jeedge

In NMM, the mods you install will remain showing in the mod tab list then it should be noted that the mod MAY or MAY NOT have included an ESM/ESP pair or single ESP or ESM file. If that's the case, then that mod will never show up in the Plugins tab list. Conversely, you can install something manually just copying files to wherever they need to go within the skyrim data folder then assuming that was an esp or esm file, start up NMM then voila the mod you manually installed will show up in the plugins tab list but the mods tab list will not show the mod you manually installed since you didn't use NMM to install and track it. Does that make any sense? Things like ENBs or tweaks tend to not really be mods from the general sense but they still technically modify the game in some way. ENBs tend to get copied manually over to the skyrim directory and not the skyrim/data directory. Many people in the past misunderstood this and then wondered why their ENB wouldn't work at all. I personally haven't bought into Mod Manager. I did try it out and it was like 'TMI' (too much info) for my taste. I may change my mind later. For now I use sort of tried and true older school methods. I save ALL mods to my hard drive first regardless if I will later install using NMM or copy the files over manually. Two reasons, 1st being that I like to have a permanent copy of the mod then secondly I like to first extract the files and see what's inside the archive then I decide whether I want to use NMM or install the files manually. I read each mod description and ALWAYS look for any suggestions for editing any ini files that may come with the mod. Sometimes these ini settings make a big difference between getting the CTD or successful long running games. Anway - I also save each mod into a separate sub-directory with the name of the mod because by maintaining some level of organization I'll be able to find it later during a fresh reinstall. Any new versions or updates I tend to save into the same subdirectory of the older versions mod in case the new version is a dunce. I can always quickly find the older more stable version. I regularly use NMM, manal install, LOOT to sort mods, Wrye Bash to do the final sort then make the bashed patch, and then finally some utilities that have proven to be useful for cleaning save game files, editing body textures, etc... but that's getting deep. These are just tips the most important thing is understanding the answer to your original question which I covered earlier... Jeedge

For reference my PC setup: Mild overclock of the CPU - AMD 960T (quad core) from 3.0Ghz to 3.4Ghz, plenty cool temps. Video card is a 780 GTX 3GB DDR5. System RAM is 16GB 1600 clock. 1 OCZ vector 256GB SSD as the Win 7 boot, hosts page file and some other minor apps 1 1TB Patriot SSD - this is my game drive 3 TB WD HDD 7200 RPM, 64K cache Not the fastest computer in the world but more than generous to run a pretty heavily modded Skyrim using a performance ENB I just ran for 4 hours straight then saved, quit without any crashes. I run around 140 mods now which isn't the most but I've managed to make a pretty stable game with only predictable CTD happening once in a while. I say predictive because I know what the cause most likely is - one of the follower mods I have is not playing nicely with a setup that includes all kinds other follower types UFO. stand-alone, immersive etc. The following are my main tweaks that got me to what I would call a stable point. ------------------------ My skse.ini: [General] ClearInvalidRegistrations=1 [Display] iTintTextureResolution=2048 [Memory] defaultHeapInitialAllocMB=768 scrapHeapSizeMB=256 [interface] EnableContainerCategorization=1 *I also right-clicked over the skse launcher icon and selected propterties >> General tab, and appeneded -forcesteamloader to the Target line. Was: "J:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim\skse_loader.exe" Now: "J:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim\skse_loader.exe" -forcesteamloader The target line remains inside double-quotes then add [single space]-forcesteamloader without double quotes around it. ------------------------ ENB config file in enblocal.ini (just listing the main interesting parts)- most importantly the 'VideoMemorySizeMB' setting from the MEMORY section and "EnableVSync=true" from the ENGINE section: [MEMORY] ExpandSystemMemoryX64=false ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=true DisableDriverMemoryManager=false DisablePreloadToVRAM=false EnableUnsafeMemoryHacks=false ReservedMemorySizeMb=256 VideoMemorySizeMb=2000 EnableCompression=true AutodetectVideoMemorySize=false [ENGINE] ForceAnisotropicFiltering=true MaxAnisotropy=16 EnableVSync=true AddDisplaySuperSamplingResolutions=false VSyncSkipNumFrames=0 ForceLodBias=true LodBias=0.5 *** If you have a lower end PC than mine. I recomment the 'I Can't Belive It's Not an ENB' mod, video memroy setting still applies. ------------------------- Lastly, I made sure the skse launcher. TESV.exe, and all utilities I use (NMM, Wrye Bash, etc) are ALL set to run as adminstrator by default by right-clicking each exe (not just the short-cuts!) , selecting Properties >> Compatibility >> then checking the 'Run this program as an administrator box -------------------------------------------------------------- I did some experimentation earlier tonight with manipulating the correct default settings (right below): defaultHeapInitialAllocMB=768 scrapHeapSizeMB=256 With these settings - I crashed as soon as I tried to enter from outside into a building: defaultHeapInitialAllocMB=1024 scrapHeapSizeMB=512 ____ With these settings, was able to leave the building alright but then seconds later fightig broke-out then CTD occurred again defaultHeapInitialAllocMB=768 scrapHeapSizeMB=512 below is what was already recommended to use and I experienced no CTDs since then, defaultHeapInitialAllocMB=768 scrapHeapSizeMB=256 Jeedge

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/2235394-beginners-guide-to-modding/ It's a sticky here. Start with that but also look at and make sure you are using a memory manager - either ssme or skse 1.7 or > version has it built in but you need to add two lines into its skse.ini file in [path_to]/skyrin/data/skse folder. Just look for that. LOTs of posting and discussion about that so I won't get into that part here. I wouldn't get into too many of those youtube how to videos - I found most of the best information is found in the stickies in this forum and the other one about mods. Good luck!

Instead of using an ENB check out that 'I can't believe it's not an ENB' mod instead which still employs a dll and sweetfx which can further be tweaked in game in MCM with 'imaginator' - also check out the 'Skyrim Performance Plus' package here on Nexus to download. Author made a great point that if you lower the pixel resolution on things like rain drops, snow, leaves - you won't even notice the 'lower quality' and yet by doing so, you get a nice performance boost to offset what the ENBs are doing. Same idea with the mod 'Grass on Steroids' (from which I personally like the vanilla version best - the tall grass version made it difficult for me to find and loot bodies after large battles, lol) Jeedge

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/2235394-beginners-guide-to-modding/ Good link - it's actually one of the two stickies here. Don't resist it - just do it (Nike)

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/2235394-beginners-guide-to-modding/ Gomlulos's guide. I initially resisted then I did it and am now a believer. His postings and guide convinced me to try Wrye Bash to make a bashed patch. He is somewhat general on the actual steps for making the patch but for that portion I just looked up and downloaded the Wrye Bash pictorial guidfe which did the trick for me. Anyway his guide is legit and simple - not complicated and with the bash patch my game got a whole lot more stable and in fact, I noticed staright away that NPC armors where more colorful and vibrant than ever before. Without realizing it, I had not been seeing the benefits of immersive armors mod prior to the bashed patch because those armors were simply not really showing up in most cases. I only 'quietly' disagree with his SkyUI mod order placement philosophy because I believe SkyUI should remain where LOOT and Wrye Bash places it which is closer to the top versus being second from the bottom. His guide saved me weeks of potential troubleshooting in the dark... Jeedge

"I also have SafeLoad set to infinite load screens only in the SKSE folder and in enblocal.ini I have the x64 memory set to false" Also - I recently read somewhere that the latest SKSE versions alreadt handles thie memory tweak so Safe Load could actually cause problems later - could someone confirm? Also if you use a memory patcher - their documentation typically seem to indicate the initial memory load block (or cell, or whatever its called) is initially set very low by default and these patchers typically change that from 64MB to 256MB (again, can someone confirm?). But they also go on to say if the game crashes, to try 128MB or 512MB.... This seems to stipulate to me, that there are varying results but one thing is very clear to most at this point and that is setting this initial memery load block to a higher value seems to reduce a lot of CTDs for script heavy modded Skyrim setups. I'm still playing with the settings myself but at the recommended 256MB setting, I have noticed that I hardly ever crash anymore. I do crash once in a great while when I'm outside Whiterun - and am troubleshooting ETaC interaction in that area near the stables but that is all I've run into so far - and it could be that ETaC isn't playing nice with Elysium Estate which supplanted a player house (awesome BTW) near the areas ETaC places its buildings - still troubleshooting that. Jeedge

Maybe want to check out: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/48554/? Not an ENB but still includes a dll, sweetfxa install the imaginator mod option to play with the settings in game - some people have also submitted their imaginator presets which all look pretty nice and will save you a lot of tweaking time.. Jeedge

