beginners_guide

閲覧これまでの経過トーク

If you have modded older Bethesda games or have a little experience you may be more interested in the Quick Start Guide by /u/Nefftd.
If you are completely new I urge you to follow the step by step guide below as it will not only help you with setting everything up but also explain why you need these utilities and some of the basic concepts of modding.

If you have questions at any point in this guide I would first suggest to refer to the comments in the original version of this guide. Find the corresponding section and search the comments. If you don't see your question answered you can either PM /u/TerrorFox1234 or hop in the IRC chat (link in the sidebar).

Foreword

Welcome to /r/SkyrimMods! The moderation team wants to welcome you, and help cover some basics to ease you into the community. Let’s start with a brief bit of advice to the brand new modder! This sub is a great place for all things modding, ranging from getting brand new modders up and running to discussing the more advanced topics of editing/creating a mod (and everything in between!). If you are new here please take the time to read through this post. 80% of the issues we help people resolve are simply because they did not take the time to do the appropriate research. If you do not like to read then modding probably isn't for you. page descriptions, guides, and others posts are absolutely essential if you want a safe, stable, and efficient modding experience. If you think you don't need those things and can just "figure it out" you are in for more troubleshooting and starting over than actually playing, for a very long time. Starting with learning to mod correctly now can save you months of frustration later, and as exciting as it seems to just dive in, download a bunch of mods, and load em up we can almost guarantee that this method will result in a lot of troubleshooting and possibly a reinstall or two, and that’s no fun at all. If you take it slow and do your research the rewards are plentiful and you will have a brand new Skyrim unlike anything you’ve ever played! Onward!

Create A Nexus Account:

If you have not created a Nexus account, you should absolutely go do that now! Nexus is host to the most expansive library of quality Skyrim mods. Almost every mod you will see discussed in this sub is hosted on Nexus. Sign up is free! Steam can be used, but it is recommended to use it in a slightly different manner than intended, which is covered later in this guide. If you are brand new to modding it is recommended that you just stick with Nexus and using a mod manager until you have a grasp on the basic concepts of modding. Once you have that down, come read the guide on how to safely use Steam Workshop mods.

File Organization

If you have UAC (User Account Control) in Windows, you should not install Skyrim in the Program Files directory (...If you've never touched this, you probably have UAC restrictions).
You should create a new folder elsewhere and name it whatever you want. I named mine "Steam Library 2".
Many people use C:/Games/, their desktop, or install on a second drive.
Windows UAC will interfere with some Skyrim utilities that use .dll files.

To install Skyrim outside of Program Files follow these steps:

  • Make your new Steam Library folder
  • Open Steam and go to View - Settings
  • Click "Downloads"
  • Click "Steam Library Folders"
  • Click "Add library folder"
  • Select your "Steam Library 2" folder.
  • You should now have the option to install Skyrim to this folder when you install through Steam

Now, we're also installing a number of programs that interact with Skyrim and it's mods. Most of these should not be installed into the Skyrim directory.

You should, instead, create a folder called "Skyrim Modding" somewhere on your computer where you can download and unpack these utilities.

(You must create this folder yourself)

What I did was create a general "Modding" folder (D:/Modding). Then within my modding folder I have "Skyrim Modding", "FO3 Modding", "FNV Modding", "Morrowind Modding", etc. This allows me to keep all my modding stuff in one place, divided up by game.

During this guide, I will assume you are using my file structure, so adapt it to yours if yours is different. This file structure is not required, it is just recommended for ease of navigation.

RECAP:
Create a folder called "Steam Library 2" outside of Program Files.
Add "Steam Library 2" as a Steam Library.
Install Skyrim to Steam Library 2.
Create a "Modding" folder outside of program files
Create a "Skyrim Modding" folder inside the "Modding" folder
You should now have C:/Steam Library 2 and C:/Modding/Skyrim Modding (or something similar. as long as those two folders are outside of program files and on the same drive you are golden!)

It is important for the "/Skyrim Modding/" folder to be on the same hard drive as Skyrim.

While I'm talking about these folders, I have a recommendation. You want to be able to access these files easily, right? Pin these folders in the Quick Access Menu! (called "Favorites" in Win7)
If you look at windows explorer windows or download location windows, there is a "Quick Access" (or Favorites) list on the left. You can drag a folder to the quick-access or right-click the folder and select "Pin to quick access", and it won't be moved. It's just adding a shortcut so you can easily access it from most of the windows you'll be using. In my Quick Access, I have:

  • Skyrim (Main Directory)
  • Skyrim Modding (The utility folder you created)

If you are doing a fresh Skyrim install, run the game once to initialize data before beginning the process and moving forward in this guide! To do this simply launch Skyrim from Steam once, let the Splash menu appear and set your graphics settings and then exit. This allows Skyrim to set up some necessary file paths.

