Adding Mods to Skyrim is a beach!!

[MrGrey]

As in a mommy dog is a beach!! (curious that ...) I thought post NG update Fallout 4 was bad! WRT mods, Skyrim is a beech from hell. Fallout you have either Steam or GOG (almost nothing GOG specific) and two versions, Normal and NG. Skyrim is bat-shit crazy with mods; some new, and some from the beginning of the game over a decade ago. LE, SE, AE and Steam vs GOG makes a difference sometimes. I don't know how you guys do it, it seems some mods were made relying on old mods that don't work anymore.

[Vyru]

I've never ran into any issues like that and never heard about anything that makes a difference for Steam or GOG versions except SKSE. 

 

Without knowing what version (LE, SE, AE) you're on and what mods you even facing issues with no one will be able to help.

 

Read mod descriptions carefully. All the SE mods i'm using are working fine in AE and if they don't the comment section is usually full of reports saying so. If you wanna port LE mods to SE or vice versa there's a ton of tutorials and tools like CAO for that.

 

46 minutes ago, MrGrey said:

it seems some mods were made relying on old mods that don't work anymore

I also never personally had this happen, all the "outdated" mods other popular ones relying on are usualy adpoted, updated and continued by someone else. 99% of the time people running into issues it's because they don't read descriptions carefully, forget to install requirements and / or install several mods at once in a rush instead of taking their time doing it right and testing them for a bit before installing the next one. 

Edited April 26, 2025 by Vyru

[Algarinor]

Yes sometimes it's a nightmare, but some tips:

-most mods works now with last version of skyrim AE. So use it.

-difference between GOG and steam are just in the DLL, infortunatly some old mods aren't updated for GOG version, but it's very rare now (i uyse gog version and don't have problem)

-reading, a lot of reading. Specialy the REQUIREMENTS. It's the most important thing. 80% of CTD, infinite load, etc are just lack of one required mod somewhere.

-base architecture: SKSE, bodyslide, papyrus, papyrus extender, JContainer, powerthree tweaks, skyUI, racemenu, pandora. A solide base. Required for a looooooooooooooooot of good mods.

-Use a mod manager, Mor Organizer 2 or Vortex.

Edited April 26, 2025 by Algarinor

[Jyratx]

GOG or Steam is rarely differentiated with Skyrim mods. The main issues are as the others stated above: game version, requirements, and user error. Get used to reading mod descriptions. I would strongly suggest taking notes if need be. And don't feel ashamed of yourself if you screw up; we've all been there, and those kinds of mistakes offer an abundance of learning opportunities. I've screwed up my game so badly in the past that I needed to completely uninstall/reinstall... a few times. 

[MrGrey]

I didn't ask for help. I was deploring the state of mods and guides for Skyrim.

14 hours ago, Algarinor said:

Yes sometimes it's a nightmare, but some tips:

-most mods works now with last version of skyrim AE. So use it.

-difference between GOG and steam are just in the DLL, infortunatly some old mods aren't updated for GOG version, but it's very rare now (i uyse gog version and don't have problem)

-reading, a lot of reading. Specialy the REQUIREMENTS. It's the most important thing. 80% of CTD, infinite load, etc are just lack of one required mod somewhere.

-base architecture: SKSE, bodyslide, papyrus, papyrus extender, JContainer, powerthree tweaks, skyUI, racemenu, pandora. A solide base. Required for a looooooooooooooooot of good mods.

-Use a mod manager, Mor Organizer 2 or Vortex.

Yes, I use AE now. Took awhile for me to realize that the mods for AE were often labeled SE, and it can make a difference.

Too much reading, really. And the requirements frequently say "The lastest version". Well, how could they know when they authored their guide/mod requirements that the later version is going in break it in the future.  Vortex is pretty good about telling you what's plug ins are missing, but there's no sure way of finding the mod that has the missing plug in. That's what I mean when I say the required mod isn't compatible with the mod you're trying to install. You searched a plug in and came up with something where there is a plug in of that name, but it's for an older version. 

And that people praise MO2 and yet MO2 still can't figure out where the Skyrim Script Extender, and MO2 has some kind of back-assward way where you can't install it manually.

 

I mean, look at this from Sex Lab:

IMPORTANT Note on downloads:

For Skyrim Special Edition (1.6.1170, aka AE) use SexLabFrameworkAE_v166b.7z

For Skyrim Special Edition (1.6.1130, aka AE) use SexLabFrameworkAE_v166.7z

For Skyrim Special Edition (1.5.97, aka SE) use SexLabFrameworkSE_v163.7z

For the GOG version of Skyrim (1.6.1179) use SexLabFrameworkGOG_v166b.7z 

AE and GOG versions also require latest version of Address Library (available here)
Only the latest version is supported. 1.5.97 version will not be updated.

It's a nightmare. Then two versions of the Address library; for 1.5.x and 1.6.x.  AT least in this case the GOG and Steam versions use the same v166b

 

 

Fallout 4 is much easier; it's either the old version or the NG.

 

 

Edited April 27, 2025 by MrGrey
added example of complexity problem

[pinky6225]

1 hour ago, MrGrey said:

I didn't ask for help. I was deploring the state of mods and guides for Skyrim.

Yes, I use AE now. Took awhile for me to realize that the mods for AE were often labeled SE, and it can make a difference.

