guide Skyrim AE for Beginners - V 3.1.0

[Guest]

On 2/29/2024 at 2:41 PM, hardcoremanuel said:

This helped me a lot when starting with IED: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/76956?tab=articles. 

Forgot to thank you for the link.  I will have it open as I learn about IED.  Thank you.  T

[Guest]

Wow, just read some glowing reviews on this sound mod.  There are others but this one seems legit immersive. https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/112370?tab=description

[Grey Cloud]

10 hours ago, Ashra XIII said:

 

Pretty much they do as is described, which is removing the default Sexlab animations (most of which are pretty bad) to make more room for animation packs you prefer.

 

https://www.loverslab.com/files/file/18855-sl-default-animation-remover/

Thanks very much. I've been away from Skyrim for a couple of yeas but I had a vague memory of such a program existing. No idea why it didn't come up in a search.

I wish there was something to remove them from SLAL packs or at least a decent set of instructions on how to.

[Bigglsby]

50 minutes ago, Ashra XIII said:

 

My assumption in this case would be that animations would fail to play and it'd be pretty obvious, and in the meantime I'm saving a TON of animation slots by not having those crappy things loading in FNIS and Nemesis. I'm willing to take the chance on it I think. Until I break it and regret my life choices.

 

 

 

Outside of anything else, if you're running into animation limits, there are a couple of tools that may be of use to you.

 

I've been using both, and they work well.  I have avoided getting into the nemesis world, so I can't say about any limitations there.  There may be some mods that do require nemesis, but I've happily not needed to run into the cross-tool headaches by going nemesis/fnis combo.

[KCOLL]

2 hours ago, Miss Tee said:

Wow, just read some glowing reviews on this sound mod.  There are others but this one seems legit immersive. https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/112370?tab=description

this mod author just came out with a group of about 4 or5 sound mods and so far I am totally happy with them recommend them all! They all made top mods! 

I will add to this only heard the dungeon and forest sounds so far Seems well done and most important its not overdone.

Edited March 2, 2024 by KCOLL

[KCOLL]

the new gentleman is an modern replacer for SOS and so far has worked flawlessly I have at the moment only sex lab and sex lab aroused running but it integrates with no problems is it an improvement i think so but am not a big sex user i just mainly activate a sex scene as a time out to go make a cup of coffee lol. Must download the update patch or else you will have big WTF problems took two days to figger out i didn't have it downloaded

Edited March 2, 2024 by KCOLL

[KCOLL]

By the way i totally welcome the input of Bigglsby, Ashra XIII Ms. Tee and others. As they spend a lot of time getting Alys skyrim mod list just right and iron out a lot of problems for the rest of us. I'm sure Alys would approve of their contributions as it helps her mod list get cleaner and more refined with less CTD,s and saves a lot of debunking for her as well. And  like reading how deep they are into the game its a totally way deeper than i am.

[Bigglsby]

2 hours ago, KCOLL said:

By the way i totally welcome the input of Bigglsby, Ashra XIII Ms. Tee and others. As they spend a lot of time getting Alys skyrim mod list just right and iron out a lot of problems for the rest of us. I'm sure Alys would approve of their contributions as it helps her mod list get cleaner and more refined with less CTD,s and saves a lot of debunking for her as well. And  like reading how deep they are into the game its a totally way deeper than i am.

 

Unfortunately I never get the opportunity to get much depth in my game.  I am constantly fiddling/adding/removing and generally frustrating myself trying to find JUST the right mix of things.  I'm in constant fear that one day I'll get the mix I want only to find that everything I have only works for about the first 20 levels and is broken after that. 

 

But I have fiddled with a lot, and poked around enough to find some options that work, and some that don't, and some that just don't work for me, but perhaps for others.  That's the nice thing about Skyrim modding:  Tons of options.  It may also be one of the worst things.. but hey - there are some weird people that don't even like chocolate (I've met one!).  It's a funny world.  :)

[Ashra XIII]

33 minutes ago, Bigglsby said:

 

Unfortunately I never get the opportunity to get much depth in my game.  I am constantly fiddling/adding/removing and generally frustrating myself trying to find JUST the right mix of things.  I'm in constant fear that one day I'll get the mix I want only to find that everything I have only works for about the first 20 levels and is broken after that. 