Mod Organizer (MO)

Overview:

Whether you are looking to do a light touch-up to your game or a complete overhaul of every aspect it is highly recommended that you use a mod manager. This will help you keep track of your mods and also provide a safer modding experience. MO is our recommended mod manager for a multitude of reasons. First, it provides easier management of overwrites (Texture Mod A over Texture Mod B). This is different than Load Order and managing overwrites via a drag and drop list is something exclusive to Mod Organizer. More importantly, it keeps your Skyrim data folder completely clean. If you are using Nexus Mod Manager or Wrye Bash we implore you to make the switch and learn MO. Let's go over why these two functions of MO are beneficial...

Why It's Important:

  • Virtual Data Folder: Manual installation is never recommended as you have no efficient way of removing mods. You would have to know exactly what the mod changed throughout your Data folder and change those textures/scripts/meshes/etc back to vanilla manually. I'm sure you can see why this would be easy to mess up. Nexus Mod Manager and Steam have a system for automatically adding and removing those changes meaning all you have to do is hit "Subscribe" or "Download with Manager" and activate. The problem is that it still makes those changes directly in your Data folder. If a mod you test out is poorly coded it might leave files behind or not tell Skyrim to replace the vanilla files upon removal. Again, you can see where this can cause issues down the road. The consequence can be anywhere from a couple hours of troubleshooting to having to totally reinstall Skyrim. Mod Organizer creates a virtual data folder for all your mods, and hooks into Skyrim so that the mods are read. This feature is exclusive to Mod Organizer. Explaining the inner workings of how it does this is beyond the scope of this guide, but the information is certainly out there (most likely on the MO Nexus page) if you are interested in digging deeper.
  • Overwrite Priorities: Mod Organizer is split into two windows. On the right is your Load Order (called Plugins in MO). It is the .esm and .esp files related to any mods that require them. On the left side is the order in which all your mods overwrite each other. This is your Mod List. It functions in a similar manner to your Load Order, except it is for the mods themselves whereas the Load Order is in reference to .esm and .esp files. The Mod List includes textures and other mods that don't have .esm or .esp files. Let's look at how the two mod managers handle these conflicts and decide the overwrite priority:

Example: Installing Texture Mod A and Texture Mod B, both of which retexture cities. They don't all replace the same textures but they do overlap on a few textures (these are the conflicts between these mods)...

1. Nexus Mod Manager:

With NMM, you first install Texture Mod A. When you install Texture Mod B it will ask if you want to overwrite the conflicting textures from Texture Mod A. You decide yes or no for the conflicts and click OK. Next you hop into your game and run around looking at your sexy new textures. You find yourself thinking "I like the wood textures from Texture Mod A better than Texture Mod B". Now you would have to exit the game and reinstall Texture Mod A, telling it to overwrite Texture Mod B. Depending on the size of the mod and how specific you like to be with your texture choices, this can take 2-5 minutes. Now imagine that you have 50 texture mods...or even 10....let's look at the same conflict in MO

2. Mod Organizer:

Open Mod Organizer and install Texture Pack A. Then we install Texture Pack B. There is no overwrite prompt and they are both loaded into the left list (Mod List). Texture Mod B is below Texture Mod A and thus is winning the conflict. Hop in game and decide "Yeah Texture Mod A grass is way better than Texture Mod B!". Exit the game, drag Texture Mod A below Texture Mod B and drop it. Done. It took 3 seconds. Reorganizing those 50 texture mods is as simple as dragging and dropping.

This function alone will save you hours

To make your Mod List drag and drop choices even easier MO will indicate a conflict with either a lightning bolt with a plus sign (conflict winner) or a lighting bolt with a minus sign (conflict loser). If it is a lightning bolt with a plus and a minus it is winning some and losing some. You can check these conflicts by double clicking a mod and navigating to the "Conflicts" tab.

Generally for mods with .esps you should try to match their order in the Mod List to that of the Load Order on the right.

Beyond these two very useful functions there are other, more advanced, features that you will learn to use along your modding journey. We implore anyone, beginner or advanced, to start with or switch to Mod Organizer. While it takes a little longer to learn, the time saved in mod management down the road far outweighs the time spent learning it initially. (Sensing a theme here?)

