SOS Schlongs of Skyrim step by step

[Skembear]

New to Skyrim and new to mods

Have tinkered with NMM and added a few mods

Have been trolling through literally thousands of posts on many forums, but yet to come across a straight forward, for the noob, step by step for SOS without cutting out a few steps we are assumed to already know.

So after killing my skyrim i've got the begging bowl out in the hope someone can assist

Is there one out there that lists all you need and the steps to follow, pitfalls to avoid

Would go a long way in reducing the many hundreds of posts asking for help when it all goes wrong

[Heldenbrand]

One piece of advice -- and this holds true regardless of what type of mod you're installing, model, texture, weapon, companion, whatever -- is to get Mod Organizer if you haven't already. Drop NMM like a hot potato filled with radioactive waste, and never look back. Mod Organizer will save you a huge amount of time and frustration because it doesn't overwrite files; each mod is in its own directory, and they'll never cross-contaminate unless you decide to do that yourself. Since installing it, I've still managed to bork up a few saves, but the game itself is fine. Install everything you can through it. It might be a little intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of it, you'll wonder how you ever managed to mod Skyrim without it. I wish I'd started using it when I first started modding Skyrim; I might've finished the game once by now!

Next, just going off of the requirements for that mod, assuming you have a brand new installation from Steam (here's a great guide on getting your installation clean, to make sure nothing's hanging around from previous installs) with absolutely nothing else added, you need:

• Whatever of the unofficial patches you want to use. Search for "Skyrim Unofficial Patch," and you'll find them easily (one for Skyrim itself, one for each of the DLC).
• SKSE. Find it here. It is a god among Skyrim mods, to the point where a vast number of them require it. Furthermore, it has a memory patch (explained here, in case you worry about the file's legitimacy like I did at first) available that makes Skyrim much more stable and less crash-prone, and is worth getting for that reason alone. It has an installer of its own, so it's very straightforward. If you're installing mods via Mod Organizer (again, highly recommended), SKSE is one that you don't need to install via MO (at least, I didn't, and I haven't had any trouble). I would recommend researching its installation alongside MO closely to make sure it goes well. Should be run -- not installed -- from within MO.
• Slightly technical explanation: the way Mod Organizer keeps your game from getting killed by overmodding is that each mod is installed in its own directory. Each mod can be toggled "On" or "Off" within MO. When you run the game, MO takes all the "On" mods and basically puts them into a virtual "Data" folder. The resulting experience in-game is the same as if you'd installed everything the old way, except that if you try out a new mod, and it doesn't work, you can quit, set that mod to "Off," load a save from before enabling that mod, and continue on your merry way. However, because it uses a virtual directory, other applications will get confused, because they'll look in your real Data directory, and won't see any mods. MO gets around this by allowing you to start applications from within MO itself; they see the same virtual directory as all your mods do, and work normally. SKSE is one of the applications that needs to be started from within MO, because otherwise it won't see the mods it needs to extend the scripts for. Sorry for the wall of text, but I've found modding to be easier myself the more I know.

• SkyUI. Find it here. Used by a ton of other mods so you'll probably end up needing it for something else anyway. Install with MO.
• Brawl Bugs Patch. Find it here. Also used by a lot of mods, because ... well, it fixes a bug. Derp. Install with MO.
• Mighty Beasts Werewolf. Listed as "Recommended," so up to you. Find it here. Install with MO.

You'll also need a skeleton that's compatible with SOS (not sure why that's not listed under its requirements; might be one of those things we assume everyone has). There are a couple that would work, but you'll probably want this one.

 

In addition to these, I would recommend getting BOSS. It's one of those utilities that's semi-essential. BOSS is basically an online list of many of the mods out there, and what order they should be loaded in to minimize conflicts; when you run BOSS, it compares your mod list against that online list, and puts your mods' ESPs in order. You may have a few mods it doesn't recognize, and you can get by without it, but it'll help a ton. Find it here. Has its own installer. Should be run from within MO.

