guide Skyrim AE for Beginners - V 3.1.0

[Bigglsby]

23 hours ago, mini_is_drunk said:

Will any mods break if I just disable it or not even install it?

 

I've never used ENB input disabler in my setups.  Any time I want to open up the ENB setup, I just also open up the console ( ` ) to stop the game while playing with ENB settings.  Simple, and no additional mods needed.

 

As for disabling, I'm not sure if it's a plugin, or what... so safe to remove I can't comment on.  If it's just an SKSE plugin, should be safe to pull though.

[Alexi-1]

Alright update on problems while I progress through the list. I'm currently at the end of the UI section, only one major problem encountered and that's Compass Navigation Overhaul causes a hard CTD when starting a new game.

Another minor problem encountered along the way was that Improved Camera SE required a manual edit of the ini file to make it compatible with 1170 (this is suggested by the author on their posts section). Not sure why they don't just upload a new version with that edit included but oh well.

Other than these 2, everything else appears to be working so far.

[Mindgames265]

Well I was today year's old when I found out they finally officially support Ultrawide format in Skyrim AE.

[wollboi]

8 hours ago, Alexi-1 said:

Alright update on problems while I progress through the list. I'm currently at the end of the UI section, only one major problem encountered and that's Compass Navigation Overhaul causes a hard CTD when starting a new game.

Another minor problem encountered along the way was that Improved Camera SE required a manual edit of the ini file to make it compatible with 1170 (this is suggested by the author on their posts section). Not sure why they don't just upload a new version with that edit included but oh well.

Other than these 2, everything else appears to be working so far.

 

Compass Navigation Overhaul still doesn't work with 1.6.1170. It's nice, but can be omitted without issue.

[mini_is_drunk]

I don't understand why my game just closes to desktop after starting new game and after the loading is done, it just crashes. I checked my crash logs and there were no fatal errors and I don't have any errors on LOOT.

crash-2024-01-28-13-07-10.log

[wollboi]

@mini_is_drunk Your crash log repeated mentions the Alternate Perspective Garden plugin. Try disabling that. I don't use it anymore personally, don't see much of a point since I always do vanilla start.

 

---

 

HDT-SMP author is working on a beta for 1.6.1170 as I speak over on his Discord. When it's released and a couple of people chime in that it's working then I'll give it a shot.

[Alexi-1]

11 hours ago, wollboi said:

 

Compass Navigation Overhaul still doesn't work with 1.6.1170. It's nice, but can be omitted without issue.

Yeah I just disabled it after finding the cause. No problem really.

Currently at the end of the World Expansion section and the game works properly but I think I might have missed a patch or something. Spawned into Windhelm to do testing and it works ok except for one problem which is that some geometry disappears when I look below the horizon, it just becomes invisible.

Edited January 28, 2024 by Alexi-1

[Varithina]

2 hours ago, wollboi said:

@mini_is_drunk Your crash log repeated mentions the Alternate Perspective Garden plugin. Try disabling that. I don't use it anymore personally, don't see much of a point since I always do vanilla start.

 

---

 

HDT-SMP author is working on a beta for 1.6.1170 as I speak over on his Discord. When it's released and a couple of people chime in that it's working then I'll give it a shot.

 

I do not even bother with a alternate start mod any more, I found out I was just using the same start for every character, so I just downloaded four base game only saves from nexus, but usually only use the one that is just before the exit from the helgan escape tunnel, then just console for racemenu to do change the character around to what I want, then save that new save having renamed it, then re-load that save, and allow all the mcm, scripted stuff to finish installing, and set everything up, then actually start doing things.

Edited January 28, 2024 by Varithina

[Omn1a]

Please, keep it going, update the guide!

[Alexi-1]

10 hours ago, Alexi-1 said:

Yeah I just disabled it after finding the cause. No problem really.

Currently at the end of the World Expansion section and the game works properly but I think I might have missed a patch or something. Spawned into Windhelm to do testing and it works ok except for one problem which is that some geometry disappears when I look below the horizon, it just becomes invisible.

 

Toyed around with this some more. It isn't a "look down" or "below the horizon" thing, it's a culling issue with some parts of buildings/assets at the edge of the screen. Still not sure what the cause is though, will do the disable and reenable dance when I have the time and patience.

[Guest]

On 1/28/2024 at 7:40 AM, wollboi said:

@mini_is_drunk Your crash log repeated mentions the Alternate Perspective Garden plugin. Try disabling that. I don't use it anymore personally, don't see much of a point since I always do vanilla start.

 

---

 

HDT-SMP author is working on a beta for 1.6.1170 as I speak over on his Discord. When it's released and a couple of people chime in that it's working then I'll give it a shot.