 

But I have fiddled with a lot, and poked around enough to find some options that work, and some that don't, and some that just don't work for me, but perhaps for others.  That's the nice thing about Skyrim modding:  Tons of options.  It may also be one of the worst things.. but hey - there are some weird people that don't even like chocolate (I've met one!).  It's a funny world. 

 

This was actually more or less how my previous play-through went; I was getting up to right around level 20 when certain things started to come unglued such as dragons being frozen in the sky, my needs mod no longer recognizing when I'd eat or drink, and stuff like that. This is what got me looking into my Papyrus logs and seeing how messy XPMSSE was making everything, not to mention Sexlab but only when it was doing something.

 

So it was a frustrating time but led me down a very interesting path as I'm now setup in IED with no XP32 scripts to be found in my logs!

 

As a side question to everyone: What is the current thought on cleaning the game files with xEdit? It's something I got into the habit of doing but lately I've seen some people claiming it probably doesn't help that much and may make things worse. I don't really know what to believe, but in my latest setup I haven't cleaned the game files and it's hard to tell if there's any difference.

[Bigglsby]

15 minutes ago, Ashra XIII said:

 

This was actually more or less how my previous play-through went; I was getting up to right around level 20 when certain things started to come unglued such as dragons being frozen in the sky, my needs mod no longer recognizing when I'd eat or drink, and stuff like that. This is what got me looking into my Papyrus logs and seeing how messy XPMSSE was making everything, not to mention Sexlab but only when it was doing something.

 

So it was a frustrating time but led me down a very interesting path as I'm now setup in IED with no XP32 scripts to be found in my logs!

 

As a side question to everyone: What is the current thought on cleaning the game files with xEdit? It's something I got into the habit of doing but lately I've seen some people claiming it probably doesn't help that much and may make things worse. I don't really know what to believe, but in my latest setup I haven't cleaned the game files and it's hard to tell if there's any difference.

 

My thoughts on the quick clean on the expansion game masters (right?), is that the fixes xedit is doing are well known as being errors - and can be reliably cleaned.  It's been recommended for so many years at this point, that if there WERE issues brought about by quick clean scripts, it would be pretty well documented.  The flip-side is of course, some mods may be written with the flaws in mind - but I can't see that being any different than any other mod conflict, and can be dealt with or ignored as the situation arises. 

 

I'm also inclined to listen to the people who live and breath the game files, like Elminster (xedit) and Sheson (Dyndolod), who say to clean.

 

So for me, I just do the quick clean on them (never on Skyrim.esm though).  I imagine it's kinda edge-case if it really becomes an issue either way though.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Ashra XIII said:

 

This was actually more or less how my previous play-through went; I was getting up to right around level 20 when certain things started to come unglued such as dragons being frozen in the sky, my needs mod no longer recognizing when I'd eat or drink, and stuff like that. This is what got me looking into my Papyrus logs and seeing how messy XPMSSE was making everything, not to mention Sexlab but only when it was doing something.

 

So it was a frustrating time but led me down a very interesting path as I'm now setup in IED with no XP32 scripts to be found in my logs!

 

As a side question to everyone: What is the current thought on cleaning the game files with xEdit? It's something I got into the habit of doing but lately I've seen some people claiming it probably doesn't help that much and may make things worse. I don't really know what to believe, but in my latest setup I haven't cleaned the game files and it's hard to tell if there's any difference.

 I always clean mod identifed in Loot as needing cleaning.  I learned this time that Dyndolod sees deeper than loot though.  I was having issues with my lod not loading consistently in game.  I had a mod friend look at my logs and he gave me an additional list of mods to clean.  Seems to have worked as I was able to run Dyndolod NG this time which requires dirty mods to be cleaned.

