guide Skyrim AE for Beginners - V 3.1.0

[Mister_Discrete]

4 hours ago, stanhu said:

It's all starting to swim a bit before my eyes XD. Is the mod you suggested a different retexture than the  Ancient Dwemer Metal which was used as base in the modlist? :S

It's been near 5 days of modinstalling for me, with 878 done now. It's becoming really hard to keep track of all the mods interconnections.

I feel your pain on this point.

It got to where I was writing things down by hand to keep track of things. But to be fair, that mostly involved me adding a bunch of things to the list that weren't included by the OP.

[Varithina]

4 hours ago, stanhu said:

It's all starting to swim a bit before my eyes XD. Is the mod you suggested a different retexture than the  Ancient Dwemer Metal which was used as base in the modlist? :S

It's been near 5 days of modinstalling for me, with 878 done now. It's becoming really hard to keep track of all the mods interconnections.

 

Yes, they are replacements for the ones from this list, and my suggestion is take a break from it. If I am doing a complete reinstall of the entire list, I will usually do it over two or three weeks as it is tedious as hell to do so.

[Grey Cloud]

2 hours ago, stanhu said:

Thanks for your good luck wishes It's 683 plugins at the moment. with 892 utilities, mods and patches. Yeah it won't be easy to troubleshoot but it's following this mod guide for a reason isn't it? Anyway, I try after each category in both character creation and coc Riverwood, so far it worked each time, so /shrug. The most interesting part will be when I've finally got the last bit in, the body mods, physics configs and built bodies and whatnot. But because I am following a guide I have a good feeling about this.

And should I get totally stuck in CTDs and whatnot I can always start over Keeps me off the streets.

Fair enough but you do realise that i: many of the mods in this guide are optional and ii: there are limits to the numbers of certain things that the game can handle?

I used this guide myself and currently have 290 mods and 247 plug-ins, I've not got any followers installed at the minute (I had 350-plus in LE) but  my game can do what I want it do.

[stanhu]

42 minutes ago, Varithina said:

 

Yes, they are replacements for the ones from this list, and my suggestion is take a break from it. If I am doing a complete reinstall of the entire list, I will usually do it over two or three weeks as it is tedious as hell to do so.

Hyperfocus wont let me. But I will look at your suggestion when I'm done getting the list as is. When that's stable enough I'll look at adding or replacing.

[stanhu]

41 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

Fair enough but you do realise that i: many of the mods in this guide are optional and ii: there are limits to the numbers of certain things that the game can handle?

I used this guide myself and currently have 290 mods and 247 plug-ins, I've not got any followers installed at the minute (I had 350-plus in LE) but  my game can do what I want it do.

Yes, I have skipped a couple of mods marked as optional, and a few mods which didn't interest me, such as a particular new follower and a new questline which adds a bespoke armor, and some others. Still, for the most part I've tried to incorporate as much as possible. You can have a limit of 255 esm/esp plugins and another 4096 light plugins such as .esl, as discribed here:

https://dyndolod.info/Messages/Plugin-Limit

I'm not too worried about the amount of plugins, but I'll see what happens when I'm done

[Grey Cloud]

21 minutes ago, stanhu said:

You can have a limit of 255 esm/esp plugins and another 4096 light plugins such as .esl, as discribed here:

Skyrim.esm, your save file and the esl all take 1 slot each so you have 253 left from the 256 total. The 4096 is not as cut and dried as a lot of people make out. Gamer poets had an opinion on which I'd not seen anywhere else and this article on Nexus has this:

 

The theoretical limit now should be 4096 ESL flagged mods. Individual files flagged as ESL can in theory hold up to 4096 form ID records. In practice this ends up actually being 2048 form ID records because the engine reserves everything from $0x0000 to $0x07FF. All files using ESL flags must therefore contain their internal form IDs between xx000800 and xx000FFF. Anything exceeding this range is invalid and the game will either crash or you'll have severely corrupted data due to overruns.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/21618

 

This is also worth the read:

https://github-wiki-see.page/m/Michael-wigontherun/ESLifyEverything/wiki/ESLify,-For-people-who-actually-want-to-understand

 

Skyrim itself has a FormID maximum limit.

 

I'm of the greedy school - I want more for less, and I'm also of the opinion that the less files that are involved then the less can go wrong.

