(v1.4.3) Mod Organizer 2 & Other tools - From zero to "Hey Sexlab is working!"

[Just Don't]

2 hours ago, vhoulvice said:

i did have to go back and use the add to scriptz to get everything working but it was super easy once i had made those settings adjustments to 7zip.

Cool. I'll add these settings when I mention 7-zip as required software in case people don't get these options in a default install.

[jaeos]

On 6/20/2020 at 3:32 PM, Zaflis said:

Curious i hadn't heard of zaps before. I had to read a bit but i still don't think they will be useful to me at least. It should be enough for most that default settings will conform all outfits (including vanilla replacers) to npc bodyweight, morphs and all possible HDT bounciness. Going into specific details of individual armor pieces is a bit much effort, and is ok to leave in the hands of the mod makers.

Zaps are the way to remove a layer of an outfit. 

Spoiler

with all zaps unchecked

Spoiler

leggings zap checked

Spoiler

and now the outfit looks like this

Spoiler

leggings and skirt

Spoiler

Its a way to customize replacer outfits to what you want to see without going into the files and manually deleting that part. If you wanted topless bandits you just shut off the zap for the top. want them naked but having the stats for the armor and and actual armor slot. zap it all.

[THEleghorse]

Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but in 8.3, I created the BodySlide Output mod like you specified. I then ran BodySlide x64, did all the steps, and here's where my problem occurs. There are no files in the BodySlide Output -OR- in Overwrite?

[Just Don't]

3 hours ago, THEleghorse said:

Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but in 8.3, I created the BodySlide Output mod like you specified. I then ran BodySlide x64, did all the steps, and here's where my problem occurs. There are no files in the BodySlide Output -OR- in Overwrite?

It's possible that all the files were created in the mod's folder instead of going to your output or Overwrite. This can happen if you pick the pre-build morphs during installation, or if you built the sets without morphs. The output is there to catch any new file created with BS, but depending on the mods each user installs, it might end up containing different files, or none at all.

 

As for the mods covered in this guide, you should look into the CBBE SE mod in your left panel double click in it and go into the "Filetree" tab and find the files. For example the body would be in "...\meshes\actors\character\character assets\" .There you'll see some .nif files, find the femalebody_0.nif and femalebody_1.nif and see the "Date modified", it should match the date/time when you built these sets in step 8.4.

[jaeos]

17 hours ago, dontknowdontcaredontask said:

It's possible that all the files were created in the mod's folder instead of going to your output or Overwrite. This can happen if you pick the pre-build morphs during installation, or if you built the sets without morphs. The output is there to catch any new file created with BS, but depending on the mods each user installs, it might end up containing different files, or none at all.

 

As for the mods covered in this guide, you should look into the CBBE SE mod in your left panel double click in it and go into the "Filetree" tab and find the files. For example the body would be in "...\meshes\actors\character\character assets\" .There you'll see some .nif files, find the femalebody_0.nif and femalebody_1.nif and see the "Date modified", it should match the date/time when you built these sets in step 8.4.

Don't you hate it when your computer goes into a toddler rage and does exactly what you do not want it to do?

[Just Don't]

7 hours ago, jaeos said:

Don't you hate it when your computer goes into a toddler rage and does exactly what you do not want it to do?

The BS-MO interaction is by far the most annoying thing IMO. The way it works gives you the sensation you have no control over which files are overwritten when building stuff in BS, which is a completely new sensation if you've been using MO long enough to understand how it works. At first I was fine with it, but one day I tried a different armor/clothing vanilla replacer, keeping the CBBE stuff in there And man it was a fun afternoon, trying to play catch with BS to see where my files were going. That's where I started doing CTRL+Build and redirecting them to wherever I wanted, or manually moving files from overwrite to each mod folder and deleting duplicates (in the rare case more than one mod was providing the same body or outfits files). But that's really sub-optimal approach, specially if you're guiding someone new to all of this.

[THEleghorse]

On 6/29/2020 at 11:49 AM, dontknowdontcaredontask said:

It's possible that all the files were created in the mod's folder instead of going to your output or Overwrite. This can happen if you pick the pre-build morphs during installation, or if you built the sets without morphs. The output is there to catch any new file created with BS, but depending on the mods each user installs, it might end up containing different files, or none at all.

