Missing files won't return.

[CengizKhan1]

After years of being away I've been playing Skyrim SE (SKSE) with all the same mods I played before from Steam Workshop. No problems. Last night I got tired of seeing the potato sacks for underwear superglued to everyone so I got the bright idea to try a body mod from Nexus. Ended up downloading Vortex and loaded several mods at once (I know not to do this, but did anyway.) One of them lost either the texture or mesh files for most (but not all) female's hands. I get the dreaded red triangle with the "!" in the middle and their hands are missing. I eventually unloaded every new Vortex mod and when that didn't fix it verified the original install (it found 5 missing files and replaced them, or so it says.) Still no hands, even though I'm still using no Nexus mods.

I've spent the last five hours poring through forums and searching but nobody has made a boneheaded mistake like I have, apparently. I've learned quite a bit about changes in the past 6 or so years, but nothing that helps me. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix this or point me to some troubleshooting guides that aren't based on non-Vortex managers and/or install instructions with no troubleshooting tips?

 

[showler]

If you verified your files it would have updated you to version 1.6 (if you hadn't already done that). That might cause some issues and require some mod updates.

[CengizKhan1]

Yes, it says 1.6.353 . The hand problem began before I tried updating the game files, and the Workshop (WS) files auto update themselves, so they've already done that. I'll try updating the Vortex (VX) files and reenable them. Thanks for the fast response and advice.

 

(Added by Edit) No dice after the first one (CBBE.) Tried a seconf (UNP) and the same story. No hands and the main character in racemenu females still have no face. either (never realized how creepy women are when their head is nothing but floating eyes and teeth.)

(Yet another edit) aaaaand I just learned (by accident) the significance of your statement about it being 1.6. I don't want my first forum post in Nexus after over half a decade being gone to get me banned, so I'm not going to say what I'm thinking about Bethesda for doing this. Apologies to you and anyone else whose time I wasted. I guess I'm forking out money to upgradie to AE whether I want to or not.

Edited March 21, 2022 by CengizKhan1

[showler]

One thing you can try is that there is an extension for Vortex that allows it to import and manage Steam Workshop mods. That would allow it to check for conflicts for you and check for missing dependencies.

[CengizKhan1]

Thank you, I think I'll try that. So far, I'm liking the new Nexus (new to me at least) and how it's working. The more I learn of Vortex, the more I like it. Pretty much every problem people had for several years, the programs people would recommend to fix it are all built into Vortex, it's kind of neat to see someone properly doing something the smart way.

 

I ended up deleting and resintalling. Women have hands again, but now I have to figure out why SKSE and my mods aren't being recognized (I suspect the SKSE is my root problem that will fix the other.) I think I learned more about Skyrim the past 48 hours than I ever knew to begin with. And thank you again for helping, even if I didn'[t understand what you were saying at first.

[7531Leonidas]

It is very easy to make the mistake of using outdated SKSE mods. There is this site (https://modding.wiki/en/skyrim/users/skse-plugins) that shows which ones have been updated to the latest version...

 

WRT AE - the Anniversary Edition includes a collection of mods from Bethesda's site, in addition to some (4?) included in the 1.6+ update. You shouldn't have to purchase and d/l it to run 1.6+. Just be careful to check the 'Requirements' tab on each mod page, and make sure that AE CC content isn't on the list. Vortex should also tell you about missing/mangled dependencies.

 

If you start a game, and find problems, just make sure to delete that start, and start a new game before testing a new arrangement.

[wfandrews]

SSE either 1.6x or 1.5x does not have a Steam Workshop. If you are trying to use mods from the Steam Workshop your game will crash. It is possible to use some Workshop mods in SSE, I am using seven, but these are simple mods and none with scripts or that need a dll or require skse64. Also I am still playing SSE 1.5x, whether you can just drop a Legendary mod into SSE 1.6x I do not know.

 

Although I do not use Vortex I am fairly sure that it would only manage Steam Workshop mods for Legendary. I could be wrong of course and maybe Vortex can convert Legendary mods to SSE mods on the fly.

