Darklocq Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 (edited) How to Legally Install Skyrim Legendary Edition and Creation Kit in 2018 - Often at a Steep Discount by Darklocq v1.4, 2018-10-05 As you may have noticed, Steam has removed "Oldrim" Legendary Edition, and makes it look like the bundle is simply no longer available. Don't believe it. And don't pay full price. (They're even hiding the original base Skyrim game; you can't get to it on Steam without a direct URL from way back when.) If you Google around, you'll find many threads suggesting that: * "If you just go search on Steam, you'll find it." They're wrong. They were right when they wrote that in, like, 2014. But this is 2018, and Steam, perhaps at the behest of Bethesda, has made it stupidly difficult to get this game and the editor for it. * "If you Google around, you'll find a link to get to the actual game, but the DLCs have to be bought separately." This works, but at great expense - as in more than the cost of Skyrim SE. You end up paying full original retail price for the base game and all DLCs. * "It's just gone. You have to upgrade to Skyrim Special Edition." Not true. * "You'll just have to pirate it via BitTorrent or get a DVD rip from a friend." Sure, you can try that if you're unethical, but various mods including SKSE and several plugins for it, and FNIS, go to some lengths to try to figure out if you have a bogus copy of the game, and you'll also probably find that the Creation Kit, if you obtain it one way or another, doesn't work properly or at all. Plus, it's just not a nice (or legal) thing to do. Here's What You Do ================== 0) Install the Steam application first if you don't already have it. Go to Store.SteamPowered.com, and click on the prominent "Install Steam" button at top right. Start the app and create an account in it if you don't already have one. If the current Steam installer still allows you to install Steam outside of the "Program Files (x86)" folder, definitely DO that, since it will solve various problem and avoid a step below. 1) Google for Skyrim Legendary Edition Steam. Ignore all the forum talk; you are looking for game code reseller sites. (These are sites where bulk buyers of wholesale game codes liquidate codes for games that are past their heyday.) As of October 2018, the best price I found was US$7 (minus 6% discount code and 10% cash-back, so really only $5.88!). The prices fluctuate with the sellers and their individual inventories. If all you found were prices around $30-$50, keep looking; I found numerous options in the $7 to $15 range, about the price of one meal or a movie or a couple of beers at the bar/pub. * BE SURE you are buying an instant-delivery Steam code for the PC game, not ordering a PC, PlayStation, or Xbox disc though postal mail! * BE SURE you are getting Skyrim LE, not Skyrim and not Skyrim SE! * Pro Tip: If you wait around on a game codes site, or attempt to leave it, it may pop up a discount code, so you can get it even cheaper. Buy your Skyrim Steam code (I would avoid getting one off eBay - it's less likely to be legit). Depending on whom you buy from, you'll either get the code popped up in a window after ordering it, or get it in e-mail. Note: An alternative to all this online code hunting is finding a copy of the game on disc in a still-sealed package in a retail store's bargain bin or on eBay; this will come with a valid Steam code. Just make sure it's the LE version. 2) In the Steam app, go to "Games" > "Activate a Product on Steam". In the pop-up, click "Next", then "I Agree"; enter your product code; click "Next". After the code is validated, you have the option to install the game on the spot, or you can do it later (it will show up in your Steam app's Library tab, though you may need to leave that tab or restart the Steam app to get it to show up. (If the code doesn't validate, you've been ripped off. Demand your money back, and order from the next-cheapest site. Every multi-user site has its bad apples; we all know that.) 3) Install the game one way or another through Steam; just follow the prompts. You'll find that the old tricks of getting Steam to use an alternative library location no longer work in 2018 (except on a second hard drive), not even editing libraryfolders.vdf to try to force it. You can move the game later (carefully) – or better yet, make a copy of it – so just let it install to the default location. IF you have a second drive (and not a slow one – you want an SSD for this) go ahead and set up an alternative SteamApps library on that drive, then install Skyrim there. You don't actually want to use the default location for your gameplay (we'll get into that later). Update: This install location stuff doesn't apply if you installed Steam itself outside of "Program Files (x86)". 