Posted By: Trail_Mystic
Skyrim Modding Stuff - Continued - 09/19/16 02:34 PM
Transferring some of the Skyrim mod postings from the "What Are We Playing" topic to here:
EDIT: Question for TrailMystic: My existing game of Skyrim contains one or two mods from 4 years ago. These mods worked perfectly and my game ran beautifully. I didn't have to download a mod manager at that time, I'm fairly certain.
I would like to add the mods you suggested above. Do I just download the Nexus manager and then install the mods? Am I going to have problems given that my game already has a few small mods installed?
If a clean install is preferred, how do I go about it? Steam of course, just downloaded my game as it was 4 years ago.
I'd like to use some of the larger mods, but frankly a problem-free game is more important.
Apologies for the size of this reply Hagatha, I started thinking about the fact that there maybe a number of other players who don't have experience with mods and decided to hit several caveats in this post. I'm typing this a bit fast because I'm at work, so hopefully it's not too confusing. I'm thinking that I should maybe revise and expand this into a kind of "Trail's Skyrim Mod Guide" and make it a sticky for later use. You really shouldn't hit issues if you're only running a few mods, have all the pre-req's and start with a clean game (by clean game I don't mean re-installing Skyrim, I mean just starting a new game) - So, don't be put off by the amount of info I'm relating. Some of the stuff I cover are kind of "preemptive strikes" against potential issues when running really big mods or a larger volume of them.
I'm guessing you used mods from the Steam workshop? If you are still subscribed to those mods and they are still active on the Workshop then they should still be in your Data files. Personally, when loading larger mods like the Interesting NPC's I would go with a new game, but you don't need to reinstall Skyrim unless you hit some major issues. For mods from the Nexus, I would recommend using the newest stable version of Nexus Mod Manager . While it does occasionally have it's idiosyncrasies, I find it the easiest to use. Also, the majority of mod makers on the Nexus use the Best Practice Standards adopted for the Nexus Mod Manager, which makes for more consistent downloads and file usage. NMM also has a feature that you run manually, which indicates if the mod has been updated. In some cases though, it may just be that the mod author has loaded an optional file as a patch for another mod. I usually don't update mods during a single play through. My philosophy has been, if I can find the mod on the Nexus I'll use that rather than the Steam Workshop because the authors seem to update their mods more regularly there.
If you're planning on running mods from both the Workshop and Nexus I would also suggest downloading and running LOOT to manage the load order.
Personally, I have a number of mods through both the Steam Workshop (because they are not available on the Nexus) and about a hundred through the Nexus Mod Manager. I do have CTD's about once every three playing sessions if they are over 2-3 hours in length each, but it's usually attributed to Skyrim's less than optimized use of memory. That same inherent "feature" of Skyrim is also the cause of the "infinite loading screen" which can occasionally occur when running larger mods through the Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) I know a couple of workarounds for that, so if you ever hit it let me know (or I can put them in the aforementioned guide if I ever get around to writing it )
Always check the mods prerequisites - Something I'm assuming (and maybe I shouldn't do that) is that most mod users have loaded the Unofficial Patches. Those are usually a pre-req for the larger mods and are required for Arthmoors "Cutting Room Floor mod."
Just recently, as of July of this year, Arthmoor revamped the patches into the Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Patch This is a combined patch that hits Skyrim and all the DLC. The caveat of course is that you must have all the DLC loaded in order for it to work right. If not you'll have to go with the older, individual patches which he is no longer supporting. That shouldn't be a big deal though because they were quite stable and actually several of his mods can be run with the older versions including Cutting Room Floor.
At any rate, many of the larger more popular mods have modified their files to accommodate the legendary patch. So, if you aren't running that patch and it's required by the mod then you'll need to uninstall the older patches, install the legendary and then download/install your mods.
If you want to get into the really big mods that require the installation of SKSE, I would highly recommend using Gopher's method to loading SKSE with NMM His instructions are a few years old, but are still the best out there and apply to the current structures.
Another good utility to use is when you plan on running the really big or complex mods is the TES5Edit to Clean Your Master Files(another instructional vid by Gopher.) This is because Bethesda's developers didn't take into account potential file conflicts with mods when building Skyrim and left in a bunch of garbage files. Gopher's process is good to do even if you just plan on running average sized mods just as a precaution.