[stanhu]

14 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

Skyrim.esm, your save file and the esl all take 1 slot each so you have 253 left from the 256 total. The 4096 is not as cut and dried as a lot of people make out. Gamer poets had an opinion on which I'd not seen anywhere else and this article on Nexus has this:

 

The theoretical limit now should be 4096 ESL flagged mods. Individual files flagged as ESL can in theory hold up to 4096 form ID records. In practice this ends up actually being 2048 form ID records because the engine reserves everything from $0x0000 to $0x07FF. All files using ESL flags must therefore contain their internal form IDs between xx000800 and xx000FFF. Anything exceeding this range is invalid and the game will either crash or you'll have severely corrupted data due to overruns.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/21618

 

This is also worth the read:

https://github-wiki-see.page/m/Michael-wigontherun/ESLifyEverything/wiki/ESLify,-For-people-who-actually-want-to-understand

 

Skyrim itself has a FormID maximum limit.

 

I'm of the greedy school - I want more for less, and I'm also of the opinion that the less files that are involved then the less can go wrong.

Luckily I'm not in the vicinity of 2048.  But thanks for the links. 
I'm not debating your opinion on the matter, I reckon you're right. But as I said before, I chose to follow this guide and will see what happens  I enjoy trying to get it to work just slightly less than playing the game.

[Grey Cloud]

1 hour ago, stanhu said:

I enjoy trying to get it to work just slightly less than playing the game.

I've been building and rebuilding this, my first, SE game since the end of March. 😁 Plan A went out the window early April and I'm currently uninstalling mods while I formulate a cunning Plan whatever letter I am on now. 🤔 

[monkinsane]

On 6/20/2024 at 2:24 PM, Grey Cloud said:

Good luck troubleshooting with that many mods or do you mean plug-ins? Not that it makes any difference.

Yeah, it takes a while LOL.

Took me 3 weeks to install and troubleshoot before I had a functioning modlist lol. Sitting on 1202 plugins (ESM/ESP/ESL) and 1311 (Mods total) mods. 

Edited June 21, 2024 by monkinsane

[Guest]

I read a post many pages back about how to downgrade to 1.6.640 but wanted to say I used it and it worked.  My computer is near death and had to get a new one (my love bought one for me).  Obviously, loading Skyrim for the first time on the PC gives you the latest game version.  I've never downgraded from 1170 before but followed this tutorial and it worked perfectly.  I prefer 1.6.640 and I have my existing mod list.  Some of his description is computer-speak to me but by going back and forth from the video to his posts made on the linked downgrade patcher site, I was able to make it work and the game started.  Now to transfer my mod settings and MO2 files.  And lock out updates:)

 

Note:  https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/106441 is required to start the game after you downgrade.  Make sure to add the dependencies as well.  

 

 

In case anyone wants to downgrade.  Just sharing that it worked for me.

[misterpipes]

On 6/20/2024 at 6:08 PM, Grey Cloud said:

Skyrim.esm, your save file and the esl all take 1 slot each so you have 253 left from the 256 total. The 4096 is not as cut and dried as a lot of people make out. Gamer poets had an opinion on which I'd not seen anywhere else and this article on Nexus has this:

Skyrim.esm, Update,esm, plus the 3 dlc .esms and the ESL slot, each take up one of the 256, so you only have 250 slots available.
Those are good articles on what can't and can't be ESLified, and why some things that should be ESLifiable can't be. But are also old articles that are, um, now incorrect on a couple of points.

1. It is possible to ESLify mods that have new cells, although there are some risks, around other mods making changes to said cells. Even some of the CC content had new cells in ESLs

And 2. Bethesda fixed (well, backported from FO4) a fix for the 0x0 - 0x7FF range being unavailable.

As of version 1.6.1130 (the December 2023 patch) the number of ESL files that Skyrim can load was increased from 2048 to 4096, and the number of records an ESL file can have was increased to 4096. And if you use the Backported Extended ESL Support that also applies to versions as far back as 1.5.97.

[elturco]

Hello! i was in the final steps installing fnis and nemesis. At first, the game load but with the pc on T pose, but after trying to reinstall fnis the game crash, no matter what i do. I tried uninstalling nemesis and fnis and the game still crash, anyone can help me? This is the crash log:
https://pastebin.com/xcpr1Rhw

Edited June 30, 2024 by elturco

[Aylis]

I'm in the process to install everything anew as the system drive died on me (possibly 'cause of my previously broken PSU that caused crashes). Sadly that happened one day before the new bigger one arrrived. Just my typical kind of luck...

 

Anyway, not single a HDD anymore and the new Corsair PSU offers a lot more power and is quiet. Now i have to completely reinstall Cyberpunk 2077 (just finished re-modding that one), Skyrim and Fallout 4.

_________________________________________________

 

Started the reinstallation of SKYRIM. It will take me a few days to get through it all (but i'll make sure it works with the latest update).

 

Right now i'm working on the (Nordic) UI so it looks much better and gets some other improvements too. 