4) After the install, in the Steam app, go to "Library" > "Games" > "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" (or just "Library" > "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim", if it already opened to the "Games" section). In the righthand pane, scroll down to the "DLC" section. You should see that Dawnguard, Dragonborn, and Hearthfire are all "Installed" and "Added Today" (if they're not installed yet, they should be downloading; check in "Library" > "Downloads"). Below them, click on "Find More DLC in Store". Scroll to the bottom of that page and click "Install Game" on "Skyrim: High Resolution Texture Pack (Free DLC)", which actually is free. Click on the "Click to Install Now!" link on the subsequent page; it doesn't actually appear to do anything, but what it's doing is adding it to your account. Go to "Library" > "Games" > "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim"; you should now see "Skyrim High Resolution Texture Pack" listed in your available DLCs. If it's not there, go make a snack and come back in a few minutes. Restart the Steam app if necessary. After it appears, you should see it marked as "Added Today" but "Not Installed". Because Steam is broken, user-hateful trash, clicking on it does not work, nor is there anything you can do in the menus to just intuitively install it. What to do: Uncheck the checkbox next to this DLC, wait a moment, then re-check it. Now to go "Library" > "Downloads". After a moment, the entry for "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" should show on the righthand side that the DLC is downloading, that it's just finished downloading, or will say "Update Required" with a button to click to "Download Now". Don't fear; these aren't really HIGH-res textures by modern standards but medium-res – not 4K and 8K stuff, but just 2K at best. Most of the vanilla stuff is 512 to 1K, so you do want this unless your system is TOTAL crap. I've also heard that some textures were fixed, so you want this regardless. If you have a badass machine, you'll end up overwriting most of this with even higher-res textures, but you might as well get this stuff, so no ancient 512-bit textures are left around. 5) Now, in the Steam app, go to "Library" > "Tools". In the search box, type Creation, and you'll find the otherwise entirely hidden "Skyrim Creation Kit". Double-click on it for install options, and it should quite quickly get the job done. Except for one thing: You need to manually extract the file "Data\Scripts.rar". 6) Start up the game (via SkyrimLauncher.exe in this case); don't play it, just start it then quit. This will generate the initial config files. Next, start up and quit the Creation Kit for the same reason (via CreationKit.exe). The CK's initial configs are actually broken; see here [ https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/21690 ] for 1-minute instructions on how to fix it. (There are several variants of these instructions by others, some with various iffy .EXE installers and "please endorse my mods" spam; just use this one - it's just instructions on how to correct a couple of INI file lines). Restart the CK and load the main game and two or more DLCs at once to ensure that the fix works properly (you have to go to "Data files" under the "File" menu then double-click each ESM or ESP you want to load). 7) Next, make a copy of the game in a "safe" location (like your Desktop), outside the "Program Files (x86)" folder. Running the game from there causes all sorts of problems with mods and third-party tools (Google it). To actually MOVE the game installation is complicated and is NOT just moving the files in Windows Explorer! (And it's gotten worse, because old tricks for getting Steam to recognize multiple SteamApps folders on the same drive no longer work; you will almost certainly have to use a second hard drive for that.) However, making a copy is very easy: just copy everything in "Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\Common\Skyrim\" to somewhere else, like "Users\[You]\Desktop\Skyrim". But delete the Creation Kit from this version; you cannot run it from here. For reason explained below, you should make this copy even if you did an install to a second hard drive (in which case the "Program Files (86)" problem won't affect you). Update: The NEED to copy the game outside of "Program Files (x86)" doesn't apply if you didn't install Steam to that folder, but (see the points below) you way want to create a copy anyway for several reasons. You kill six birds with one stone by doing this copy job: * You get the game (that you're actually going to play) out of "Program Files (x86)", avoiding all kinds of headaches. * This copy can be run without Steam and the memory it wastes. You can nuke all Steam-related crap with Task Manager, and prevent any of it from auto-starting at boot time, and all will be fine. Just start the game manually with TESV.exe (or skse_loader.exe if you've installed SKSE). You can't start this copy from within Steam. But that's a bad idea anyway, since it leaves