[SKY] Where is ACTUAL load order list? It isn't %localappdata%\Skyrim\loadorder.txt

[Ashenfire]

Utilizing Skyrim vanilla, no Wrye bash or any other load order system.

 

1. Newly formatted drive.
2. Windows 10.
3. Installed skyrim original. NO DLC , no S.E.
4. Subscribed to mods I like.
5. Got stupid .ckm errors.
6. Decided to learn its download behavior before troubleshooting .ckm error.

Checking %localappdata%\Skyrim, I found plugins.txt, DLCLIST.txt, and SteamModList.txt, and NO loadorder.txt.

Each of these lists had the mods I had just subscribed to, so I know they are the latest.

 

I wanted to know which one is correct so I renamed the %localappdata%\Skyrim folder to %localappdata%\Skyrim.org.

 

I expected my game to load NOTHING on game execution.

 

I then executed the Steam Skyrim and it STILL was downloading from an ordered list and RECREATING %localappdata%\Skyrim folder and RECREATING

plugins.txt (which is NOW, empty, It had no mod files).

 

 

So what in tarnation is going on?

 

Is the Skyrim launcher reading my \DATA folder and posting them to the launcher DATA list or is it reading from another load order list?

 

Where is it really getting its list from?

Edited August 9, 2019 by Ashenfire

[wfandrews]

Google "make Skyrim vanilla" or words to that effect. You will get a few links to guides to do so, follow whatever guide you prefer.

 

Many people believe that uninstalling Skyrim by deleting the local content makes Skyrim vanilla, it does not. Skyrim installs a few hundred files scattered over your hard disc, including a few in your registry. To make the game vanilla takes a bit of work.

[Ashenfire]

 

Many people believe that uninstalling Skyrim by deleting the local content makes Skyrim vanilla, it does not. Skyrim installs a few hundred files scattered over your hard disc, including a few in your registry. To make the game vanilla takes a bit of work.

 

 

I only installed the original content from Steam. I never utilized ANY DLC;etc. Shouldn't that be vanilla by definition?

I will examine the link see if it shows me what I might have missed.

[wfandrews]

If you just have the vanilla Skyrim you really do not have a load order.

 

Just hit "play" for Skyrim, then Data, and it will show what files you have installed for Skyrim. Those files will be in wherever you installed Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim \Data.

 

As you say you have no DLCs or mods about all you will have in Data is Skyrim.esm and related files like meshes textures etc. If you had mods loaded before, see my original post, you did not make Skyrim vanilla it is loading files that are still there from your previous playing of Skyrim. You might have only installed the original content from Steam but you have not deleted all the files from your previous game. If you play the game online and with the Steam overlay and with the game synced Steam keeps all that data and when you start the game it will download much of it whether it is a new game or not.

 

Where you are making a mistake is in your very first line "Utilizing Skyrim Vanilla" if it is downloading files you are not playing with a vanilla Skyrim.

 

If you are not using a mod manager or a tool like LOOT, Wrye Bash, or TES5Edit I guess you will just have to install mods manually and then order them yourself in the Data section of the Steam launch window.

 

 

I will repeat this one more time, "if Skyrim is downloading files when you launch it from Steam you are not going to be playing with a vanilla Skyrim. When you played Skyrim before it installed literally hundreds of files scattered over your hard disc besides the files that Steam probably kept online many of those files are still there. Exactly where they are located is anyone's guess.

 

See my original post.

[Ashenfire]

I have edited the original post to address the files were original from the newly subscribed items and not from a previous install. That might have made you think I had an old install.

 

It IS vanilla if I install a clean copy of the original, non SE version. It is not defined by what mods are installed. It is still vanilla.

 

Since I have a newly formatted drive, installed vanilla Skyrim, NOT S.E version, subscribed to simple mods; I don't have to worry about interference or scattered files. Thus it will

satisfy your criteria to do a search on how 'make vanilla skyrim' and follow its steps.

 

If you want to call it 'Not Vanilla', then for the sake of the post I will stop calling it that because it defrays from the original question.

 

I am more than familiar with the location of the installed mods and how to use DATA option in my launcher; it is WHAT I was referring to in the first place when I saw it loading even though I removed the load order lists in %localAppdata%.

 

No postings that I have seen will suggest that the SKYRIM launcher will actually read the \data directory and figure out what mods I have.

 

This goes back to my original problem that it knows what to load and prints it to my DATA load order in my launcher. I want to know how it found that information....it is not load order lists as suggested on Nexus.

