Are modders working more on Skyrim or Special edition?

[Hogeybearr]

Hi, does anybody know which game modders are working more on? Skyrim or Special Edition, just want to know which game I should start a new game on if i'm going to be using mods a lot.

[LeddBate]

Well, that's actually two different questions, so I'll address them in order.

 

Legendary edition has more total mods available to it than SE does. (I know, I know... 'Duh') However, I believe SE is getting slightly more mods made for it currently IF you factor in all the mods that are being ported over from Legendary. A lot of popular mods from Legendary (a majority of them actually) have already been ported. Also, many mods in Legendary that haven't been ported WILL work in SE -although there may be some caveats for non-texture-only mods. Example: SkyUI (the most popular user interface mod from Legendary) WILL work with SE, but only if you use version 2.2 or earlier. Versions later than 2.2 rely on SKSE to function. A lot of the mods that been ported (that previously relied on SKSE for things like MCM menus) use various "workarounds" like spellbooks instead of the MCM to allow you to adjust settings in the mod in-game. Frankly, a lot of folks here are waiting for SKSE 64bit version to be released. When that happens (which may be quite some time down the road based on the threads over in the mod section) then a lot of these mods will be updated to work with it. Several famous mod authors that have already ported their mods have confirmed that they will update them again when SKSE 64bit becomes available.

 

As to "Which version you should start a new game on if you're going to be using mods a lot", that depends on WHICH mods you want. For example, if you absolutely need Expanded Towns and Cities, and you don't want to wait for the port to occur, (Nazenn is working on it, but it's a huge mod and it will take a lot of time) then that pretty much leaves you with Legendary. Likewise, if you want the current SkyUI version (or any other mod that absolutely requires SKSE to function correctly) then that also leaves you with Legendary as your only choice. Complicating this decision a bit is the fact that Win 8 (both versions) and Win 10 limit the VRAM used for DX 9 games (which Legendary is) to only 4GB. So if you want to load up your Legendary game with lots of mods, particularly texture heavy mods, then you're going to run into memory issues UNLESS you use Win 7 which does NOT limit your VRAM for DX 9 games. Annoying, I know. Why is there a VRAM limit on DX 9 games in recent OSes? I dunno. Maybe someone more experienced with operating systems can chime in here. Now if you decide to roll with SE, then having Win 8 or Win 10 doesn't matter as SE is a DX 11 game and is therefore not affected by the VRAM limitation. Even further complicating your decision is your rig's stats, especially your GPU. If your GPU has less than 4GB of VRAM, then lots of texture heavy mods are going to be difficult for you. Running out of VRAM in-game is a major cause of CTDs.

 

But, getting back to your questions. Here are two links for comparing the most popular mods (by endorsements) in both Legendary and SE. Look them over. Take into account your OS and your GPU's stats before making your decision.

Skyrim Legendary Edition (aka "Oldrim")

Skyrim Special Edition (aka... uh, SE, I guess... -maybe "Newrim"? Nah, now it sounds like a wheel accessory.)

 

Hope this helps you decide!

 

P.S. I played "Oldrim" up to a few months ago. Then enough mods got ported over that I felt I could make the switch. Also, I use Win 10. So that was a big part of my decision.

[Moksha8088]

I think most make their mods for Skyrim Classic and then hope that it can be ported to SE. A year down the road they will realize that Skyrim SE will be the longer lasting version so they will hope their port works even more.

[LeddBate]

...Annnd we now have the FURTHER complication that Valve's just taken Skyrim Legendary Edition off Steam. You can still GET Oldrim (and the DLCs -seperately now) but only if you find a direct link as the search function on Steam's store page will no longer lead you to Oldrim.

[TheDungeonDweller]

I prefer to mod Oldrim. Oldrim also gives people a choice as not everyone wants ALL THREE DLCs(and for folks that don't use USLEEP which requires all three). There's no point in adding Dawnguard/Dragonborn/Hearthfire.esm to my mod when my mod only requires Skyrim.esm assets.

[Urtho]

Complicating this decision a bit is the fact that Win 8 (both versions) and Win 10 limit the VRAM used for DX 9 games (which Legendary is) to only 4GB. So if you want to load up your Legendary game with lots of mods, particularly texture heavy mods, then you're going to run into memory issues UNLESS you use Win 7 which does NOT limit your VRAM for DX 9 games. Annoying, I know. Why is there a VRAM limit on DX 9 games in recent OSes? I dunno. Maybe someone more experienced with operating systems can chime in here. Now if you decide to roll with SE, then having Win 8 or Win 10 doesn't matter as SE is a DX 11 game and is therefore not affected by the VRAM limitation. Even further complicating your decision is your rig's stats, especially your GPU. If your GPU has less than 4GB of VRAM, then lots of texture heavy mods are going to be difficult for you. Running out of VRAM in-game is a major cause of CTDs.

 

Just as an FYI, it appears that this VRAM limitation is going to be patched out by Microsoft in the next few months. This thread on r/skyrimmods might be of interest to some people: Reddit Info Thread

[LeddBate]

OM (this letter deleted because I hear thunder rumbling outside. I can take a hint.) G!! That would be wonderful if the Direct X team actually fixed that! Probably won't make anyone switch back from SE. But for those struggling with VRAM issues in Oldrim this would indeed be a Godsend.*

 

*See? I capitalized that. Please don't lightening strike me...

[NexBeth]

I can say that in some important ways its easier to use the old skyrim CK. New skyrim ck does not make things easy, especially if you are doing a lot of building in the mod. Some modders are making games in oldrim yet plan to port to the new edition for this reason.

 

One main hold back for the new game is no skse yet.

[jjb54]

This is not a complaint at all ... as I understand completely the challenge of getting the Scrip Extender for Skyrim SE is a challenge in time and so on.

 

But, until that is accomplished a lot of mods will not be able to make it over to S-SE, as a lot of mods for Classic Skyrim rely A LOT on Script Extender.

 

But once that " hits " the net .... Skyrim SE will take off in a serious direction.

[LeddBate]

I agree. Several prominent mod authors have stated that they will port a lot of their mods (that rely on SKSE) AND will also update the mods they've already ported with "workarounds". So yeah, they'll be an explosion of porting within a month of SKSE64-bit being released.

 

In the meantime, with the imminent release of Beyond Skyrim: Bruma and Urtho's info on a possible DX9 VRAM limit fix for Win 8 and Win 10, I think a lot of folks will be going back (at least temporarily) to Oldrim.

 

Hurray! An excuse for me to go back to ETaC! (At least until Nazenn finishes the port...)