Best mod list to use as a base ?

[Sam7HH]

Hi guys, newbie here. Can anyone recommend any good performance friendly mod list which I can use as a base. I am looking for something like this one [Mod List S.I.B AE]. Basically it should include mods like texture replacer, lightning, bug fixes, performance optimization, etc. but leave enough room for customization.

[Gukahn]

I am trying to be not too rude about it, bear with me.

Modpacks are a very sensible topic around here cause you will never learn how to troubleshoot or put mods yourself in the game. They are the sole reason why many mod authors put their mods off nexus and most people who use them come here the moment hey ran into trouble instead of asking the idiot who made the pack in the first place.

What i am trying to say is:
Don't use that shit and make a List on your own. Yes it will take hours, yes it's not gonna be that convenient and i know not many people have time or can make a weekend completely free to do that but just make it in steps.  You will learn what do look out for in the process and don't have to ask that many support questions anymore when you get the hang of it. Most possible questions are answered years ago so not hard to find those and we have a couple of very good guides to help you along the way.

 

[Splendor Solis]

If you're just looking for a base, I'd start with simple stuff that's a foundation for most mods like UESSP, engine fixes, FNIS, SkyUI, Papyrus, jcontainers, sexlab if you want the lewd, etc. From there, it's easy to look into stuff topically. You can compare texture mods, NPC replacers, combat mods, etc. It's way easier to keep track of your modding when you do it topically, because doing everything at once is overwhelming. For example, I'm hugely dependent on a mod where you hold shift to sprint instead of tapping it once, but it's not the sort of thing you'd bring up for a base mod list. It is, however, something you'd bring up if you were talking about movement mods.

[travelmedic]

I agree with @Gukahn:

 

Take the time and make the effort to create the game that you want to play, not the game that someone else thinks you should be playing.

 

More rewarding for you in the long run, and you'll learn a lot more about setting up your game and troubleshooting it.

[Sam7HH]

@travelmedic @Gukahn, i also agree with you. I also want to make my own modlist but i dont know where to start. I do know some of the basics from Gamerpost but i dont have any depth understanding on this matter. Like is this mods should come after xyz mod or not, if this mod/load order is correct or not, how to resolve issue or bugs which may occur, etc

Edited April 3, 2022 by Sam7HH

[travelmedic]

There's never the guarantee that someone else who made a pre-built mod list knows any of the basics either.  Some people are more concerned with getting their name published than in presenting a quality product.

 

I think you'll find that a lot of people here will freely admit that they had to learn things through trial and error.  Thankfully resources for help seem more readily available now than even 5 years ago - youtube tutorials (I recommend Gopher and GamerPoets), various forums, and especially some of the pinned comments on the forums here that will help take you from zero to hero one step at a time.  The nice thing is, you're never obligated to finish a messed up game.  You troubleshoot, get help when needed, adjust, and restart a new game when needed.

 

Using myself as an example, I spend a lot of time looking through mods here and on the Nexus to try to build the game I want - maybe I want to specialize as a slaver, maybe roleplay a powerful wizard, maybe a jack of all trades...  I'll install the mods I think I want and then start a short test game to see what works and what doesn't.  With the information I gain, I might add a few things, delete a few things, or move things around, and then start again.

 

Many mods will have specific instructions on load order, follow those instructions.  Most mod managers also have some sort of LOOT built in to help sort your load order as well.  Mod-specific pages will also be a good source for finding out about bugs that other users experienced and how they overcame them.

 

Then finally, once you have a tentative load order built, and have tested it a little bit, you can come back here with specific problems and people will be willing to help you.  Much more willing to do that than give you pre--built mod lists.

 

PS  Don't be discouraged if you encounter bugs or other problems.  It's Skyrim.  It's my favorite game, and I love it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't frustrate me sometimes.

[Sam7HH]

@travelmedic Nice post, i really feel hopeful and excited. Okay i have decided to make my own modlist. But just one question. Is there any tutorial or like guide for this, i dont mean a guide for installing huge amount of mods, but just a guide for explaining basic stuff like Bug Fixes mods should be installed first, then texture replacers, then gameplay overhauls, etc. You know which order should be followed while installing mods

Edited April 3, 2022 by Sam7HH

[travelmedic]

From the pinned comments:

 

Guides and Tutorials - a partial index of some handy guides you'll find here on LL.  There are probably others as well.