@Nystel thanks for the link man, will check it out! Ya, I'm loving the immersion stuff. @gromulos - LOL thanks for pointing it out - I thought you could have all 3 because the MCM menu allows you to select one or the other on the fly but I tend to find 'VectorPlexus Regular' as being the right uh.. ahem.. fit anyway :) Cheers, Jeedge

Gromulos, Thanks again, I look forward to the extra long playing hours this weekend. :) I'll need to double-check but I thought I already installed interesting NPC's (checking). Yep yep, it's '3DNPCs.esp' in the long list above. I'm afraid the common folk AI will need to wait until one of the main two mods dealing with that gets a patch for their respect major mod conflict. I'll keep looking of course because I've only gone through the top 1000 mods so far, maybe there's a diamond in the rough. The "Duel - Combat Realism" Combat AI mod along with "Organized Bandits In Skyrim" really made travelling dangerous. I quickly found out I couldn't travel from town to town without at least two essential follower 'bodyguards' and even then I had to put my bow away to conjure in more help during some of the bandit battles - just crazy how the mod made the NPCs 'smart' during the battles, flanking and closing in on me from two or three fronts. "As for this - "Forge in every house" mod - the only thing I can think that would do that would be either a mod conflict or a bad setting with an ENB" I'm still thinking since it only happened after making the bashed patch, maybe I'll delete the patch then rebuild again - this time excluding it from the build patch list. Worth a try at least. I found the 'Bashed Patch Pictorial Guide' to be helpful, where your guide was a general roadmap - which is great since I noticed you tried to keep everything simple. To use Wrye Bash I went off the guide at this link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/36189/? The guide showed the steps in a simplified pictorial manner - the only catch-all is in the last screen that has the 'Override/Delev' tags list of esp/esms, the automatic box is checked by default - one needs to be aware that that box needs to be unchecked, then one needs to 'add; the rest of the mods minus the exclusions (as I plan to do with the forge mod). I found it easier to select all esp/esms (holding the shift key down) then going back to remove any I wanted to exclude such as the bash patch esp itself, soon to be forge mod, and the other one I needed to exclude before (the mod dealing with more training). Also I noticed in this same screen I had to make sure the 'Merge Patches' box was unchecked. I don't recall if 'Twek Settings' box should be checked or not. "NEVER under any circumstance delete any mods from your load order unless you are making a new character, it will break your saves every single time" I *did* delete and reinstall a couple, does your statement apply *if* I uninstall a mod yet reinstall it before loading a save game - hence the save game will still find all the links since the mod was reinstalled? Would disabling (unchecking) a mod be the same effect as deleting one? I've also had luck using PDTWrapper to fix a couple of my save games but I agree, that should be a last resort and not general practice. I have not tried the popular save game cleaner but at the very least, I heard you get to keep your level but all quests are basically broken/cancelled once it's done - no thanks! Cheers, Jeedge