 

 

Edited March 2, 2024 by Miss Tee

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Ashra XIII said:

 

This was actually more or less how my previous play-through went; I was getting up to right around level 20 when certain things started to come unglued such as dragons being frozen in the sky, my needs mod no longer recognizing when I'd eat or drink, and stuff like that. This is what got me looking into my Papyrus logs and seeing how messy XPMSSE was making everything, not to mention Sexlab but only when it was doing something.

 

So it was a frustrating time but led me down a very interesting path as I'm now setup in IED with no XP32 scripts to be found in my logs!

 

As a side question to everyone: What is the current thought on cleaning the game files with xEdit? It's something I got into the habit of doing but lately I've seen some people claiming it probably doesn't help that much and may make things worse. I don't really know what to believe, but in my latest setup I haven't cleaned the game files and it's hard to tell if there's any difference.

Do you use Resaver?

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/5031/

 

Once I started cleaning my saves, I began to play much longer games.  It is designed to remove unattached scripts. Leftovers from sexlab mod and other mods as well that didn't complete their scripts.  

 

IT is a simple tool.  Not to be loaded into M02.  I can explain if you need more.

Edited March 2, 2024 by Miss Tee

[KCOLL]

That's the big problem. I have a habit of downloading every new mod that comes along! Get to level 20 or so and end up reinstalling or spending hours finding what the problem is. Another issue is installing mods that have been around for years and are no longer recommended or updated or superseded by newer ways of doing things but because they have been on nexus for years have a million downloads so have an super high best mods rating but are no long the best way of doing things. But i cant remember to avoid them. If you catch what i mean.

[KCOLL]

The latest skyrim update has been a real trial to get running right a lot of little mods that are just silently hiding in the background but when they kick in CTD took 2 months since 1170 came out to hunt down and eliminate the buggers but now I'm stable again 

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, KCOLL said:

That's the big problem. I have a habit of downloading every new mod that comes along! Get to level 20 or so and end up reinstalling or spending hours finding what the problem is. Another issue is installing mods that have been around for years and are no longer recommended or updated or superseded by newer ways of doing things but because they have been on nexus for years have a million downloads so have an super high best mods rating but are no long the best way of doing things. But i cant remember to avoid them. If you catch what i mean.

I feel your pain.  If I can, please  allow me to share my M02 journey with Aylis list.  I loaded her base list before the base game updates.  The game started.  It ran  fine.  BUT, I wanted more.  More animations, better sex mods, better combat mods.  She didn't even have Smoothcam.  I knew of these mods from my Vortex Days.  So, I started adding mods.  I also deleted mods that had  no meaning for me.  Not many but some.  M02 is good about telling you there are conflicts between mods but it takes time.  Most of my problems were with textures, trees, grass, etc.  And my dyndolod.  I can't play without my beautiful world, my tall grass, my wonderful change of seasons from winter to spring to summer, etc.  My world has to be perfect.  And just like you, I add every new thing that comes along and breaks my saves and I restart again and again.  I started with M02 in October.  2 weeks ago I had a perfect game going.  A few crashes but I have over 2000 mods and I expect that as I can't fix everything.  Then some voice inside me told me to offer the Ostim information.  I have friends that make those mods and wanted to help.  I love Ostim for certain things.  So, It has taken me since October to get to where my mod list is.  I can start now and play.  Probably a complete game.  Except when a mod glitch happens.  that's modding.  So I restart.  I want to get a few main quests done and enjoy my world.  I can do that now.  I don't expect to get to level 60.  I usually play to level 40 doing various minor quests before I do a main quest.  The clock is ticking then.   Using all the tricks I have learned, cleaning my saves, avoiding mod overlap and conflict as much as possible, I can enjoy playing.  I am very much an amateur but blessed with knowledgeable friends.  I did'nt even know what a mod was until 2021.  Message anytime if you want to ask something.  The modder who I talk about all the time told me to never use mods older than a fetw years old.  The game has moved beyond those mods.  I try to stick to that rule but not always successful.  If you want to try something, try it, test it, keep it or delete it.  Start again.  That is our world of modding.  Take care of yoursellf.  Tina

 

EDIT:  l'm sure you stopped reading as I am a stereotypical talkative girl.  Here is my advice. Think of what is important to you.  Stick to that.  Try and load only mods that help you achieve that.  The author of BBLS plays with around 500 mods.  Many of the modders I know play with small mod lists.  Because they design their game for the playstyle they want.  Combat, sex, magic, etc.  My issue is that I want it all.  A beautiful world and the ability to do everything at any time and have a sexy time doing it.  Why my mod list went from 900 in Vortex to 2032 (just checked) in M02.