Also, when running larger mods, I suggest that you tweak the Auto-Save function to every 5 minutes. That way if you do have a crash it's not as much of an impact (pun intended )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You'll want to install Nexus Mod Manager first, because you can use that to install the Unofficial Patch. There is some futzing with TES5Edit and NMM, but it's fairly simple. Now, I might have these steps mixed up a bit, but it won't matter because the NMM install wizard will walk you through the proces. With NMM it will search your system for games for which it can manage mods. It will detect all the Elder Scrolls games, the Bethesda versions of Fallout and the Dragon Age games as well as several others. Just click the check marks after it does it's search if the locations it displays for the game files looks right. Then it will ask you where it should store mods and the extracted files. I would go with the default locations unless you have a specific disk you want them located on. Once that's all done, it will also detect any files you're using through the Steam Workshop. Those will be located in the Plugins tab.
Next install TES5Edit and run the Master File cleaning process that Gopher walks you through at the link I posted in my previous comment.
Here's an installation vid on TES5Edit.. You can stop watching at the 2:05 mark because he goes into installing the utility into Mod Organizer, which is different from NMM. TES5Edit is downloaded in a zipped file that you can extract using something like 7zip or WinRAR Once you've installed TES5Edit, you can either make a shortcut of the .exe file and drop it in your start menu or task bar, or you can go through the steps to have it listed in the NMM utilities drop-down. I just run it from a shortcut in my start menu because I don't always need to have NMM open when cleaning the master files. Also, you only need to clean the master files after installing or reinstalling the game. It doesn't need to be done prior to every mod activation.
After that, then you can download and install the Legendary patch and any others you would like. I would still install LOOT, a good load order, even with a few mods won't hurt.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted By: hagatha
EDIT: Question for TrailMystic: My existing game of Skyrim contains one or two mods from 4 years ago. These mods worked perfectly and my game ran beautifully. I didn't have to download a mod manager at that time, I'm fairly certain.
I would like to add the mods you suggested above. Do I just download the Nexus manager and then install the mods? Am I going to have problems given that my game already has a few small mods installed?
If a clean install is preferred, how do I go about it? Steam of course, just downloaded my game as it was 4 years ago.
I'd like to use some of the larger mods, but frankly a problem-free game is more important.
Apologies for the size of this reply Hagatha, I started thinking about the fact that there maybe a number of other players who don't have experience with mods and decided to hit several caveats in this post. I'm typing this a bit fast because I'm at work, so hopefully it's not too confusing. I'm thinking that I should maybe revise and expand this into a kind of "Trail's Skyrim Mod Guide" and make it a sticky for later use. You really shouldn't hit issues if you're only running a few mods, have all the pre-req's and start with a clean game (by clean game I don't mean re-installing Skyrim, I mean just starting a new game) - So, don't be put off by the amount of info I'm relating. Some of the stuff I cover are kind of "preemptive strikes" against potential issues when running really big mods or a larger volume of them.
I'm guessing you used mods from the Steam workshop? If you are still subscribed to those mods and they are still active on the Workshop then they should still be in your Data files. Personally, when loading larger mods like the Interesting NPC's I would go with a new game, but you don't need to reinstall Skyrim unless you hit some major issues. For mods from the Nexus, I would recommend using the newest stable version of Nexus Mod Manager . While it does occasionally have it's idiosyncrasies, I find it the easiest to use. Also, the majority of mod makers on the Nexus use the Best Practice Standards adopted for the Nexus Mod Manager, which makes for more consistent downloads and file usage. NMM also has a feature that you run manually, which indicates if the mod has been updated. In some cases though, it may just be that the mod author has loaded an optional file as a patch for another mod. I usually don't update mods during a single play through. My philosophy has been, if I can find the mod on the Nexus I'll use that rather than the Steam Workshop because the authors seem to update their mods more regularly there.
If you're planning on running mods from both the Workshop and Nexus I would also suggest downloading and running LOOT to manage the load order.
