous steps, we copied a CME presets that uses slot 1 and 2. Ari preset was on the slot 1 so if we use it, it will replace the preset look below.

 

Below is the preset of Ari using Slot 1. Actually the hair was different because I havenever installed the mods for more hair yet. I just used the default hair found on the NINI Pack. I only have 40 different hairs for now.

 

 

Now that I can use the preset I have before on Skyrim LE, then I can play a bit. The MO2 contains the basic mods so there will be no good physics there. It will require FNIS and some additional physics mods. Still a lot of mods to install here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued...