Beginners guide to modding

[gromulos]

Adding is fine as there is nothing left over like when you remove a mod. The main problem with removing a mod is if it uses scripts, those scripts are left over and when they fire, CRASH! This can also happen with any replacer mods such as: Meshes, textures, sounds, and so on.

[IrisSoteira]

I only manged to download 2 mods now every time I try to add another one I keep getting the same message in the activation queue saying a problem has occured during download what do I do to fix this I have already tried Mod Manager and manual download nothing works

Edited December 11, 2016 by IrisSoteira

[gromulos]

the most common problem for an error like this is not enough disk space

[IrisSoteira]

gromulos to that I say I have barely anything on this computer I just recently got it actually and I don't actually have anything on it

[gromulos]

Try using the Nexus Mod Manager - NMM - and download the mods manually then drag and drop them into NMM

 

WIth out more information it would be very difficult for me to diagnose exactly what your problem downloading is

[vwmc]

Thanks gromulos for sharing these tips. I'm new to modding so it's been VERY helpful to me.

 

I'm following your guide and I'm doing fine with LOOT and TES5Edit so far. I've cleaned all Bethesda master files in TES5Edit per CreationKit official documentation linked from LOOT. I've also cleaned two user-developed mods (Brows and The Eyes of Beauty) per LOOT warnings. They had 1 and 2 ITM records respectively.

 

However, I'm a bit confused with Wrye Bash. I have about 5 mods with the orange checkmark, and it seems due to them expecting Dragonborn to be loaded before Dawnguard or Hearthfire. BTW, the 5 mods in question are: Fantasy Sound Track, ELFX, ELFX Exteriors, ELFX Enhancer, Crafting supplies all-in-one. Here's an example of how they look in Wrye Bash: Screenshot 1.

 

If I change the order to make them happy, the unofficial legendary patch becomes invalid, requiring the previous order which seemed correct per LOOT and per your OP as well. Screenshot 2.

 

Also, there's an edge case of a mod (Realistic Nights) requiring Climates of Tamriel to be loaded before Bethesda DLC master files. Screenshot 3.

 

Questions:

 

1- Was it OK to clean Brows and The Eyes of Beauty, or should I reinstall them? I'm asking that to double-check, as I didn't find these mods in the list from CreationKit of mods that should NOT be cleaned, though that list seemed too short and perhaps outdated to me?

 

2- How do I go about the common issue where 5 mods require Dragonborn before other DLC's?

 

3- And how about Realistic Nights requiring Climates of Tamriel before official DLC's?

 

4- Finally, how am I supposed to decide which esp's to merge when rebuilding bash patch? I've found videos of people going over it quickly but not explaining how you make such decisions.

 

Much appreciated,

-vwmc

 

