Trying to work out SE, AE, AE CC DLC, and FNIS / Nemesis

[Swanky]

Friend of mine reached out with an interesting video that sparked my interest in Skyrim again, after several years of disassociating with the game (Thanks, Todd).
That was before I bought a new computer and while my game is still v1.5.97, my MO2 modlist is in complete disarray as I forgot to copy the the loadorder and instance files indicating which files need priority over which files.
Which effectively means I'm working with a blank slate.

Now I'm pretty sure I can just update to 1.6.1130 and work from there... I don't need to own any actual AE upgrade DLC, right? It's purely optional and introduces a heap of "horse armor" DLC (for not using a word that may be insulting to the actual creators) into the game, and no doubt dozens of new problems and compatibility issues.

As for the actual questions in this topic - are the basic "get a stable, working Skyrim" guides still the same? Anything new I need to watch out for?

Last time I really played this game there was a stark cut in between FNIS and Nemesis because of how animations were working. Can I work Sexlab content and animations while using combat (animation) overhauls that work with Nemesis at this time?

[Grey Cloud]

For good guides:

https://www.loverslab.com/topic/136543-mod-organizer-2-other-tools-from-zero-to-hey-sexlab-is-working/

https://www.loverslab.com/topic/118460-skyrim-se-for-beginners-v-319-3bbb-hdt-smp-hph/  <---There's two of these, one for SE and one for AE.

https://www.loverslab.com/topic/94228-se-compatibility-tracking-apr-23/

https://www.loverslab.com/topic/126227-sexlab-index-se/

 

2 hours ago, Swanky said:

FNIS and Nemesis

Pandora Behaviour Engine now a good alternative to both those.

[Swanky]

Thanks!

Good to know that the incompatibilities between Fnis and Nemesis have been adressed.

[stevenlu]

On 2/8/2025 at 12:25 AM, Grey Cloud said:

Pandora Behaviour Engine now a good alternative to both those.

I just returned to Skyrim after many years.

Does this mean all those mods that has FNIS in their requirements can be run with Pandora instead of FNIS? Sexlab Framework and Sexlab Animation Loader for example.

Edited April 29, 2025 by stevenlu

[Grey Cloud]

29 minutes ago, stevenlu said:

Does this mean all those mods that has FNIS in their requirements can be run with Pandora instead of FNIS?

Yes. Pandora doesn't need FNIS or Nemesis installed to do what they did.

[stevenlu]

1 hour ago, Grey Cloud said:

Yes. Pandora doesn't need FNIS or Nemesis installed to do what they did.

Thank you, that's great news, FNIS was such a pain to use in those days.

[Zor2k13]

Dammit I hate being in this boat:-( I've always just ignored the fancy anim mods for SE/AE but what is dragging me in right now is the dam skyrim paraglider mod. Someone finally fixed it with a "zero" version. Supposedly it all works now just fine no more dying while trying to land if you do it properly but of course it can't work with FNIS installed. There is a way to run with both FNIS and nemesis but it is a big deal to maintain. Then I decided that I wanted to go OSEX or OSTIM standalone no sexlab for SE/AE and now I've wasted the better part of a day researching stuff for this. 

 

Gonna try that summerset isle mod and the LAL alternate start from bruma with all the fixes hope it all works. The mod true directional movement that has 3rd person combat with a lock on feature says no FNIS anims like 360 walk run plus... I think when stuff gets complicated that pandora could solve it but that mod is really new and it might take a while. 

[nilead]

 Basics are the same. Main differences are Pandora taking FNIS an Nemesis lunch money and new frameworks. SPID, KID, CID, BaseObject swapper and SkyPatcher essentially mean that most things that used to require compability patches now can be done without plugin. But if you dont plan to do those patches yourself, just assume that versions of mods made for those frameworks will be much less problematic to handle than old methods.

 For versions - 1.5.97 is still perfectly viable. It might be easier to mod still in my experience, but there are some incentives to go for 1.6.1170 AE. Or, if you can be bothered, update and downgrade back while keeping CC content. 

 For combat mods - playable races movesets and combat frameworks (MCO/BFCO, latter recommended) work perfectly fine with SL. Creature movesets are an issue, in my experience, Precision Creatures are just about as far as you can go before breaking SL creature functionality. No MCO troll or the likes. Also, on the front of combat mods - if you havent tried Elden Rim, give i a try. Its a bit clunky to use, as its chineese mod with documentation machine translated. But it is superb.