Sorry to jump into the conversation but you mentioned that you always do a vanilla start.  I use Alternate Perspective but would prefer the vanilla start.  Switched over as I was tired of the flying wagon issue which I thought was an SOS thing.  (No pun intended).  Do you have a suggestion how to make it work without my PC flying and glitching with the vanilla start?

 

EDIT:  No need to respond - Just saw Varithina's response.  Didn't even know that existed.  I always liked the cart ride though.  Truly sets the tone for me.

Edited January 29, 2024 by Miss Tee
New info

[Varithina]

5 hours ago, Miss Tee said:

EDIT:  No need to respond - Just saw Varithina's response.  Didn't even know that existed.  I always liked the cart ride though.  Truly sets the tone for me.

 

Seeing it the first time is ok and kinda nice, but if you do a lot of restarts that need new games it gets very annoying, very fast, you can make your own in effect quick start save, deactivate all the mods you normally run, so just vanilla base game files, start a new game, it should have no issues about the cart or anything like that, go through the various bits until you get to where you want to be, and make a hard save, I would normally use just before exiting the escape tunnel, as that bypasses so much tedious stuff when starting a new game, write protect that save game, and then activate all the mods you want, then when you want a new game, instead of choosing start new game, select load game, select show all saves, then choose the save just before exiting the tunnel, load in, then console for racemenu and such, finish up that part, then save the game, naming the character, then reload to allow all the mcm, scripted stuff to run its course, and then go in and do all your settings for the various mods in their various mcm's, when you have got everything sorted out, make another hard save, then exit then tunnel, now if you only want to start a new game without changing any of your mods, then you can just load the last save you made, then console and change appearance and name and you are done, all your mcm, and other settings are already done, or you can choose the vanilla load just before exiting the tunnel and redo everything each time, whichever you find easier or more stable.

[Alexi-1]

On 1/29/2024 at 2:45 AM, Alexi-1 said:

 

Toyed around with this some more. It isn't a "look down" or "below the horizon" thing, it's a culling issue with some parts of buildings/assets at the edge of the screen. Still not sure what the cause is though, will do the disable and reenable dance when I have the time and patience.

This is caused by "Capital Windhelm Expansion". Tried reinstalling and checking patches (USSEP patch reinstalled) as well as JK's patch. Can't seem to get it to work without the issue. Will just remove it or replace it I guess.

[Ashra XIII]

Been checking in a bit on this thread and it's pretty depressing how Bethesda broke so much just to take another stab at paid mods.

 

Since Aylis has been away, is the first page of mods still completely for the pre-updated game? If so I may try this once again and just stick with that version of the game forever since Bethesda seems to be purposefully trying to mess everything up.

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Varithina said:

 

Seeing it the first time is ok and kinda nice, but if you do a lot of restarts that need new games it gets very annoying, very fast, you can make your own in effect quick start save, deactivate all the mods you normally run, so just vanilla base game files, start a new game, it should have no issues about the cart or anything like that, go through the various bits until you get to where you want to be, and make a hard save, I would normally use just before exiting the escape tunnel, as that bypasses so much tedious stuff when starting a new game, write protect that save game, and then activate all the mods you want, then when you want a new game, instead of choosing start new game, select load game, select show all saves, then choose the save just before exiting the tunnel, load in, then console for racemenu and such, finish up that part, then save the game, naming the character, then reload to allow all the mcm, scripted stuff to run its course, and then go in and do all your settings for the various mods in their various mcm's, when you have got everything sorted out, make another hard save, then exit then tunnel, now if you only want to start a new game without changing any of your mods, then you can just load the last save you made, then console and change appearance and name and you are done, all your mcm, and other settings are already done, or you can choose the vanilla load just before exiting the tunnel and redo everything each time, whichever you find easier or more stable.

Thank you so much.  I admit and also embarassed that I am so emotional about my game and struggle to learn how to mod.  I just want to be in game as quick as I can.  I appreciate so much the detailed guidance you provided.  Being able to use your process having everything already set is amazing.  Alt Start mods were a novelty to me at first but I miss certain aspects of the game and have experienced some game issues with Alt Persp.  Thank  you again.... T

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Alexi-1 said:

This is caused by "Capital Windhelm Expansion". Tried reinstalling and checking patches (USSEP patch reinstalled) as well as JK's patch. Can't seem to get it to work without the issue. Will just remove it or replace it I guess.