0 0 Skyrim.esm

1 1 Update.esm

2 2 Dawnguard.esm

3 3 HearthFires.esm

4 4 Dragonborn.esm

5 5 Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.esp

6 6 ZaZAnimationPack.esm

7 7 SexLab.esm

8 8 Schlongs of Skyrim - Core.esm

9 9 ClimatesOfTamriel.esm

10 a HighResTexturePack01.esp

11 b HighResTexturePack02.esp

12 c HighResTexturePack03.esp

13 d Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp

14 e SkyUI.esp

15 f RaceMenu.esp

16 10 RaceMenuPlugin.esp

17 11 Fantasy Soundtrack Project - Combat.esp

18 12 Fantasy Soundtrack Project.esp

19 13 RaceMenuMorphsUUNP.esp

20 14 dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp

21 15 FNIS.esp

22 16 SOSRaceMenu.esp

23 17 XPMSE.esp

24 18 FNISSexyMove.esp

25 19 360WalkandRunPlus-RunBackwardSpeedAdjust.esp

26 1a KS Hairdo's.esp

27 1b Brows.esp

28 1c More Hair Colors Dawnguard.esp

29 1d Schlongs of Skyrim.esp

30 1e SOS - Smurf Average Addon.esp

31 1f SOS - VectorPlexus Muscular Addon.esp

32 20 SOS - VectorPlexus Regular Addon.esp

33 21 Bijin NPCs.esp

34 22 Bijin Warmaidens.esp

35 23 Aela.esp

36 24 Bijin Wives.esp

37 25 NoFallDamage.esp

38 26 SexLab_SOS-Stapon.esp

39 27 SkyrimSpeeds.esp

40 28 SexyVest.esp

41 29 EnhancedLightsandFX.esp

42 2a ELFX - Exteriors.esp

43 2b immersive roads.esp

44 2c SkyFalls + SkyMills + DG + DB.esp

45 2d RealisticWaterTwo.esp

46 2e ELFXEnhancer.esp

47 2f MidnightBreed.esp

48 30 Black VIper's Will Non-Hoghheels.esp

49 31 Merta Assassin Armor.esp

50 32 PuppetMaster.esp

51 33 IcePenguinWorldMap.esp

52 34 Skyrim Unbound.esp

53 35 RealisticWaterTwo - Legendary.esp

54 36 SMIM-Merged-All.esp

55 37 Skyrim Flora Overhaul.esp

56 38 Verdant - A Skyrim Grass Plugin.esp

57 39 SOS - Shop.esp

58 3a The Oasis.esp

59 3b MaddBag.esp

60 3c SFO - Dragonborn.esp

61 3d CraftingSupplies_AIO_ALL.esp

62 3e R18pn - lingerie Set.esp

63 3f FNISspells.esp

64 40 TheEyesOfBeauty.esp

65 41 enhanceddynamicweathersystemsunny.esp

66 42 ClimatesOfTamriel-Dawnguard-Patch.esp

67 43 ClimatesOfTamriel-Dragonborn-Patch.esp

68 44 RealisticNights.esp

69 45 RealisticNightsCOT_DB.esp

70 46 RealisticNightsDB.esp

71 47 RealisticNightsDG.esp

Bashed Patch, 0.esp

Edited February 5, 2017 by vwmc

[gromulos]

 

Thanks gromulos for sharing these tips. I'm new to modding so it's been VERY helpful to me.

 

I'm following your guide and I'm doing fine with LOOT and TES5Edit so far. I've cleaned all Bethesda master files in TES5Edit per CreationKit official documentation linked from LOOT. I've also cleaned two user-developed mods (Brows and The Eyes of Beauty) per LOOT warnings. They had 1 and 2 ITM records respectively.

 

However, I'm a bit confused with Wrye Bash. I have about 5 mods with the orange checkmark, and it seems due to them expecting Dragonborn to be loaded before Dawnguard or Hearthfire. BTW, the 5 mods in question are: Fantasy Sound Track, ELFX, ELFX Exteriors, ELFX Enhancer, Crafting supplies all-in-one. Here's an example of how they look in Wrye Bash: Screenshot 1.

 

If I change the order to make them happy, the unofficial legendary patch becomes invalid, requiring the previous order which seemed correct per LOOT and per your OP as well. Screenshot 2.

 

Also, there's an edge case of a mod (Realistic Nights) requiring Climates of Tamriel to be loaded before Bethesda DLC master files. Screenshot 3.

 

Questions:

 

1- Was it OK to clean Brows and The Eyes of Beauty, or should I reinstall them? I'm asking that to double-check, as I didn't find these mods in the list from CreationKit of mods that should NOT be cleaned, though that list seemed too short and perhaps outdated to me?

 

2- How do I go about the common issue where 5 mods require Dragonborn before other DLC's?

 

3- And how about Realistic Nights requiring Climates of Tamriel before official DLC's?

 

4- Finally, how am I supposed to decide which esp's to merge when rebuilding bash patch? I've found videos of people going over it quickly but not explaining how you make such decisions.

 

Much appreciated,

-vwmc

 

