New PC, new game.... Mods?

[chgharland]

Hi everyone

 

I've recently put together a new PC and it's time to have another Skyrim playthrough.

 

I have an ultrawide monitor... 2560x1080. I don't think that resolution is officially supported. Can anyone give me any advice regarding this?

 

 

I've used mods on Skyrim before so am ok to install and run etc.

 

However I'm going to try out the Special Edition (or am I better off modding the original?) so was hoping that some of you could recommend various mods I should try.

 

Graphic overhauls - textures and meshes are things I'm most interested in. New weapons and armour too. I always end up adding hairstyles and facemods as well.

 

I'm also looking at using one of the Alternate start mods as after so many playthroughs, starting the same way again often puts me off the next playthrough... gets repetitive...

 

 

 

I followed the STEP guide in the past which made for a fun game but can't seem to find a similar guide for the Special Edition....

 

 

Thanks in advance

:)

[nightscrawl]

Since you asked for a guide: SEPTIM for SSE.

 

However, my own preference is to just browse around for things I like. Keep in mind that most texture replacement mods from Oldrim will work in SSE as well. And because you won't find it on the SSE Nexus, Noble Skyrim also has an SSE version, but it's on the Oldrim Nexus page.

 

 

Here's a bit about porting mods for your own use...

For the most part, mods that are straight texture replacements DO work. You can just copy those over, or use the green + button in NMM to install manually. The example I like to use for textures is RUSTIC Clothing, which was simply copied over to the SSE Nexus for convenience of users; the files are exactly the same -- the MA (mod author) doesn't have SSE.

 

The main textures that do NOT work are those for landscape textures, which need additional work, otherwise you end up with "shiny" dirt and such. These won't break your game, but it won't look right to have shiny dirt. This is why a texture overhaul mod like Noble Skyrim has an SSE version. The only ones that have been altered are those for the landscapes.

 

Mods with meshes (.nif) need to be converted, which you can do yourself by using SSE NIF Optimizer.

 

For the most part, mods with an esp DO work. All that is needed to port these mods over is to load it in the 64-bit Creation Kit and resave it. That's all.

 

Some mods that require SKSE also work (after resaving in the CK as mentioned) if you have SKSE64 alpha installed. But as I said, you are taking a chance that there will be issues because it is still in alpha build.

 

If there is some mod that is packed into a bsa, that needs to be unpacked because Skyrim bsas do not work with SSE. After unpacking, you would need to ensure that any meshes and such are converted, then you can repack.

 

Most of the current ported mods were done as I've stated, by opening the mod up in the CK and resaving it and doing other conversions. The MA did not redo the entire mod from scratch just for SSE. This method is perfectly fine.

 

Most users can port a mod on their own, for their own use, as long as they have the knowledge.

 

You are correct in that you should not be shoving old Skyrim esps into SSE willy-nilly. While they might work and be functional, not doing that extra step of resaving in the 64-bit CK can cause a crash somewhere down the line.

 

[chgharland]

Thanks Nightscrawl that's really helpful.

 

Much appreciated :)