Hey Gromulos, Since we've taken over this thread anyway - LOL, I wanted to let you know what a great guide you wrote up and thank you for writing that thing in the first place - I will now refer anyone that asks to that post. I installed a whole bunch more mods, I guess I went a little crazy and the game started to CTD a little too often so I caved in and followed your guide - made the final Wrye Bach bashed patch with all the esp/esms selected (bash patch empty deselected of course) then built the patch. After doing so, I enjoyed hours and hours of gameplay with no issues, faster speed, you name it. Several huge battles, lot's of entering/exiting places and big towns - full load of Lively Taverns after sleeping 10 days in a roll, total stability! Also didn't realize that even though I had previously installed many armor addition and replacer mods - I wasn't really seeing all of it. Now the roaming bandits and NPC armor sets are SO much more colorful and unique - love the diversity of it all too. The ONLY issue I have now is with the "Forge in every house" mod. I can enter the forge added by this mod in proudspire manor, and it doesn't lose functionality or anything - just that the screen goes ultra transparent bright and I've run into a wall trying to figure out why. This only happened after patching - perhaps I should re-patch everything except the one Wrye Bash excluded then also exclude this one? Can I just delete the patch and rebuild another one (is it really that simple?) I did check your mod list out and ended up getting a few from your list - best one so far has got to be 'cutting room floor' plus the few patches I needed to add to make it compat. with a few other mods. I've decided to share the full mod list. I saw other posts with some adult mod references so since this thread will most likely never become a 'hot sticky' anyway, here's the list. You'll immediately notice that I went 'crazy' because it's almost double the mods - but I love the added feel the bigger trees, taller grasses, and pure waters when roaming around. I selected 2 followers from my harem, we traversed the land from Whiterun to River Run and on the way we must have fought in over 10 big battles, it's almost insane how many npcs are in the game now. I wanted to install 'immersive citizens' but won't touch it until the mod author comes out with a patch to make it compatible with USRP. Or do you know of any other City/Town NPC AI overhauls? There's one more major one out there - but it conflicts with ETaC, so no go there either and the author of that one hasn't updated that mod since 2012... I also decided not to install Taking Notes because it relies on another mod FISS, and I need to read up more on FISS after reading a couple complaints about it. Here's the list and after seeing the content on many other posts - I guess the references to the adullt ones are OK since technically, none are bad words... Skyrim.esm Update.esm Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp Dawnguard.esm Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp HearthFires.esm Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp Dragonborn.esm Unofficial Dragonborn Patch.esp Falskaar.esm Wyrmstooth.esp ApachiiHair.esm ApachiiHairFemales.esm ApachiiHairMales.esm ETaC - RESOURCES.esm SexLab.esm SharedSeranaDialogue.esm SexLabAroused.esm ClimatesOfTamriel.esm Schlongs of Skyrim - Core.esm Inn Girls Resources.esm notice board.esp TravellersOfSkyrim.esm Havok Breast Physic.esm HighResTexturePack01.esp HighResTexturePack02.esp HighResTexturePack03.esp Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp Cutting Room Floor.esp PassiveWeaponEnchantmentRecharging.esp retakrew7_chest.esp HentaiSuccubusArmor.esp Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp MoreTraining_30.esp Celtic Music in Skyrim 2.0.esp EnhancedLightsandFX.esp Skyrim Bigger Trees Full.esp ETaC - Complete.esp ELFX - Exteriors.esp ETaC - Dragon Bridge South.esp 3DNPC.esp Tes Arena - Skyrim Frontier Fortress.esp WARZONES - Civil Unrest.esp Skyrim Immersive Creatures.esp Immersive Orc Strongholds.esp ApachiiHairStyles.esp ApachiiHairStylesELVES.esp ELFXEnhancer.esp Witch Of The Wild.esp Immersive Wenches.esp Havok Breast Physic.esp OBIS.esp Skyrim Immersive Creatures - DLC2.esp Immersive Whiterun.esp Immersive Solstheim.esp AnnaNPCs.esp Guard Dialogue Overhaul.esp Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp TERAArmors_CBBE.esp EMCompViljaSkyrim.esp Inconsequential NPCs.esp Spriggan Armor 2.esp NoBlur.esp BNFollowerPack.esp UFO - Ultimate Follower Overhaul.esp Forge In Every House.esp Populated Cities 2.esp immersive patrols ii.esp CerwidenCompanion.esp Marriable Serana.esp FollowerCompatibility.esp TES ARENA AIO-Clutting-patch.esp LIAT - Sounds.esp BardandGuards.esp Sweet&Sexy Lingerie.esp Bag of Holding.esp RaceMenu.esp RaceMenuPlugin.esp dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp SC07SexLabRandomAttack.esp ELFX - NoBreezehome.esp SpousesEnhanced.esp TDC - Full Follower Pack - CBBE.esp Real Traders.esp LoversComfort.esp FNISspells.esp SpousesEnhanced_Serana.esp LIAT - NPCs.esp FollowerPack_02.esp FollowerPack_01.esp FollowerPack_03.esp SexLab Romance.esp LunariWarriors.esp ClimatesOfTamriel-Nights-Level-2.esp FNISSexyMove.esp Schlongs of Skyrim.esp SOS - Smurf Average Addon.esp SOS - VectorPlexus Muscular Addon.esp SOS - VectorPlexus Regular Addon.esp Strap.esp Dynasty Armor.esp Frontier Fortress Notice Boards.esp Davjes_SorceressArmor.esp Merta Assassin Armor.esp Gatti14Yumiko.esp Karliah-MiniByNausicaa.esp Warhammer Sorceress Robes.esp Sovngarde Steel Armor and Weapons.esp Neo's Witch.esp Purewaters.esp TravellersOfSkyrim - Vanilla.esp TravellersOfSkyrim - UFO Compatibility Patch.esp TravellersOfSkyrim - Dragonborn Addon.esp OBISDB.esp TradeBarter.esp Falskaar Wildlife.esp Falskaar - Notice Board.esp IslandFastTravel.esp Imaginator BETA.esp Ish's Souls to Perks.esp master alchemy book.esp Neo's Slave Leia Renewal.esp SRIsaka.esp SRIlta.esp SRKirsikka.esp SRMaisa.esp SRSarasta.esp Purewaters-Falskaar.esp NPCWaterAIScripted.esp Duel - Combat Realism.esp Auto Unequip Ammo.esp TheEyesOfBeauty.esp Babette.esp The Eyes Of Beauty - Elves Edition.esp Grass On Steroids.esp Bijin Wives.esp Havok Breast Physic Dragonborn.esp Havok Breast Physic Dawnguard.esp SkyUI.esp Bashed Patch, 0.esp Not listed are some additions that stabilized the load of a save game , allow you to set the initial reserved memory space (basically double, triple, or quadruple the memory values) - then others were tiny mods I justt copy/pasted into /data manually. These are: Safety Load Skyrim Performance PLUS files *Lowerering PX rate for rain drops, snow fall, leaves falling, etc from 512x512 to 128x128 or 256x256 (allows 64x64 if you're desperate). It was noticed that one cannot really tell the difference in quality of these little particulates and yet by dropping the pixel value on the textures to 128x128 - one can see a nice FPS/performance increase. I installed these because I was thinking it could offset all the potential lag I added with adding so many other NPCs, content, etc. Grass on Steroids - a grass mod that gives FPS BOOST and Denser Grass (I selected the Tall grass option for a more natural countryside look) - Same idea/goal as the stuff in Skyrim Performance PLUS Skyrim Bigger Trees - not sure if I installed this with the mod manager or manually copied. I'm about to go to bed, too tired to check LOL All I can say is WOW, and I'm sure I'm not done installing mods yet - I'm sure I'll go shoppng since I stopped perusing at only mod #1000 from the top files listing so only 69K mods more to look through. I just need to understand the Wrye Bash bached patching a little more - like what to do if I decide to add more mods or - find that I need to exclude some others in the patch build. I also know about the mod limit (255 right?) so I will still be very picky and I really don't want to add too many more - just really really good ones. Cheers, Jeedge

