Sexlab doesn't list animations and will not play any

[turtleFriend]

Latest version of Skyrim AE, all things downloaded over the last few days, having an issue where Sexlab doesn't list animations in the mcm or play animations when initiated. I tried the suggestions in the troubleshooting section (including the reset sexlab, wait 3 hours, save and reload). I am using Pandora so some of the instructions aren't quite right but FNIS just wouldn't work at all for me. Pandora does seem to see my Sexlab install since in the Engine.log output from Pandora it lists them as being built. I've tried clean install, removing all mods that aren't required for Sexlab (except alternative perspective because I do not want to have to wait through the obnoxiously long skyrim intro to test if I fixed an issue) and am getting the same results. I even tried installing another set of animations because I wasn't sure if maybe a newer sexlab didn't have animations by default but same result. Attached are the sexlab log and pandora engine log. I'd upload a mod list but I don't know how to get the list format I've seen.

Thanks for help.

Engine.log SexLabUtil.log

[traison]

You never mentioned registering animations, so that would be your most likely problem.

[Dorabella]

Project New Reign - Nemesis Unlimited Behavior Engine  

 

21 minutes ago, turtleFriend said:

I tried the suggestions in the troubleshooting section (including the reset sexlab, wait 3 hours, save and reload).

I've never heard of it solving the problem. If an animation tool such as FNIS/Nemesis doesn't work, anything related to these tools won't work either.

 

Skyrim AE for Beginners - V 2.9.15 (3BA / HDT-SMP / HPH) WIP

[turtleFriend]

1 hour ago, traison said:

You never mentioned registering animations, so that would be your most likely problem.

Am I missing something? Is there a button on the mcm that does that. I tried using the maintenance reset animation cache (actually I've tried all the buttons under maintenance.)
Also Pandora does seem to be working because other animations (Like DD ones ie bound movement and such) do play just not the sexlabs ones. 

[traison]

SexLab Animation Loader

[turtleFriend]

Okay now with Sexlab animation loader, I have animations listed in the animation area but when I try to play one, the two actors just merge into each other (overlap) and stand idle while sounds play.

[traison]

The answer to that might be in the Papyrus log. If not, then generate your behavior files with FNIS and test again.

[turtleFriend]

I don't know why but it's working now. I literally swapped profiles on vortex, swapped back, manually enabled SL animation loader (because for some reason vortex refuses to correctly enable the mod despite saying it's enabled), and then suddenly things worked. The load order is entirely the same (via manual use of LOOT) and... yeah now it's working. Thanks for the help. Wish I could say what solved it in case others have this issue but ... yeah I have no idea what was wrong.

Thanks for the help. By the way, where on the main sexlab page does it say you need animation loader because I have looked at that like 10 times and I cannot find it.

[traison]

2 hours ago, turtleFriend said:

By the way, where on the main sexlab page does it say you need animation loader...

 

SL itself doesn't require SLAL. The SLAL requirement is stated in the animation packs you download.

 

2 hours ago, turtleFriend said:

I don't know why but it's working now. I literally swapped profiles on vortex, swapped back...

 

Unreliability issues like these is why I swapped to MO2. From my experience, Vortex works fine until you start making changes to your already existing load order such as changing mod priorities or removing installed mods. There's also a much larger risk of user error when working with Vortex, because people think the files they see in the Skyrim Data directory are traditional files. While technically they are, the thing that's hidden from view is that the same files exist in multiple locations - they have a link count of 2, whereas traditional files have 1. To put that another way, if you change a file in one location it will also change in the other location (because it's the same file, in multiple locations). Another problem this creates is the illusion that a user can install mods directly into the Data directory, because there's where the other mod files already appear to be.

Edited August 15, 2025 by traison

[turtleFriend]

19 minutes ago, traison said:

 

SL itself doesn't require SLAL. The SLAL requirement is stated in the animation packs you download.

 

 

Unreliability issues like these is why I swapped to MO2. From my experience, Vortex works fine until you start making changes to your already existing load order such as changing mod priorities or removing installed mods. There's also a much larger risk of user error when working with Vortex, because people think the files they see in the Skyrim Data directory are traditional files. While technically they are, the thing that's hidden from view is that the same files exist in multiple locations - they have a link count of 2, whereas traditional files have 1. To put that another way, if you change a file in one location it will also change in the other location (because it's the same file, in multiple locations). Another problem this creates is the illusion that a user can install mods directly into the Data directory, because there's where the other mod files already appear to be.

So part of my problem with SL is the default animations that come with it still aren't showing up, which is the reason I had to add another mod for animations.

 

And yes I admit MO2 looks more usable and better but every time I tried setting it up I couldn't figure it out so I never transitioned.

[traison]

45 minutes ago, turtleFriend said:

...my problem with SL is the default animations that come with it still aren't showing up...

 

These default animations haven't aged well so usually people actually want to remove them rather than make sure they show up.

1. Make sure nothing is modifying sslAnimationDefaults.pex and/or sslCreatureAnimationDefaults.pex.
2. Make sure these files actually contain some animation definitions. sslAnimationDefaults.psc should be about 102 KiB and sslCreatureAnimationDefaults.psc 52 KiB.
3. Make sure the LoadAnimations() and LoadCreatureAnimations() functions in these files actually load the animations.

45 minutes ago, turtleFriend said:

...MO2 looks more usable and better but every time I tried setting it up I couldn't figure it out...

 

The reason why MO2 might look like its not working is because of its usvfs. You can't see installed mod files in Windows unless you inspect the directories with a tool running under the usfvs or using the Data tab in MO2. This is why MO2 ships with a copy of Explorer++ bundled - it gives you a Windows Explorer -like interface with which to view mod files.

Edited August 15, 2025 by traison

[Miauzi]

Vor 25 Minuten sagte turtleFriend:

Und ja, ich gebe zu, dass MO2 benutzerfreundlicher und besser aussieht, aber jedes Mal, wenn ich versuchte, es einzurichten, kam ich nicht dahinter, also habe ich nie gewechselt.

 

There you can get help - at least it helped me - my SexLab works