Two different Skyrim with different mods ?

[Deleted2838758User]

Is it possible to have a second Skyrim.exe that doesn't use the same mods as the first one ?

For example when I open Skyrim I have X combat mod, X magic mod with X animation.

And when I open skyrim2 i have a different one with a Y combat mod and y animation mod for example.

[prod80]

EDIT: Nevermind the below... apparently Wrye Bash can do something similar

 

 

You can do this if you can manage 2 save games savely (eg. make named save games using console)..

 

Assuming: you already know which mods you wanna play with and have tested each "set" to be compatible and stable when all mods you wanna use are installed (regardless if they are activated or not). You are going to be far from home if you'll ever going to troubleshoot a save game when doing this...

 

 

To archieve this, install all the mods you'll need for each game with your mod manager of choice. Figure out the correct active plugins/load order for the first game... deactivate the mods that are not going to be running in the first set of mods. Start a new game, make a save using console: save "set 1 save game"

 

Close game

 

Navigate to this folder: %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Skyrim and make a copy of plugins.txt to your desktop (dont remove the file from there). Rename the file to: plugins_set1.txt

 

Open NMM and activate and set the load order for your second set of mods... start a new game again (dont load your save!) and type in console: save "set 2 save game"

 

Close game

 

Again back to the AppData\Local\Skyrim folder and copy plugins.txt to your desktop and name it: plugins_set2.txt

 

Important! Check the content of both text files, if the mods are correct in them... sometimes the list starts with Skyrim.esm, sometimes it does not (it's not required). More important is if all mods for that particular set are inside and mods specific for the other set are not. If the mods are incorrect go to the first step again, as you'll have to create a new save game for that set (unless you know that mod can be added savely to the existing save - then just edit the plugin file and put the mod on the correct place by typing its exact .esp name). If there is a mod "too many" and you have to remove one - you must make a new save without that mod active to ensure your save is clean of mods belonging to the other set (yes a new game, not load the old save and resave without the mod :wink:)

 

 

Move both those plugin files from your desktop to the Skyrim installation folder

 

Create a new file in that folder called "Launch_Set_1.bat"

 

Open that file with Notepad and edit this for your system if needed.

@echo off
copy plugins_set1.txt %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Skyrim\plugins.txt /y

REM Remove REM from one of the lines below to add your game launcher

REM Skyrim_Launcher.exe
REM SKSE_Launcher.exe

Make the same one for Launch_Set_2.bat ... rename the source file "plugins_set2.txt" inside the bat file.

 

If you're a bit handy with batch files you can make one with a small menu to give you the choice of set 1 or 2 on launch, whatever floats your boat...

 

Create shortcuts to your desktop if you like

 

CLOSE NMM AND/OR OTHER MOD MANAGEMENT TOOLS BEFORE YOU TEST EITHER BAT FILE TO LAUNCH THE GAME

 

 

When you add/change mods or load order you'll have to MANUALLY (so with NMM!) make new plugin files (set1 and set2) with the same process above. For the rest you dont use NMM again to launch the game...!! it should not even be open before you launch... since it uses plugins.txt and WRITES TO IT, so only launch with bat file without NMM open (or any other mod manager!). You have to be careful not to load the wrong save once the game opened.

 

 

Note: Incompatible mods (due to scripts, textures, image spaces) might still be incompatible if they want to overwrite eachother on installation.

Note 2: I have never tested this :biggrin: I see no need... but in theory this should work just fine.

Note 3: NMM should be able to create profiles... would be neat. You can extend the above by so much if NMM can install mods to a profile and when selecting a different profile yit can can install completely different mods which normally cannot even be installed together (it can keep track of overwrites, so this should not be a challenge)... For me the only thing holding me back on testing out other big overhauls like SkyRe is having to completely reinstall the whole damn game and all my mods, which has been a pain to start with.