Installation and Using MO:
(please go back and read File Organization if you skipped it)
MO DOWNLOAD

  • Navigate to your Skyrim Modding folder and within make a new folder called "MO Versions". (This will come in handy for storing older versions of MO should you need to roll back)

  • Download the latest MO installer or archive into the "MO Versions" folder (it doesn't matter which so just pick whatever you are more comfortable with)

  • Run the installer and point it to your main Skyrim directory (.../steamapps/common/Skyrim) (or if you downloaded the archive, extract the contents to your main Skyrim directory)

  • Whichever method you choose, you should now have a "Mod Organizer" folder in your Skyrim directory
    Within the Mod Organizer folder you will find the modorganizer.exe.

So the Mod Organizer executable (modorganizer.exe) should be located at (.../steamapps/common/Skyrim/Mod Organizer/modorganizer.exe)

Ensure that this is the case before continuing.

Optional Steps For Easy Launching of MO:

A. Create a shortcut -

  • Right-click the modorganizer.exe and select "Send to desktop". This will create an MO shortcut on your desktop (it doesn't actually move the original .exe)

  • Rename the shortcut to SKMO (this is only if you plan on having multiple MO installations for modding FNV/FO3, otherwise you can just rename it to "MO")

B. Pin to Taskbar -

  • Alternately you can right-click the modorganizer.exe and select "Pin to taskbar". It's really up to whether you prefer your programs pinned to the taskbar or on your desktop. I actually do both.

First time setup:

When you first run MO it will give you a tutorial and ask if you want the program to handle .nxm links.
Answer "Yes" as this will allow you to use the "Download with Manager" button that a lot of mods have on their Nexus pages.
(If you missed this, navigate to the Nexus tab in the settings and click the button to "Associate with 'Download with Manager' links")
Also be sure to open the settings (the wrench and screwdriver icon on the top bar) and enter your Nexus Login Information and tell it to remember.

You must run all other utilities that you use through MO (SKSE, LOOT, WB, TES5, etc)
To do this:

  1. Open the drop down menu next to the big "Run" button. This is a list of all the utilities that will be run through MO.
  2. Select the "edit..." option. This will open a new window for adding/editing other utilities.
  3. In the "Title" dialogue box add the name of the program.
  4. The next box down is the Binary path. Click the browse button ("...") and navigate to the .exe for the desired program, located where you installed it. (if you are following this guide's File Organization structure it will be in one of the folders created in the introduction to this guide.)
  5. Once you've selected the .exe for the Binary, uncheck "Close MO on Startup" and then select "ADD".

You can refer back to these steps as we work through the guide and start adding the rest of the utilities. To launch a program, simply select it from the list and hit "Run". The benefit to this is now you don't need to switch between 5 different launchers...just Mod Organizer! We will practice this in the next section with LOOT.

Load Order Optimization Tool (LOOT)

Overview:

LOOT (Load Order Optimization Tool) dynamically reads each mods list of masters and makes decisions about your Load Order based on the master lists. This will save you massive amounts of time over trying to manually adjust your entire load order by hand. Bear in mind that it is up to the mod authors to list all the necessary masters and LOOT is still in it's somewhat early stages. It is the successor to BOSS (Better Oblivion Sorting Software), which serves the same purpose, but goes about it in a different way. Where LOOT reads each mods master list to make it's decision, BOSS references a masterlist that used to be constantly updated. When the creators of BOSS turned their attention to LOOT (which really is BOSS's baby) they stopped updating the masterlist. There is debate about which is better, but neither is perfect. I have found I have to create less User Rules when I use LOOT, which again means time saved.

Why It's Important:

Load Order is exactly what it sounds like. It is the order in which Skyrim loads .esm and .esp files from mods into the game. If someone asks you to post your Load Order this is what they are asking for. If they ask for your Mod List they are asking for, you guessed it, a list of ALL your mods. Load Order = .esm and .esp files. Mod List = All your mods

This is incredibly important for a few reasons. The first reason is that one mod may rely on another mod in order to function properly (if this is the case the mod author will indicate this on the description page). A "master" is any other .esp or .esm that another .esm/.esp depends on. For instance every mod and DLC depends on Skyrim.esm...Skyrim.esm is a master to every other .esm/.esp. If you hover over an .esm/.esp in your Load Order it will show you a list of it's masters.

Sometimes .esp files can rely on other .esp files as well. Let's use "Wet and Cold.esp" and "Wet and Cold - Ashes.esp"(Dragonborn addon)....Wet and Cold - Ashes.esp must load AFTER Wet and Cold.esp because it lists Wet and Cold.esp as a master. If the game tries to load Wet and Cold - Ashes.esp without Wet and Cold.esp loaded already, the game will CTD on start up, because Wet and Cold - Ashes did not have what it needed to load properly.

These dependencies are the biggest reason that load order matters.