Too much reading, really. And the requirements frequently say "The lastest version". Well, how could they know when they authored their guide/mod requirements that the later version is going in break it in the future.  Vortex is pretty good about telling you what's plug ins are missing, but there's no sure way of finding the mod that has the missing plug in. That's what I mean when I say the required mod isn't compatible with the mod you're trying to install. You searched a plug in and came up with something where there is a plug in of that name, but it's for an older version. 

And that people praise MO2 and yet MO2 still can't figure out where the Skyrim Script Extender, and MO2 has some kind of back-assward way where you can't install it manually.

 

I mean, look at this from Sex Lab:

IMPORTANT Note on downloads:

For Skyrim Special Edition (1.6.1170, aka AE) use SexLabFrameworkAE_v166b.7z

For Skyrim Special Edition (1.6.1130, aka AE) use SexLabFrameworkAE_v166.7z

For Skyrim Special Edition (1.5.97, aka SE) use SexLabFrameworkSE_v163.7z

For the GOG version of Skyrim (1.6.1179) use SexLabFrameworkGOG_v166b.7z 

AE and GOG versions also require latest version of Address Library (available here)
Only the latest version is supported. 1.5.97 version will not be updated.

It's a nightmare. Then two versions of the Address library; for 1.5.x and 1.6.x.  AT least in this case the GOG and Steam versions use the same v166b

 

 

Fallout 4 is much easier; it's either the old version or the NG.

 

 

 

To download the correct SKSE (which is a requirement) you have to have known your game version to get the correct version (otherwise it wouldnt work)

 

 

So if you've worked that out already, how is remembering that much more of a difficulty?

 

Agree having LE/SE/AE/VR versions is more complicated than fallouts original/NG but then its not like peeps get to choose what Beth push out via steam

[Algarinor]

Don't know, back last year it was a nightmare for gog user since racemenu for gog was on a random page of loverslab forum and that sort of shit, but now that every mods are up to date, it has be as easy as when we are back to just SE/LE.

I find fallout 4 more complicated now, since a lot of mod don't precise with what version (NG or not) they are compatible.

For me it's just a "know what version you are, pick the good stuff". And learn and remember, incompatibilities and where to find some secondary stuff.

One year ago, yes, it was totaly broken, but now, it's pretty easy when you know where you are going.

[Just Don't]

• Remember the version number of your game
• Prevent automatic Steam updates
• Read

That's my process. Only mods with a DLL care about versions anyways. And to get the foundation of all Skyrim modding, SKSE, you should know the version of your game (not commercial names like SE or AE, the product version number of your SkyrimSE.exe file in your PC at the moment of installing SKSE). After that it's just reading, check if the mod contains a DLL, double check it supports your version of the game, look for alternatives if it doesn't. Modding SE since 2017 I've never had a problem with this, nor I had to rely on old and unsupported mods. In the case of older mods they usually get unofficially updated, forked or completely replaced by newer alternatives. And all it takes to ensure the game won't break when a new update comes out is following any of the 4-5 methods to avoid automatic updates from Steam. It might seem like too much, but in practice it's a 5 min process you do once.

BTW this is the exact same process when I feel like modding FO4 once every year. I check which version I got, when was it last updated and what version the usual F4SE mods support. FO4 has had less frequent updates in the past years but you can still follow the exact same process to check for compatibility.

Edited April 27, 2025 by Just Don't

[MrGrey]

On 4/27/2025 at 5:34 AM, pinky6225 said:

 

To download the correct SKSE (which is a requirement) you have to have known your game version to get the correct version (otherwise it wouldnt work)

 

 

So if you've worked that out already, how is remembering that much more of a difficulty?

 

Agree having LE/SE/AE/VR versions is more complicated than fallouts original/NG but then its not like peeps get to choose what Beth push out via steam

It's more difficult because mod authors say "requires the latest Version of X" but there is no 1.6.1170 version of the required mod.

It's more difficult because some mods are just marked "SE", and they mean 1.5.97 and not the "SE" that Steam called AE. It took a while for me to realize they were different.

And wait... "Current classic build"? What is that vision of hell! 1.7.3... there's yet another version!?

And I'm ridiculed for saying that this is far more difficult than the two versions of FO4!

[Just Don't]

7 minutes ago, MrGrey said:

It's more difficult because mod authors say "requires the latest Version of X" but there is no 1.6.1170 version of the required mod.

Example?

7 minutes ago, MrGrey said:

It's more difficult because some mods are just marked "SE", and they mean 1.5.97 and not the "SE" that Steam called AE. It took a while for me to realize they were different.

Please show me your Steam listing the game as AE.

7 minutes ago, MrGrey said:

And wait... "Current classic build"? What is that vision of hell! 1.7.3... there's yet another version!?

That's for the original 2011 release of the game which stop receiving updates back in 2013. That's a different version, different engines and listed separately on Steam.

9 minutes ago, MrGrey said:

And I'm ridiculed for saying that this is far more difficult than the two versions of FO4!

FO4 does have the benefit of having less updates in the past few years. But the path to modding and dealing with updates is exactly the same. Bethesda publishes a patch and Steam gets the update out, your game files are updated and the exe file of the game goes from 1.0.X to 1.1.X, then 1.2.X and so on. Regardless of how many patches have been released (which produces separate exe versions) it all comes down to checking which one you have and which ones are supported by relevant mods (because again, not every mod cares about your exe or SKSE version). And honestly it's no different than the process I do to mod most Bethesda games, Minecraft, or some GTA tittles. Knowing which version of the game is kinda the staple of any modding practice (as well as having full control over the game files so no automatic updates or OS permissions get in the way of your modding).