0 0 Skyrim.esm

1 1 Update.esm

2 2 Dawnguard.esm

3 3 HearthFires.esm

4 4 Dragonborn.esm

5 5 Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.esp

6 6 ZaZAnimationPack.esm

7 7 SexLab.esm

8 8 Schlongs of Skyrim - Core.esm

9 9 ClimatesOfTamriel.esm

10 a HighResTexturePack01.esp

11 b HighResTexturePack02.esp

12 c HighResTexturePack03.esp

13 d Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp

14 e SkyUI.esp

15 f RaceMenu.esp

16 10 RaceMenuPlugin.esp

17 11 Fantasy Soundtrack Project - Combat.esp

18 12 Fantasy Soundtrack Project.esp

19 13 RaceMenuMorphsUUNP.esp

20 14 dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp

21 15 FNIS.esp

22 16 SOSRaceMenu.esp

23 17 XPMSE.esp

24 18 FNISSexyMove.esp

25 19 360WalkandRunPlus-RunBackwardSpeedAdjust.esp

26 1a KS Hairdo's.esp

27 1b Brows.esp

28 1c More Hair Colors Dawnguard.esp

29 1d Schlongs of Skyrim.esp

30 1e SOS - Smurf Average Addon.esp

31 1f SOS - VectorPlexus Muscular Addon.esp

32 20 SOS - VectorPlexus Regular Addon.esp

33 21 Bijin NPCs.esp

34 22 Bijin Warmaidens.esp

35 23 Aela.esp

36 24 Bijin Wives.esp

37 25 NoFallDamage.esp

38 26 SexLab_SOS-Stapon.esp

39 27 SkyrimSpeeds.esp

40 28 SexyVest.esp

41 29 EnhancedLightsandFX.esp

42 2a ELFX - Exteriors.esp

43 2b immersive roads.esp

44 2c SkyFalls + SkyMills + DG + DB.esp

45 2d RealisticWaterTwo.esp

46 2e ELFXEnhancer.esp

47 2f MidnightBreed.esp

48 30 Black VIper's Will Non-Hoghheels.esp

49 31 Merta Assassin Armor.esp

50 32 PuppetMaster.esp

51 33 IcePenguinWorldMap.esp

52 34 Skyrim Unbound.esp

53 35 RealisticWaterTwo - Legendary.esp

54 36 SMIM-Merged-All.esp

55 37 Skyrim Flora Overhaul.esp

56 38 Verdant - A Skyrim Grass Plugin.esp

57 39 SOS - Shop.esp

58 3a The Oasis.esp

59 3b MaddBag.esp

60 3c SFO - Dragonborn.esp

61 3d CraftingSupplies_AIO_ALL.esp

62 3e R18pn - lingerie Set.esp

63 3f FNISspells.esp

64 40 TheEyesOfBeauty.esp

65 41 enhanceddynamicweathersystemsunny.esp

66 42 ClimatesOfTamriel-Dawnguard-Patch.esp

67 43 ClimatesOfTamriel-Dragonborn-Patch.esp

68 44 RealisticNights.esp

69 45 RealisticNightsCOT_DB.esp

70 46 RealisticNightsDB.esp

71 47 RealisticNightsDG.esp

Bashed Patch, 0.esp

 

 

NEVER change the load order of the official files. Instead you need to do Appendix 1 for each of those orange mods.

 

1) "USUALLY'' if you follow the cleaning instructions from LOOT, you "should" be ok .... usually

 

2) You don't you do the Appendix 1 like I stated above

 

3) again, Appendix 1

 

4) 2.4) Make sure you go through both lists on the left and right panes of the window and make sure each entry that has a listing also has a check mark for the box next to it. Rebuilding the bashed patch is not going to help you if EVERYTHING is not included.

 

Let me know if you need further help :)

[vwmc]

Woot! Thanks to you, I'm no longer crashing on something that was consistently crashing before! :dance:

 

Thanks for re-pointing that out! Appendix 1 made a lot of sense to me now - sorting masters turned all orange checkmarks green, except one: RealisticNightsCOT_DB.esp - this one remained orange for the same reason: requiring Climates of Tamriel before Dragonborn, but then it turned green as well after rebuilding the patch. A few more questions please :D

 

1- So when rebuilding patch, I always want to merge everything that's possible to merge? I think I got confused with a video showing someone selecting only a few mods due to personal preference, but it wasn't clear why some mods were selected and some were not.

 

2- BTW after rebuilding patch I got this error (Screenshot) although Internet access was OK and everything seemed fine afterwards (all checkmarks green). Did I miss something important there?

 

3- To make sure everything is in order: Wrye Bash changed checkmarks to plus signs for merged mods after rebuilding patch and merging them together. Then I created a mod from MO Overwrite and named it "Bashed Patch" as last one loaded. Now when back to Wrye Bash, all merged mods are back to checkmarks, and the Bashed Patch is no longer checked. Also noticed all merged mods are still enabled on MO plugins. Does it all sound about right?