 

Spoiler

__________________________________________________

 

Finally got through the new UI setup (which now looks very good and simply fits Skyrim). Also all fonts are reworked and are actually readable.

 

On to textures... Lets see if i can simplify that section.

Edited July 1, 2024 by Aylis

[Tiemphyx]

20 hours ago, elturco said:

Hello! i was in the final steps installing fnis and nemesis. At first, the game load but with the pc on T pose, but after trying to reinstall fnis the game crash, no matter what i do. I tried uninstalling nemesis and fnis and the game still crash, anyone can help me? This is the crash log:
https://pastebin.com/xcpr1Rhw

Hi @elturco, unfortunately, your crashlog doesn't seem to tell much other than it probably involves animations and probably your PC.  I can only suggest that you go back and verify that your installation order and plugin orders are correct and in agreement, then closely follow the instructions regarding building animations: you should be running FNIS first, sending its output to a dedicated folder near the bottom of the left pane, then activating Nemesis, deactivating FNIS, then running Nemesis sending its output to another dedicated folder (which must also be activated). Also, it won't hurt to make sure those output folders don't have any leftover mesh contents before you start.  Good luck!

[trgdolors]

On 6/30/2024 at 8:38 PM, Aylis said:

On to textures... Lets see if i can simplify that section.

Hi Aylis, good to see you back! I am sure many of us will be curious to see what texture combos you come up with now. Atlantean Landscape now claims to not be compat w/ ERM.

[Simpossible_xx]

Hello!

 

I have a question - post #2 shows the mod order in which they should be installed, and the first section right after notes is "Required mods and updates". But the post #3 says that I should run DYNDOLOD only when all other mods are installed. I assume that this section contains general information about mods that will be used later, but can you clarify this for me, please?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Bigglsby]

7 hours ago, Simpossible_xx said:

Hello!

 

I have a question - post #2 shows the mod order in which they should be installed, and the first section right after notes is "Required mods and updates". But the post #3 says that I should run DYNDOLOD only when all other mods are installed. I assume that this section contains general information about mods that will be used later, but can you clarify this for me, please?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Correct - Post 2 has all the mod-list stuff to download and install (options and directions for FOMOD installers).  Post 3 begins the instructions for Post Install config for Dyndolod and other utilities.

 

The process overall is long, and it can feel like you're going to get buried real quick.  But Aylis set up a really good procedure and mod list.  You don't have to follow it absolutely - but if you omit or adjust, make sure you aren't going to cause dependency issues or conflicts by those choices.  If you're just starting off with Skyrim, best to follow and adjust after you're more comfortable.

 

One caveat:  This modlist is not really refreshed for the most current version of Skyrim, so you will want to be certain of versions when doing downloads - as some links may also point specifically to older versions (generally not though).  For lots of the mods, they are version independent (textures and such).  Just pay attention, and you should be in pretty good shape though.  There are some earlier posts a few pages back with informal pointers/recommendations for the most recent version, which may be worth going back to check on.

 

Good luck!

[Aylis]

So finished with:

SKSE

UI

Meshes

Textures - Flora

Textures - Landscape

Weather and ENB (Lighting comes later)

 

WIP

Textures - Clutter and rest...

 

Spoiler

 

Edited July 3, 2024 by Aylis

[Simpossible_xx]

9 hours ago, Bigglsby said:

 

Correct - Post 2 has all the mod-list stuff to download and install (options and directions for FOMOD installers).  Post 3 begins the instructions for Post Install config for Dyndolod and other utilities.

 

The process overall is long, and it can feel like you're going to get buried real quick.  But Aylis set up a really good procedure and mod list.  You don't have to follow it absolutely - but if you omit or adjust, make sure you aren't going to cause dependency issues or conflicts by those choices.  If you're just starting off with Skyrim, best to follow and adjust after you're more comfortable.

 

One caveat:  This modlist is not really refreshed for the most current version of Skyrim, so you will want to be certain of versions when doing downloads - as some links may also point specifically to older versions (generally not though).  For lots of the mods, they are version independent (textures and such).  Just pay attention, and you should be in pretty good shape though.  There are some earlier posts a few pages back with informal pointers/recommendations for the most recent version, which may be worth going back to check on.

 

Good luck!

Yes, I always pay attention to versions when modding my game. I really like Aylis' modlist and I'll follow it step by step. However, I have additional questions that I hope you or someone else can help me with:

 

1. Should I download Dyndolod first and install it once all other mods are installed, or should I run it before installing mods in MO2? I tried to run Dyndolod, but it says that some files are missing.

