Older Skyrim Mods

[Sharlikran]

A few things I think are important to know about Skyrim SE and existing Skyrim mods.

The Creating Kit is now live! : [skyrim SE] Things to know when converting standard mods to SSE

**NOTE** Skyrim SE mods are not backwards compatible. There are changes to the ESP/ESM files, Nif Files, Animation Files, and Texture files. Because of those changes mod authors should keep separate folders for Skyrim or Skyrim SE versions of their mods.

• The BSA format changed. If you are experiencing issues or you game seems frozen then check the mods you have installed. If any of them had a BSA file then that's what's causing your issue. You will have to unpack the BSA file using something like BSAOpt which was made for the original Skyrim and will extract the old BSA format. I'd recommend you unpack the files to a temp folder so you can make a zip file out of them to install with Wrye Bash SSE or NMM 63.8.
• Bethesda Archive Extractor supports the new BSA format for Skyrim SE.

You would have to go in on each NIF, convert every NiTriStrips block to NiTriShape (right-click -> Mesh -> Triangulate) and run a "Spells -> Batch -> Make All Skin Partitions" (unchecking Stripify is important here).

• Meshes have changed so older mods may not work right. It's not the .esp file it's the meshes. If you are a mod author you will need the latest NifSkope. NiTriStrips are one example of something that won't work. BodySlide can be used to make minor corrections to meshes but I don't know the details.
• False flagged files are files that end in .esp like a regular plugin but the mod author set the ESM flag to make it act like a Master file or ESM file. It is confirmed that those are loading as indicated by plugins.txt. They may load before all the DLC which will not work. Bethesda is aware of it and is looking into it but no ETA on when they will make a change or what the change will be.
• Old Skyrim mods using a different skeleton such as Breast Physics and HDT Skeletons will not work with Skryim SE unless you are using the current skeleton. Groovtama's XP32 Maximum Skeleton Special Extended is now available.
• Mods with Scripts are compatible with Skyrim SE. The scripting language didn't change and the scripts do not need to be recompiled.
• If an NPC has a Black Face then the Face Gen information isn't present. The Skyrim SE CK will automatically build that information. Load the plugin and save it then add the generated files to your installer archive.
• The current version of LOOT can be downloaded here.

Textures:

For auto updating textures to meet the Skyrim SE format use NifScan by Zilav. I usually extract the old Skyrim files to a folder. At that point I then copy nifscan.exe to the folder and run it with nifscan -fixdds which will properly update textures that will otherwise cause your game to crash.

Meshes:

For auto updating meshes use SSE NIF Optimizer by ousnius. This can run from anywhere as it has a GUI so browse to the meshes folder for your mod and run it with the default settings. I have found that on occasion it will not address some issues so when you load your game you will have textures that look black or dark. To address that use the NIF Optimizer but choose Smooth Normals. I suggest only updating the meshes that need this extra feature one at a time or one folder at a time if they are in the same folder.

Facegen data is an option in the NIF Optimizer but I find that the CK will update the files better. While updating Saturalia for Christmas the game crashed until I saved the ESP with the CK, which rebuilt the FaceGen Data.


ESM/ESP Files:

Records to pay attention to:

SPGD, 'Shader Particle Geometry' this record was originally broken by previous versions of the CK. The latest CK with ESL support no longer breaks SPGD. If you are a mod author and converted a mod for Skyrim SE and the old CK broke the records, copy the old format from an older version of your mod and save with the CK to properly update them to Form Version 44.

Records Added:

VOLI, 'Volumetric Lighting'
LENS, 'Lens Flare'

Records Changed:

MATO, 'Material Object'
LTEX, 'Landscape Texture'
STAT, 'Static'
WATR, 'Water'
WEAP, 'Weapon'
WTHR, 'Weather'

Not many records changed between Skyrim and Skyrim SE. Skyrim SE can read both formats by using a version number in the plugin. Mod authors should load their mod in the Skyrim SE CK and save it at least once. Many people avoid the CK like the plague and while everyone is entitled to their own choices xEdit, in this case SSEEdit does not have any internal update or conversion routines for any game. It has never had any update or conversion routines and that will not be changing for Skyrim SE. It has never been a replacement for the CK but is constantly used that way. SSEEdit will expect the data to be formatted the way we have decoded it from the Skyrim CK. So please do not be a stubborn mod author and load your plugin into the CK.

Edited December 15, 2019 by Sharlikran

[Mavkiel]

Good info, you are a prince among men. Is there any more detailed info on what meshes will work? I am mainly curious in regards to various weapon/armor mods. (If that even matters, never messed with meshes in my life)

 

Right now I am just unpacking various bsa and waiting for the construction kit, which from what I gather has its own packager.

[Sharlikran]

You are welcome but it's really just general information. I just posted this to "hopefully" keep repeat posts of people saying their game froze, or the head and shoulders are gone from the NPC once they equip "someMod" Armor.

 

I am not a Nif expert, I can't even use Nifskope, and while I share your curiosity there is really only one way to know whats going to happen.

1. Download old Skyrim Mod
2. If the mod had a BSA file extract the files into a temp folder
3. Load the ESP into the CK and save the plugin
4. make sure the loose files and the ESP file are in the same temp folder with the correct directory structure
5. Install the mod

If at that point the head or shoulders are missing then you my friend are out of luck until the mod author updates the mod. Well, that or you have to suddenly become a Nif Expert.

Edited October 29, 2016 by Sharlikran

[PeterMartyr]

yay Loot you should give this it own thread it to important

 

Edit

 

Not one Dirty Edit it perfect & nothing got moved yay again

but I use Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires Sorting Rules

Edited October 31, 2016 by PeterMartyr

[bill8872]

I will add, regarding NPCs. If they have no eyes, and hair they also need an update.

 

I tried a few with Serana, and only found one that works, plus a few followers. The rest do require SSKE, or at least other mods that do require it.

[storz212]

The BSAManager can't extract BSA file?

Edited October 31, 2016 by storz212

[Sharlikran]

yay Loot you should give this it own thread it to important

 

Edit

 

Not one Dirty Edit it perfect & nothing got moved yay again

but I use Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires Sorting Rules

The Skyrim SE LOOT masterlist is empty. So it doesn't have any data in it about whether or not to clean a mod. All plugins from Skyrim need to be updated with the Skyrim SE CK and then cleaned with SSEEdit before those results can be posted to the Skyrim SE LOOT masterlist.

[Sharlikran]

The BSAManager can't extract BSA file?

 

Did anyone say that BSAManager couldn't open BSA files? I know I didn't say that. I know BSAManager will open Skyrim SE BSA files.

 

What are you asking, can you clarify that please?

[DaimeneX]

Important note is also about ESP files.
If people straight up upload a mod which works with Skyrim SE and uses old ESP coding when it may cause issues when translating it to other languages.
For example when I installed Map Markers Complete I had gotten a serious case of Cities missing Polish Fonts with Sovngarde mod.

I pinpointed the issue to old mods using Windows-1252 and Windows-1250 coding instead of UTF-8 coding which Skyrim utilizes in Special Edition.

[elite403]

*** post deleted... found my problem ****

Edited November 4, 2016 by elite403