Steam running and wasting memory. In this setup, the ONLY time you'll have to be running any Steam stuff is automatically when you start up the CK, or when you are using Steam for some Skyrim-unrelated reason. * This copy will work just fine, other than FNIS will throw a pointless warning (it thinks you have a pirated game, but doesn't actually do anything about it in this case), and the CK cannot be run in this version, only in the original Steam copy. * The original "official" Steam copy can be kept as a clean development and testing environment for your mods, as well as a source of a clean third copy of the game if you want to try something different, or set up a copy for your spouse who prefers different mods, or whatever. In my case, I have absolutely nothing installed in the original location other than the CK, the DLCs, Update.esm, the High Resolution Texture Pack, and (so I can work on HDT stuff) SKSE, FNIS, HDT Physics Extensions, XP32 Maximum Skeleton Extended, then whatever mod I'm currently working on (which I remove, along with its files, when I'm done). I don't even have Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch in it. * Even if you find some kludge to make the CK work in another copy of the game, you get a faster and less crashy CK if it you run it properly in the Steam copy and it never loads anything but vanilla resources plus the mod you're working on (and any dependencies it has). You also help ensure that you don't end up with accidental dependencies in your mod (e.g. textures and meshes you have from some third-party mod and mistook for vanilla resources; you'd be surprised how easy it is to make that mistake - with a hair model, a clothing item, an eye color, you name it). * You can extract BSAs as needed in the development copy of the game (e.g. to mess around with BodySlide, Outfit Studio, and NIFskope, which don't seem able to read from BSA files), while leaving them as-in the playing copy (better performance - it's faster to read textures and meshes and stuff from BSAs, auto-extracting them as needed in fast RAM, than it is to load them as individual files off the drive – people have benchmarked this and proven it). If someone has late-2018 instructions for moving a Skyrim installation completely, I'll be happy to add them. I seem to recall it requiring some Windows Registry tweaks, in addition to forcing Steam to accept two libraries on the same drive somehow. Why Write This? =============== People love this game, and new mods are created for it every single day. But Bethesda and Steam are strongly pushing Skyrim SE and TES Online. So, Skyrim LE is verging on abandonware these days. Neither newer game is suitable for low-end machines. Thousands of "Oldrim" mods do not work in SE. And of course none of them work in TESO, which is a totally different animal. However, just Googling around about "how to get Skyrim Legendary Edition", etc., generally pulls up a lot of old forum posts and crap that provide once-good information that's no longer valid today. Or just links to Steam pages for individually paying full-retail for the game and every DLC. It took a lot of ferreting around to figure all this out, step-by-step, and it may help someone save hours of wasted time as well as some money. It will also help people enter our "Oldrim" community who don't have all day long to try to figure out how to even get the game. Someday even this may not be possible, if Steam really just deletes Skyrim LE entirely from its available wares, but for now, I'm providing the key to their hidden door, as it were. All you need is a game code to validate with them, and the door appears and swings open. Boilerplate =========== This mini-tutorial is dual-licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-By-SA) 4.0 International License [ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode ] and the GNU Free Documentation License 1.3 [ https://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.en.html ]. I.e., you may reuse/re-release/repurpose any of this content (or all of it) as long as what you include it in is also released under one or both of these licenses (or a compatible one). Thanks to IsharaMeradin, chanchan05, and AnvilOfWar for some tips and clarifications which have been integrated into the current version of this. Followup Notes ============== I'd originally posted this as a mini-tutorial on the main Skyrim Nexus, but it was removed (as neither a mod nor a mod-related tutorial - howto material is permitted, but only if modding-related). They suggested a forum post instead. There was also some suggestion of working some of this into the Skyrim category on the Nexus Wiki, though I haven't edited it in a long time and would need to review the procedures, category structure, yadda yadda first. The admins don't want specific codes sites mentioned, and perhaps it might seem "spammy" to some to do so anyway; I don't favor any particular site