Question about Type of Skyrim

[Molevalence]

After 2 years, I decided to give Skyrim another go. I understand there is a Legendary and Special edition to the game and mods that work with specific versions of Skyrim. The issue I am having is when I look in my steam library it states I have the Special Edition but ran into a problem when installing SKSE. The SKSE Special Edition was not compatible with my Skyrim and had to use the classic one in order for it to load.

 

Before I did deeper into modding as it takes a great amount of time and effort, which types of mods should I be using? Should I stick with the Special Edition since that is what it shows in my library and consider the SKSE installation a fluke? I'm glad I caught this early on and I do not like flukes when installing mods as I learned over experience that small things can lead to big problems.

[Just Don't]

22 minutes ago, Molevalence said:

but ran into a problem when installing SKSE. The SKSE Special Edition was not compatible with my Skyrim and had to use the classic one in order for it to load.

That makes no sense. SKSE has different builds for both Skyrim (the regular game from 2011 or "LE" if you also own every DLC) and Skyrim SE.

• Classic build (version 1.7.3) is for regular Skyrim.
• SE Build (currently version 2.0.19) is for Skyrim SE.

In both cases the current build (Classic or SE) is compatible with the latest version of the game (regular Skyrim or Skyrim SE) you can get if you install them through Steam. So before you even think about stepping forward, make sure you're using the proper SKSE build/version for the game you intend to mod. This is how both Skyrim versions appear listed in the Steam Library, don't mix them.

And if you're installing things manually or setting up a mod manager to install your mods, make sure you're using the proper folders too.

 

Now if your question is which version should you play, there is an ongoing thread about that. Because it's a question we see almost every week. Check the thread here and choose for yourself.

[RW311]

If your game is SE you must use skse for SE the LE version cannot work. Maybe at first you had the wrong build version, check that you are getting the version that matches your game exe build version, with SE it changed a lot due to creation club updates.

[Molevalence]

3 minutes ago, Just Don't said:

That makes no sense. SKSE has different builds for both Skyrim (the regular game from 2011 or "LE" if you also own every DLC) and Skyrim SE.

• Classic build (version 1.7.3) is for regular Skyrim.
• SE Build (currently version 2.0.19) is for Skyrim SE.

In both cases the current build (Classic or SE) is compatible with the latest version of the game (regular Skyrim or Skyrim SE) you can get if you install them through Steam. So before you even think about stepping forward, make sure you're using the proper SKSE build/version for the game you intend to mod. This is how both Skyrim versions appear listed in the Steam Library, don't mix them.

And if you're installing things manually or setting up a mod manager to install your mods, make sure you're using the proper folders too.

 

Now if your question is which version should you play, there is an ongoing thread about that. Because it's a question we see almost every week. Check the thread here and choose for yourself.

Thank you for the quick reply and the advice. I checked my steam library and I have both The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim AND The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition. I am going to be honest. I did not buy the game twice. I bought the original back in 2011 and got the DLC's as they came out over time. Maybe because of that it registered it again as the Special Edition? Im not sure but regardless now that I have both I can select Special Edition and go from there. I am very glad I caught this early on. Thank you very much.

[RW311]

If you had already skyrim and dlc the SE version was given to you, that is how I have it also.

[Molevalence]

Just now, RW311 said:

If you had already skyrim and dlc the SE version was given to you, that is how I have it also.

I was unaware of this. Now at least I have a path going forward. Thank you both for the responses.

[Just Don't]

8 minutes ago, Molevalence said:

I am going to be honest. I did not buy the game twice. I bought the original back in 2011 and got the DLC's as they came out over time. Maybe because of that it registered it again as the Special Edition? Im not sure but regardless now that I have both I can select Special Edition and go from there.

You got Skyrim SE for free. They gave a free copy to everyone who had the base game + all the DLCs in Steam before SE was released.

 

Just make sure you're not mixing SE and LE things. Which one is better comes down to personal preferences really, like which mods you want to use or how many hours you want to invest to get to a point where the game is stable and playable.