Question Mod Organizer

[nutluck]

Should skyrim keep loading slower and slower the more mods you install?

 

What I mean is from the time you click launch from SKSE shortcut till the in game menu comes up where it says continue, new game, load etc. Should it take longer and longer for that to show up? Or is there something wrong with my game?

 

I am starting to consider uninstalling all the mods and deleting my data file and letting steam reinstall it and then putting the mods back in.

 

But if this is common and just the price of a lot of mods I won't do it.

 

Edit I renamed the title cause now I am trying to use MO and honestly having problems.

[CGi]

More mods = more data = more to load and process.
Same for assets like meshes and textures, but those have a bigger impact when loading the actual game.
MO, file system fragmentation, type/age of hard drive, background processes and the use of to many lose files are further influences.

[nutluck]

More mods = more data = more to load and process.

Same for assets like meshes and textures, but those have a bigger impact when loading the actual game.

MO, file system fragmentation, type/age of hard drive, background processes and the use of to many lose files are further influences.

 

Ok thats what I thought and makes perfect sense I added several new texture and mesh mods recently and it was after that I noticed the slow down. I add a lot of tat, and hair 2k mods, WATER 2, and Immersive Armor v7 etc. On top of having the 2k texture mods for the world, unp etc already.

 

That is what I thought was going on but wasn't positive so thought I would ask some of you a lot wiser and more experienced to be sure. Before I did something stupid like rebuild my data folder.

 

So thanks for the answer.

[CGi]

You can create BSAs for lose files (like pure texture mods) and if you use MO you can load those BSAs w/o a dummy plugin.
Can speed up load times noticably and in some cases reduce micro stutter.

The game will then need a tad more RAM as unpacking the compressed data is done in RAM, but as long as the engine is not already at it's limits this can be ignored.

 

Edit: Don't put FNiS lists and animation files into a BSA to avoid some rather rare errors (especially if you use MO).

[nutluck]

Honestly that is likely something I need to learn how to do eventually. I have been modding about 9 months, at this point I have the basics down but I should start learning the more advanced stuff like what you are talking about.

[CGi]

Working with BSAs is almost 100% similar to archiving a folders content with 7ZiP, RAR, LZH, iCE or w/e else you might use.
Not much to learn about modding if you just want to create or unpack BSAs. Just get BSAopt or any other software that can unpack/pack BSA files and get some basic knowledge about folder structures (a BSA should not contain the Data folder but the content that go into it with working folders and subfolders) and the files Skyrim and mods work with. That's pretty much all to it.

[nutluck]

Ok I am assuming that is a manual download despite it having a mod DL link.

 

So I have a question about this. I have over 8 gig of files in the texture folder in my data folder. So my question is do I have to figure out what textures go to what mods before turning them into a BSA or can I just make the whole texture folder a BSA?

 

I know I am likely asking easy questions and things I can find out on my own with a little research but since you are here I figure why not pick your brain.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[CGi]

if you don't use MO, you got to figure out what asset came from where and mods that only delivered assats can't have their assets in a BSA unless you create a dummy ESP to load the BSA (dummy b/c the plugin contains nothing, it has just a name that matches the BSAs name so the BSA gets loaded).
As it is now, you would have to reinstall. if you do, i recommend you switch to MO to make alot of things easier for you.

[nutluck]

Ah ok, well I was considering late this summer doing a clean start on skyrim and using MO next time. Trying to learn all I can now, I think I got the basics of modding down pretty good. So soon going to look into doing the more advance stuff when it comes to modding ones game.

[gvman3670]

If you've been manually installing very much then you're pretty accustomed to Skyrim's file structure. And using MO will further reinforce that, especially if you repack many mods to make them more MO friendly.

[nutluck]

If you've been manually installing very much then you're pretty accustomed to Skyrim's file structure. And using MO will further reinforce that, especially if you repack many mods to make them more MO friendly.

 

I have only manually installed when needed. Mostly I have used NMM, the only reason i choose that is Gophers beginners guide to modding skyrim series which is a great series. I watched it and did everything step by step just like he did in the video series. By the end of the series I had the basics down, since then I have done a few manual installations and figured out a few on my own.

 

Like recently I added a custom races mod and then figured out how to manually install skin textures to work with the new custom race but not the rest of the races to make my PC stand apart even more.

 

So at this point I think I have masted the basics of how to mod my Skyrim and am ready to look into more advanced steps. Like doing BSA's etc.

 

So I think after I finish helping mod authors test their mods for the new sexlab 1.5x series I will remove the data folder from skyrim and clean it up to get a vanilla game again. Then give MO a try and try and see if I can do BSA files for lose files as I go to speed things up a bit.

 

Though before I do I guess I should ask with my system if that is recommend, since it takes more ram.

 

I have 2.6 gig i7 quad core processor

6 gigs of ram

GTX 660 Ti SC video card with 2 gigs of ram.

 

So I guess my next question is with that system it would it be smart to pack stuff into BSA's to speed things up for the price of using up more ram?

[nutluck]

Also as I already said to CGi thanks in advance for all the help you guys are giving.

[Uriel]

Are you using a ENB?

[nutluck]

Are you using a ENB?

 

Nope no ENB I have thought about it but all the ones I have seen I liked have a performance hit and I am not sure my system can handle it with all the other mods I want. ENB low on my list of priorities.

[Uriel]

It's just ENB makes Skyrim's start kinda longer. But if you have a lot of .ini's in "\Skyrim\enbseries\", it will take MUCH longer. Thought maybe it's your case.

