FeaRtheMoD Posted December 31, 2024 Share Posted December 31, 2024 Hello Nexus community, I've been playing The Elder Scrolls since I was a child and have spent 600+ hours in Skyrim (610 in Steam alone). I was hoping someone here would be able to give me detailed insight into what exactly is the difference between all the Skyrim versions and most importantly which version is now favored on Nexus (yes I have checked the Skyrim section and noticed there's only SE and Oldrim, as previously mentioned I own the original Skyrim with no added DLC and of writing post I now own Skyrim: Special Edition. Back in my day, we all owned Skyrim and modded it with the assistance of Nexus Mods and the Nexus Mods loader (now known as Vortex). Nowadays Skyrim has different versions, Skyrim(=Oldrim), Skyrim SE(=SE), Skyrim LE(=LE), Skyrim Anniversary(=AU) and possibly some others I haven't heard about yet. SE now surpasses Oldrim in uploaded mods AND downloads. With this being said I would assume my best options are to forget Oldrim and fully invest into SE but WHAT are the major differences and WHY. Much love, FeaRtheMoD. P.S. Apologies for formatting, grammatical inconsistencies, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7531Leonidas Posted December 31, 2024 Share Posted December 31, 2024 SE and AE versions are rebuilt in 64-bit format, which makes it more stable/faster. The texture compressions are also better/faster. AE has more mod slots available, with the advent of .esp-fe (light) mods that will not take up room in the 254 esp load order limit. The latest AE versions (1.6.1130+) have an additional change that allows double the number of such light mods in your LO. Not all mods can be built in the light format, there are restrictions. Each SE/AE version has its own companion version of Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE64) to enable a wider range of mods/effects. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeaRtheMoD Posted January 1 Author Share Posted January 1 5 hours ago, 7531Leonidas said: SE and AE versions are rebuilt in 64-bit format, which makes it more stable/faster. The texture compressions are also better/faster. AE has more mod slots available, with the advent of .esp-fe (light) mods that will not take up room in the 254 esp load order limit. The latest AE versions (1.6.1130+) have an additional change that allows double the number of such light mods in your LO. Not all mods can be built in the light format, there are restrictions. Each SE/AE version has its own companion version of Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE64) to enable a wider range of mods/effects. I see, thank you very much for your reply! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorrp10 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Original Skyrim "Oldrim" - released in 2011. 32-bit engine, support for about 250 additional mod plugins. Skyrim Legendary Edition (LE) offered in 2013, replacing Oldrim on Steam, is basically a bundle deal, original Skyrim + 3 main DLC (Dawnguard, Dragonborn, Hearthfires) Skyrim Special Edition (SSE) was released in late 2016. Also includes the three original DLC , offers 64-bit engine, improved textures. and support for 'light' mods, allowing literally thousands of smaller plugins. Anyone who bought Oldrim +DLC (or LE), received SSE for free. AE (Anniversary Edition) is also just a bundle deal, which is SSE + "Anniversary Pack", which is just a bunch of Creation Club mods. Now, caveat: in modding community, 'SE' these days is reserved for SSE version 1.5.97, which was the stable version from mid-2019 till late 2021. Whereas 'AE' is reserved for any SSE versions 1.6.* (most current being 1.6.1170) When Bethesda updated the game in 2021 to 1.6.*, a few popular mods never got updated, which prompted some people to stick with 1.5.97. I wouldn't recommend that, though. Vast majority of mods are updated to the latest version. To muddy waters a bit further, Skyrim is available not just on Steam, but also on GOG, where it is a slightly different version, and needs slightly different version of certain mods. Otherwise, almost everything is the same. There is also Skyrim VR, which is a separately sold title. It is very similar to SSE - it requires a different version of SKSE and most .dll plugin mods, but otherwise, SSE mods work for it. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melvinius Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 (edited) On 12/31/2024 at 2:00 PM, 7531Leonidas said: SE and AE versions are rebuilt in 64-bit format, which makes it more stable/faster. The texture compressions are also better/faster. AE has more mod slots available, with the advent of .esp-fe (light) mods that will not take up room in the 254 esp load order limit. The latest AE versions (1.6.1130+) have an additional change that allows double the number of such light mods in your LO. Not all mods can be built in the light format, there are restrictions. Each SE/AE version has its own companion version of Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE64) to enable a wider range of mods/effects. There's a mod for SSE 1.5.97 that brings over the AE edition changes allowing a higher number of light plugins. Currently SKSE mods on the most recent AE are having a lot of stability issues, I don't know it that's due to the current build of SKSE or some other unknown weirdness coming from AE itself. Bottom line, 1.5.97 is in my opinion the best Skyrim version for stability, compatibility, and mod availability. However, this is changing. I'm finding that there are more and more new mods that depend the the fishing plugin and other AE additions. I personally don't have any intention of updating to AE however. My install is 4,000 mods with Mantella, Dragonborn Speaks Naturally for voice control, and 3-4 different DLL loaders. It's going to be years before AE catches up to the functionality of my build. Edited January 2 by melvinius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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