Also worth noting that sometimes Load Order isn't about one mod necessarily relying on another...sometimes it is about resolving conflicts between mods.
When two mods try to do the same thing it is known as a "Conflict".
A conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. Usually it is just a matter of deciding which mod "wins" the conflict. The way that load order works is in a top to bottom fashion. It lists your mods and assigns them a number, zero through however many mods you have (up to 255). Skyrim.esm is ALWAYS zero. So the top of the list is 0 and the bottom is 255. Skyrim loads 0, then 1, then 2.
This means that when you are looking at a mod list the mod towards the bottom in the Load Order overwrites the mod towards the top in the load order. (sometimes you need to resolve these conflicts with compatibility patches or other utilities. If this is the case the mod author will indicate it in the mod description as well as either providing a download for a patch they created themselves or a link to download a patch created by someone else. Another reason you must be sure to read everything thoroughly!)

Installation and Using LOOT:
LOOT DOWNLOAD
In order for LOOT to recognize your game you must run Skyrim at least once through Steam! Just open Skyrim through Steam, let the splash menu load, and then exit.

  • Create a new folder in your "Skyrim Modding" Folder and name it "LOOT"

  • Download the archive into the "LOOT" folder

  • Extract the contents

  • Again, be sure to add LOOT to your list of executables in MO following the instructions above.
    (An additional step is to add the line "--single-process" (without quotes) to the "Arguments" line for LOOT.
    This solves an issue where sometimes LOOT will launch to a blank screen. No harm will come from adding this argument so I advise it as a pre-emptive step)

  • Once you have the mods you want and you're sure you've gotten the necessary compatibility patches (if necessary), Run LOOT from the MO Launcher Menu.
    It will open a window
    Click "Sort Plugins"
    LOOT will take a few seconds and then display the results of it's sorting choices.
    Select "Apply"
    Review the output for any warnings.

Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE)

Overview: SKSE does exactly what it sounds like. It expands Skyrim's scripting language, allowing for more robust mods. It also incorporates the startup memory allocation patch, the single most important patch for a stable Skyrim modding experience. Both of these will be outlined below.

Why It's Important:

  • Script Extender: In a nutshell, SKSE adds scripting functions to the Papyrus scripting language. Mod creators can use these added functions to do things that were not possible before. The most popular example of a mod that requires SKSE is SkyUI. This mod completely overhauls the menus of the game, making them easier to navigate and much nicer looking. SkyUI also adds a Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) which allows for mod authors to create their own MCM. The Mod Configuration Menu was a standalone mod for Fallout: New Vegas, that was then adapted and incorporated into SkyUI. It allows for aspects of a mod to be tweaked in game (ie changing the frequency of dragon attacks in the Deadly Dragons MCM). None of this would be possible without SKSE.
  • Memory Patch: The second, and possibly most important reason to get SKSE is for the memory patch it employs. Originally developed by Sheson as a standalone memory patch, the SKSE team saw it as so essential, that they incorporated it into the 1.7 build of SKSE.
    • Explanation of Memory Patch: The way Skyrim's engine allocates memory is, in a word, broken. When Skyrim starts it is supposed to allocate an initial memory block of 256MB, and a scrap memory block of 256MB. The idea is that when the primary block gets full it is supposed to allocate a new block. This is where things go wrong. In a vanilla game that primary block never seems to reach the 256MB limit, but as you can imagine, when you start throwing mods on top of it you creep closer and closer. Once that 256MB limit is reached the game CTD's instead of allocating a new block like it's supposed to. As I said...broken. What the memory patch does is it changes the value of the initial memory block allocation to 512MB, that way the game never has to allocate the next block. (with a mod list of 200+ mods my memory blocks log showed that the first block would usually peak around 290MB-310MB. Higher than the original 256MB would allow but nowhere even close to the new 512MB limit). This allows more assets to be added to the game and simply increases stability across the board.
    • If you want/need a visual explanation of why the memory patch is so important watch these two sections of Gopher's video showing the game BEFORE the memory patch, and AFTER the memory patch.

Installation and Using SKSE:
SKSE DOWNLOAD

Install SKSE:

  • Create a new folder in your "Skyrim Modding" folder and name it "SKSE"

  • Download the Installer for SKSE 1.7.3 (absolutely make sure it is 1.7.3) into the "SKSE" folder.

  • Run the SKSE Installer and make sure it points the main Skyrim directory! (SKSE will not work if its files are not in the Skyrim directory)

  • Open your launcher menu in MO and add the skse_loader.exe (located in your main Skyrim directory)

This is how you will launch Skyrim from now on! Not through Steam! Not through TESV.exe!
ONLY through the SKSE Launcher via Mod Organizer!