I don't know or remember that one, you might however be interested in "Buildable Chests-32676-3-1" which is on Nexus. Craft your own chests and furniture, place them anywhere you want. I made around 8 chests and placed them in key helpful places inside the prodspire home. Jeedge

Will check it out Gromulos next time I get to a point of starting over. For now, I'm running with a level 50 archer and will press on with my fingers crossed. :) Jeedge I like these kinds of threads, chose to respond to this one because it's new. I hope to see others posting their mod lists and additional commentary on the mods they liked - maybe discover more diamonds in the rough... Jeedge

gromulos - no doubt you made good points. Would you say I can deal with the problems if and when they arrive or is using TES5edit and Wyre going to help improve stability now? I realize even in some of those cases, a mod or two is just never going to work well with other mods and all the patching in the world won't solve that. At that point I guess it's time to either live without certain mods or become a mod maker yourself and put out a version that removes the conflict or problem. Another reason I was considering to add in the journal mod is so I can make little notes about any issues I run into - then there's a way to access the text file externally later to read the contents added by yourself within the game (via FISS). Thanks to you and everyone who make the mods, the guides, the utilities, the videos, on and on - it's incredible! Cheers, Jeedge

By the way, per my mod list above this port - I'm extermely impatient and have never used Wyre Bash to make patches nor did I ever use TES5Edit to fix dirty edits *which in most of my cases, were left in intentionally for a reason. And my game runs fine - I've done about 60% of the quests with this setup, although will admit I haven't started the Dragonborn DLC quests yet. Cheers, Jeedge