I do wish  you luck resolving this.  I used Aylis mod list to start my first M02 build and added some things I liked.  The main thing was I wanted to try modded cities which I was always afraid of.  Finally after many months, I was able to play a complete game.  The end result was similar to yours.  I ended up deleting CWE (couldn't take the empty mod spaces I found and I'm not smart enough to fix them on my own).  Deleted a few other city makeovers as well for similar issues or FPS.  I deleted most outskirt mods due to FPS issues as well but that was on me as I use Seasons, a grass cache, and love my thick grass.    I do hope you are able to find that balance that you desire and are able to enjoy the game again.

Edited January 30, 2024 by Miss Tee

[trgdolors]

8 hours ago, Ashra XIII said:

Been checking in a bit on this thread and it's pretty depressing how Bethesda broke so much just to take another stab at paid mods.

 

Since Aylis has been away, is the first page of mods still completely for the pre-updated game? If so I may try this once again and just stick with that version of the game forever since Bethesda seems to be purposefully trying to mess everything up.

Yes, the guide at the moment is based on 1.6.640. It can be largely done with the latest game version, but that does add some challenge. However; even trying to choose the .640 version of every mod would take some attention to detail at this point. Anyone deciding to follow the guide now has to decide. Eventually, the latest version of the game will likely be the obvious answer.

 

I am on .640 after being on SE till late last year. If I was starting a new build right now, I would probably go with the latest version of the game. But I am a lunatic that messes with my load order for several months before officially starting. Good luck!

[Rey_Vegeta]

Do we have in this forum a topic were one can post their crash logs? I´m getting CTD before load and don´t know why.

[Bigglsby]

2 hours ago, Rey_Vegeta said:

Do we have in this forum a topic were one can post their crash logs? I´m getting CTD before load and don´t know why.

 

If you're running 1.6.640 or below, you might have some newly made mods causing issues.  The newer Skyrim updates changed how plugins read, and won't simply work on older versions.  However, there is a mod for that!

 

Check out https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/106441/

 

It allows newer plugins to work with older Skyrim versions.  Helps for several mods in my LO. 

 

Hope that helps

[wollboi]

The list would work fine with 1.6.640. Updating it to 1.6.1130 only requires a few manual tweaks. You can see how to do them on the Nexus page for Immersive Camera (wish the author would just update the fucking ini file themself instead of making everyone else do it, especially since they're still active on their forums) and more manual tweaks for SSE Engine Fixes (there is a great post on the Nexus forum for the mod that details exactly what to do). Much easier than it sounds. I'm waiting on HDT-SMP to try 1.6.1170, but I think it'll be much less of a hassle to get working than 1130 was.

 

Rant time:

Spoiler

Yeah, Bethesda really fucked us on this one. I honestly wouldn't blame Aylis a single bit if they wanted to move on from the guide--but obviously I hope they don't. But now it seems like you have 1/3 of the modding community still on 1.5.97 (non-AE), 1/3 on 1.6.640 (post-AE), about 1/6 on 1.6.1130, and the other 1/6 made up of crazy people like me trying to get all their mods to work on 1.6.1170. Are you new to modding? Does this sound confusing? Guess what--it is! Instead of just reading the guide, downloading MO2, and hitting the ground running, now new modders have to try to navigate the maze of versions, decide which one they want to go with, and hope their mods still work at the end of the day. I've NEVER seen a worst time to try to get into modding this game than right now, ESPECIALLY for new modders. I think if it was half as bad as it was now when I was just getting into modding I'd have immediately decided to take up another hobby. All so Bethesda could charge money for mods. Which in itself I don't really have a problem with, that's the authors' prerogative and they can do as they please charging for their own mods. But Bethesda couldn't even keep the MAIN MENU from breaking the damn game.

 

But I mean, hey, they fixed Marked for Death thirteen years after it was broken, so that's awfully nice of them.

 

[Ashra XIII]

14 hours ago, trgdolors said:

Yes, the guide at the moment is based on 1.6.640. It can be largely done with the latest game version, but that does add some challenge. However; even trying to choose the .640 version of every mod would take some attention to detail at this point. Anyone deciding to follow the guide now has to decide. Eventually, the latest version of the game will likely be the obvious answer.

 

I am on .640 after being on SE till late last year. If I was starting a new build right now, I would probably go with the latest version of the game. But I am a lunatic that messes with my load order for several months before officially starting. Good luck!

 

Thanks, this is pretty much what I was expecting. I know it'd be a bit of extra work picking the 1.6.640 version of mods but my thinking was that, once I got it setup, it'd be good to go and I'd not have to worry about how Bethesda was going to try and screw things up in the future.

 

It's kindof a false hope though... if I had that kinda willpower I'd still be on 1.5.97 😆

[Starfire12]

Hello again everyone after a too long. Glad to see @Aylis is still busy helping easy people into Skyrim modding. Hope some of my recommendations are still in the list;) .

