Trying to understand mods, load order in vortex and achievement issues

[StDrake]

Somehow I got the unofficial patch installed plus skse and engine fixes + address library for them and all was well..

 

But lately I tried to add another mod and the confusion is back

Vortex shows mods and plugins

unofficial patch is off in plugins

new mod adds an entry to plugins

the moment anything is turned on in plugins game says I won't be getting achievements when loading a save or starting anew

uesp wiki mentions a few things fixed by unofficial patch - I saw some things indeed fixed (can't equip stormcloak officer hat + circlet at the same time) and some not (werewolf with name starting with S walking around Riverwood long after I've killed him for the Saviours Hide quest)

 

so...do I have the unofficial patch working or not?

If the patch is working (though turned off in pluging) do the engine fixes work only for the unofficial patch and any other mod will still disable achievements?

Should I be doing any special tricks with load order in the plugins to enjoy mods with new/changed quests, houses and graphics and still be able to get achievements?

 

eidt: also - though I got skse64 (from nexusmods somehow, thought i needed to get it from an outside source?) and fortex claims it's on - console in game does not recognise getskseversion command

 

edi2: starting the game via steam, not via vortex if it makes any difference..seems it does, as starting via vortex screams that some scripts didn't start up (engine fixes it seems?) but getskseversion does work in console then

Edited March 7, 2023 by StDrake

[scorrp10]

A mod may contain replacement resources, such as improved textures, different looks for armor/people etc, better sounds and such.

And a mod may contain a plugin (.esp/esl/esm) file. Some mods may contain multiple plugin files.

A resource-only mod can make regular Iron Sword look real incredible, but will not change its stats. A plugin is what can actually change behavior of the game, such as make Iron Sword do 100 damage.

Game launcher does not have the capacity to analyze if a given plugin just adds a few lanterns to improve the look of Solitude, or plonks a chestful of Godly-OP armor and weapons right by Helgen's chopping block.

So the moment you enable ANY 3rd-party plugins, your achievements are turned off. I am pretty sure that only Bethesda-sanctioned pluigins (Creation Club) allow achievements.

 

USSEP - it has a massive plugin that affects a lot of things. If the plugin is disabled, then USSEP is disabled.

 

SKSE - for it to work, you must run not SkyrimSE.exe (which is what launched via Steam), but skse64_loader.exe - which is what Vortex launches.

[anjenthedog]

Afaik, there is an "achievements unlocker" mod that overrides the achievements lockout after using SKSE, for those who care about achievements. Not sure if it's still applicable in AE.

 

Oh, did a quick search just to make sure I wasn't talking out my ..., and there are apparently at least two such mods

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/245

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/4799

[StDrake]

https://www.nexusmod...dition/mods/245 claims it works with 1.6.640.0 which seems to be the latest AE (mine has an additional .8 at the end), though it still needs some additional tricks to use. Trying to research how to exactly. I'll probably end up renaming skse launcher to the file that steam executes

[showler]

You should be careful about renaming the Skse_launcher.exe. It can break some mods.

[HellFreezer]

I wouldn't rename critical executable files.

[mdj12784]

I have installed all files needed, but it doesn't seem the mod has worked. It is my first time doing any kind of mods like this. I am using Vortex. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[HellFreezer]

@mdj12784 when you say "the mod" doesn't seem to have worked, to which mod exactly are you referring?

[SirTwist]

Not sure what all the issues are here. But here are a few things to do that may help in the long run. Start Skyrim outside of Vortex. Use the Launcher. You can have SKSE installed, but we will get to that in a moment. Once your graphics is set up, hit play. When you get to the main menu, just hang out there for a moment. Make sure Skyrim is working. Exit the game. Then hit the skse_loader.exe. Again, outside of Vortex. Get to the main menu. Open the console, type in getskseversion. Should return the same version numbers as you did when you downloaded the skse from the website. Now, open Vortex. Without any mods, open Skyrim Launcher again. Make sure you get to the main menu. No errors. Once you are at the main menu, exit out. Then do the same for SKSE, and repeat the console and getskseversion. Once it all checks, exit out. Then start with the unofficial patch, and work through your mods. Most people skip a step, or three, when installing games, and mods. By opening the game through the launcher, a couple times, you are making sure that the .ini files are being created. And by opening SKSE, you are setting up those ini files as well. And that is what is needed for all your other mods to work.