help! Need help in modding Skyrim SE

[Alpharius XX]

Hello to all !

 

Need help installing mods on the vanilla version of the game, I installed a limited number of mods a long time ago, but I've already forgotten everything, including the mods I installed and how to do it correctly, and now also Bethesda decided to break all the mods several times, as far as I could see from the useless updates in steam game news, so the setup becomes even more complicated.

 

Therefore, I ask for help, explaining which mods to install step by step, describing everything in detail if possible, Because I'm basically a newbie in terms of installing mods, I mainly installed mods only on HOI 4 but there it is extremely simple compared to Skyrim.

 

And another question: is it even possible to find a mod collection on the Nexus with a ready-made setup for installing adult mods, without unnecessary mods that would weigh 30+ gigabytes, and that everything works stably, or is it better to manually install and configure all the mods ?

 

[Grey Cloud]

For LE
https://www.loverslab.com/blogs/entry/7521-conglomerate-01-installing-skyrim-stability-fixes-tools/

https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/SkyrimLE:3.0.0

For SE
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/

https://www.loverslab.com/topic/200681-skyrim-ae-for-beginners-v-2915-3ba-hdt-smp-hph-wip/

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

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

 

There is also a thing called a 'search engine'.

[Alpharius XX]

23 hours ago, Grey Cloud said:

For LE
https://www.loverslab.com/blogs/entry/7521-conglomerate-01-installing-skyrim-stability-fixes-tools/

https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/SkyrimLE:3.0.0

For SE
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/

https://www.loverslab.com/topic/200681-skyrim-ae-for-beginners-v-2915-3ba-hdt-smp-hph-wip/

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

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

 

There is also a thing called a 'search engine'.

Thanks for the help, but I tried to find what I was interested in, but the only thing I found was a 10-year-old guide that was unlikely to be relevant, and usually if you don't know the specific name of what you need, finding what you're interested in 'search engine' is quite difficult in most cases.

Quote

And another question: is it even possible to find a mod collection on the Nexus with a ready-made setup for installing adult mods, without unnecessary mods that would weigh 30+ gigabytes, and that everything works stably, or is it better to manually install and configure all the mods ?

And I didn’t hear an answer to my  question, I would like to hear an answer from a more experienced mod user.

Edited Wednesday at 08:26 AM by Alpharius XX

[Grey Cloud]

1 hour ago, Alpharius XX said:

Thanks for the help, but I tried to find what I was interested in, but the only thing I found was a 10-year-old guide that was unlikely to be relevant

All the links I posted are still useful and used by newcomers today.

 

1 hour ago, Alpharius XX said:

and usually if you don't know the specific name of what you need, finding what you're interested in 'search engine' is quite difficult in most cases.

If you can't use a search engine then I don't know what to say.

 

1 hour ago, Alpharius XX said:

And I didn’t hear an answer to my  question, I would like to hear an answer from a more experienced mod user.

You are asking about mod collections on Nexus on a site that is not Nexus and doesn't do mod collections and wabbajacks.

 

1 hour ago, Alpharius XX said:

or is it better to manually install and configure all the mods ?

'Manually install' is the wrong term but if you mean 'install individually' then yes that is better. The downside is that it would require using guides, using a search engine and lots of reading and time. In other words doing things the way 99% of the people here on LL do it.

[CaptainJ03]

5 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

'Manually install' is the wrong term but if you mean 'install individually' then yes that is better. The downside is that it would require using guides, using a search engine and lots of reading and time. In other words doing things the way 99% of the people here on LL do it.

You forgot to mention that one thing everybody seems to be lacking these days: Patience.

[Alpharius XX]

29 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

All the links I posted are still useful and used by newcomers today.

I wasn't talking about the links you posted, but about the one I found in the search engine, where the last update was more than 10 years ago.

 

39 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

If you can't use a search engine then I don't know what to say.

I didn't say that I can't use it, I'm saying that sometimes it's difficult to find something specific if you don't have a specific post title.

 

32 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

You are asking about mod collections on Nexus on a site that is not Nexus and doesn't do mod collections and wabbajacks.

Many mods here are related to the Nexus or are directly downloaded from it, especially in the guides you uploaded yourself, so it's not entirely appropriate to talk about the Nexus as a third-party site that no one here uses, I was just asking if there was a collection with a pre-prepared base for beginners, which would include all the tools for customization specifically for themselves.

 

41 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

'Manually install' is the wrong term but if you mean 'install individually' then yes that is better. The downside is that it would require using guides, using a search engine and lots of reading and time. In other words doing things the way 99% of the people here on LL do it.