 

2. What is the purpose of mods that have a note   "?DISABLE this mod once you've run DynDOLOD"? Should I install them, run Dyndolod, then disable them and never enable them again?

 

3. If I want to install another mod that is not here, should I categorize it as listed and move the plugin to a specific location?

 

4. Any suggestions on how to keep track of all the mod dependencies. For example, I installed NPC AI Position Fix, which has an option to install the patch for Immersive Citizens and I decided to install Immersive Citizens and that patch as well. But what happens if I forget to patch mods that are dependent on each other?

 

5. I’ve separated my Creation Club mods with a "Curation Club" and unchecked some mods in MO2. However, when I installed the Unofficial Patch and Unofficial Creation Club Patch, I received an error about missing masters such as "hstead.esm" and "Curios.esl" that I have installed but they are unchecked. What should I do?

 

6. Is it okay if HQ Music and Sounds plugins are crossed out in MO2?

 

I'm sorry for asking so many questions, I just want to understand how it works. I know that it Just Works but still 😅

[Bigglsby]

41 minutes ago, Simpossible_xx said:

Yes, I always pay attention to versions when modding my game. I really like Aylis' modlist and I'll follow it step by step. However, I have additional questions that I hope you or someone else can help me with:

 

1. Should I download Dyndolod first and install it once all other mods are installed, or should I run it before installing mods in MO2? I tried to run Dyndolod, but it says that some files are missing.

 

2. What is the purpose of mods that have a note   "?DISABLE this mod once you've run DynDOLOD"? Should I install them, run Dyndolod, then disable them and never enable them again?

 

3. If I want to install another mod that is not here, should I categorize it as listed and move the plugin to a specific location?

 

4. Any suggestions on how to keep track of all the mod dependencies. For example, I installed NPC AI Position Fix, which has an option to install the patch for Immersive Citizens and I decided to install Immersive Citizens and that patch as well. But what happens if I forget to patch mods that are dependent on each other?

 

5. I’ve separated my Creation Club mods with a "Curation Club" and unchecked some mods in MO2. However, when I installed the Unofficial Patch and Unofficial Creation Club Patch, I received an error about missing masters such as "hstead.esm" and "Curios.esl" that I have installed but they are unchecked. What should I do?

 

6. Is it okay if HQ Music and Sounds plugins are crossed out in MO2?

 

I'm sorry for asking so many questions, I just want to understand how it works. I know that it Just Works but still 😅

 

1:  Dyndolod is used only once everything else has been installed.  It looks over and makes use of your entire modlist to generate LOD for the game.  If you run it early, or change up your modlist (specifically things that add/remove outside objects, or change textures), and don't re-run Dyndolod, you'll end up with distant/near-distant objects and textures that are different once you get close.  So it's used once you're pretty much settled, and done with your mod setup.  It's not overall required to have in any way, but it makes for a fluid outside visual experience, instead of a moving visual bubble world.

 

2:  These mods are just tools/files used specifically for Dyndolod generation and serve no purpose to actual gameplay.  There are differing opinions on whether it is necessary to disable them or not, but Aylis recommends disabling when not specifically running LOD generation processes.

 

3:  Generally speaking, it's good to follow this framework for organizing - but not necessary.  Sometimes you'll find a mod or texture pack that you just really prefer, and locating a good home for it may be outside the usual framework here, so that you can get it to properly overwrite all the files you want it to.  So generally yes, but adjust to your taste.  For textures it's less critical, but need to be really more careful with mesh or script overwrites, as those are where things can start to get a bit more funky.

 

4:  To my knowledge there isn't a great way to keep track of dependencies without having something like a spreadsheet to personally track, or just being good at keeping stuff in your head.  Patches can range in importance from "nice to have" to "game won't start without".  Case by case where the conflicts are visual, or functional, or some mix between.  Sometimes not getting a patch may go entirely unnoticed.. or a mod may just not function.  Sometimes patches go away as they are incorporated into a mod for compatibility, in which case you need to make sure of load order of those mods, as it might need to change after an update.

 

5:  I don't run with the full AE, so I can't help much there... 

 

6:  There are some mods that the more recent versions of MO2 show a crossed out plugin.  I'm still running an older version, so mine doesn't do that.   But as I understand, it just means that it is an empty plugin - the system uses it to identify and load the archive (.ba2) of the same name.  So leave it enabled, but the plugin itself isn't loading any actual instructions beyond just a file pointer really.  So not an issue.

