Skyrim Special Edition and the 255 mod / esp limit - definitive answer

[unmeaty]

Jesus christ

 

The limit is still there. It will always be there until they completely change how they handle FormIDs. FormIDs are 8bit strings, the leading two bits are used to indicate the source plugin. Starting at 00 and ending at FF. FF is reserved for items dynamically created in the game.

 

Therefore there is a max of 255 individual plugins. Skyrim SE comes with 5. Skyrim.esm, Update.esm, Dawnguard.esm, Hearthfires.esm and Dragonborn.ESM, leaving 250 available for use by the player.

 

This is not news. This has been known for ages.

 

Please attempt to do a modicum of research. ANYONE who works with mods could have told you this.

 

There's really no reason for the attitude, I already stated in the opening that I had looked around and couldn't find a definitive answer. Some say something akin to what you just said, others refute that argument.

 

Google 'Skyrim SE 255 mod limit' and see how many different answers you get. Contrary to what you clearly believe, the answer did not come stamped on my birth certificate with Jesus Christ as a notary.

 

Please attempt to utilize a modicum of reading comprehension. ANYONE who actually reads this thread or tries to find an answer on the web can see that there is plenty of confusion on the issue.

[schnubbel76]

:laugh:

[Balx2]

Ahh no reason to be rude to each other. Some people just want "official" answers to questions like this, when that will almost never happen. I think Nephenee13's response was on point minus the last sentence.

Knowing that the FormID's are 8bit let's you know the size limitation you are facing. Considering Bethesda would have mentioned if they made a substantial change such as FormID's are now suddenly and magically 16bit, and no one with beta access to the CK mentioned anything. Expecting or hoping for greater then 255 plugins was and is just wishful thinking.

 

Give it a little time till the CK is out and then maybe, worry about hitting the limit. I find it laughable that anyone would say they are already at the limit now unless they are merely trying to stress test the new engine.

[SMB92]

I think until CPU, cache, DRAM and interconnect is fast enough, 32 bit table will table will be all that is manageable by the engine as it is. Eventually when engines and objects will become so complex with advent of newer hardware, it will not suffice to have one block for all items. But that is a long way off.

[KilliaynnaFayne]

i really want a professional answer to this question, i've been wondering myself about it too, hopefully some mod expert or a reply from Bethesda employee can sort this out

is your load order for new skyrim special edition or oldrim? if its for new how did you get ball those oldrim mods to work? is the oldrim merge utility working for special edition? im bout ready to merge some of my mods thank you!!

[Lisselli]

The reason it's always 255 is basic computing knowledge..

[Lisselli]

 

Jesus christ

 

The limit is still there. It will always be there until they completely change how they handle FormIDs. FormIDs are 8bit strings, the leading two bits are used to indicate the source plugin. Starting at 00 and ending at FF. FF is reserved for items dynamically created in the game.

 

Therefore there is a max of 255 individual plugins. Skyrim SE comes with 5. Skyrim.esm, Update.esm, Dawnguard.esm, Hearthfires.esm and Dragonborn.ESM, leaving 250 available for use by the player.

 

This is not news. This has been known for ages.

 

Please attempt to do a modicum of research. ANYONE who works with mods could have told you this.

 

There's really no reason for the attitude, I already stated in the opening that I had looked around and couldn't find a definitive answer. Some say something akin to what you just said, others refute that argument.

 

Well, you can't really refute facts. 255 is one of things that opens up pointless debating. But you're more than welcome to email a dev....

[Arthmoor]

The limit has not been removed, nor will it ever be removed so long as they're using an 8bit form ID field.

 

00-FF hex -> decimal 0-255. That's it. It's been this way since Oblivion.

 

FF is reserved for the save game, so take that one away right off the bat. Now you have 0-254, which is your "255 mods limit". Except it doesn't stop here.

 

00 Skyrim.esm

01 Update.esm

02 Dawnguard.esm

03 Hearthfires.esm

04 Dragonborn.esm

 

Subtract 5 more because these files are mandatory for SSE.

 

So the actual limit for SSE is 250 mods. Not 255.

 

The reason you don't have "definitive answers" on this for each new game is because this is totally basic knowledge of how thing work that has not changed since Oblivion. Therefore there is no reason to go into it every time a new game comes out.

[JohnnyQuest101]

Is there a merge tool for SE? I only saw one for Skyrim but not SE.

[MichaelsRoleplaying]

There really isn't a better source than Arthmoor on this who has already posted in the thread. For an additional source though you can also take a look at the skyrim mods subreddit's SSE guide to confirm that the limit still applies.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/wiki/beginners_guide_sse

 

However, if you've still got doubts, you could always test it yourself. Nothing beats empirical testing.