Unmoddable Serana

[Mnrykou]

First time posting on a forum simply because most of the issues I run into with mods have been answered already.  I seem to have run into a unique obstacle, hence the post.  I use Nexus Mod Manager to apply Mods to Skyrim.

 

 The issue in short : Can't get Serana mods to work.  

 

The issue in detail:   I use SBF's Beautiful Followers Mod (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/37861/?) that drastically changes the appearance of some of Skyrim's followers, one of the changed subjects being Serana from the Dawnguard DLC.  I'm not sure what's going on, but no matter what I do, the mod doesn't work on Serana.  Her head remains as the default given by Bethesda. All the other followers included in the pack were changed flawlessly.  (Manual installation didn't work either)

 

Believing that maybe it was a load order issue I ran BOSS, double checked the load order manually (all files from Serana mod were present in Skyrim DATA and .ESM/.ESP files were all checked), but still all I got was the default head for Serana.  Continuing to believe that perhaps my files were corrupt I redownloaded SBF's Beautiful Followers, this time in individual packs and activated them all one at a time.  Every follower, but Serana changed.  

 

Fearing that maybe my entire game's DATA was in some way twisted beyond repair, I uninstalled the game (manually deleted all files of Skyrim) and reinstalled the game and the mods I used.  Serana continued to remain loyal to Bethesda.

 

I've tried two other Serana mods.  

SERANAHOLIC    http://www.nexusmods...im/mods/38326/?

 SERENA and FAMILY http://www.nexusmods...im/mods/39549/?

Neither of them worked.

 

 The only other logical explanation as to why the mods won't work is the slight possibility that there is a mod conflict, but I haven't a clue as to which mod might be preventing a mod on Serana.  Most of my mods are armor mods and skeleton replacer mods.  I've made sure to turn off the other Serana mods while I tested them individually so there's no overlap.

 

 

If anyone has an idea as to why these popular Serana mods won't work please let me know.

[bob11]

Try moving the mod .esp to the very bottom of the load order and try again.  If that doesn't fix it, also try re-installing the mod, then move the .esp to the bottom of the load order, then try again.

[Mnrykou]

Try moving the mod .esp to the very bottom of the load order and try again.  If that doesn't fix it, also try re-installing the mod, then move the .esp to the bottom of the load order, then try again.

Thank you bob11 for the quick reply and unbelievable solution.  Apparently moving the .esp file all the way to the bottom fixed the mod issue, but how?  Isn't BOSS suppose to correct load order issues? Or does one simply read BOSS upside down?

[gvman3670]

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/49726/?

 

Try this and see if she changes or not. I use an older version of this mod and I think it's the best Serana yet anyway.

[gvman3670]

Never mind, I see you figured it out.

[TheDriedFinger]

No, BOSS does not always order .esps correctly. Use it as a guide and then customize the load order based on the mod author's instructions and intuition, when the instructions conflict.

[CGi]

MO is actually rather easy to understand.
if you install the old way (manual, NMM or Wrye), you got to be careful what overwrites what file from which mod.
So if you install CBBE f.e. and then another mods that comes with body meshes, you loose the changes from CBBE.

Same with your Serana mod. Every mod that you install after it and that comes with body meshes as well, will overwrite the changes/files form the Serana mod.

And if you accidently overwrite something you have to reinstall or go thru a rather tedious process of reinstallation to get the files you want.

 

So what MO does is avoid overwriting by storing every mod in it's own folder and the load order of those folders determines which file of which mods overwrites the files from previously loaded mods. Same as installing and overwriting, just easier and w/o any need to reinstall as you can simply change the mod load order to achive the desired goal.

 

So in the end you load body replacers, skeletons, BodySlide generated files and FNiS generated files as low in the mod load roder as possible. Same for body textures as this assures you get the files you want, avoiding other mods from overwriting them.

 

 

Sorry for my engrish but i hope i could explain the matter good enough, so it's still understandable.