 

Hope that helps.  :)

[Simpossible_xx]

28 minutes ago, Bigglsby said:

 

1:  Dyndolod is used only once everything else has been installed.  It looks over and makes use of your entire modlist to generate LOD for the game.  If you run it early, or change up your modlist (specifically things that add/remove outside objects, or change textures), and don't re-run Dyndolod, you'll end up with distant/near-distant objects and textures that are different once you get close.  So it's used once you're pretty much settled, and done with your mod setup.  It's not overall required to have in any way, but it makes for a fluid outside visual experience, instead of a moving visual bubble world.

 

2:  These mods are just tools/files used specifically for Dyndolod generation and serve no purpose to actual gameplay.  There are differing opinions on whether it is necessary to disable them or not, but Aylis recommends disabling when not specifically running LOD generation processes.

 

3:  Generally speaking, it's good to follow this framework for organizing - but not necessary.  Sometimes you'll find a mod or texture pack that you just really prefer, and locating a good home for it may be outside the usual framework here, so that you can get it to properly overwrite all the files you want it to.  So generally yes, but adjust to your taste.  For textures it's less critical, but need to be really more careful with mesh or script overwrites, as those are where things can start to get a bit more funky.

 

4:  To my knowledge there isn't a great way to keep track of dependencies without having something like a spreadsheet to personally track, or just being good at keeping stuff in your head.  Patches can range in importance from "nice to have" to "game won't start without".  Case by case where the conflicts are visual, or functional, or some mix between.  Sometimes not getting a patch may go entirely unnoticed.. or a mod may just not function.  Sometimes patches go away as they are incorporated into a mod for compatibility, in which case you need to make sure of load order of those mods, as it might need to change after an update.

 

5:  I don't run with the full AE, so I can't help much there... 

 

6:  There are some mods that the more recent versions of MO2 show a crossed out plugin.  I'm still running an older version, so mine doesn't do that.   But as I understand, it just means that it is an empty plugin - the system uses it to identify and load the archive (.ba2) of the same name.  So leave it enabled, but the plugin itself isn't loading any actual instructions beyond just a file pointer really.  So not an issue.

 

Hope that helps. 

Thanks, your explanation is greatly appreciated! 💜

[Simpossible_xx]

2 hours ago, Simpossible_xx said:

5. I’ve separated my Creation Club mods with a "Curation Club" and unchecked some mods in MO2. However, when I installed the Unofficial Patch and Unofficial Creation Club Patch, I received an error about missing masters such as "hstead.esm" and "Curios.esl" that I have installed but they are unchecked. What should I do?

For some reasons 4 CCC were missing from my game - Survival Mode, Saints & Seducers, Rare Curios and Fishing. I reinstalled them and it fixed a problem with the Unofficial patch. However, the Unofficial CC Patch is still saying that I am missing files for content that I don't plan to use in my game (Bone Wolf, Tundra etc).

 

UPD: I've installed individual patches for the Unofficial CC Patch and fixed it as well.

Edited July 3, 2024 by Simpossible_xx

[Aylis]

Dang, i didn't remember it being soooo big: 🙄

 

I'll split the sections into smaller pieces to make it a tad easier.  So far i got:

SKSE

UI

Meshes

Textures - Flora

Textures - Landscape

Textures - Clutter

World - Locations (Exterior Skyrim)

World - Locations (Exterior Solstheim)

World - Locations (Interior)

World - Housing

World - Textures

PC

Physics and Animation

Gameplay

Quests

Sound

Music

Weather and Lighting 

Weather and ENB (Lighting comes later)

Final

 

Here's what i'm aiming for...

Spoiler

... and i'm getting closer to it every minute that passes.

 

[Simpossible_xx]

On 11/15/2022 at 3:11 PM, Aylis said:

Nettle                                                   

?Merge both files

How to merge those files?

 

Also, what does the note "?Keep it in - There might be mesh issues otherwise." mean?

Edited July 3, 2024 by Simpossible_xx

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Aylis said:

Dang, i didn't remember it being soooo big: 🙄

 

I'll split the sections into smaller pieces to make it a tad easier.  So far i got:

SKSE

UI

Meshes

Textures - Flora

Textures - Landscape

Textures - Clutter

World - Locations (Exterior Skyrim)

World - Locations (Exterior Solstheim)

World - Locations (Interior)

World - Housing

World - Textures

PC

Physics and Animation

Gameplay

Quests

Sound

Music

Weather and Lighting 

Weather and ENB (Lighting comes later)

Final

 

Here's what i'm aiming for...

  Reveal hidden contents

... and i'm getting closer to it every minute that passes.

 

I do hope you are feeling well enough for all this work.  You seem to be so focused right now.  Thank you so much.  I love the UI by the way.  I have a new widescreen monitor and I couldn't make it look right.  Really want to test your UI setup and try to adapt from there.