Edited August 9, 2019 by Ashenfire

[wfandrews]

I really do not understand exactly what you are saying.

 

"No postings that I have seen will suggest that the Skyrim launcher will actually read the \data directory and figure out what mods I have."

 

But that is exactly what happens when you launch the game. How do you think mods are loaded into the game?

 

"It is not defined by what mods are installed. It is still vanilla" Yet, by definition, if mods are installed it is no longer vanilla.

 

You say you installed a vanilla Skyrim, all well and good. You then say you "subscribed to simple mods" and you seem to think that subscribing to "simple mods" will have no affect on your game.

 

It might help to say what mod manager you are using so someone familiar with that mod manager can explain to you how it downloads and installs mods in your game. I use NMM so I am familiar with that.

 

If you are not using a mod manager I cannot help you as there are way too many things that can go wrong when installing mods manually. Which is why it is highly recommended to use a mod manager to download and install mods.

[Ashenfire]

I never said subscribed mods won't affect my game. Only that subscribing to games doesn't stop making it 'vanilla'. There is a difference between a 'clean install' and a vanilla install.

 

Anyways.....

I was under the impression that if no mod manager was utilized, the Skyrim Launcher would STILL utilize steamloadlist.txt or maybe plugins.txt.

 

But then it just dawned on me that when a user subscribes / unsubscribes, it will ADD/Remove the mods, thus the Skyrim Launcher can assume the \data folder is up to date and launch those mods.

 

If this is so, then the question is answered.

[wfandrews]

One cannot subscribe or unsubscribe, as you put it, without a mod manager. There are more than a few mod managers including MO2, Vortex, NMM, Wrye Bash and probably some I am unaware of.

 

If you are not using a mod manager you must download the file manually to a folder of your choice,then install it in the Data folder of your game. After doing so you must launch the game thru Steam and check the mod in the Data option in the launch screen so it will load when you start the game. If you are using LOOT that will sort your mods in a basic fashion otherwise you must sort them manually in the Data option in the launch screen.

 

This is why the vast majority of players use a mod manager if modding their game. Without a mod manager it is a real pain in the butt to mod your game and you must be very knowledgeable, IMO, to install mods and come out with a stable modded game.

[Shadeybladey]

3. Installed skyrim original. NO DLC , no S.E.

4. Subscribed to mods I like.

 

 

LoadOrder.txt, PlugIns.txt and DLCList.txt are in

 

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Skyrim on my Win7 machine

 

If you changed the name of the Local appdata folder, why do you wonder when Steam recreates it and replaces the folder it cannot find?

 

And if you have any mods in DATA, you do NOT have a Vanilla install.

 

End Of.

 

 

If you have any subscriptions on Steam, you do not have a Vanilla install.

 

End Of.

 

 

Why you would ever subscribe to Steam for mods is a mystery to me. Steam is not a mod manager and very, very rarely has anything you cannot get elsewhere. In those very few cases, you can download the damn thing and not subscribe on Steam. And unless you unsubscribe from them all, subscribing causes Steam to automatically update anything you have ever subscribed to in the past. On any PC.

 

And NO. That IS NOT a Vanilla install.

 

This is why we never play a single player game on-line.

For the first year or two, Steam would stealth update and destroy mods that needed to be updated for the latest patch, and screwed up anything relying on SKSE until SKSE was updated.

 

 

Vanilla is Skyrim.esm with no mods and no DLC. That is:

 

NO USKP

NO Dragonborn

NO Dawnguard

NO Hearthfire

NO SKSE (not actually a mod, it's a script extender)

NO SkyUI

NO Mods at all

 

 

Skyrim DLCList has the mods you may have stupidly subscribed to on Steam. Steam, of course, will have it's own copy of any subscribed mods.

 

LoadOrder.txt and PlugIns.txt have the mod list, one of which is sorted by the game and one is used (or created) by things like LOOT and BOSS. I forget which is which and was looking for one of my posts from a few years ago when I found this nonsense.

 

I do not use mod managers as two of my favourite mods of all time get screwed up by them. But then I know what I am doing. For others, they can be very useful to get a modded game working.

 

But Steam is not a mod manager, so never subscribe to mods on Steam. They will be updated regardless of compatibility issues and rammed into any load order position Steam chooses.

 

 

Good Luck.

 

:smile:

[kryten397]

If you have no mod manager its plugins.txt that can be used to determine load order.

Notepad ++ makes it easier.I used to download and install manually.But its easier to use a mod manager.Some mod managers will create their own files ignoring plugin.text.