 

As for the mods covered in this guide, you should look into the CBBE SE mod in your left panel double click in it and go into the "Filetree" tab and find the files. For example the body would be in "...\meshes\actors\character\character assets\" .There you'll see some .nif files, find the femalebody_0.nif and femalebody_1.nif and see the "Date modified", it should match the date/time when you built these sets in step 8.4.

So I did find them where you said they'd be. Any way I can remedy this?

[Just Don't]

8 minutes ago, THEleghorse said:

So I did find them where you said they'd be. Any way I can remedy this?

Remedy what? if the files are in the mod folder and things are working fine in game, there is nothing to fix. As I said, the BS Output is there to keep any built file that wasn't part of the mod in the first place. It's not mandatory for these files to go into the output and you don't gain any benefits from forcing them to be there. I see I'll need to reword that part...

 

Just for curiosity sake

1. Did you enabled "Build Morhps"?
2. Did you installed the pre-build morphs (optional setting in the CBBE SE installer)?
3. Do you see any .tri files in "meshes\actors\character\character assets\" (again, this should be in the CBBE SE mod filetree)?

[Varithina]

40 minutes ago, THEleghorse said:

So I did find them where you said they'd be. Any way I can remedy this?

Yes, open bodyslide, and then go down onto the settings button, down at the right of the screen, from there click on the advanced arrow, which should then drop a box down with a option to set the output path for bodyslide, set that directory to where ever you want, though I tend to set it to the overwrite folder, and make sure that the overwrite is empty before running bodyslide.  From what I remember it will even work when you then do a CTRL and batch build.

[Just Don't]

38 minutes ago, Varithina said:

go down onto the settings button, down at the right of the screen, from there click on the advanced arrow, which should then drop a box down with a option to set the output path for bodyslide

I totally forgot that setting, thanks. Couple of "warnings" (obviously targeted at new users)

• If you do this every generated file by BS will go to a new folder (ex. the BS Output), leaving already existing files in the mod as obsolete duplicates. This can ~double the file size of your meshes folders, which might end up adding a lot of extra space (for example BD Armor replacer for CBBE 3B takes 1.3GB, Devious Devices AIO is a little more than 1GB, etc.). This could be an issue if you keep Skyrim/MO in a SSD unit with limited free space.
• If at any point the user removes any mod that generated BS files, the generated files will still be in the chosen output (this actually happens for both the BS output created in step 8.3 -might be worth adding this warning in there- and in the output selected in Advanced settings). This could lead to unintended overwrites (ex. if some of the generated meshes use the vanilla file path) or increase used space as described in the point above.

All in all, there are way too many ways to setup and use BS. The current steps are what I consider to be the most easy and quick ones. I guess I'll need to edit this part to address that fact and offer more options.

[THEleghorse]

Cheers guys, and thanks for your patience.

[StevenSmith1678]

Overall, an excellent guide. Got me up and running inside an hour, for the most part. Only thing I had trouble with was FNIS. I was using the copy in the Mods folder (which I have in the same directory as the Skyrim folder, but not actually in the Skyrim folder), and it wasn’t working. Kept giving an error, and no custom animations would play in-game. Mentioned this to a friend, who directed me to a video by Gopher. It said to use the copy of the program in Skyrim -> Data -> tools -> etc. (not at my computer, so can’t get the full path). As soon as I did that, everything worked fine. Don’t know if it’s an issue with how Vortex does things vs how MO does things, but I did run across a post when trying to figure out the problem that said FNIS needs to be run inside the Skyrim folder. Once I ran the version in the Skyrim Special Edition folder, everything worked great. Figured I’d throw that out there for consideration.

[Just Don't]

29 minutes ago, StevenSmith1678 said:

Don’t know if it’s an issue with how Vortex does things vs how MO does things, but I did run across a post when trying to figure out the problem that said FNIS needs to be run inside the Skyrim folder. Once I ran the version in the Skyrim Special Edition folder, everything worked great. Figured I’d throw that out there for consideration.

If I understand it right you used this as reference to get the mods working, but using Vortex instead of MO (which is fine, whatever mod manager you want to use, just learn to use it and you're in a good path). Vortex has its own setup to use tools like FNIS or Bodyslide, check this video about FNIS for example. And as I'm not covering Vortex here, mainly because I don't use it, I don't think it would fit this guide.

 

On 7/1/2020 at 9:21 AM, THEleghorse said:

Cheers guys, and thanks for your patience.

