Having trouble porting mods from Oldrim

[ShadeTailUS]

So a few mods I loved in Oldrim either aren't being ported or are going very slowly. Therefore I'm trying to bring the Oldrim versions into my game. I've been following the directions here:

 

https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/Porting_Skyrim_mods_to_Skyrim_Special_Edition

 

As far as I can tell, I'm following the directions precisely, putting them in my load order and using the creation kit, etc. But then when I open SkyrimSE, it CTDs on startup without even getting to the title splash screens. By removing mods from my load order, I've definitely isolated the cause to the Oldrim mods I've tried to port, so either the directions are wrong or I'm making a mistake in the porting process.

 

I'm on Windows 10, and I've got the most recently updated versions of SkyrimSE and SKSE64, and I'm using Mod Organizer 2 as my modding tool.

 

Any suggestions on mistakes I might be making and how I can fix it?

[justinglen75]

I'll try to help you out :smile:

 

Convert the ESP/ESM

The Oldrim ESP needs to be converted from 32 bit to 64 bit in order to work in SSE. To do that is easy -- drop the Oldrim ESP into the SSE Data folder, now open the ESP in CK 2.0 (64 bit) -- make sure made that the ESP is set to be the "active" plugin and that it's dependents (ie. Skyrim.exe, Dragonborn.exe) are also selected. Once it's loaded, then just save it -- the ESP is now 64 bit (aka Form 44) and ready.

 

If your mods are packed in a BSA, the contents will need to be unpacked/extracted using something like BSA Browser. All mesh files (.NIF) contained in the BSA and any animation files (.HKX) will need to be converted/optimized to work in SSE. Once they are done being converted, you need to put them in their necessary folders as they were in the Oldrim data folder but in the SSE data folder.

 

Convert the NIFs/Meshes

Oldrim NIFs need to be "optimized" in order to work in SSE. You need software to complete that task -- SSE NIF Optimizer (SSENO) is brilliant and does the trick. You also need to make sure that when you're optimizing head-parts (ie. eyes, head, brows, hair, facegeom NIF) that in SSENO you need to have "Head Parts Only" checked, and for non-head parts (ie. armor, structures, --anything that it NOT a head part) you then leave it unchecked. So you may need to run SSENO twice -- once for the head parts only, and once for the non-head parts. I suggest you temporarily split up the NIFs into their own folders -- one folder is "headparts" and the other can be called "non headparts". Then run optimizer on one folder, then the other, and then re-place the NIFs where they used to be (in the SSE Data file hierarchy).

 

Textures

You don't need to worry about them. VERY rarely, if EVER, have I had to do anything with textures when transferring from Oldrim to SSE. They should work without issue.

 

Scripts

I think I've heard that it's possible old scripts might be an issue between the two but I've never experienced one when I've ported mods.

 

DLL

Also, I could be mistaken here but are any of the mods you are converting using their own DLL files? If so, then you might be SOL on that mod working in SSE. 32 bit DLL files need to be converted to 64-bit -- and unless you're a programmer who perhaps knows the source code or can rebuild/recompile these files as 64 bit then the mod is not going to work in SSE. Unfortunately, there is no way to just run these through a conversion program to do that, but it would be nice if there were. Hehe.

 

HKX/Animations

As mentioned earlier, these I believe need to be converted for SSE as well.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/2970/

 

YouTube resources on Oldrim to SSE Conversion.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sse+port

Edited August 5, 2019 by justinglen75

[ShadeTailUS]

Fortunately, no .dll files in these particular mods, so that wasn't it. After doing a lot more reading and work, I think I've isolated my problem to not properly converting the BSA files. Once I did a more careful and thorough job of that, I repackaged the mods and loaded them into MO2. After a quick run through the C.K., and checking the load order with LOOT, I've booted up the game and it's working fine now. I'm at the title screen listening to the music, and no CTD (yet at least).

 

Unfortunately, I don't have the time right now to give the mods a real acid test and actually play the game with them. But it seems the worst hurdle has been jumped. I've got them loaded and running.

 

Thanks for the help.

[Njgrant16]

I'll try to help you out :smile:

 

Convert the ESP/ESM

The Oldrim ESP needs to be converted from 32 bit to 64 bit in order to work in SSE. To do that is easy -- drop the Oldrim ESP into the SSE Data folder, now open the ESP in CK 2.0 (64 bit) -- make sure made that the ESP is set to be the "active" plugin and that it's dependents (ie. Skyrim.exe, Dragonborn.exe) are also selected. Once it's loaded, then just save it -- the ESP is now 64 bit (aka Form 44) and ready.

 

If your mods are packed in a BSA, the contents will need to be unpacked/extracted using something like BSA Browser. All mesh files (.NIF) contained in the BSA and any animation files (.HKX) will need to be converted/optimized to work in SSE. Once they are done being converted, you need to put them in their necessary folders as they were in the Oldrim data folder but in the SSE data folder.

 

Convert the NIFs/Meshes

Oldrim NIFs need to be "optimized" in order to work in SSE. You need software to complete that task -- SSE NIF Optimizer (SSENO) is brilliant and does the trick. You also need to make sure that when you're optimizing head-parts (ie. eyes, head, brows, hair, facegeom NIF) that in SSENO you need to have "Head Parts Only" checked, and for non-head parts (ie. armor, structures, --anything that it NOT a head part) you then leave it unchecked. So you may need to run SSENO twice -- once for the head parts only, and once for the non-head parts. I suggest you temporarily split up the NIFs into their own folders -- one folder is "headparts" and the other can be called "non headparts". Then run optimizer on one folder, then the other, and then re-place the NIFs where they used to be (in the SSE Data file hierarchy).

 

Textures

You don't need to worry about them. VERY rarely, if EVER, have I had to do anything with textures when transferring from Oldrim to SSE. They should work without issue.

 

Scripts

I think I've heard that it's possible old scripts might be an issue between the two but I've never experienced one when I've ported mods.

 

DLL

Also, I could be mistaken here but are any of the mods you are converting using their own DLL files? If so, then you might be SOL on that mod working in SSE. 32 bit DLL files need to be converted to 64-bit -- and unless you're a programmer who perhaps knows the source code or can rebuild/recompile these files as 64 bit then the mod is not going to work in SSE. Unfortunately, there is no way to just run these through a conversion program to do that, but it would be nice if there were. Hehe.

 

HKX/Animations

As mentioned earlier, these I believe need to be converted for SSE as well.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/2970/

 

YouTube resources on Oldrim to SSE Conversion.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sse+port

would you be kind enough to port this mod for me? I know nothing about computers and both times I tried to do it myself failed. this 2b model is really cute and I want her as a follower. https://www.loverslab.com/files/file/7749-2b-follower/

[ShadeTailUS]

Sorry, but I'm not going to port any mods for you, for two reasons.

 

First, I barely have the time to do my own modding. Finding the time to do someone else's modding is simply not going to happen.

 

Second, altering and then distributing someone else's mod is almost definitely a copyright violation, even if I only distribute it to one other person.

 

If you want to port an Oldrim mod to your S.E. game, you're just going to have to learn how to do it yourself.