Anyway my PC died just under three years ago and I've not been playing Skyrim since, so I've been out of the loop for quite some time. I've now bought a new one recently and was planning to get back into Skyrim. When starting to read up on stuff I noticed that not only had the previous Skyrim for beginners thread been replaced with this new one for AE, the Sexlab Framework itself also seems to differentiate between SE and AE as well as some other stuff.

 

So question: Do I need to get the AE upgrade? I'm not interest in any of the AE content by itself, just worrying about mod compatibilty with SE only. That trying to set up the SE without it, would be like trying to set up a heavily modded LE version without the DLC

Edited January 31, 2024 by Starfire12

[Bigglsby]

51 minutes ago, Starfire12 said:

Hello again everyone after a too long. Glad to see @Aylis is still busy helping easy people into Skyrim modding. Hope some of my recommendations are still in the list;) .

Anyway my PC died just under three years ago and I've not been playing Skyrim since, so I've been out of the loop for quite some time. I've now bought a new one recently and was planning to get back into Skyrim. When starting to read up on stuff I noticed that not only had the previous Skyrim for beginners thread been replaced with this new one for AE, the Sexlab Framework itself also seems to differentiate between SE and AE as well as some other stuff.

 

So question: Do I need to get the AE upgrade? I'm not interest in any of the AE content by itself, just worrying about mod compatibilty with SE only. That trying to set up the SE without it, would be like trying to set up a heavily modded LE version without the DLC

 

The AE thing can be a bit confusing, but no, you do not need to get the AE upgrade.

 

If you log into Steam and download your normal Skyrim SE - it will be what is considered AE (some call it AE light).  SE / AE is really just a version change at the base - 1.5.97 (AE), and 1.6+ is AE.  With the basic AE update, there are a few creation club addons thrown in as well.

 

The full AE purchased upgrade is your standard AE, but with a lot more creation club addons.  Whether or not those are worth purchasing is subject to debate, some are decent, some are trash (that's the gist of what I've heard). 

 

For version, AE (basic) and AE with full creation club - they are both the same, just difference in content.  For modding, you'd need to be aware that some mods have additional options to account for the additional creation club content, but mostly it's just tracking down what version you're working with. 

 

As per Wollboi's rant, there are lots of versions in play now:  LE, SE (1.5), and many versions of AE, the most fleshed out being 1.6.640, but most recent being 1.6.1170.

 

Muddy waters, but I hope that helps.  :)

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Ashra XIII said:

 

Thanks, this is pretty much what I was expecting. I know it'd be a bit of extra work picking the 1.6.640 version of mods but my thinking was that, once I got it setup, it'd be good to go and I'd not have to worry about how Bethesda was going to try and screw things up in the future.

 

It's kindof a false hope though... if I had that kinda willpower I'd still be on 1.5.97 😆

I plan to stay with 640.  Even tweaked a setting in my computer to prevent upgrades in addition to the steam setting.  I can finally play and it is wonderful.  I wish you luck but agree that 1.6.640 seems to be the best balance right now (if you can downgrade to it).  Of course I said that about 1.5 last  year.  When Aylis updates her list, I may consider changing.  Or not.  And thanks for the willpower comment.  I have none when it comes to some things.  Made me smile.

[Starfire12]

6 hours ago, Bigglsby said:

 

As per Wollboi's rant, there are lots of versions in play now:  LE, SE (1.5), and many versions of AE, the most fleshed out being 1.6.640, but most recent being 1.6.1170.

 

Muddy waters, but I hope that helps. 

 

Muddy waters indeed. When I read about the Skyrim SE updates, I thought it just meant needing a new version of SKSE, not that all the other mods might not work anymore either. Probably going to hold off for a few more weeks actually to give modders time. Anyway, if I understood you correctly, then what you are saying is basically that whenever a mod mentions being for AE, it should be running on the SE as well?

If yes, then just one more question to clarify. Copy-pasting the the SL Framework instructions:

IMPORTANT Note on downloads:

For Skyrim Special Edition (1.6.1170, aka AE) use SexLabFrameworkAE_v166b.7z

For Skyrim Special Edition (1.6.1130, aka AE) use SexLabFrameworkAE_v166.7z

For Skyrim Special Edition (1.5.97, aka SE) use SexLabFrameworkSE_v163.7z

For the GOG version of Skyrim (1.6.659) use SexLabFrameworkGOG_v165.7z 

 

I should download v166b.7z as as despite it saying AE, that means SE as well and I am running the latest version of SE.