No problem, is through questions and comments like yours that I can include new/different information so everyone can use the tools as they see fit, instead of just repeating what I'm used to do.

[StevenSmith1678]

I get that this isn’t a Vortex guide, and I didn’t mention it because I thought you should have Vortex-specific info. I mentioned it because your MO guide says to run the copy from the mod folder, but I couldn’t get FNIS to work until I ran the copy in the data folder. If Vortex is doing things differently, then of course don’t update anything. However, if you need to run the copy of FNIS buried in the Data folder to get FNIS to work, that’s something that would apply regardless of which mod organizer you’re using, and may need to be noted. Unless I have my pathing wrong, and should have my SkyrimSE mods folder inside the game’s SkyrimSE folder; it made sense to keep things separate but close, so I have things set up so that steamapps -> common has separate folders for SkyrimSE and SkyrimSE Mods. I have to go into SkyrimSE to find the game launcher, data folder, etc., but the mod staging folder is not located in that folder. However, when trying to fix my issue with FNIS not working, I came across a post on Steam saying FNIS had to be run in the SkyrimSE folder to work properly, and once I found the copy buried in the depths of the Data folder, everything worked fine. If MO can work FNIS from a separate folder, then don’t change anything.

[Just Don't]

39 minutes ago, StevenSmith1678 said:

I get that this isn’t a Vortex guide, and I didn’t mention it because I thought you should have Vortex-specific info. I mentioned it because your MO guide says to run the copy from the mod folder, but I couldn’t get FNIS to work until I ran the copy in the data folder. If Vortex is doing things differently, then of course don’t update anything.

The procedure described in the guide applies to MO and works just fine, I've been using it like this for literal years and most people use it in the same way as well. Now, as I said, Vortex has its own setup, which is explained in the video I linked previously. You shouldn't need to install it directly in your game folder, that's only valid with NMM or doing manual installs. I recommend you to check out that video and setup it properly, because a similar procedure has to be done for most tools. Failing to do so will likely cause troubles in the near future.

 

Looking for advice online or from a friend is fine, but you can't just take any advice without checking if that applies to your particular case. Because in PC there is not only one way to do things, you need to filter this kind of stuff.

[StevenSmith1678]

Ok. My piece has been said, you’ve said no changes need to be made, and that’s good enough for me.

 

Also, my friend’s advice was “Check Gopher’s video”, and Gopher’s video is the one that said to run FNIS from the Data folder.  So I didn’t just do what my friend said and call it good.

[Just Don't]

12 minutes ago, StevenSmith1678 said:

Also, my friend’s advice was “Check Gopher’s video”, and Gopher’s video is the one that said to run FNIS from the Data folder.  So I didn’t just do what my friend said and call it good.

You mean this one? Yeah, now I see what you're talking about. I'm really not familiar with Vortex (quite surprised that you have to install FNIS in Vortex but it goes into your actual data folder?), but as I said, all the instructions are targeted and valid when using MO. I'm glad you could use parts of this either way.

[jaeos]

1 hour ago, StevenSmith1678 said:

I get that this isn’t a Vortex guide, and I didn’t mention it because I thought you should have Vortex-specific info. I mentioned it because your MO guide says to run the copy from the mod folder, but I couldn’t get FNIS to work until I ran the copy in the data folder. If Vortex is doing things differently, then of course don’t update anything. However, if you need to run the copy of FNIS buried in the Data folder to get FNIS to work, that’s something that would apply regardless of which mod organizer you’re using, and may need to be noted. Unless I have my pathing wrong, and should have my SkyrimSE mods folder inside the game’s SkyrimSE folder; it made sense to keep things separate but close, so I have things set up so that steamapps -> common has separate folders for SkyrimSE and SkyrimSE Mods. I have to go into SkyrimSE to find the game launcher, data folder, etc., but the mod staging folder is not located in that folder. However, when trying to fix my issue with FNIS not working, I came across a post on Steam saying FNIS had to be run in the SkyrimSE folder to work properly, and once I found the copy buried in the depths of the Data folder, everything worked fine. If MO can work FNIS from a separate folder, then don’t change anything.

This is exactly why i run MO2. It uses a virtual file system that you do not install anything other than skse and an ENB into the original install folder of the game. and shutting off a mod. no problem, click a checkbox. 

