Skyrim crashes at start-up screen because of nexus mods downloaded.

[Shpongle2]

Please help me, I started up Skyrim after the first time of downloaded any nexus mods and I did it manually. It was easy and I got it from this video: http://youtu.be/dR7DRwgpHT8.

 

Anyway, I downloaded A lot of them and now It won't run even to the menu screen. I'm pretty sure I need more than just common knowledge on this one. I'm 100% sure anybody would need more info on this to actually help me so ask what you need in the post and I will do my best to provide you with it.

 

Please Help Me!

 

~ Shpongle2

[Shpongle2]

Also, the way it crashes is it shows the Skyrim logo for about 2 milliseconds and then the window disappears and sends me back into steam or my desktop. (Because I have to do the delete appcache folder thing in order to play it now.)

[DrakeTheDragon]

First off everybody able to help will need your load order, that is the list of plugins and masterfiles in the order they're loaded into your game.

Crashing at the Bethesda logo is almost guaranteed to be a Missing Master error, that is one (or more) of your plugins is missing another plugin or masterfile it's dependent on, either because it isn't even installed to begin with, or simply because your load order is wrong and requirements are loading 'after' those requiring them to be loaded before.

Edited February 6, 2014 by DrakeTheDragon

[Shpongle2]

So now that we got the problem established, how do I fix it?(BTW I read my comments and I sound sarcastic, but I really am not, maybe it's just me though) And what exactly are plugins and masterfiles?

Edited February 6, 2014 by Shpongle2

[Shpongle2]

So can anybody help? Like are there any defaults on what the load order should be? I would recommend looking at the list of mods on my first post, but I don't know if it would matter.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Shpongle2

[DrakeTheDragon]

Not exactly, no. This is the list of mods you downloaded, neither the order in which you installed them (not immediately relevant here now) nor their plugins' and masterfiles' load order.

 

Alright, first off, Masterfiles are those files with suffix ".esm" (m for Masterfile), like "Skyrim.esm". This one contains any and all data records of things you find in the Vanilla game.

Plugins are those files with suffix ".esp" (p for Plugin). They add/remove/modify assets to/from masterfiles and thus require them as their so-called 'parents' or 'masters'. That's why almost every mod's plugin always has "Skyrim.esm" among its master list.

 

When you install a mod, their resource files usually go into your data folder, either they remain inside those files with suffix ".bsa" (Bethesda Softworks Archive, more or less), or they go directly into the sub-folders like "textures", "meshes", "sounds", or whatever, as so-called "loose files".

Their plugins and/or masterfiles also go into your data folder, but they'll remain at the top and won't go into any sub-folder.

 

If you start the launcher it'll give you a means to show the list of plugins and masterfiles found inside your data folder and modify which of them should be loaded or not.

I don't know about Skyrim, but in Oblivion the launcher was mostly useless and you needed one of the famous Mod Managers to actually see and manage your load order.

 

Like a red line through all Elder Scrolls and Fallout games since Oblivion though there's one simple tool standing out in regards to load order. That's "B.O.S.S." (formerly "Better Oblivion Sorting Software", but ever since it's used for Skyrim and others as well I'm not sure what the abbreviation stands for anymore), an amalgamation of combined community knowledge in an easily maintained 'masterlist' of plugins and masterfiles and their optimal reported place in load order in relation to each other. One run and most of your plugins and masters should be exactly where they have to be. Plus it will give you an enormous list of other advices, known issues and/or conflicts with plugins/masterfiles found inside your load order in its BOSS-log popping up when it's done.

 

There's far more things to keep in mind when modding a Bethesda game like Skyrim, but when you're already encountering a Missing Master crash, it's a good start to first fix your load order, then see what else goes wrong and needs fixing.

 

For future reference, it's always a bad start to throw in multiple mods at once and then try to untangle the inevitable aftermath disaster. You install and test-run them one after the other, so you can immediately spot an issue and will know exactly where it's coming from.

[Shpongle2]

I'll try installing it and watch a tutorial, thanks!