Skyrim Thoughts

[Guest]

First I want to say how many countless hours I have enjoyed playing this Game.

Bethesda, in my mind, Borked the game for a couple of player homes, fishing, and some crappy quest for guys in polished remade dwarven armor, and a few weapons I never use.

I could not care less about the tiny changes they made that forced the SE version to change to the AE version, and totally ruined a good game.

This is just my opinion, you are allowed to disagree after all discussion breeds understanding. Just no Flamers please.

My second thought is why is AE not a separate version the same as LE*, I mean to say some mods won't work in SE that are made for AE and vice versa.

So why oh why if the game has a new tag (AE) why isn't it a different game like LE?!

If it is just SE revised (like Nexus told me when I asked for a separate category) why isn't it just SE instead of AE??

Why when trying to find compatible mods one has to read a ton of text to decipher whether or not it will work with the specific AE build. Then to go on to read the install requirements and such. Then to pick the right file to download as AE files are mixed in with SE files on most download pages.

I firmly believe AE needs it's own Category in LL and Nexus to simplify the search for and installation of said mods that keep this Game alive. 

Again these are just my thoughts, nobody has to agree or disagree unless inclined to do so.   ?     ?

 

*I already know the answer about the more technical side of this.

[Alessia Wellington]

Spoiler

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Alessia Wellington said:

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What does that have to do with what I said?? 

[Miauzi]

Vor 5 Minuten sagte Sir Bron:

Was hat das mit dem zu tun, was ich gesagt habe?? 

 

The word "money" says it all... because Bugdesta's "creation" of the AE version was all about making money.

It was clear to them - that the majority of mod users are unable - to avoid this forced update. By making the use of free mods much more difficult... but at the same time keeping the paid mods from the CC "under the noses" of the players.

In any case, they were present in the gaming media and reached a new target group of gamers... especially people who hadn't had much to do with modifying games before. Their questions for help were often formulated accordingly here.

Others have jumped on this bandwagon and created mod collections - some paid for - even though they neither asked the original mod authors for permission nor gave them a share of the revenue generated!

 

[Just Don't]

2 hours ago, Sir Bron said:

Bethesda, in my mind, Borked the game for a couple of player homes, fishing, and some crappy quest for guys in polished remade dwarven armor, and a few weapons I never use.

You can, and should, prevent automatic updates. This applies to every game, in any platform that you're modding in any way. You should be the only one making changes to the game files if you want your modded game to be safe (or well, as safe as you can mod the game). There are like 5 different methods to stop automatic updates for Steam, some of them even got media coverage (aka articles in gaming sites, youtube gaming commentary channels, Nexus news and so on). It might be a bit weird for someone completely new to modding to go out and seek that info, but the info is out there and any decent guide or information source will mention it.

 

2 hours ago, Sir Bron said:

My second thought is why is AE not a separate version the same as LE*, I mean to say some mods won't work in SE that are made for AE and vice versa.

So why oh why if the game has a new tag (AE) why isn't it a different game like LE?!

If it is just SE revised (like Nexus told me when I asked for a separate category) why isn't it just SE instead of AE??

SE updated the whole engine to be 64 bits instead of 32 bits like in LE. That kind of change needs to keep both versions as separate games listed. Otherwise people who bought the old version back in 2011 may not be able to run the new version due to new system requirements. See how this has nothing to do with mods? Now, most mods will need some sort of porting done (depending on the type of files said mods use). AE did not change too much, it should be considered like any other game update that SE received since 2016 to this day, only that AE got a catchy name and they took the chance to redistribute CC content in the form of an optional paid DLC (and they included some free CC in the update). But it's literally a new patch for SE. It won't change the way the games are listed or mod categories are conceived.

 

2 hours ago, Sir Bron said:

Why when trying to find compatible mods one has to read a ton of text to decipher whether or not it will work with the specific AE build. Then to go on to read the install requirements and such. Then to pick the right file to download as AE files are mixed in with SE files on most download pages.

I firmly believe AE needs it's own Category in LL and Nexus to simplify the search for and installation of said mods that keep this Game alive.

I can think of only 2 cases where the specific version of your game matters for mods.

1. The mod contains a DLL file. DLL files are compiled for a specific version of SKSE, and SKSE is also compiled for a specific version of the game. The moment a new update is released, a new version of SKSE is needed and in turn some mods will need a new update too. This was getting better with mods like Address Library, which reduces the amount of maintenance that mod authors needed to do between updates, as well as Commonlib and such which allow those NG mods (basically a DLL that should work in any game+SKSE version you use).
2. The mod requires CC files. This is the case for mods that overhaul or change the content included in any CC. The only reason you'd be using such mods is if you already own the CC, otherwise it's like trying to use a patch for a mod you don't have. The 4 free CC may be a point of contention here since they are required by the current unofficial patch which clashes with the desire of some users of removing any or all of those CC. My own approach here is to keep the 4 CC installed, but use a few mods to cut or change the content added so it's less in the face or useful. If you were to completely remove them you'd need to edit the USSEP to remove any dependencies, and keep in mind that you can't use any mod requiring those CC.

Both of these cases are easily addressed, usually in the first lines or sections of the mod description. You can preview the content of the mod and check if it contains a DLL, then do a quick scan for any mentions of specific game/SKSE versions, terms like SE, AE, NG and such. Most mods will contain this information directly in the downloads tab (in the form of the specific game/SKSE versions that the file was made for). As for requirements, most if not all Nexus mods contain a Requirements tab near the top of the description page (which is usually shown when you press the download buttons anyways), or list the requirements as part of the description in plain text. I don't think any mod would benefit from keeping this info hidden, and can't recall any example of poorly stated DLL compatibility or CC dependencies.

A completely new category for AE mods would serve no real purpose. Would you put them all in the same category regardless of the type of mods? This would defeat the point of mod categories. Or would you create a separate site (aka Nexus Skyrim AE) and LL downloads? Then it'd be quite sparse really, unless you also include all the SE or even LE mods that can work regardless of game version (then you'd have 3 separate sites or download pages with a lot of redundancies in the content listed).

 

So again, it might be a bit confusing at first, it might be frustrating to lose your modded game to an update. But recommended practices and the information to find what you need are out there.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Just Don't