Edited March 2, 2024 by Miss Tee

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, KCOLL said:

The latest skyrim update has been a real trial to get running right a lot of little mods that are just silently hiding in the background but when they kick in CTD took 2 months since 1170 came out to hunt down and eliminate the buggers but now I'm stable again 

You don't need advice from me but think about locking your game at a certain mod version.  The modders I talk about all the time mostly play on 1.5.597.  Why, the mods are stable and proven.  Are they missing out on some newer things, of course but their playstyle doesn't need the new things.  They play the game they want.  And don't have to worry about updates.  One of the modders does not even use a mod manager.  He actually goes into the game itself and changes the base game at the core level.   These are smart people and the lure of mods is a trap they simply avoid.  

[KCOLL]

Yes lock your game! I do! But after waiting 2 or 3 weeks I always breakdown and allow it to update. Too early! And I know that it always is about 2 months before all the critical mod updates are finally completed. So i have the battle of fixing every time. Each time it occurs I learn a little more and the game gets cleaner more refined to my likeing and play style. At the moment about 600 mods but will be on the way to my usual 1500 mods soon and its getting smooth again no more CTD's! I hear tell of people who make the game folder read only to prevent sneaky steam from squeezing in an update even when its offline. I am always going for the newest update I don't believe in backdating your mod list because when you have to finally update you will have no choice but to redo completely from scratch with no idea as to what new mods are now essential

Edited March 2, 2024 by KCOLL

[Guest]

Use this video to lock steam out of your computer.  impossible to update.  I did that after I was tricked by Steam overriding the setting in the Steam App.

 

 

 

[Ashra XIII]

4 hours ago, Miss Tee said:

Do you use Resaver?

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/5031/

 

Once I started cleaning my saves, I began to play much longer games.  It is designed to remove unattached scripts. Leftovers from sexlab mod and other mods as well that didn't complete their scripts.  

 

IT is a simple tool.  Not to be loaded into M02.  I can explain if you need more.

 

There was a time I used Re-saver but never really felt like it saved my games... maybe because by the time I used them things were too far gone. Sometimes I would manage to fix something but also a lot of other things would get stripped out as well, and sometimes I couldn't get those mods' scripts to start up again. It's probably worth trying if ever I get far enough into a game where I genuinely feel a loss at having to start again... we'll see if that time comes.

 

I did lock my game a long time ago to 1.5.597 and stayed there until one day when I had come back to Skyrim after a break I impulsively decided to update without really thinking through what I was doing. I believe that's the first time I found Aylis' AE modlist which saved me from despair. Now I'm sticking with 1.6.640 for the foreseeable future and it will take a whole lot to drag me out of it. 

[hitmanh]

7 hours ago, Miss Tee said:

You don't need advice from me but think about locking your game at a certain mod version.  The modders I talk about all the time mostly play on 1.5.597.  Why, the mods are stable and proven.  Are they missing out on some newer things, of course but their playstyle doesn't need the new things.  They play the game they want.  And don't have to worry about updates.  One of the modders does not even use a mod manager.  He actually goes into the game itself and changes the base game at the core level.   These are smart people and the lure of mods is a trap they simply avoid.  

As game updates were relatively rare and well spaced apart I didn't bother locking updates in the past, but after the two recent closely spaced updates breaking things and creating misery I've locked updates now.

 

Yeah the big thing for me now is tuning the game to my play style and look/feel (I'm with you on the long grass, thick forests and weather being an important aspect) and not getting all excited over the newest shiny mod. I've now set a strict 600 mod limit as that for me seems to be the the spot where chaos is just about in check.

