Considering starting a new run but should I bother?

[theuglyamerican]

I haven't played Skyrim (either edition) in at least six years and I'm contemplating a new run, but from what I hear Bethesda has spent the entire time since my last playthrough going all "no Vaseline" on the modding community over and over again. I don't have any old files so a game would from a completely fresh installation. My questions are:

 

1. Is a sex-heavy run even possible anymore? I don't care about anything Devious or restraint-related, but Estrus Chaurus, some level of bestiality, and some sort of sex-upon-defeat mod are musts.

2. If the answer to my first question is a yes, is Oldrim or SE the better option?

 

I've tried to answer this by perusing the forums but I have no idea what even works anymore and whether any given piece of advice has been superseded by recent events. 

 

Thanks for your attention.

[sharsharkan]

It's definitely possible. I have my game set to never update through steam and I play SE on 1.5.97 with about 235 mods. You could do a fresh install, and then a downgrade I bet.

[MorePrinniesDood]

If you're already familiar with oldrim and its mods, just go with oldrim, Bethesda hasn't touched that version.

[theuglyamerican]

36 minutes ago, MorePrinniesDood said:

If you're already familiar with oldrim and its mods, just go with oldrim, Bethesda hasn't touched that version.

 

Would a fresh installation work though? I mean, whatever the latest version is on Steam is what I'd get. I thought they had done some kind of Anniversary Edition "upgrade" that trashed everything.

[MorePrinniesDood]

1 hour ago, theuglyamerican said:

 

Would a fresh installation work though? I mean, whatever the latest version is on Steam is what I'd get. I thought they had done some kind of Anniversary Edition "upgrade" that trashed everything.

 

Anniversary Edition is SSE. Oldrim is still oldrim and hasn't been touched since SSE launched.

[Grey Cloud]

I started a completely new SE (1.5.97) installation last week after a 2 year-plus hiatus (from LE). Things have moved on even in that 2 years or so. Out goes SOS, UUNP and HDT-PE- in comes HIMBO, The New Gentlemen and CBBE 3BA. Out goes FNIS and in comes Pandora Behaviour Engine.

I'm currently at just over 200 mods and I've not even started with followers (I had ~300 in LE). All-in-all I'm having a hoot bending Skyrim to my will. Hopefully I will have a hoot if and when I eventually get around to actually playing the game.

 

My major disappointments so far are that I can't find a mod to stop bards singing or a mod to make Skyrim always summer.

 

It's already been said but make every effort to keep Steam away from your game. I chose SE (v1.5.97) over AE (1.6.x) because I don't want any of the Creation Club stuff.

[theuglyamerican]

Huh, I'll give it a stab and see what I can make work. I don't tend to play with a lot of graphics mods because I have an older machine and I don't want to burn it to the ground, but maybe I'll try an ENB this time. LOL

[JimUpdating]

If you go the SE/AE route, then on your computer get to the SteamLibrary>steamapps directory, and set the appmanifest_489830.acf to read only. That should stop unwanted updates.

 

As for SE vs AE, I've not downloaded creation club stuff. There is an option for a survival mode encoded within skyrim, and fishing, and some saints/seducers storyline, but I haven't paid or enabled anything else.

Advantage to AE is that the number of mods that can be loaded has gone up significantly. I've seen a post about merging mods and bashing them together, and not had to do that with AE. I think we're up to 4096 ESL and 250 ESM. Things that were lots of features in one mod (SL Survival, SL Defeat) seem to be splitting into frameworks (Licenses, Laws)(Acheron defeat). Which can make a mod list larger, but a lot more customizable for what you want in (or out) of a game.

 

I'm up and running in 1.6.1170, CBBE+TNG+Himbo, about 200 mods just for LL/combat/animation/quest gameplay.

 

Open Animation Replacer https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/92109 is glorious - there's all sorts of conditional animations depending on gender, confidence, skill level, armor weight, weapon type,

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/51507 https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/99842

There is a Dynamic Animation Replacer in LE for a similar experience.

 

given the specific topics mentioned that OP would want in a playthrough

 

[JimUpdating]

29 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

My major disappointments so far are that I can't find a mod to stop bards singing or a mod to make Skyrim always summer.

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/71291 Bards go to sleep and stop singing, configurable for times.

[JimUpdating]

32 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

My major disappointments so far are that I can't find a mod to stop bards singing or a mod to make Skyrim always summer.

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/62861 Seasons of Skyrim, 

• Seasons supports the four seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. 
• Default setting is set to seasonal (season changes based on game month). Month which triggers each season can be changed (eg. winter in July/Sun's Height or faster seasonal changes)
• Can also be set to permanent season (ie. permanent winter).

 

[Grey Cloud]

9 hours ago, JimUpdating said:

Bards go to sleep and stop singing, configurable for times.

Thanks. I'll give this a go later.

 

9 hours ago, JimUpdating said:

Seasons of Skyrim

Thanks. I've grabbed it but the weather isn't a priority at the moment. Hopefully I'll be heading north today (checking NPCs) so I'll get to see some snow and ice and how they look.