LOD's No-Bullshit Demotivating Guide To Skyrim Modding

[libertyordeath]

Background: I have over 20 years computing experience. That's an understatement just to keep my identity a mystery. I also wrote my first computer program at least 20 years ago. And i broke the Obvlivion Papyrus VM, by discovering tricks to make scripts 4000% - yes 40 times - faster than default.

 

What's all this dickwaving for? It means i know shit about computers and bethesda VMs in general, but somehow i completely disagree - and get banned - for stating the same old knowledge on new beth games - because it does not make me look like a nice guy. And guess what? The history of beth games is not a nice thing.

 

For example: Skyrim is not designed to be heavily modded and run stable. You're not even supposed to remove mods midgame, and lets be real: That's completely unrealistic. You're not going to start a new game whenever you find out one of your mods isn't that great after all, or is causing problems. Or rather: It's an unrealistic requirement when running hundreds of mods, but it would not be unrealistic if you're just running 10 DLC packs and nothing else. That's what Skyrim is designed for.

 

Yet when you look at all those so-called "guides" on this and other sites, what do they tell you to do? That's right: Install a whole compendium of mods. In fact those aren't even "guides": They're just lists - collections - of mods somebody thinks you should have. And they're not even designed to be beginner friendly. Setup DynDOLOD? Suure, that's something a beginner can do (sarcasm).

 

This guide instead is an actual set of "guidelines", and it tells you only how to get a basic skyrim modding foundation. 

 

So let's start.

 

0. Install MO2 and learn how it works. No nexus autoupdate shit, no auto-loadmanagers: Learn to do everything manual and be in control of your setup. Regarding loadorders: It's simple in principle. Mods are loaded on after another in a certain order (top to bottom). If two mods change the same files or objects in skyrim, then whichever mod comes later overwrites the former. You can see those conflicts yourself in MO2: Rightclick on a mod with a conflict icon and select "information", then look at the "conflicts" tab. For example, lets say you have XP32Max - the god of skelletons - somewhere in your loadorder. But ingame, some humans or creatures have spikes that go to infinity. That's a skelleton conflict: Something is overriding skels in the wrong order, and looking at the "conflict" tab in MO2 will tell you which mod.

 

Here's another trick: Except for some rare exceptions, you can just order your mods by category, and this usually works so long as the categories are in the right order. For example, my MO2 mod-categories look like this:

 

AE

Corelibs (mostly SKSE-DLLs)

Vanilla Patches

SKYUI

GUI

Map

Camera

Fixes

World & Texturepacks

Locations (Homes, etc)

GFX

SFX

Bodies

Clothes

Anims

Physics

Economy & Crafting

Gameplay

NPCs

Quests

Small Tweaks (Greeting distance, Walkspeed, that kinda stuff)

Sexlab

Pre-Bash Override

Bashed Patch

Sexlab Animpacks

Generated Bodyfiles

Generated Animfiles

Generated LOD

Final Override

 

So when i download a new mod, i just sort it into the above categories. Within the target category, i place it after its dependencies, or if it has none then i just place it based on which mod is most important to me, so that in case of conflict, the more important mods win out.

 

Continued in next post.

Edited February 7 by libertyordeath

[libertyordeath]

Step 1: Universal guidelines.

 

1.1. There are three types of mods: Pure SKSE mods (they have DLLs and nothing else), conventional mods (ESP, ESL, ESM files), and hybrids (all of those). 

 

Here's the interesting part: Pure SKSE plugins can be added and removed with zero risk in the middle of the game. They also form the foundation on which everything else depends: JContainers? SKSE-DLL. PapyrusUtil? SKSE-DLL. Anim-Limit Crashfix? Also an SKSE-DLL.

 

This means: Before you even start downloading any "real" mods, you should get your foundation set up and test it to make sure it runs perfectly. Because in this phase you can easily enable and disable them in MO2 to find errors by exclusion. After you start adding content, that's not so easy anymore, because everything else depends those handful of DLLs.

 

1.2. Once you have a flawless foundation working, duplicate your skyrim install so you have two completely seperate setups: One for messing around and testing new mods, and a second install for playing stable. 

 

No, this isn't optional. Your "mess around" install WILL break, and if that's your only install? Game over. No, i will not provide help for steam installs either. If you're still on steam in the year 2024 and are still fighting with autoupdates, then you're a masochist and you're asking for it.

 

1.3.: After your SKSE mods are stable and you have two isolated setups, do not go on a download spree and install dozens of mods at a time. Install one or two at a time and test them properly. This way if problems suddenly appear, you know it's most likely those 1-2 new mods you just added. 

 

1.4: Avoid every mod with "overhaul" in its name like the plague. Why? Well, what makes mods conflict? Answer: They touch the same thing. What creates the highest chance of two mods touching the same thing? Answer: Touch as many things as possible. Question: What does "Overhaul" mean? If you can't figure it out from here, you need brain surgery and i'm no expert at that, so ask somone else to deal with your "issues".

 

 

Edited February 7 by libertyordeath

[libertyordeath]

2. What is the "foundation" i keep talking about? It is not whatever mods you or someone else considers 'must haves'. It simply is those mods that almost every other mod depends on and takes for granted. Like SKSE for example. Okay, so what exactly are those mods? What does a basic Skyrim install look like, right before you duplicate it to have two installs?

 

Loadorder category 1: Corelibs

SKSE, Addresslibrary, Cleansave Autoreloader, JContainers, PapyrusUtil, ConsoleUtil, PowerOf3Tweaks, PapyrusExtender, PapyrusTweaks, DisplayTweaks, Anim Limit Crashfix, FISSES, Backported ESL-Ext Support, Save Unbaker, Base Object Swapper, Anim Object Swapper, Behavior Data Injector, Sound Record Distributor, SPID, Keyword Item Distributor, Craft Reciple Distributor, Formlist Manipulator
 

Loadorder category 2: Vanilla Skyrim Patches

Unofficial SSE Patch, Script Fixes Compendium, Unofficial CC Patch, WACCF, Skyrim Landscape and Water Fixes

 

Loadorder category 3: SKYUI

SkyUI, SkyUILib, Ghost Item Fix, Better Container Controls, ScaleformTranslate, UIExtensions, MCM Helper, Inventory Info Injector, MCM Kicker

 

Loadorder category 4: GUI

Skip this for now. It's where things like StayAtSystemPage, Mainmenu replacers, HUDs and so on go.

 

Loadorder Category 5: Map

Also skip for now. Stuff like Atlas Mapmakers will later go here. 

 

Loadorder Category 6: Camera

Also skip. Stuff like Customizable Camera, Smoothcam and IFPV later goes here.

 

Loadorder Category 7: Fixes

Bugfixes SSE, Scrambled Bugs, MFGfix, Blackface Fixer, FuzRoDoh, Journal Limit Fix, Autoparallax, Dragon Stalking Fix, Actorlimit Fix, Camera Persistency Fix, Anim Static Reload Fix, Anim Queue Fix, AI Process Position Fix, Special Item Enchant Fix, Animals Dont Report Crimes

 

 

Edited February 7 by libertyordeath

[libertyordeath]

Step 3 reserved

[Neyri LL]

Cool, will be trying out even though I'm fairly good around modding (user, not maker).

 

DM if you need me to delete comment for a potential step4