'Manually install' is the right term, I meant manual installation and configuration of each mod without Vortex or MO2.

[Alpharius XX]

59 minutes ago, CaptainJ03 said:

You forgot to mention that one thing everybody seems to be lacking these days: Patience.

I have no problem with patience, otherwise I wouldn't be able to play games like HOI 4 or Factorio, I just don't want to waste my time when the same results can be achieved in a much shorter period of time, this is called optimization,and many people may simply lack time rather than patience due to various factors like work, school, or other reasons, it's not necessarily generational.

[Grey Cloud]

2 hours ago, Alpharius XX said:

I wasn't talking about the links you posted, but about the one I found in the search engine, where the last update was more than 10 years ago.

Then there is no reason not to take advantage of the links I provided.

 

2 hours ago, Alpharius XX said:

I'm saying that sometimes it's difficult to find something specific if you don't have a specific post title.

Why would you require a specific post title?

 

2 hours ago, Alpharius XX said:

Many mods here are related to the Nexus or are directly downloaded from it, especially in the guides you uploaded yourself, so it's not entirely appropriate to talk about the Nexus as a third-party site that no one here uses, I was just asking if there was a collection with a pre-prepared base for beginners, which would include all the tools for customization specifically for themselves.

I didn't say nobody here uses Nexus. I said that the people on this site typically do not use collections or wabbajacks.

 

2 hours ago, Alpharius XX said:

'Manually install' is the right term, I meant manual installation and configuration of each mod without Vortex or MO2.

There is no good reason to install mods manually and a host of reasons not to. Vortex or MO2 will give you much more control over your mods than manual will ever do.

 

2 hours ago, Alpharius XX said:

many people may simply lack time rather than patience due to various factors like work, school, or other reasons

Many people here on LL lack time due to one thing or another. They still don't use collections or wabbajacks.

 

2 hours ago, Alpharius XX said:

otherwise I wouldn't be able to play games like HOI 4 or Factorio

And how modded are these games? 

 

If you want a quick and low effort solution then go and pick a collection or wabbajack. Then see how you get on when something breaks (and it will) and you haven't got clue which of the 7 zillion is causing the problem.

[Alpharius XX]

12 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

Then there is no reason not to take advantage of the links I provided.

I never said I don't use them. I'm currently reading through one of the guides, and I'm wondering what's best for a beginner mod user Vortex or MO2 ?

 

14 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

Why would you require a specific post title?

If you know the exact title of the post, you can find the information you need in a few seconds; if not, it could take anywhere from a few minutes to an eternity, because the search tools here are very limited and even using tags there is no guarantee that you will find what you need.

 

16 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

I didn't say nobody here uses Nexus. I said that the people on this site typically do not use collections or wabbajacks.

I wouldn't speak for everyone, because you don't personally know every user of this site, but I don't deny that there could be many of them, however, there could also be quite a number of those who use collections, just like those who started with ready-made collections and then began to install all the mods on their own.

 

18 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

There is no good reason to install mods manually and a host of reasons not to. Vortex or MO2 will give you much more control over your mods than manual will ever do.

I did this a long time ago for Oblivion, and everything worked without errors, although the mods were very simple, mainly for houses, weapons and armor, but of course, the more mods there are and the more complex they are, the more difficult it will be to set everything up without third-party programs, I don’t argue with that.

 

22 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

Many people here on LL lack time due to one thing or another. They still don't use collections or wabbajacks.

Again, there is no need to speak for everyone, there are probably those among them who use mod collections.

 

23 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

And how modded are these games? 

Foctorio has 100+ mods, in case of HOI 4 It would be fair to admit that mods for this game are installed quite easily and configured without any problems, you simply subscribe to the mod you're interested in and Steam does everything for you,then you simply launch the game and enable the mod in the launcher.

 

27 minutes ago, Grey Cloud said:

If you want a quick and low effort solution then go and pick a collection or wabbajack. Then see how you get on when something breaks (and it will) and you haven't got clue which of the 7 zillion is causing the problem.

I'll listen to you and try to install everything according to the guides, but can I count on your help if I have questions about the settings or errors ?

[CaptainJ03]

3 hours ago, Alpharius XX said:

I did this a long time ago for Oblivion, and everything worked without errors, although the mods were very simple, mainly for houses, weapons and armor, but of course, the more mods there are and the more complex they are, the more difficult it will be to set everything up without third-party programs, I don’t argue with that.

Installation itself rarely is a problem - but updating. You need to remember and find all the clutter that mod left behind, remove it, because especially outdated scripts can cause havoc, reinstall the new version, reluctantly admit that you're updating too soon after the last hotfix and go through that procedure again. A mod manager does that with less hickups.