 

Some things you'll need:

 

1 - a good mod manager.  For most people that means either Mod Organizer 2 or Vortex.  Youtube tutorials available from Gopher and/or GamerPoets.  Personally I like MO2, but there are plenty of people who love Vortex also.  I would avoid Nexus Mod Manager.  MO2 uses a tool to help sort your load order, I'm fairly certain Vortex does as well.  Any tools you install such as TES5Edit, Wrye Bash (or Mator Smash or ???) and FNIS will need to be set up to run through your mod manager.  See those youtube tutorials.

 

2 - TES5Edit (aka xEdit) (pretty necessary) - a really good tool that will help you find conflicts between mods.  Will also create your merged patch when you're done installing mods.

 

3 - Fores New Idles in Skyrim (FNIS) (pretty necessary) - if you want to add new animations to your game (and since you're here on LL we'll assume you do) you need this.

 

4 - Wrye Bash or similar tool (pretty necessary) - to create your bashed patch after installing your mods.  You don't have to have it, but if you have more than one mod that alters a particular leveled list, you won't get benefits of all the mods in game without it (for example, if you have two mods that give vendors new weapons to sell, you'll only see one mod reflected in game without it)

 

5 - DynDoLOD (very optional) - you don't need this and a lot of people never bother with it.  Makes your far off landscapes look better.  Might seem intimidating to run, but it's not difficult.

 

6 - body replacers (optional) - ONE (and one only) body replacer for females, and ONE (and one only) body replacer for males.  You don't need it, but assuming you want to run any sort of adult animations you won't see much without.  You can install a texture replacer over (after) the body mod, but again one only for males and females.  Duplicates just cancel each other out.

 

7 - Unoffical Skyrim Patch for whatever version of the game you have - not needed, but it fixes a lot of bugs that people have found over the years, so I'd rate it pretty necessary

 

8 - Script extender (SKSE/SSKSE...) - available at silverlock.org  Make sure you get the right one for your game.  Not needed for a purely vanilla game, but lots of mods require it so just go ahead and get it.  Read the install instructions carefully - not difficult at all, but files have to go in the right folder.

 

9 - Alternate Start Live Another Life (ASLAL) (optional) - not needed, and even if you use this you can still play the vanilla start which I highly recommend for a new player.  The benefit is that it loads you into a small prison cell and you can just wait there a few minutes to give all of your mods time to initialize before you start the game proper.  The intro of the vanilla game is heavily scripted, and even on a pure vanilla game you'll often see why it's called Ulfric's Wild Ride.

 

Make sure that any mod or tool that you download is for the version of the game that you have - LE (Legacy Edition), SE (Special Edition) or AE (Anniversary Edition).  We see this problem on here constantly, people will try to use a LE mod in their AE game, or similar problem.  Wherever you download your mods from (mainly here and Nexus) they should be clearly labeled what version of the game they support.

 

After that it's up to you.  I like to download a mix of everything - weapons, armors, custom-voiced followers and some generic followers, player homes, quests, etc.  Start small and only install a few at a time.  Run a test game with those few.  If everything seems to be working fine for a few minutes, save, close and add a few more.  Repeat.

 

 

[TopDogCat]

It depends on how you want to look at it, because some list can do you some good.  Why would you even wish to subject people to a ton of mistakes they could avoid by using a select list?  There's also nothing stopping people from learning the same mistakes by attempting to modify an existing list.

  If it wasn't for a WJ list I'd probably would've never learned how to bash, smash, and merge with precision.  Some people simply learn by example, and one of the things that makes open-source so popular.

[wardawg3187]

Thanks travelmedic,

 

 Sam7HH asked a good question that I'm sure I and a lot of other's also had. The basic's are all we need to get started, much appreciated. At least you weren't a d**che like Gukahn and just put an add on your question. And tell you to just "deal with it". And to learn it all on your own while making thousands of mistakes. I'd much prefer hundreds of mistakes to thousands. Hope you have a great day.

[ttts1]

In addition to what travelmedic posted above on base mods, a good guide should walk you through what to install to get the very basics running.  You want to start with that because it is easier to see where problems are.  Adding a bunch of mods at once is going to be a nightmare trying to troubleshoot.

 

I would recommend adding the very basic requirements like travelmedic mentioned and then start the game and play for a few minutes to see if the game crashes.  If it works, then you can add 2 or 3 more and test again.  Alternate Start Live Another Life is great for this, you can choose a starting location and see if it crash by starting in Whiterun or a dungeon, for example.  

 

Here's a list of mods I have used (though I have change the vanilla clothing replacer).  These are mods that should run on most computers and will improve some of the "look" of Skyrim. 

 

This list is after you have installed the base mods like FNIS, CBBE (or whatever body replacer), and such. 

 

 

These are just some recommendations to get you thinking about what options are out there. 

Edited June 22, 2023 by ttts1