[bob11]

 

Try moving the mod .esp to the very bottom of the load order and try again.  If that doesn't fix it, also try re-installing the mod, then move the .esp to the bottom of the load order, then try again.

Thank you bob11 for the quick reply and unbelievable solution.  Apparently moving the .esp file all the way to the bottom fixed the mod issue, but how?  Isn't BOSS suppose to correct load order issues? Or does one simply read BOSS upside down?

 

 

BOSS corrects wider or common load order issues based on what mod CATEGORY should load after what, as well as some exceptions.  Do not follow BOSS order like it's dogmatic.  It's a good general guidelines although it tends to get certain things wrong and it's seriously outdated most of the time due to the sheer number of new mods with just few people to update the masterlist.  You use BOSS first to get a general feel of where mod categories should be, then tweak it if you notice incompatibilities.  Also, BOSS doesn't have every available mod or every possible combination of mods (e.g. I use SBF followers, Shadowtigers mod, plus around 3-4 mods for individual vanilla follower cosmetics, BOSS really messes these up so I have to put them in the order I want afterwards.

 

Your best bet to avoid stuff like that (or be able to more efficiently troubleshoot these) is use either Wrye Bash or Mod Organizer.

 

For the main question, SOME other .esp either has Serana dirty edits which overwrite the mod you want to use for her, OR these are legitimate edits (ie the mod actually informs you that it edits Serana properties) so placing it after the mod you want to use will use this instead of your preferred Serana mod.

 

In a hurry, btw xP

[Mnrykou]

MO is actually rather easy to understand.

if you install the old way (manual, NMM or Wrye), you got to be careful what overwrites what file from which mod.

So if you install CBBE f.e. and then another mods that comes with body meshes, you loose the changes from CBBE.

Same with your Serana mod. Every mod that you install after it and that comes with body meshes as well, will overwrite the changes/files form the Serana mod.

And if you accidently overwrite something you have to reinstall or go thru a rather tedious process of reinstallation to get the files you want.

 

So what MO does is avoid overwriting by storing every mod in it's own folder and the load order of those folders determines which file of which mods overwrites the files from previously loaded mods. Same as installing and overwriting, just easier and w/o any need to reinstall as you can simply change the mod load order to achive the desired goal.

 

So in the end you load body replacers, skeletons, BodySlide generated files and FNiS generated files as low in the mod load roder as possible. Same for body textures as this assures you get the files you want, avoiding other mods from overwriting them.

 

 

Sorry for my engrish but i hope i could explain the matter good enough, so it's still understand

Your english is fine.  Thank you for the explanation on Load Order and I'll be keeping a closer eye on my loads from now on.

[Mnrykou]

MO is actually rather easy to understand.

if you install the old way (manual, NMM or Wrye), you got to be careful what overwrites what file from which mod.

So if you install CBBE f.e. and then another mods that comes with body meshes, you loose the changes from CBBE.

Same with your Serana mod. Every mod that you install after it and that comes with body meshes as well, will overwrite the changes/files form the Serana mod.

And if you accidently overwrite something you have to reinstall or go thru a rather tedious process of reinstallation to get the files you want.

 

So what MO does is avoid overwriting by storing every mod in it's own folder and the load order of those folders determines which file of which mods overwrites the files from previously loaded mods. Same as installing and overwriting, just easier and w/o any need to reinstall as you can simply change the mod load order to achive the desired goal.

 

So in the end you load body replacers, skeletons, BodySlide generated files and FNiS generated files as low in the mod load roder as possible. Same for body textures as this assures you get the files you want, avoiding other mods from overwriting them.

 

 

Sorry for my engrish but i hope i could explain the matter good enough, so it's still understand

Your english is fine.  Thank you for the explanation on Load Order and I'll be keeping a closer eye on my loads from now on.

[Mnrykou]

Thanks to everyone that checked this thread and helped me solve the issue.  Glad to know that Loverslab community is more active than other forum sites.