What is the ideal way to configure modlists?

[Russia2012]

I find i get confused when I hear mod creators use before/after. My understanding of how mods load into the game is that the one on top will be modified by the mod below it. Here is a hypothetical list

 

Skyrim.esm.

Update.Esm

Heartfire DLC

Dawnguard DLC

Dragonborn DLC.

 

Some city mod

Some landmark mod

Some castle mod

some house mod

Some carriage Mod

Some furniture mod

 

Some NPC Mod

Some creature mod

 

Some armor mod

some clothing mod

Some weapon mod

 

some change the appearance of the npc mod

some change the appearance of the static items mod

Some animation mod

some behavior mod

 

Some Ui Mod and utility mods.

 

I understand that whatever i want the mod to accomplish needs to load after a mod that it is meant to be alter by. This would mean that I have something like CBBE, a mod that makes skin look sweaty, oily, toned , bouncy whatever that CBBE should be loaded on top followed by whatever i want the skin to look like, and then finally the physics Animations that will affect the npc should be loaded after so that to assure that all npcs are altered by the animations.

I understand if i order them wrong then if the alteration might now show up or if it is serious crash the game.

 

I am guessing If i am using alot of mods that are similar to each other it might be ideal to combine them together? If i have a bunch of armor mods it should likely not cause a huge problem if i combined the mods into one file

[Russia2012]

Besides playing skyrim I also play conan exiles and the above template is what i use to organize mods Wonderbody in conan exiles is similar to the CBBE and i usually put that on the bottom of the list as I want to make certain that all clothing and npc that were added are affected by it. I normally place all the location, landmark, and building mods on top of the list. I would normally put mods that affect animations on the bottom followed by mods that change things such as spawnrate how much one can carry, and any menu mods. If i have multiple mods that do similar things that are requirements of another I will put the one i like most above below all others.

[IsharaMeradin]

If you are listing your mods vertically, mods that need to load "before" would be above (i.e. more towards the top) than those that need to load "after" (i.e. more towards the bottom).

 

Before & after are remnants from the early days when we did not have mod managers with virtual file systems (VFS). A mod manager without a VFS required installing mods in a certain order such that files would overwrite one another in such a way that the desired outcome was obtained. Thus many instructions would indicate which mods would need to be installed before and possibly even which ones could be installed after. It then didn't take too long for before & after to be used in describing which order certain plugins should be in relation to each other.

[wfandrews]

Ishara is correct in stating that before & after are old instructions and useful now really only if you are using NMM as a mod manager I am still using NMM but I have been using it for years and would not recommend it unless you are familiar with its idiosyncrasies.

 

Having said that I can give you a general load order description. For installation of mods you will have to read the mod page description. For instance "Ruins Clutter Improved", "Weapons Armor Fixes Remade", "Clothing and Clutter Fixes" must be installed before "Complete Crafting Overhaul Remade" and let them overwrite, just a sample.

 

For load order this is, in general, the way I sorted load order.

 

ESM files

Bug fix type mods

Game structure and or UI mods

Character appearance mods

Mods that add or change items

Mods that add or change NPCs

Mods that add or change locations

Mods that add or change navmesh

Texture mods

Environmental mods

Mods with gameplay changes

Reprocessors, AV,and bashed patches

 

Keep in mind that this is in general, any instructions by the author of the mod on their mod page should be followed. I usually run LOOT for a general load order and then adjust.

 

As you can see it can get complicated. My advice is to use a mod manger such as Vortex or MO2 which uses a virtual file system as Ishara stated, unless you are very familiar with mods and modding, not that I am an expert I just have been using NMM for years and have not changed due to inertia and sheer laziness.