 

Part of this was the realisation I haven't actually completed a single major quest line in the game as I was restarting so often and rarely getting above level 30 before somthing demanded a new game. It's time I actually played the game not played the modlist

[Ashra XIII]

4 hours ago, hitmanh said:

As game updates were relatively rare and well spaced apart I didn't bother locking updates in the past, but after the two recent closely spaced updates breaking things and creating misery I've locked updates now.

 

Yeah the big thing for me now is tuning the game to my play style and look/feel (I'm with you on the long grass, thick forests and weather being an important aspect) and not getting all excited over the newest shiny mod. I've now set a strict 600 mod limit as that for me seems to be the the spot where chaos is just about in check.

 

Part of this was the realisation I haven't actually completed a single major quest line in the game as I was restarting so often and rarely getting above level 30 before somthing demanded a new game. It's time I actually played the game not played the modlist

 

600 mods or 600 plugins? Because I'm over the latter by a bit, but there are soooo many non-plugin mods that are great to have... either because they are animations, SKSE stuff, or fixed textures and meshes. I have also tried to tone it back a bit rather than constantly stuffing every mod that catches my fancy in like the raving mod slut that I am, but... I don't think I could go back to only 600 mods!

 

Also, as a frequent restarter myself, I've found that playing the modlist is usually way more fun than playing the game, because modders are way better at... basically everything than Bethesda. 😉

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Ashra XIII said:

 

There was a time I used Re-saver but never really felt like it saved my games... maybe because by the time I used them things were too far gone. Sometimes I would manage to fix something but also a lot of other things would get stripped out as well, and sometimes I couldn't get those mods' scripts to start up again. It's probably worth trying if ever I get far enough into a game where I genuinely feel a loss at having to start again... we'll see if that time comes.

 

I did lock my game a long time ago to 1.5.597 and stayed there until one day when I had come back to Skyrim after a break I impulsively decided to update without really thinking through what I was doing. I believe that's the first time I found Aylis' AE modlist which saved me from despair. Now I'm sticking with 1.6.640 for the foreseeable future and it will take a whole lot to drag me out of it. 

 I agree with you about 1.6.640.  We followed the same path to using it.  My sister in spirit....

 

Regarding Resaver, I use it in a specific way and constantly throughout my game.  Primarily I use it when I see a script doesn't complete with a  Sexlab mod.  An approach that starts but gets interuppted by Aroused Creatures is an example.  Or two overlapping scripts where one doesn't complete.  At my next game start I open Resaver and look for Unattached Instances in my last save.  I have become used to identifying issues so there is normally one there.  I remove the Unattached Instance (normally one or two).  Save to a new save (just add the word Cleaned to the name of the new save) and restart.  REMINDER:  ALWAYS CREATE A NEW SAVE - DON'T OVERWRITE A SAVE

 

I have also ruined a save by removing an unattached instance.  Normally I waited too long between cleanings and something is there and part of the game somehow or more often, the Unattached Instance is actually still part of something in progress.  I simply delete the cleaned save and use the original save and keep playing.

 

Game bugs:  I still blame mods like XPMSE or a Sexlab mod but sometimes the game is acting weird and I check Resaver.  There will be 100 unattached instances.  Something has happened in a script or game something.  I DO NOT CLEAN THESE.  For me, this is a guaranteed way to ruin that save.  I'm not smart enough to know how to figure out what is causing it but my modder friend told me not to do anything.  Some script or scripts is struggling to get caught up.  (of course she blames sexlab).  I go to an interior cell, spend a few saves crafting and sleeping.  Normally, the unattached scripts go away.   Removing sexlab mods that scan all the time has helped with this.  (that pregnancy mod for example)  Almost always clears up.  There are users here that know much more about clearing up running scripts in sexlab mods if that is what is happening.

 

If this is the circumstance (the spamming scripts), I usually check several prior saves.  See when the events occurred. Something may have happened that you will remember.  A particular fight, dungeon, sexlab event.  Just takes a few minutes.  If I can go back a few saves to prior to the spamming scripts, I do.  Then I don't repeat that game sequence.  Skip the dungeon for now, etc.  Works sometimes but I'm not investing another 2 weeks of game time when a script problem happens at level 10.