[nutluck]

It's just ENB makes Skyrim's start kinda longer. But if you have a lot of .ini's in "\Skyrim\enbseries\", it will take MUCH longer. Thought maybe it's your case.

 

Ah ok thanks, I didn't know that.

 

I honestly think it is just textures and meshes. I have a LOT and I mean a lot of them. I have over 8 gigs of textures in loose files in my data folder closer to 9 gig. I have almost 2 gigs of meshes in loose files. Not counting the mods that actually use BSA's and there is a lot of those with I am guessing combined near 10 gig worth.

 

So I think CGi is right and that is my slow down issue. Once in the game the game plays fine, it has just gone from taking about 7-10 seconds to load from when i click SKSE launch till the Beth window menu shows up to now about 20-30 seconds. But as I said once in game it plays fine with the rare micro stutter now and again.

[nutluck]

Ok I have decided to switch over to MO, it has the option to import the NMM mods and archives etc. Should I do that or would I be better off just installing everything fresh?

[nutluck]

Ok I am trying to use MO and well I already ran into a major problem.

 

I am stuck in the tutorial, it just flat will not advance.

 

I am at the part where it says

 

Downloads will appear here. Double click one to install it.

 

The problem is I double click and nothing happens. and I can't move any further in the tutorial till I do apparently. I tried closing MO and then starting it and starting the tutorial again and same thing.

 

So what am I doing wrong? I assume I am doing something wrong but for the life of me I can't figure it out.

[nutluck]

Bah nevermind I finally figured it out, it was on the download page not the plugin page.

 

But I do have a new question. As a test I installed SkyUI and it said SKSE was not installed but I know I have SKSE installed. Do I have to installed SKSE somewhere special in MO?

[gvman3670]

While using Mod Organizer just manually install SKSE as you always have to and totally ignore the MO warning that it isn't there. Since it isn't in MO's virtual /data/ folder it sends up a flag that it's missing, but if you installed it properly (hard not to with a copy and paste ) then just pretend there was no warning. It will still function just fine.

 

As for .bsa's...most mods come with them. Even most texture mods. When installing those using MO it will ask if you want to unpack them or not and in that case choose the "no" option. Then they stay compressed.

 

The biggest thing to remember at first with MO is that is a virtual /data/ folder. And only a /data/ folder, not a root folder. What goes in MO is what would normally go into a /data/ folder in your game and anything that goes into the Skyrim root folder (where TESV.exe is located) gets installed manually. Like ENBs, SKSE, HialgoBoost, Sheson's patch, and so on.

 

If you haven't already I'd suggest watching this video. And watch the next one in the series for more advanced use/techniques. It's very helpful.

 

[nutluck]

Ok thanks on the info about ignoring the warning.

 

I am watching that video right now actually. Just paused it a sec as I am doing stuff step by step while watching the video to learn as I go.

 

Ok I am sure I will have some more questions since one of the big reasons I am making the switch is I want to compress some of the loose files especially texture and mesh ones into BSA's that currently are not.

 

I am assuming since no one said anything my system is fine for running it that way.

 

Just to clarify I am following right.

 

Any mod I put in the default profile will be loaded for everything. If I made another profile in the name of my character lets say Bob, then any mods I load onto the Bob profile will only work for Bob's profile and the saves attached to it?

[gvman3670]

When you start a new profile all the installed mods will still be visible in the left pane. But none will be checked and activated. Then you merely activate the ones you want running in that profile, be sure that .esp/.esm/.bsa files are activated in the right pane, then run BOSS/LOOT from inside of MO to organize the load order. You will also need to open the .ini editor and be sure you have compatible .ini's running (those in documents/my games/Skryim will no longer apply, but you can copy and paste them into MO's .ini editor).

 

Be sure to check archive invalidation and local savegames in MO as well so your textures/meshes work and your saves stay organized per profile.

 

Look for red triangles. They'll lead you to potential issues.

[nutluck]

Ok got all that and did all that.

 

Just finished the video. I still have a couple of questions.

 

1) I assume the SKSE ini file will work just fine when I launch the game. Since I am using the 1.7 SKSE with the mem patch in the ini file I made for it.

 

2) If I make changes to the ini for one profile say bob does that change the ini for default and or does it matter?

 

3) Final question for the moment anyways. How do i choose which profile I launch the game from. I am guessing I select the profile in the left panel and then click Run button and it will launch it with SKSE and with that profile showing all the saves tied to that profile but none of the saves tied to any other profiles. Is this correct?

 

 

[gvman3670]

1) Your SKSE.ini in Skyrim/data/SKSE/plugins will function properly (I have ClearInvalidRegistrations in there myself). But if there are lines to add to Skyrim.ini and/or Skyrimprefs.ini that will need to be done in the MO ini editor. Like with Sheson's patch for SKSE 1.6, for example.

 

2) Each profile will have it's own mod list/load order, it's own saves and it's own .ini files to use. That's convenient I think. And if you have a functioning one for one profile and need it for another just select all/copy it then change profiles and paste it into that profile's ini file.

 

3) You can launch any profile you want. Just choose one to activate it (and maybe run FNIS through MO if there are animations attached), then launch SKSE from inside of MO. You'll need to add both the FNIS.exe file and SKSE.exe to MO as executables of course, as well as TES5Edit, BOSS/LOOT, and any other executables that your game will rely on.

[gvman3670]

Oh, I also use Optimizer Texures (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/12801/?) and run this as an executable. It has a .bsa option in it, too, that I haven't played with. It may be useful to you for packing .bsa's and/or optimizing textures for performance.