or any vendor on one; I just looked for the best deal available that particular hour, and took it, then worked out every kink in the installation process, and documented it. Edited October 25, 2018 by Darklocq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsharaMeradin Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 Just one tip, if you want to be concerned about the install location for the game itself (for modding purposes). If the person is installing Steam for the first time, suggest that they install outside of Program Files to being with. If Steam isn't in Program Files then neither will the games it installs. No need to mess with moving files and potentially screw something up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklocq Posted October 3, 2018 Author Share Posted October 3, 2018 (edited) If the person is installing Steam for the first time, suggest that they install outside of Program Files to being with. Ah so! Didn't realize Steam would let you do that at all. Now I wonder if Steam can be reinstalled, and the game simply moved from the old Steam install to the new one, the old Steam deleted, and the new one started up, perhaps after tweaking a Steam config file or something ... Edited October 3, 2018 by Darklocq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchan05 Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 The DLC's are complete on Steam:https://store.steampowered.com/sub/17079/#https://store.steampowered.com/sub/15953/https://store.steampowered.com/app/226880/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim__Dragonborn/ Also, Skyrim LE = Skyrim + all DLC. It's just basically a discount bundle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasikko Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 The DLC's are complete on Steam:https://store.steampowered.com/sub/17079/#https://store.steampowered.com/sub/15953/https://store.steampowered.com/app/226880/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim__Dragonborn/ Also, Skyrim LE = Skyrim + all DLC. It's just basically a discount bundle.Yeah you have those links because you already own the games. I've supplied links like that myself too. Thus another way of getting oldrim/dlcs is just ask for links from folks with the games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchan05 Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 (edited) The DLC's are complete on Steam:https://store.steampowered.com/sub/17079/#https://store.steampowered.com/sub/15953/https://store.steampowered.com/app/226880/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim__Dragonborn/ Also, Skyrim LE = Skyrim + all DLC. It's just basically a discount bundle.Yeah you have those links because you already own the games. I've supplied links like that myself too. Thus another way of getting oldrim/dlcs is just ask for links from folks with the games. Wait. You mean the links aren't Googleable (is that a word?) anymore? I was pretty sure if the links aren't dead, Google can find them. Edited October 3, 2018 by chanchan05 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklocq Posted October 5, 2018 Author Share Posted October 5, 2018 Well, the entire point of this was that I spent hours Googling around looking for how to get the @#$&ing game on Steam after they've gone to such lengths to hide it, and I kept running into misinformation and dead ends. The step-by-step that I figured out is good; definitely works. Maybe there are other ways, but I'm sharing a tested one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchan05 Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 Well, the entire point of this was that I spent hours Googling around looking for how to get the @#$&ing game on Steam after they've gone to such lengths to hide it, and I kept running into misinformation and dead ends. The step-by-step that I figured out is good; definitely works. Maybe there are other ways, but I'm sharing a tested one. Nah it's fine. But the only difference really that now you have to pay more because the 3 DLC isn't bundled anymore. Your guide may help those who would pinch pennies for the game. Also the links to the DLC are available on STEP site too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnvilOfWar Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 One other factor that might help those out, you may also be able to pick up a physical "legendary edition" from some retailers still. Walmart springs to mind in the aprox. $15.00 USD price point. It's where I picked up my own a short time ago, and reports come in that they are still around if you look. Thus being sure of a legit key for your purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jones177 Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 If it is gone what is this? https://store.steampowered.com/app/72850/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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