 

These are just my little efforts at playing with a larger mod list.  Seems to work.  Do I reload some?  Yes.  Repeat stages, or dungeons?  Yes.  I don't save buggy things. If something weird happens, go back and do something different.  No beating my head against a buggy wall.

 

Saving: 

I'm telling everyone here what they already know.  you can safely save every literal 5 minutes (not game minutes).  Always hard saves.  Which I hate to do.  Menu pops up, hit save.  So unimmersive to me but I won't quick save.  And if the game quick saves, I wait the 5 minutes and save again.  Sometimes in a dungeon I will have 10 save points.  I reached level 50 a month ago.  Had 700 saves.  Always after I enter, and always before I exit any interior cell.  How often depends on what is going on.  I am a slow player.  I live the game so my pace is realistic for me.   I talk to followers, loot slowly, walk mostly, etc.   A little sexy time (giggle)  Also, I never know when a group of draugr are going to rush up to me and rape me.  (Pheromones)  Too close to an enemy  and they wake up an enemy in the nearby cell.  Getting attacked while I'm interacting nude with 4 draugr is a reload waiting to happen.  Not very immersive either.  Me using too many mods but the way I prefer to play.

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

I wanted to share an opinion about loading mods in an active game.  We have all heard the rule.  Never add mods on an active game.  I always followed the rule that you can't load a mod with scripts but you can load a texture mod and an armor mod.

 

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

For me it was wrong.  I now will not load anything that has a plugin.  Armors have plugins.  Found out that this was changing the order of the mods and was causing the game problems.

 

Who knew.  I sure didn't.  Schlongs stopped working, buggy quests, textures stopped loading, etc.

 

I REFUSE TO ADD A MOD WITH A PLUGIN ON AN ACTIVE GAME.  More than anything else, this may have cured by game problems. Or maybe not.  But I can play long games now.  And with confidence the game will keep working.  (until it doesn't - Hah)

 

Texture mods I do add sometimes.  Must be simply and a direct replacer and of course no plugin.

[Guest]

Sorry, I was out late last night and getting caught up.  I am deleting the sketch I posted yesterday.  Probably not the best decision to post that here.  I consider each of you my friend and didn't think about anyone else who may be on the site.  If you want a copy, send me a message.  I don't mind sharing.  My job and that sketch is just part of my life.  Just like all of you.  T

[Bigglsby]

10 minutes ago, Miss Tee said:

I wanted to share an opinion about loading mods in an active game.  We have all heard the rule.  Never add mods on an active game.  I always followed the rule that you can't load a mod with scripts but you can load a texture mod and an armor mod.

 

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

For me it was wrong.  I now will not load anything that has a plugin.  Armors have plugins.  Found out that this was changing the order of the mods and was causing the game problems.

 

Who knew.  I sure didn't.  Schlongs stopped working, buggy quests, textures stopped loading, etc.

 

I REFUSE TO ADD A MOD WITH A PLUGIN ON AN ACTIVE GAME.  More than anything else, this may have cured by game problems. Or maybe not.  But I can play long games now.  And with confidence the game will keep working.  (until it doesn't - Hah)

 

Texture mods I do add sometimes.  Must be simply and a direct replacer and of course no plugin.

 

My personal rule here is that it's OK to add a plugin mod mid-save, BUT it should only be tacked on to the end of your plugin stack.  Should never change the plugin order of a current save, but it's OK to tack on to the end.  Now this shouldn't be done if it's an invasive plugin that causes lots of conflicts - those should always be a new save and conflict fix scenario.  But if we're talking about adding a new armor or sound mod - tack it on to the end, and next time you restart (for me like 3-4 times in the last two days... sigh), then adjust your mod order and slot it in where it should be.

 

Shifting mod order mid-save messes with references, which can lead to all sorts of hinky behavior.. but adding to the end of the list avoids that.