And when a mod comes as a fomod, I'd hate to install that manually.

[Miauzi]

On 7/7/2026 at 10:44 AM, Alpharius XX said:

And another question: is it even possible to find a mod collection on the Nexus with a ready-made setup for installing adult mods, without unnecessary mods that would weigh 30+ gigabytes, and that everything works stably, or is it better to manually install and configure all the mods ?

 

 

At first - or even second - glance, mod collections look very tempting to newcomers, but they suffer from a fundamental problem:

Who is responsible for updating the mods included in the collection?

 

The creator of such a collection obtains permission from the mod authors to include their mods, but they do not take over the actual hosting or "source location" of those mods.

So, if an author updates their mod, a problem arises - one that is very familiar to us users on this forum: compatibility with the other mods in the collection is no longer guaranteed!

Compatibility is checked only during the initial compilation, and not every provider of a mod collection subjects it to regular checks!

 

The result is that some users of these collections contact the individual mod authors directly... yet those authors aren't responsible for any resulting compatibility issues. Furthermore, mod authors aren't always willing to support or distribute outdated versions of their work.

 

Since many mods from this platform end up in such collections, we "regular" users become aware of these problems through the requests for help that are posted - sometimes daily. Yet, we usually cannot help - partly because very few users here actually use such collections themselves.

 

Ergo, we generally recommend not using mod collections, but rather assembling your own "collection" individually.

This approach makes sense - at least in my view - given the enormous variety of such "adult mods" available.

 

Often, these collections are so packed with mods that it is nearly impossible for the user to install an *additional* mod - though I gather you are looking for a "leaner" version. -

I, too, would recommend using one of the linked guides... personally, I found this one very helpful.

(I switched from Vortex to MO2 myself after many years - thanks to the guide, I had a working foundation upon which I could create my very own "kinky Skyrim.")

 

 

[Alpharius XX]

11 hours ago, CaptainJ03 said:

Installation itself rarely is a problem - but updating. You need to remember and find all the clutter that mod left behind, remove it, because especially outdated scripts can cause havoc, reinstall the new version, reluctantly admit that you're updating too soon after the last hotfix and go through that procedure again. A mod manager does that with less hickups.

And when a mod comes as a fomod, I'd hate to install that manually.

I'm talking about the same thing, many mods require other mods as a basis, and installing and configuring everything manually is, to put it mildly, a hassle, I'm not even talking about the possible problems that you will have to solve completely by deleting all the files and reinstalling everything manually, this way is much more difficult, but I used to do it this way, even if I installed simple mods and not many mods in general.

[Alpharius XX]

4 hours ago, Miauzi said:

 

At first - or even second - glance, mod collections look very tempting to newcomers, but they suffer from a fundamental problem:

Who is responsible for updating the mods included in the collection?

 

The creator of such a collection obtains permission from the mod authors to include their mods, but they do not take over the actual hosting or "source location" of those mods.

So, if an author updates their mod, a problem arises - one that is very familiar to us users on this forum: compatibility with the other mods in the collection is no longer guaranteed!

Compatibility is checked only during the initial compilation, and not every provider of a mod collection subjects it to regular checks!

 

The result is that some users of these collections contact the individual mod authors directly... yet those authors aren't responsible for any resulting compatibility issues. Furthermore, mod authors aren't always willing to support or distribute outdated versions of their work.

 

Since many mods from this platform end up in such collections, we "regular" users become aware of these problems through the requests for help that are posted - sometimes daily. Yet, we usually cannot help - partly because very few users here actually use such collections themselves.

 

Ergo, we generally recommend not using mod collections, but rather assembling your own "collection" individually.

This approach makes sense - at least in my view - given the enormous variety of such "adult mods" available.

 

Often, these collections are so packed with mods that it is nearly impossible for the user to install an *additional* mod - though I gather you are looking for a "leaner" version. -

I, too, would recommend using one of the linked guides... personally, I found this one very helpful.

(I switched from Vortex to MO2 myself after many years - thanks to the guide, I had a working foundation upon which I could create my very own "kinky Skyrim.")

 

 

After listening to people and thinking for myself, I also came to the conclusion that it is better to install everything yourself without mod collections.

This way I can install only the mods I need without any unnecessary crap, and have complete control over updating all mods and configurations, although this will require more time to master all the necessary information and skills, to find and install all the mods, as well as to configure them, it will still lead to a much better result.

[Alpharius XX]

Is this error critical or can be ignored ?

After closing it I still can launch MO2, but I want to know if it's worth paying attention to and how to fix it or if it can be ignored.

Edited 19 hours ago by Alpharius XX