Steam Skyrim, and Mods! NEED HELP!

[Lightez]

Hello. I've just purchased skyrim for my PC, and so I've tried to mod it a bit, seeing as I've played it on the xbox before and wanted to try out mods for the first time. I have downloaded the 2k+ Resolution package, the upgraded map, and SkyUI. However, I believe I've messed up somewhere in the installation process, or in the Mod "Paths" and deployment process, because I cannot for the life of me get the game to launch with the mods functioning. I've been working on it all day, scouring the forums for my specific issue without much luck, I've tried the OG mod manager and found that Nexus went to "Vortex" which is what I'm attempting to get to work. I've uploaded a screencapture with the Skyrim base folder visible. Also, I have downloaded SKSE.

[WastelandAssassin]

first , you have posted this in the wrong section

if you think it's an issue with Vortex , it should be in that forum . otherwise it should be in Skyrim technical support or mod troubleshooting

but that's just a technicality , for your future posts here

 

in regards to your problem , what exactly is the issue?

have you managed to run the game through Vortex without any mods? if so , it's probably an issue with setting it up

if it runs properly without mods , but can't run with them , it might be an issue with the mods you've installed , or they way you've installed them

which mods are you using? what is your load order? how have you installed the mods?

since you've just purchased Skyrim on the PC , I think it's safe to assume you are not familiar with modding Bethesda games . have you watched any tutorial on how to set up your game for modding? or a tutorial about how to use Vortex? if not , please stop what you are doing and go watch such a tutorial (I am a personal fan of Gopher on YouTube , and I believe he covered Vortex recently)

once you understand the basics of modding , and can provide the information needed to establish the issue , we could try and help you solve the issue

[Vashra1]

I recommend you find the "modding Skyrim" tutorials by Dirty Weasel over on Youtube.
Some of his information is almost certainly out of date now, and there are a couple places where I'd dare to dispute his expertise with SkyrimSE (can't speak for Oldrim), but they will get you off the ground.

First rule is you *cannot* just pick the mods you like, load them up willy nilly, and expect to do anything but crash to your desktop in a blaze of fascinating errors. I learned this the "fun" way :smile:

I've only done SkyrimSE on pc...so some of Skyrim protocol may be different...but you're going to probably need to clean your master files (https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/2667094-guide-manual-cleaning-skyrim-master-files/) before you even *start* modding.

And to clean your master files, you need to download the x_Editor: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/25859

Be bloody careful what you poke and prod with that thing. It lets you change, add to, and *erase* records in the actual game files. If you blow something up, you can just use Steam to validate your game files, but seriously, follow the tutorials on cleaning masters *carefully*. I managed to make two whole (really gimply pathetic personal-use I will never publish these) mods using that program instead of CK....which means you can also use it to tweak the wrong thing and wholly corrupt your game files :wink: Luckily its makers put up a big huge "Are YOU SURE?!?" warning when you start messing, but I've managed to have been sure...and wrong...more than once lol.

To get your mods in the right order (and you need them in the right order *before* you try to go inside them and resolve conflicts), get the newest version of LOOT https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1918/ (that's a SkyrimSE link, but when you install it you can set it up for old Skyrim too). Once you've read enough tutorials and tried enough things that you feel confident sometimes challenging LOOT's load order (and your experiment results in you NOT crashing,) you'll know you've "leveled up" in modding :wink:

You'll probably end up needing Wrye Bash and/or to learn how to balance out mod conflicts in that Editor you used to clean your masters. Good luck and God bless :wink: I show over 200 hours "playing" SkyrimSE on Steam and I've never got past taking the stupid horn back to the monks because I've been tweaking mods since I installed it almost 2 months ago. If I've spent 10 whole hours actually *playing* the game, it was probably to make "clean saves" to mess with mods! (not that I'm obsessed or anything). Granted, I'm trying to make it work on a below specs vid card.

I can't tell you what to do with Vortex...I've been deliberately avoiding the creepy "not even out of Alpha yet" mod manager. Mod Manager 2 crashed to desktop for me out of the box, and Wrye Bash as a mod manager apparently requires some kind of bloody engineering degree. So...Nexus Mod Manager FTW! - but not the version still hosted on Nexus. Go pick up 0.65.5 here https://github.com/Nexus-Mods/Nexus-Mod-Manager/releases and grab the security update if you need it here https://www.nexusmods.com/site/mods/4/?tab=files

One of the first things people told me that proved to be largely true was that Windows security/permissions make having Skyrim (or any other game you want to mod) in your Progams86 folder a pain in the rear. I had to uninstall *completely* and reinstall to "C:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\ to get the game to fully accept and implement mods. You can change your install path from the Steam interface. - I'd *seriously* consider doing that reinstall before even trying to get the bazillion mods to work.

Second rule is find the Unofficial Patch (Patches?) and put that as your first mod. It fixes a LOT of broken things (yes, Skyrim is broken right out of the box for PC) and many mods *depend* on those things being fixed in order to work.

I think SkyUI *requires* SKSE - so go get the latest version of that too (you'll need it for a LOT of mods: http://skse.silverlock.org/ be sure you pick the right one)

Once you've got Skyrim vanilla working, and you've got SKSE working (to check, manage to get to the load screen and instead of loading up a game just pop the console command key (usually ~) and type "getskseversion" without the quotes - if it gives you a valid answer and not some version of "dude WTF command was that?" you're good), AND you've got the unofficial patch loaded in...you can *start* one. mod. at. a. time. (make a clean vanilla save or download one of the many on nexus...I'd advise being as close to start as possible without having to crawl through the whole Helgan tutorial again) to create your hopefully-stable load order.

Welcome to modding for Skyrim!
The only thing I've upgraded since I started trying to mod this bloody game is my whiskey budget. :wink:

Edited June 9, 2018 by Vashra1