(Tip: If/when the day comes that you are finally done messing with your mod list and don't want to launch MO every time you want to play you can select SKSE from MO's Launcher Menu and then select the "shortcut" button below the "Run" button to send a shortcut to your place of choice. You can then use that shortcut to launch SKSE through MO without the extra steps)

Activate Memory Patch:

  • Navigate to your main Skyrim Data directory (installpath/steamapps/common/Skyrim/Data)

  • In your Data folder create a new folder and name it SKSE.

  • In the new SKSE folder, right-click, and "Create new text document..."

  • Rename the new text document to skse.ini
    (make sure you are changing the file extension and not just naming it skse.ini.txt. If you don't know how to show file extensions, watch this quick tutorial on showing file extensions in Windows: How To Show File Extensions

  • Open the new skse.ini and copy/paste these lines into it:

[General]
EnableDiagnostics=1
ClearInvalidRegistrations=1

[Display]
iTintTextureResolution=2048

[Memory]
DefaultHeapInitialAllocMB=768
ScrapHeapSizeMB=256

  • Save the skse.ini file. Done! You now have the memory patch!
    Yes the DefaultHeapInitialAllocMB should be 768. The way this version works is that value represents the total between the primary block and the scrap block. (Total)-(Scrap Block)=(Primary Block) so, 768-256=512

ENBoost

WARNING: ENBOOST DOES NOT WORK ON ALL SYSTEMS!!! THERE ARE A LOT OF ISSUES THAT CAN CAUSE ENBOOST NOT TO WORK. PLEASE DON'T ASK ME WHAT THE PROBLEM IS IF YOUR GAME WON'T LAUNCH WITH ENBOOST INSTALLED. I AM HAPPY TO TROUBLESHOOT ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS GUIDE WITH YOU, BUT FOR ENBOOST PLEASE EITHER MAKE A POST OR HEAD OVER TO THE ENBDEV.COM FORUMS. THANKS :)

Overview:

  • ENBseries is a post-processing and shader effects overlay template. I will not be going into the details of what that means, as it is far beyond the scope of this guide (if you wish to understand more a simple Google search will yield some good information). In a nutshell it it allows people to create ENB presets that add things like Depth of Field, Ambient Occlusion, Subsurface Scattering and other complex post processing visual enhancements. For now all you need to worry about is ENBoost which is a feature that comes with all the current ENBseries downloads. You can read the guide for ENB Preset Management here once you've completed this guide and if you plan on using ENB visuals in your game.

  • ENBoost changes the way Skyrim manages it's VRAM usage. Skyrim by default does a pretty bad job of VRAM management and since texture/lighting/ENBpreset mods rely very heavily on VRAM. I'm sure you can understand why this patch is beneficial. This patch is recommended even if you don't plan on using an ENB preset!

Why It's Important:
As previously mentioned, Skyrim does a subpar job of it's VRAM management. Again, going into the details of how exactly ENBoost alters that management system is beyond the scope of this guide. Suffice it to say that if you plan on doing even the slightest bit of graphic modding then you should have ENBoost. If you are interested in learning more about the inner workings of ENBoost the information is out there and Google is your friend :)

Installation and Using ENBoost:
ENBSERIES DOWNLOAD
This is a bit different than anything we've done so far. As I mentioned, ENBoost is included in all the most recent ENBseries binaries.

  • If you are running Windows 10 please download and install the DirectX End User Runtime. Win10 doesn't bother installing older versions of DX and without this your game will crash at launch.

  • Create a new folder inside your "Skyrim Modding" folder and name it "ENB Manager"

  • Create a new folder inside the "ENB Manager" folder and name it "Versions"
    This is where you will download any ENBseries versions you might need in the future

  • Create a new folder inside the "Versions" folder and name it "xxx" (Where x is the version number. Do this for every new version of ENBseries you download. For example if I downloaded ENBseries v0.283 I would create a "283" folder in my "Versions" folder)

  • Click the link above to get the latest ENBseries version (The versions are listed at the bottom of the page. Click the latest version to enter the download page for that version)
    IMPORTANT: The download button is all the way at the bottom of the page for the version you choose! It is a very small black arrow in a box! Do NOT click any other "download" links on the page!

  • Download the archive to the newly created folder "Skyrim Modding/ENB Manager/Versions/2xx"

  • Once downloaded, right-click the ENBseries archive and select "Extract Here..."

  • Open the Wrapper Version folder and select ONLY these files:
    enbhost.exe
    enblocal.ini
    d3d9.dll

  • Copy and paste these three files into your main Skyrim directory

  • Open the enblocal.ini and edit the values according to this page

Wrye Bash

Overview:
Wrye Bash is, at it's core, another mod manager, however we will not be using it as such. Even though we aren't using it as a mod manager, it still an essential tool as it provides something that no other utility can: the Bashed Patch.