[CengizKhan1]

I was careful not to use AE mods when I returned to Skyrim a month or so ago, but the version when I looked was 1.6.353 which means it was AE, but not really, but maybe it was, but maybe not (this is according to several equally credible people in various forums.) I added six mods at once (even though I know better) and most but not all female hands disappeared, but this before I upgraded and bought the AE update, and it actually is quite a but different and a complete pain in the butt to get working especially since it requires SKSE but refuses to recognize it (I get the feeling they slapped it together and threw it out to the public with zero testing to see if it worked.) O

ve found some workarounds that kind of work, but it's horrible. I'm still looking for a workaround that will make it work right, though some of the issues are apparently there for goof unless Bethesda fixes them or some modders (who cause some of the problems with their fixes.) Considering the problems I and many others have had, if anything actually works right I'll post them here as suggestions.

1.6 was compatible with Workshop for over a month until the hand thing which was one of several Nexus mods at fault. I ended up completely deleting and reinstalling and moved to AE, and now I have more problems than just missing hands. So far, there are two desktop shortcuts and two third party starts for SKSE Skyrim. One is an unplayable window mode (won't let me change it) throws me into Bethesda net and will not allow any mods not Creation Club or on their site, one refuses to acknowledge SKSE64 despite the fact it's what I'm literally launching, one refuses both SKSE and Nexus mods, and the fourth (what I'm using) I had to rig with my own shortcut which and piddle with so it runs Nexus and Creation club mods, but I'm still figuring out how to get it to use Workshop mods (which involved learning where Vortex lets me tick to manage Workshop, something several people have suggested but I've yet to find.

As for converting on the fly, I doubt Vortex can do that though I don't have any Legendary mods that need it. It appears to be a combination download manager and mod manager, with extra features. It replaced the NMM and added in OMOD 2 (literally hired the OMOD programmer to work on Vortex) along with a util program LOOT built into it and several other utilities that I forget. In all the posts I've been digging through, any and all similar problems were fixed by people using one of those programs that are now in Vortex, and it has fixed some but not all of them (before I know they were probs actually, I got notififed that something was fixed and would chuckle at a post where I recognixed the issue someone had and they were told to use OMOD, NMM, or LOOT.)

 

If I find anything that's not a workaround that fixes any of the issues myself and everyone else is having, I'll post them here (so someone three years from now might search and find.)

[showler]

SKSE works fine with Skyrim 1.6.353. Just make sure you have the correct download for that version.

 

You are having WAY too many problems for it to be just an issue with the new game version.

 

First, wfandrews is right, Steam Workshop should not really be used with Skyrim Special Edition (any version). I was typing Steam Workshop and thinking Bethesda.net the whole time, so my bad.

 

Second, try to just use one mod manager. If you want to use mods from Bethesda.net, use the importer ( https://www.nexusmods.com/site/mods/120 ) and avoid using the in-game mod manager. Using two mod managers will result in them being blind to what the other is doing and interfere with all the built in tools.

 

Third, if you want to start from scratch, make sure you completely delete the Data folder and let Steam repair it. That way you will wipe out traces of earlier mods.

[CengizKhan1]

Well, that explains why the Steam Workshop are the only mods not working. There's only one mod I need from there so no great loss, unless it's not available at Nexus (it's the no eye blur thing which I'm sure someone else fixed. Before I found it the imitation dimming.brightening from the game was literally burning a hole in my optic nerve, my optometrist thought I had glaucoma until we figured it out.) The creation club and AE files, I have no idea how they're working. Th rigged shortcut does not connect to Beth net any more since I rigged it, but the files are still there and (AFAIK working) though not listed in Vortex. The load screen that checks things with Steam doesn't even appear any more, it's a new one that when I click play has an epileptic fit while booming static over my speakers until the game menu pops up.

This is going to get really tricky when bethesda net hands everything over to Workshop. I didn't read when it's going to happen, but I foresee a flurry of new problems.