Personally, I have a number of mods through both the Steam Workshop (because they are not available on the Nexus) and about a hundred through the Nexus Mod Manager. I do have CTD's about once every three playing sessions if they are over 2-3 hours in length each, but it's usually attributed to Skyrim's less than optimized use of memory. That same inherent "feature" of Skyrim is also the cause of the "infinite loading screen" which can occasionally occur when running larger mods through the Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE) I know a couple of workarounds for that, so if you ever hit it let me know (or I can put them in the aforementioned guide if I ever get around to writing it )
Always check the mods prerequisites - Something I'm assuming (and maybe I shouldn't do that) is that most mod users have loaded the Unofficial Patches. Those are usually a pre-req for the larger mods and are required for Arthmoors "Cutting Room Floor mod."
Just recently, as of July of this year, Arthmoor revamped the patches into the Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Patch This is a combined patch that hits Skyrim and all the DLC. The caveat of course is that you must have all the DLC loaded in order for it to work right. If not you'll have to go with the older, individual patches which he is no longer supporting. That shouldn't be a big deal though because they were quite stable and actually several of his mods can be run with the older versions including Cutting Room Floor.
At any rate, many of the larger more popular mods have modified their files to accommodate the legendary patch. So, if you aren't running that patch and it's required by the mod then you'll need to uninstall the older patches, install the legendary and then download/install your mods.
If you want to get into the really big mods that require the installation of SKSE, I would highly recommend using Gopher's method to loading SKSE with NMM His instructions are a few years old, but are still the best out there and apply to the current structures.
Another good utility to use is when you plan on running the really big or complex mods is the TES5Edit to Clean Your Master Files(another instructional vid by Gopher.) This is because Bethesda's developers didn't take into account potential file conflicts with mods when building Skyrim and left in a bunch of garbage files. Gopher's process is good to do even if you just plan on running average sized mods just as a precaution.
Also, when running larger mods, I suggest that you tweak the Auto-Save function to every 5 minutes. That way if you do have a crash it's not as much of an impact (pun intended )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted By: hagatha
Sooo. I have no patches installed, or at least certainly no unofficial patches. I just bought and (I think) installed all of the available DLC (I'll check after this).
It sounds to me as though I should: Install the Unofficial Legendary Patch, and then the Nexus Mod Manager. I'd just not use any more mods from the Steam workshop.
And then as an added precuation, the tessEDIT.
Are these autoinstall, or do I need to futz around with stuff? It's going to be raining tomorrow, so I'll some time.
And yes, I'd start a new game.
It sounds to me as though I should: Install the Unofficial Legendary Patch, and then the Nexus Mod Manager. I'd just not use any more mods from the Steam workshop.
And then as an added precuation, the tessEDIT.
Are these autoinstall, or do I need to futz around with stuff? It's going to be raining tomorrow, so I'll some time.
And yes, I'd start a new game.
You'll want to install Nexus Mod Manager first, because you can use that to install the Unofficial Patch. There is some futzing with TES5Edit and NMM, but it's fairly simple. Now, I might have these steps mixed up a bit, but it won't matter because the NMM install wizard will walk you through the proces. With NMM it will search your system for games for which it can manage mods. It will detect all the Elder Scrolls games, the Bethesda versions of Fallout and the Dragon Age games as well as several others. Just click the check marks after it does it's search if the locations it displays for the game files looks right. Then it will ask you where it should store mods and the extracted files. I would go with the default locations unless you have a specific disk you want them located on. Once that's all done, it will also detect any files you're using through the Steam Workshop. Those will be located in the Plugins tab.
Next install TES5Edit and run the Master File cleaning process that Gopher walks you through at the link I posted in my previous comment.
Here's an installation vid on TES5Edit.. You can stop watching at the 2:05 mark because he goes into installing the utility into Mod Organizer, which is different from NMM. TES5Edit is downloaded in a zipped file that you can extract using something like 7zip or WinRAR Once you've installed TES5Edit, you can either make a shortcut of the .exe file and drop it in your start menu or task bar, or you can go through the steps to have it listed in the NMM utilities drop-down. I just run it from a shortcut in my start menu because I don't always need to have NMM open when cleaning the master files. Also, you only need to clean the master files after installing or reinstalling the game. It doesn't need to be done prior to every mod activation.
After that, then you can download and install the Legendary patch and any others you would like. I would still install LOOT, a good load order, even with a few mods won't hurt.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------