First a brief explanation of Skyrim's leveled list. Skyrim decides what equipment an enemy will use, and what you find in dungeon chests/etc, by giving them a random selection from a list of items based on level. These lists are called a "Leveled Lists". As you add mods with weapons/armor/spells/etc they are then added to the leveled lists for distribution in the game.

Why It's Important:
As mentioned, when you add mods that add items or new bad guys those are added to the leveled lists. The issue here is the rule of one - when one mod adds something to the leveled list, and then another mod comes along and adds something else to the same leveled lists, only the changes from the second mod in the load order are taken into account. If you have a lot of mods adding stuff to the same leveled lists (like if they all add a sword for example), you still only get the changes from one mod. This is a common type of conflict - definitely not the only kind! - and Bash merges this kind of conflict really well into one patch for all mods that add things to the leveled list. A Bashed Patch analyzes mods in your load order and with the assistance of LOOT it figures out whether they're changing something it can patch, based on tags added by the mod author or in the LOOT API. It uses these tags to create the patch.

Installation and Using Wrye Bash:
WRYE BASH DOWNLOAD

Install:

  • Navigate to the "Skyrim Modding" folder and create a new folder called "Wrye Bash"

  • Manually download the installer into the "Wrye Bash" folder.

  • Run the installer and point it to your Skyrim game folder.
    Make sure the boxes for "Install for Skyrim" and "Standalone" are checked.
    Doing this will create a folder titled "Mopy" in the Skyrim directory.
    This is the Wrye Bash folder and home to Wrye Bash.exe

  • Add the .exe to the MO Launcher Menu

Using Wrye Bash:

  • Launch Wrye Bash from MO

  • At the bottom of your Load Order you will see a "Bashed Patch, 0.esp", right-click it and select "Rebuild Patch" from the menu.

  • Only enable "Leveled Lists" (uncheck all other boxes)
    (if it prompts you to select patches to merge with a popup, select "Skip". Do NOT deactivate the patches as it tells you to. Just skip...If it didn't prompt you, but you see "Merge Patches" enabled in the Rebuild Patch window disable that now. Merged Patches are better done in TES5edit)

  • Select "Build Patch"

  • Wrye Bash will now produce a small log indicating the changes it made to leveled lists and your mods

  • Upon exiting Wrye Bash you will find the newly created Bashed Patch, 0.esp in your Plugins window and a Bashed Patch 0 mod in your mod list.
    If you do not see the Bashed Patch in your mod list: Check the overwrite folder at the bottom of the mod list. Inside you will find the Bashed Patch 0.esp and a Docs folder. Close the overwrite folder, right-click it, and select "Create Mod". Name it Bashed Patch.

  • Place both of these at the bottom of their respective lists. ALWAYS. ALWAYS AT THE BOTTOM!!! (until you start using SkyProc patchers..which you aren't right now...so ALWAYS AT THE BOTTOM!!!)

TES5Edit

Overview:
This is one of the most powerful modding tools that the community has to offer, allowing one to really open up a mod and dig into the inner mechanics. For now we will just be using it for two things , and that is cleaning "dirty edits" from the master files (update.esm and DLCs) and creating a Merged Patch. For a fully in-depth overview of TES5edit you can read the FNVEdit Training Manual (xEdit across different games still has the same functions and uses so the manual is still applicable despite the name)

Why It's Important:

We'll be cleaning two types of records from our master files.

Identical to Master Records: Henceforth referred to as ITMs. These are records within the Update.esm and DLC .esm files that are identical to a record in Skyrim.esm (the base game). These won't necessarily cause any harm, but they are completely redundant and taking up space. So we're going to remove them.

Deleted References: Henceforth referred to as UDRs. While someone at Bethesda was creating something they decided "Nah I don't want this thing here" and deleted the reference, rather than marking it as disabled. In an unmodded game this doesn't pose any issues. The potential risk comes from a mod trying to reference one of these deleted references...which could result in a whole mess of problems as one can imagine. It's pretty rare that a mod would reference one of these deleted references but we're going to undelete them and mark them as disabled, removing any possible risk.

In regards to a Merged Patch: This acts as a master patch for your entire load order. Sometimes mods need specific patches to resolve conflicts. A merged patch is essentially one massive patch that reads your entire load order and attempts to fix conflicts.

Install:
TES5EDIT DOWNLOAD

  • Create a new folder in the "Skyrim Modding" folder and name it "TES5edit"

  • Manually download the archive into the "TES5edit" folder.