[wookiewiese13]

Query. I am in between steps 5.1 and 5.2 with only the loader, lab and matchmaker left to download and install. Initially I couldn't create a separate library to put skyrim into (outside of programfiles 86) as it wouldn't let me put another library in the same partition. I just managed to find a way to do this successfully, so now I have a library outside of pf86. So the question is, whether I uninstall and reinstall in the new folder or move it over manually, will this cause an issue with the previous steps I've followed? Is there something I need to do on MO2 or otherwise with the mods before uninstalling or moving skyrim? Granted I do have all my mod files and mo2 and such in my working folder which is already in it's own spot outside of pf86. I just didn't want to blindly go about making this switch without some sort of confirmation that it wouldn't cause problems. Lastly, if it is okay to move it over/reinstall what about the beginning step with launching the game once? and the bethINI, mo2 (connecting to skyrim) and SKSE steps? Is changing skyrims location going to mess with all of that?

I have not launched the game since that first step, either through steam or SKSE. I have not yet moved the INI files into MO2 either. 

I probably won't do anything until I hear back about this lol, Thanks in advance!

[Just Don't]

14 hours ago, wookiewiese13 said:

now I have a library outside of pf86. So the question is, whether I uninstall and reinstall in the new folder or move it over manually, will this cause an issue with the previous steps I've followed?

I would recommend to uninstall from Steam, delete all Skyrim SE related files that remain in your default Steam library (steamapps\common) and install it again on your new library.

• After the game finishes the download/install, start the default launcher once, then see if MO recognizes the new location, if MO can't find your newly installed game in MO go to Settings, in the "Paths" tab you'll see a "Managed Game" field, you can use the "..." button there to redirect MO to the new Skyrim SE install (you should select the SkyrimSE.exe file inside the new Steam library/steamapps/common/Skyrim Special Edition).
• The other paths should remain the same (as these are the internal MO2\ folders which you haven't changed).
• You might need to repeat the BethINI steps to be sure the ini files in your Documents are the ones created by BethINI, then move these ini files into MO2\profiles\Default. Same goes for moving the exe and dll files from SKSE into your game folder.

TBH it would have been a good idea to change your Skyrim install before doing any of the steps, but you still can make it work with some adjustments. Let me know if it works.

[wookiewiese13]

19 hours ago, dontknowdontcaredontask said:

I would recommend to uninstall from Steam, delete all Skyrim SE related files that remain in your default Steam library (steamapps\common) and install it again on your new library.

• After the game finishes the download/install, start the default launcher once, then see if MO recognizes the new location, if MO can't find your newly installed game in MO go to Settings, in the "Paths" tab you'll see a "Managed Game" field, you can use the "..." button there to redirect MO to the new Skyrim SE install (you should select the SkyrimSE.exe file inside the new Steam library/steamapps/common/Skyrim Special Edition).
• The other paths should remain the same (as these are the internal MO2\ folders which you haven't changed).
• You might need to repeat the BethINI steps to be sure the ini files in your Documents are the ones created by BethINI, then move these ini files into MO2\profiles\Default. Same goes for moving the exe and dll files from SKSE into your game folder.

So I did this, It seemed like I had no issue reinstalling into the new folder, when I opened mo2 It said it no longer detected it in pf86 but then it brought up a similar pop up to when I first launched it and had the new library location. I selected it, moved the BethINI to the MO2\profiles\default and the SKSE files into my game folder, then finished the rest of the steps up to the first in game test. However, when I hit run it, it claims that it cannot find the SKSE executable, but shows the location as the pf86 commonapps where it was previously, that I have since deleted completely from that library. Will include screenshots of error message and my mo2. 
Again thank you for taking your time to help out this modding pleb. It is much appreciated. 

 

 

 

Also including shot of my path so you can see it is connected to the new folder

 

And just in case my dumbass messed up somewhere else, here are shots of my working folder, my game folder, and the partition both are on (LibraryTwo is where skyrim is installed, Skyrim Mods is my Working Folder)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Just Don't]

Oh right, MO must have the old file path for the SKSE executable. Go to the Modify Executables window (the 2 gears icon or select "Edit" in the executable list besides the Run button). There, with SKSE selected you'll have to redirect the "Binary" to point the skse64_loader.exe in your new Skyrim SE folder, and also the "Start in" to the same new Skyrim SE folder. I think that's the only executable that would require this manual tweak, every other executable in that list should be in the same place (working folder or inside MO2 folder).