This is my load order of mods from plugins.txt - sorry they are not categorized nor did I post links since one can easily search these on Nexus and/or Steam Workshop. I also have many adult mods from the 'Lovers Lab' site but chose to remove those from the list because I'm not sure about that rule here. . The Lover's Lab mods are not necessary but if you are over 18, I will say some really funny situations have occurred that were completely unexpected. I'll just say that I found out just how jealous and vindictive Serena could get, she can be a heartbreaker! Mostly, I got the various Lovers Lab mods for the added drama and not so much for the other stuff those mods bring. If you like the list below but want to see the Lovers Lab mods I use, you can msg me privately for the full list. (of course if I think you're a kid, I won't be risking my Nexus membership on you) I have some really useful gameplay mods but my main objective was to add loads of monsters and NPCs to the game world and all the towns. I wanted to fill the world with people, make it so much more lively when roaming around or in each tavern. Some of the follower mods added some quests but I did not elect to add any large additional areas although ETAC did some of that anyway. In fact, I'm only using around 8 or 9 followers that mostly relax in my solitude home - I may take a couple with me on quests but never all of them at once. I also wanted to recreate a homebase that reminded me of some of the Animes I've enjoyed - High School DxD, Sword Art Online - where I basically have my own 'harem' of sorts. I was able to achieve a non-crashing stable modded game and a virtual world I find myself excited to return to each night. I learned a lot through trial and error - and added the mods incrementally. I'll add some text to the right after each notable mod I found to really add value to my gaming and immersion experiences. Not listed are "CBBE Beautiful Bodies Edition" and "I Cant Believe Its NOT An ENB". Along with CBBE, I installed their 'Bodyslide 2' utility which after viewing a how-to youtube video, was able to easily make NPC bodies exactly to my preference which by the way is not overly large 'stuff'. I then added multiple CBBE compatible armor sets and one major vanilla armor 'replacer' mod called 'Immersive Armors' which I highly recommend. I chose the ENB alternative because while I do sport a nice PC spec, I found that running an ENB (even the so called Lite ones) taxed my system just enough to notice some lag during the busy scenes. This ICBNE alternative fit the bill nicely, I recommend it but be sure to select the MCM 'Imaginator' option when installing that because you will need to play with the sliders it provides to tune the look to your liking while in-game. This is to readers new to Skyrim mods - YOU MUST INSTALL 'SKSE' , GOOGLE 'silverlock skyrim skse', this is a script extension utility used by most mods nowadays. Once installed, you would launch Skyrim launch the SKSE launcher instead of clicking Play in Steam. Also not listed is the mod 'Immersive 1st person view' because it's just a DLL, not an esm/esp. I love the 1st person view I now get when running around in Skyrim, when running for example I can see my feet now. I chose 'Immersive 1st person view' mod specifically because it works best with the Lovers Lab mods but there are two others (Joy of Perspective and one other) that I would have considered trying were it not for the other mod requirements (the mods I didn't list here) Mod sorting - Since BOSS is no longer being updated, I used LOOT and had no issues with how it sorted the mod list below EXCEPT for the unofficial patches near the top. Because of the way those were created, you need to manually place each unofficial patch as seen in the list below (because they are essentially fake esm files). If you don't order the unofficals in that manner, you may run into problems later but the good thing is LOOT will not mess with the manual order once you've done it. Also - I did initially have some save game corruption because I've been swapping mods in and out to get to this point and learned how to deal with that quite successfully - more on that later. My newer rule of thumb is when in doubt whether it's a mod load order or added mod itself, or corrupt save game causing your game to stall or crash - just start a new game (as that won't erase your old save games) and see if the game crashes with a new game save loaded before moving to swap out mods or further sort the mod order after running LOOT. Skyrim.esm Update.esm Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp ***See my paragraph above. Dawnguard.esm Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp HearthFires.esm Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp Dragonborn.esm Unofficial Dragonborn Patch.esp ApachiiHair.esm *** I added all three Apachii hair plugins, I sort of recall one of the other mods looking for the Females and Males version. Excellent overall ApachiiHairFemales.esm ApachiiHairMales.esm ETaC - RESOURCES.esm ***Expanded Towns and Cities, a MUST GET! SharedSeranaDialogue.esm *** For those like me who are in love with Serena, otherwise not needed ClimatesOfTamriel.esm *** Excellent atmosphere mod when running around skyrim, but I only disliked