 

4- Just realized I may have missed something important from your OP, about NOT cleaning Bethesda's Update & DLC master files. Well I have done it per video link below. Should I verify files on Steam to get the originals back?

 

Edited February 6, 2017 by vwmc

[gromulos]

Woot! Thanks to you, I'm no longer crashing on something that was consistently crashing before! :dance:

 

Thanks for re-pointing that out! Appendix 1 made a lot of sense to me now - sorting masters turned all orange checkmarks green, except one: RealisticNightsCOT_DB.esp - this one remained orange for the same reason: requiring Climates of Tamriel before Dragonborn, but then it turned green as well after rebuilding the patch. A few more questions please :D

 

1- So when rebuilding patch, I always want to merge everything that's possible to merge? I think I got confused with a video showing someone selecting only a few mods due to personal preference, but it wasn't clear why some mods were selected and some were not.

 

2- BTW after rebuilding patch I got this error (Screenshot) although Internet access was OK and everything seemed fine afterwards (all checkmarks green). Did I miss something important there?

 

3- To make sure everything is in order: Wrye Bash changed checkmarks to plus signs for merged mods after rebuilding patch and merging them together. Then I created a mod from MO Overwrite and named it "Bashed Patch" as last one loaded. Now when back to Wrye Bash, all merged mods are back to checkmarks, and the Bashed Patch is no longer checked. Also noticed all merged mods are still enabled on MO plugins. Does it all sound about right?

 

4- Just realized I may have missed something important from your OP, about NOT cleaning Bethesda's Update & DLC master files. Well I have done it per video link below. Should I verify files on Steam to get the originals back?

 

1) yes you want to merge everything in both sides of the window, the left and right panes, in the right pane you have to go category by category and tick everything, EXCEPT the tweak category, only apply things in there that you want and use sparingly

 

2) I have NEVER seen that error before, you may want to run your viruscan because I have absolutely no clue or explanation for that

 

3) ONE bashed patch, PERIOD, the one Wrye makes. Doing what you did, all you are doing is patching your load order twice lol :tongue:

 

4) Yes, you need to verify, you NEVER clean vanilla masters unless you want some REALLY WEIRD things to happen in game IE: invisible Drauger lol

 

NOTE - If you edited your INI's you need to back them up BEFORE verifying your files

Edited February 6, 2017 by gromulos

[vwmc]

1) yes you want to merge everything in both sides of the window, the left and right panes, in the right pane you have to go category by category and tick everything, EXCEPT the tweak category, only apply things in there that you want and use sparingly

 

2) I have NEVER seen that error before, you may want to run your viruscan because I have absolutely no clue or explanation for that

 

3) ONE bashed patch, PERIOD, the one Wrye makes. Doing what you did, all you are doing is patching your load order twice lol :tongue:

 

4) Yes, you need to verify, you NEVER clean vanilla masters unless you want some REALLY WEIRD things to happen in game IE: invisible Drauger lol

 

NOTE - If you edited your INI's you need to back them up BEFORE verifying your files

 

1- Perfect, that's exactly what I did.

 

2- Probably some network oddness as it seemed like it came from a web server as an html page. In the next rebuild patch, I got the page with yellowish background and bullet points summarizing the patch. This seems good now.

 

3- Oh s*** haha I'm over-patching it? I'm not even sure anymore, I only have one bashed patch in MO, and that was created from the overwrite after finishing work on wrye bash. Does it sound right so far? Sorry to keep bugging you on this but I really need to build some confidence. Then, what should be the final state of things? All merged mods disabled on MO plugins?

 

4- Wow really? That video is not the first one I see people recommending to clean Bethesda Update & DLC master files on TESEdit. Is it because it was needed in the past, and it's no longer the case nowadays? BTW thanks for the heads up on backing up the ini's.

 

5- New question, do I still want Data/SKSE/skse.ini nowadays with memory tweaks (768 - 256 = 512 MB initial heap)? I just replaced the Safety Load mod with these SKSE tweaks.

 

Thanks a lot for all your help again!

Edited February 6, 2017 by vwmc