[YojimboRatchet]

2 questions:

 

1. any way to update the instructions to add HDT physics at all ? even if someone doesn't use it per say, some items like from DD won't show up properly without this (like items showing up in the ground and so on).

 

2. ENB... i never did install this, as it was noted as pretty system intense and i have a crappy HP laptop lol. but now i am a bit interested in finding out more about this and knowing if there is a way to use ENB without it taxing my system at all or should i pass on it given i've used it so far without only a few random system freezes here and there. ?

[Just Don't]

34 minutes ago, YojimboRatchet said:

1. any way to update the instructions to add HDT physics at all ? even if someone doesn't use it per say, some items like from DD won't show up properly without this (like items showing up in the ground and so on).

That's a bit out of the scope of the guide, but it's not hard to do really. I would recommend to go for a CBBE 3BBB body setup. Install/Place the mods as such in MO left panel:

1. Keep CBPC installed.
2. Install HDT-SMP
3. Install BodySlide and CBBE SE as usual
4. Install CBBE 3BBB
5. - Compatible Skin texture of your choice (example Fair Skin for CBBE) -
6. Keep XPMSSE installed and placed last (only MNC should overwrite this mod, if you don't use MNC, nothing should overwrite the mod files from XPMSSE)

So in the CBBE 3BBB installer you'll see some settings, I personally use CBPC+SMP ("full" I think it's called, there is also a "little" that might be more performance friendly as it uses more CPBC than SMP to handle the physics). Other settings are to tweak the physics based on the size/jiggliness each user wants to see in game, so personal preference.

 

In BodySlide you'll need to build the following sets using your Preset (I think most CBBE presets work for CBBE 3BBB, but there are some presets made for 3BBB too, for example I use the Wrong Body preset).

• SE 3BBB Body Amazing - This is the female nude body that will use any mix of CBPC+SMP to handle physics.
• 3BBB Amazing Body SMP ON Object Player - The (invisible) object that enables SMP in the player character (there is a power to switch between CBPC and CBPC+SMP, you can enable it in the mod MCM).
• 3BBB Amazing Body SMP ON Object NPC A-cup - Same as above, but for NPCs where you enable SMP (there are spells to do so, add or remove them in the MCM)
• 3BBB Amazing Body SMP ON Object NPC B-cup - Same as above, these are just different cup sizes. You can enable 1 cup size per NPC using different spells.
• 3BBB Amazing Body SMP ON Object NPC C-cup - ^
• 3BBB Amazing Body SMP ON Object NPC D-cup - ^

That should be it, The way it works by default is it will use CBPC only for everyone, then you can go into the mod MCM and add the power/ spells to enable SMP in the player character or certain NPCs. I've been playing with this setup for a couple of weeks, I tend to enable SMP on player and one or two NPCs (followers/lovers) and haven't had any issues. I think DD items should work as long as you have SMP installed, not sure if you need to enable SMP in the NPCs/player wearing them. Hmm I'll add it as an optional step (a completely separated step, not between the mods to install or the BodySlide steps).

 

34 minutes ago, YojimboRatchet said:

2. ENB... i never did install this, as it was noted as pretty system intense and i have a crappy HP laptop lol. but now i am a bit interested in finding out more about this and knowing if there is a way to use ENB without it taxing my system at all or should i pass on it given i've used it so far without only a few random system freezes here and there. ?

You could use a minimal preset with just a couple of effects enabled to enhance the lighting/shadows. I don't know such preset tho, I used Imaginarium ENB for a long time, now I'm testing different presets but can't make my mind about which one to use. And while the presets I tend to use aren't really intensive, neither are performance friendly if you're on a laptop.

 

I'd recommend you to search the ENB preset category in the Nexus, check some of the recently updated ones and read the description in hopes to find some performance friendliness or minimal performance impact. Testing different presets shouldn't be an issue as all the files ENB uses can be safely removed at any point and your savegame won't be affected. Just make sure you remove every ENB related file if you intend to remove ENB.

[YojimboRatchet]

thanks, i'll read up on the ENB stuff.

 

still new to the HDT stuff tho, so this whole 3bbb and smp is beyond me for now, but thanks, adding it will hopefully help others as well