the Sun it included. I manually copied over a less bright sun file after installing the mod HighResTexturePack01.esp HighResTexturePack02.esp HighResTexturePack03.esp Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp SkyUI.esp *** YOU MUST GET THIS ONE, this is THE UI overhaul mod of the century, also needed for the MCM 'Mod Configuration Menu' which many mods now use as well. You will never play Skyrim again without this one. PassiveWeaponEnchantmentRecharging.esp *** I like to enchant things but recharging is such a drag, this mod allows a user-settable (via MCM) automatic weapon recharge rate. I made mine recharge slowly to keep battles realistic. retakrew7_chest.esp *** Some of the mods I use had notes about possibly having problems with the Hearthfire DLC, so I made my final home in Solitude. This mod allows me to craft chests and furniture and place them anywhere (storage!) HentaiSuccubusArmor.esp Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp MoreTraining_30.esp *** The 'Training per Level ' mod. User can select from a whole list of esps that will allow him or her to get more or less training per level from Skyrim trainers. Celtic Music in Skyrim 2.0.esp *** This doesn't replace Skyrim music, but adds to it. Very well done high quality celtic music to listen to while running around skyrim. EnhancedLightsandFX.esp *** I like this one, self-explanatory ETaC - Complete.esp ELFX - Exteriors.esp ETaC - Dragon Bridge South.esp 3DNPC.esp *** The Interesting NPCs mod, highly recommended WARZONES - Civil Unrest.esp *** I don't see this one talked about much, but I love roaming Skyrim and bumping into raging battles - for example, Stormcloaks versus Imperials - many other fighting factions. Great XP, adds to the immersion Skyrim Immersive Creatures.esp *** Highly recommended!!! Immersive Orc Strongholds.esp ApachiiHairStyles.esp ApachiiHairStylesELVES.esp ELFXEnhancer.esp Witch Of The Wild.esp Skyrim Immersive Creatures - DLC2.esp Immersive Whiterun.esp Immersive Solstheim.esp AnnaNPCs.esp *** Nice one, some interesting different dialogue and fully voiced Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp TERAArmors_CBBE.esp EMCompViljaSkyrim.esp *** Vilja companion is worth getting if you never checked her out before. Fully voiced with many added quests that are specific to you helping her. She also gets other followers talking to each other more Inconsequential NPCs.esp *** Adds a lot of NPCs to skyrim, nothing fancy - just a lot more bodies to fill the towns and outside with. nice for immersion Spriggan Armor 2.esp NoBlur.esp BNFollowerPack.esp *** More potential folloahs UFO - Ultimate Follower Overhaul.esp *** I'd say UFO is a MUST GET, to have up to 15 companions at once. This was critical to creating my 'harem', I typically have em all relax at my house, then choose/take 2-3 at a time with me Forge In Every House.esp *** Since I'm not going to build a house due to potential mod issues, this mod installs a 'basement' forge in every vanilla house. I love it. immersive patrols ii.esp *** Adds even more NPCs to skyrim CerwidenCompanion.esp *** I'd say she's right behind Vilja for enhanced followers, plus she's a damn good healer! Fully voiced Marriable Serana.esp *** I married Serena, and I can't currently stop her from making love to my housecarl in solitude. Little wrinkle in our relationship right now *whoops, I've said too much* FollowerCompatibility.esp *** I installed so many NPC/follower mods, I found this mod to be helpful in making them all stable with one another BardandGuards.esp *** Adds more voice NPCs that you can hire to stay wherever you place them, I hired two nice bards who both stay at Proudspire full time, except one brought her kid and dog with her than said Sorry to me!!! Sweet&Sexy Lingerie.esp *** You know, I left this in the list to show here because I love the shop it adds to Solitude, and they're not bad - I'd say PG rated...looks great on Serena ^ ^ FNISspells.esp Bag of Holding.esp *** Adds the fabled Bag of Holding, but I hardly ever use it. But deeeeeep in some dungeons and running out of capacity, I use it as a last resort to stow my loot in so I don't lose any junk weapons I plan to smelt later RaceMenu.esp *** You can be in-game and make changes to your character on the fly. But beware, this one is buggy and I'm watching it for now. Read conflict list carefully. I used it once to change my hairstyle RaceMenuPlugin.esp dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp ELFX - NoBreezehome.esp *** I think part of ETAC, I forget but there was something in Breezehome that made it buggy with ETAC... SpousesEnhanced.esp *** I left this in the listing here even though it's a Lovers Lab mod. I thought it really added some nice kissing options for Serena, after all married people should kiss right? Reuiqres other mods I didn't list but google? SpousesEnhanced_Serana.esp *** Necessary add-on to Spouses Enhanced TDC - Full Follower Pack - CBBE.esp *** The Dovahkiins Consorts - Standalone Follower Pack - CBBE Oh yea! FollowerPack_02.esp *** Follower packs 01, 02, and 03 are yet more follower packs. FollowerPack_01.esp FollowerPack_03.esp LunariWarriors.esp *** Lunari Warriors 6 Standalone Followers - REBORN more potential followers, oh yea! I don't intend to make all followers