  • Extract the contents of the archive

  • Add the .exe to the MO Launcher Menu

Clean your Masters:

  1. Navigate to /steamapps/common/Skyrim/Mod Organizer/mods

  2. Right-click anywhere and select "New..." and make a new Folder. Name it "TES5Edit Backups"

  3. Launch Mod Organizer and then launch TES5edit through MO

  4. Select only Update.esm and let it load
    (THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT! Only clean ONE file at a time! Trying to clean all your masters at once can cause TES5edit to short-circuit and break something!)

  5. Right-click Update.esm and select "Apply Filter for Cleaning"

  6. Right-click Update.esm and select "Remove Identical to Master Records". Yes you are sure what you are doing! (to the warning that pops up)

  7. Right-click Update.esm and select "Undelete and Disable References"

  8. Close TES5edit and when prompted check the box to create a backup, make sure the file you just cleaned is checked, and then hit Save
    (The cleaned master will now be in your overwrite folder, along with a folder called TES5Edit Backups containing the original uncleaned version of Update.esm)

  9. Open MO again and drag the TES5Edit Backups folder out of Overwrite (located at the bottom of the mod list) and into the new TES5edit Backups "mod" you created in step 2
    (leave the TES5edit Backups mod unchecked/disabled)

  10. Right-click the Overwrite folder (which should now just contain the clean Update.esm) and select "Create Mod". Name it "Update - Clean". ACTIVATE THE MOD* and move the plugin file in the correct place in the load order.
    You can also just move the files from the overwrite folder into the Skyrim\data folder, but if you do that then if you ever verify local files in steam you will need to re-clean the files.

Repeat steps 3 - 10 for Dawnguard.esm, Hearthfires.esm, and Dragonborn.esm

Once you have cleaned the Update and DLCs, activate them all in the left pane of MO.

Sidenote: The overwrite is where MO puts files when it doesn't know what to do with them, so that the user can decide for themselves what should be done. Best practice is to keep the overwrite clean. So if a mod ever drops a file in the overwrite it's a good idea to figure out which mod the file comes from and then drag that file(s)/folder(s) to the associated mod and drop it in.

Create a merged patch:

Given that you have no mods right now this won't really do anything, but the more your mod list grows the more important it becomes to have a merged patch and learn to edit it by hand. We'll walk through the steps as sort of "practice run". When you actually have a full mod-list you will want to rebuild this.

  • Launch TES5edit

  • Make sure ALL your mods are selected

  • When all the mods are done loading, right-click any mod and select "Other" --> "Create Merged Patch"

  • Click OK when the warning pops up and then name it "tes5merged"

  • Once the merged patch is created you can, if you wish, double click it to drop open its contents. Here you can adjust things by hand.
    This takes some practice but it's a great way to learn what mods are doing internally and being able to create your own patches to fix conflicts.
    I will eventually be making a video to accompany this section and go over some simple editing. Note that at this point, with no other mods installed, your merged patch will not contain anything! It resolves conflicts in mods. No mods = no conflicts to resolve

  • When you are satisfied with your tes5merged.esp, close TES5edit and save only the TES5merged.esp (DON'T SAVE CHANGES TO ANY OTHER MODS!)

  • You should now find the tes5merged.esp in your overwrite folder as well as another backups folder

  • Move the backups folder to the backups "mod" you created

  • Right-click the overwrite and select "Create Mod". Name it "Merged Patch" (if you have multiple profiles name it "Merged Patch - ProfileName")

Installing Mods

You made it over the first mountain on your journey towards a modded Skyrim! Take a minute to revel in the glory! Drink some mead! Punch Nazeem! Shout a mudcrab off a cliff! Dance a jig in the name of Uncle Sheo! Once you're done celebrating let's go over a few good practices and install a few mods to get you started!

First a few tips:

  • Always ALWAYS read a mods description page. Twice. Then maybe a third time. Make sure you completely understand what the mod does, how to install it, what it's compatibilities are, etc. If you don't take the time to really understand it chances are it will be your fault when it breaks.

  • Always download from the Files tab on the Nexus page. This is a big one. The "Download (NMM)" button at the top of the description page will only grab one main file. Looking at the Files tab allows you to see if there are multiple options for a main file, as well as any patches and add-ons you may want/need.

  • Check the Posts tab. This will give you an idea of what other people are saying about the mod. Is it incredibly buggy? Does it only have a few issues? Are those issues easily resolved? Does it simply work amazingly? The Posts tab will give you these insights.

Got it? Good! Let's start with the most essential mods for Skyrim:

The Unofficial Patches:
Even if you used no other mods you should be using these, as they fix thousands of bugs in vanilla Skyrim and it's DLCs.
There is an unofficial patch for the base game and each DLC.

