Questions for mods for someone returning to Skyrim AE

[waffles4eva]

So I'm starting another playthrough of Skyrim AE, the playthrough I had was in 2023, and everything just worked at the time. Now when I look at the various mods out there, people seem to recommend OSTIM over SexLab. I initially wasn't going to bother with OSTIM, but SexLab seems overly complicated right now, several of the mods seem defunct or improbable in some way. I've also switched from FNIS to Nemesis, as apparently it is a better animation system, except that it doesn't include any creature animations (I'm not using them, so it doesn't really effect me).

 

As for actual questions I have, they would be:

1. Which version of SOS should I be using? I see something like 4 different versions, and they all seem to have problems. I currently have SOS SE with the DLL update and SOS Uncloaked. My problems however is that SOS doesn't seem to be distributing to anyone unless I make it happen and switching Schlong type doesn't seem to always work. What do I do?

 

2. Should I go with OSTIM or SexLab? I've used SexLab exclusively in the past and only had mild issues, but I've seen several mods not working so I'm not sure if I should make the switch or not. Not that OSTIM seems completely stable either (using the Standalone version) so idk what seems to be more recommended.

 

3. If I decide to go back to SexLab from OSTIM, will Nemesis actually work instead of FNIS? I've read that it's supposed to, but it doesn't actually seem conclusive, Nemesis seems to have a higher animation amount than FNIS, but idk.

 

Feel free to respond to whatever, I've mostly been troubleshooting and haven't actually made it much farther than Riverwood, and I already had to spend a couple hours figuring out a Sleeping Giant Inn CTD, so starting a new save wouldn't be that big a deal.

[travelmedic]

I'm sort of in the same boat - I last played Skyrim LE about 3-4 years ago, so setting up for AE now has been a learning experience.

 

For the male genitals mod I'm actually going to use The New Gentleman from Nexus - seems like it's still being actively supported.  I think it works with the vanilla body, but I may possibly install HIMBO as a body replacer.

 

OSTIM vs SL - it depends on what other mods you want to run.  On LE I only had SL, and used it with SL Eager NPCs and Paradise Halls and others, most of which are also available for AE.  OSTIM has different addons.  Examine your choices and decide which addons you like more, or run both.  For me, there's probably a near equivalent to Eager NPCs and Paradise Halls I may skip this time, but I also want to use Soul Gem Oven 4, and that probably requires SL.  On the other hand ORomance Plus and others look really interesting to me, so I may have to run them side by side.

 

For animations I'm probably going to use Pandora.  People complain now that FNIS is too old, but in LE "it just worked."  Nemesis and Pandora also reportedly have issues (?) so I'm not sure there's a clear choice.

[waffles4eva]

1 hour ago, travelmedic said:

For the male genitals mod I'm actually going to use The New Gentleman from Nexus - seems like it's still being actively supported.  I think it works with the vanilla body, but I may possibly install HIMBO as a body replacer.

Do you need to use bodyslide for The New Gentleman to distribute to others? Or is that only for HIMBO? What I liked about SOS was how little effort I used to be able to put in for it to have global distribution. *Also, does The New Gentleman work with SexLab?

 

Edit*

Edited February 27, 2025 by waffles4eva

[travelmedic]

I think you need BS for genital sliders.

 

OK, I just pulled up the page, and it has it's own body mesh that is compatible with vanilla armors and clothing.  Does work with HIMBO, but HIMBO not needed.

 

The New Gentleman

 

I haven't tested this extensively yet as I'm still on my learning curve with AE, but I think I did try a couple of scene with OSTIM and the "bits" seemed to work as expected.  Most recent update was a couple of days ago.  Can press a hotkey in the game to change shape (depending on what addons you have) and has female/futa and pubes support.

 

EDIT TO ADD:  This was one of the first mods I added a couple of months ago before getting started with quests and such, but I don't remember it being very difficult to set up.

Edited February 27, 2025 by travelmedic

[Grey Cloud]

1 hour ago, waffles4eva said:

Do you need to use bodyslide for The New Gentleman to distribute to others? Or is that only for HIMBO? What I liked about SOS was how little effort I used to be able to put in for it to have global distribution. *Also, does The New Gentleman work with SexLab?

You are allowed to read mod description pages.

 

3 hours ago, travelmedic said:

Nemesis and Pandora also reportedly have issues (?) so I'm not sure there's a clear choice.

No idea about Nemesis but Pandora seems to still have problems with Zaz animations, e.g. male PC just stands there while female NPC goes through the motions. Not sure about DD as I don't use it. Pandora is technically still in Alpha AFAIK.