followers, mostly added to add even more bodies into the game. ClimatesOfTamriel-Nights-Level-2.esp FNISSexyMove.esp *** Makes the females walk like they KNOWS THEY GOT IT! Dynasty Armor.esp Davjes_SorceressArmor.esp Imaginator BETA.esp Ish's Souls to Perks.esp *** I like this mod, it adds another Gaurdian Stone and allows one to exchange dragon souls for perks. Simple yet still maintaining the lore, love it. master alchemy book.esp *** I recommend 'Master Alchemy Recipes' mod which adds the alchemy recipes, for example for making Fortify Enchantments or Fortify Smithing Neo's Slave Leia Renewal.esp Merta Assassin Armor.esp Gatti14Yumiko.esp Karliah-MiniByNausicaa.esp Warhammer Sorceress Robes.esp Sovngarde Steel Armor and Weapons.esp Neo's Witch.esp Most of the armor mods listed are CBBE compatible. Many of those armor mod authors also make a UNP bodies variant of the same mod. UNP and CBBE are basically body type alternatives to the original vanilla bodies. I think there are 7 or 8 types out there now but those two are still the most two supported body types. I like CBBE better because of its Bodyslide 2 utility which give me the control on what I want to see versus what the others just give you. Many people like UNP better. Then not listed. I also had to install a body 'skeleton' (called TBBP skeleton), XPMS, and something called 'FNIS' for additional animations. So these body replacements, adding animations - I'd say requires a more intermediate level of working with mods, I had to learn a lot of it by trial and error because a single mistep in this area could mean you see NPCs without heads in game, or maybe some other NPC graphical anomaly. I found myself having to tweak things manually quite a bit to get animations lining up correctly, resizing bodies to force the alignments to such a degree, or copy a single file into a specific directory in some cases. You don't need all these NPC visual enhancements to enjoy the game, I was just simply shooting for a different goal and found these options to really add to the overall immersion. I did not seek out Face and Eyes overhauls because I found the various follower mods added so many nice looking followers already. I love all the armor mods listed in the list but didn't comment much at all on them. Like I said before, Immersive Armors is a must have of the bunch for general immersion as it is a replacer so affects all NPCs as well - the others make my female followers in such a way that in the real world, they would've taken me to HR. But since there's no HR in Skyrim, it's my show all the way baby! OK - for savegame corruption fixes. I recommend getting 'Papyrus Data Transfer GUI 1_2_c' and the required dependency Papyrus Utility. Within that, there's a utility called 'PDTWrapper.exe'. I use this if I install mods then my game suddenly starts one of the following - most often, fails to load a save game and Skyrim stalls after the load screen. Or if I uninstall a mod or two, launch the game to do the usual load/save/restart/load once more and the game still crashes, I'll use the PDTWrapper. It's simple, you load the utility, 'Select ESS' then navigate to the problematic save game. Then even while it's scanning the contents (which can take up to 30 mins) I simply select Basic Cleaning >> Remove Unattached Instances. PDTWrapper will remove all loose/roaming scripts that no longet connect to anything inside that save game file and it will the resave a NEW save game file with the prefix 'EDITED-datecode' in the filename. I've had a lot of success using this one and it saved me from having to start the game completely over. Again, you don't need to wait for it to finish the save game file scanning, you can simply run those two steps first. right after selecting your ESS file If the two steps didn't fix the problem, the program basically tells you what else you can do. Worth the try! For gameplay - if you want Strong weapons but not so big on becoming a mage, I would still recommend leveling up Alchemy, Smithing, and Enchanting. I never bothered with those before but recently discovered what a huge difference these skills made in making my weapons and armor that much better. I'm mainly an archer and I made some of my bows 3 to 4 times more damaging per shot than if I were to not do a thing to them (as I had done before). I'll typically make potions to fortify smithing and enchanting. I'll down a potion just before starting up the forge, then make the armor/weapon or improve on existing ones. Then I'll down a fortify enchanting potion and enchant this improved weapon or armor. I also improve all my followers equipment so that we make a great team out there. Anyway, I didn't mean to write a book, but hope you and others get some good ideas from my list of mods. Equally important, some of the other 'mods' that aren't mods but equally important to my game experience. Also not to mention some of the utilities that are ran outside the game (NMM (of course), SKSE (of course), LOOT, Papyrus GUI PDR Wrapper, GenerateFNISforUsers (after installing each new FNIS dependent mod), Bodyslide 2 (for making larger um, limbs) I'm currently considering to add the mod 'Take Notes - Journal of the Dragonborn' so that I can actually make notes while in game instead of using pen/paper. Cheers, Jeedge