I'd also get Wrye Bash. It's rather more opaque than MO or BOSS is, but helpful because it helps mods mesh with each other a bit better (it also can help with rolling back to earlier mod configurations, but I've never gotten the hang of using it for that, and MO does that just fine anyway). Find it here. Has its own installer. Should be started from within MO.

 

I probably forgot something, but I can't think of it right now. Hopefully that list of things isn't too intimidating; don't worry though, you'll be able to get your game running smoothly.

[Skembear]

Cheers Heldenbrand

You are a atar

Eternally grateful, will be schlonging in no time, characters will be flopping about without a care in the world, sod the dragon look at my schlong

[Skembear]

Thank you Heldenbrand

 

Worked like a charm

 

Your post should be made into a sticky for all to use

 

Cheers

[eXtreme]

Thanks for the Mod organizer suggestion. The nexus manager (suggested with the SOS) clearly dont work anymore to install it.

 

Would have been nice it the SOS files has included at least a manual "readme" or similar as opening the SOS archive all you get is the odd 20 folders (but nicely ordered and named) and the usual "just drop it all in your DATA folder" clearly dont work here.

[Heldenbrand]

Glad to help Skembear. Modding Skyrim is frustrating enough without knowing what you need to do.

@eXtreme: SOS should be configured in such a way that installing it via Mod Organizer will give you a set of windows in which you can select which options you want SOS to feature; did that not show up for you?

[eXtreme]

Sure Mod Organizer did the trick with SOS. Alas looks like im stuck with still having to either manually install any mod requiring FNIS (aka animations, body skeletons etc) or use Nexus manager for direct folder installation.

[IceFurious087]

Hiya dear.  I feel like I'm in a giving mood so here is how I learned how to set up MO to use FNIS.  By the way, if you look up the guy that created SKSE, I think his name is Gopher or something, he made a video about what I am about to tell you.  Just in case you can't understand my lovely text.    Anyways:

 

Step 1.  Download FNIS.  If you have MO hooked up to the Nexus, you can download it directly (Click the Download with Manager button).  If not, download it manually and you can add the WinRAR or 7zip file to MO.  (You'll need either of those programs too if you ain't got one). 

 

Step 2.  Install FNIS via MO.  Make sure it is checked in your mods list on the left.  Sometimes, it checks it for you but sometimes not.

 

Step 3.  When you open MO, there is a list of your executables run by MO.  Add GenerateFNISforUser exectable to your list.  For me, it is located in C:/Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\Common\Skyrim\Data\ModOrganizer\mods\FNIS\tools.

 

Step 4.  Run the FNIS patcher via MO.  You will notice that you instantly get overwritten files.  Search for Overwrite Files in your MO mod list and right click it.  You are looking for the option of "Create Mod".  Call it something like "FNIS Generated Animation Files".  Search for this mod in your MO mod list and activate it.  You must repeat this step EVERY time you update FNIS Animations. 

 

-  Note:  If you happen to add something else requiring FNIS to run, you should probably delete the file you made above and create another.  MO doesn't overwrite files for you. 

 

-  Second note:  If you add something requiring FNIS but want to keep the generated files you have already, rather than delete it, just uncheck it from your MO mod list, run the FNIS patcher again, create another "FNIS Generated Animation File" and check it.  Here is an example.  The asterisk is the check you would see in MO.

 

 

*  FNIS Generated Animation Files (SexLab)

   FNIS Generated Animation Files (Custom Dance Animations)

 

If you want to run SexLab without Dance Animations

 

or

 

   FNIS Generated Animation Files (SexLab)

*  FNIS Generated Animation Files (Custom Dance Animation)

 

If you want to run your Custom Dance Animations without SexLab 

 

 

That's it.  As I said, there is a video describing how to do this on youtube by a guy named Gopher.  Hope this helps.  Bye cuties