some help with installing mods please

[pontypool]

Compared to morrowind I find the process of installing mods a lot less user friendly.

I have a pile of mods which I like the sound of , most important are the unofficial patches, high res mods and mods designed to make the experience more realistic, like realistic weather sky ui superb enb etc.

I am using nmm and boss. After reading the install instructions on several of these I am somewhat confused. First of all if I am choosing to get high resolution texture packs (skyrim hd 2k), do I still need the official high res packs? or are the ones I get including better files than the originals. I don't know if I need to install both. Assuming I don't need to install the official ones, I assume also that I don't need the unnoficial high res patch???

 

Now for using boss.. Does this tool merely give a report of what It thinks should be corrected or does it automatically alter them itself?

 

Finally... when using nmm , it sometimes asks me if i want to overwrite older files, or just install this new mod normally. I am at a bit of a loss, because sometimes the two conflicting mods are ultimate fire mod and brighter lanterns. one or two files conflict, which should overwrite? I think also there are a few conflicting files in the realistic weather mod and improved texture mods.

I need to know what load order to set and which mods should overwrite which other mods when there are duplicates (assuming boss doesnt do this, which i think it doesnt)

[prod80]

About Skyrim HD 2K (use Lite version!) and Official HD DLC, you can perfectly use both of those together. Skyrim HD, since the lite version is lose files, will always win over the offcial HD DLC (because those are in bsa archive). This counts for everything - Lose files always win over plugins/archives. Load order is the same thing... lower placed files in NMM win over higher placed... so organized them logically (prefer by group) starting with unofficial patches -> texture/other big overhauls -> smaller/specific changes -> critical(read: can break stuff badly) mods (animations, quests, ..)

 

You will want the Unofficial Patch for each and every DLC you have.

 

You will want to read the sticky: http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/753253-only-you-can-prevent-forest-fires/

About NMM, it will ask you to overwrite when there is an overwrite going on between 2 (or more) mods. It will remember this overwrite and revert things back on uninstalling to make your live easier. It also gives you the choice what you want installed. What you want to follow is to go from big to small... with that I mean say you should install big texture overhauls first and overwrite them with smaller specific changes if you need. Of course the results cannot be told and some things just arent compatible or dont look good together. That why you have NMM to uninstall things.

 

Do take care as with Skyrim your save games will be damaged when you uninstall mods that your save game has 'seen' ... normally the author will write installation/uninstallation information on the page. This should be followed. Some mods only work when active from game start, some mods cannot be uninstalled without breaking your game. Choose wisely.

[pontypool]

are you saying files at the bottom of the list take precedence over ones at the top of the list? i always thought it was the over way around?

i had a problem with one of the mods , producing a grainy mesh over the top of textures, if i looked at something and then turned my head left or right, the grainy mesh would move independently of the object or background i was looking at (thats the best way i can explain) unless anyone knows what mod causes this, ive decided to install from scratch and install one mod at a time until i find the culprit.

Damn i wish mods was as easy as morrowind.

If anyones willing to have a chat with me regarding mods/skyrim from time to time, id like to hear from you on skype. my username is pontypool. anyone is welcome to add me. (all of my friends dont like computer games )

[bben46]

The procedure for installing mods manually has not changes since Morrowind.

NMM just automates most of the process.

If you are asked permission to 'overwrite' go ahead and answer yes - 99.9% of the time, nothing will be overwritten - the new stuff will be appended to the old, and does not overwrite unless the file names are exactly the same - in which case they are supposed to be overwritten.

 

BOSS is a help for the manual sorting of your load order that you had to do manually before. Remember archive invalidation? it's no longer needed in Skyrim. BOSS does sort into what it believes to be the best load order - and then gives some messages when it finds certain known problems. However it is not perfect - and, because of the massive number of new mods, the BOSS team is several months behind in getting newer mods tested and in the proper order. When you run BOSS, it sorts, then places any mods it does not recognize at the end for you to deal with (often they work fine there)

[pontypool]

The procedure for installing mods manually has not changes since Morrowind.

NMM just automates most of the process.

If you are asked permission to 'overwrite' go ahead and answer yes - 99.9% of the time, nothing will be overwritten - the new stuff will be appended to the old, and does not overwrite unless the file names are exactly the same - in which case they are supposed to be overwritten.

 

BOSS is a help for the manual sorting of your load order that you had to do manually before. Remember archive invalidation? it's no longer needed in Skyrim. BOSS does sort into what it believes to be the best load order - and then gives some messages when it finds certain known problems. However it is not perfect - and, because of the massive number of new mods, the BOSS team is several months behind in getting newer mods tested and in the proper order. When you run BOSS, it sorts, then places any mods it does not recognize at the end for you to deal with (often they work fine there)]

you answered another question i forgot to ask (archive invalidation)

so boss doesnt automatically alter anything? it just tells me what i need to change? thats fine. i guess i can just ask about the load order of unknowns later.

thanks

[bben46]

You misunderstood - BOSS does make the changes in the load order for you - But you can override them if you wish. It does not sort the mods it does not recognize - it juts puts them at the end of the load order.