There is also a Legendary version which you should use if you have all the DLC.

I'll break up the instructions for this without all the DLC and those with all the DLC (aka Legendary version.)
Even if you bought all the DLC separately you meet the requirements for any mods that are for the Legendary version of the game.

NO DLC / SOME DLC

If you do not own all the DLC (or any DLC) follow these instructions.

Everyone should download the Unofficial Skyrim Patch (makes sense right?)
Additionally, you should grab whichever patches apply to the DLC you own.
(Again, if you own ALL the DLC move on to the next section)

Note that these now say they are "unsupported"! This does NOT mean they are broken in any way. They still fix thousands upon thousands of bugs. Unsupported refers to the fact that any new fixes will only be applied to the Legendary patch. These are no longer updated. Another good incentive to grab the Legendary Edition on a Steam sale! (that and it will make modding a lot easier for you in many ways...like being able to use one file from a mod instead of 3 or 4)

Once you have downloaded and installed the Unofficial Patches you need, run LOOT. It should sort each patch directly after its corresponding DLC like so:

  1. Skyrim.esm
  2. Update.esm
  3. Unoffical Skyrim Patch.esp
  4. Dawnguard.esm
  5. Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp
  6. Hearthfire.esm
  7. Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp
  8. Dragonborn.esm
  9. Unofficial Dragonborn Patch.esp
  10. All Other Mods

In your Mod List, reorder the Unofficial Patches to match this Load Order.

Done! You can move down to the next mod in the list!

ALL DLC / LEGENDARY EDITION

First step is to download everything we need. This includes the Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch, all the individual patches, and the USLEEP Swap Masters Script.

The way it works is like this...

Before the individual patches were merged into the legendary patch quite a few mods listed the individual patches as masters.
A mod won't load without it's master, resulting in a Crash To Desktop (CTD) as soon as you try to load the game.

Thankfully most mod authors switched their dependency to list USLEEP as a master instead of the individual patches!

That being said, occasionally you may find a mod who's author is no longer active that relies on one of the older individual patches.
This is where the Swap Masters Script I link to comes in handy. Using that script in TES5edit, you can change a mod to rely on USLEEP instead!

  • Install the individual patches but don't enable them.
  • Install USLEEP and enable it.
  • Install the USLEEP Swap Masters script following these steps:
    • Create a new folder in your "Skyrim Modding" folder. Name it "Swap Masters Script"
    • Download the archive from the Nexus page to the Swap Masters Script folder you created.
    • Use 7zip or WinRar to extract the archives contents.
    • Copy/paste the two loose text documents in the same folder as the TES5Edit executable. (or it will generate them, which is also fine)
    • Copy/paste the included "Edit Scripts" folder in the same folder as the TES5Edit executable. When it asks you to replace or merge, select merge to merge it with the existing Edit Scripts folder.

If you have a mod that is missing a master, MO will put a red warning flag next to its plugin, and the warning flag in the top of MO will turn red.
You can hover over the plugin to see what master plugin it needs.
If it lists one of the individual patches, follow the [USAGE] directions for the Swap Masters Script to change it to list USLEEP as a master instead.

As far as load order and mod list; place USLEEP below all other official plugins like so:

  1. Skyrim.esm
  2. Update.esm
  3. Dawnguard.esm
  4. Hearthfire.esm
  5. Dragonborn.esm
  6. Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.esm
  7. All Other Mods

In your Mod List, reorder these files to match the Load Order.

Hi-Res DLC

If you have the Hi-Res DLC you can also grab the UHRP:

Place the HRDLC and this patch below any other DLC/Unofficial Patches.

Honestly though, we recommend the Optimized Vanilla Textures. There is a version for the HRDLC and the Standard textures. Basically, this mod optimizes the original textures so that there is no difference in visual quality but improved performance through less vram usage.

On to the next mod!

SkyUI:
Next let's grab another very important mod, the mighty SkyUI!
This mod not only vastly improves the User Interface (menus and such) for PC gamers, but also brings us the Mod Configuration Menu (MCM) which many other mods utilize to give you in-game control over various mod settings! The MCM is truly what makes this mod absolutely essential.

Thankfully, it's installation is ridiculously easy.

  • Download SkyUI
  • When it is finished downloading, double-click to install
  • Don't investigate just yet or I'll lose you! You're almost there! Once you hit the end you can check out your sleek new User Interface :)

Let's grab a few more just so we can deal with some different types of installation and downloading practices.
Unlike the Unofficial Patches and SkyUI, these are not essential and you are free to remove them after installing.
I just want to go over these so you are comfortable with some different steps you may encounter during installation of a mod.

FOMOD Installers:

For this example we will be using Static Mesh Improvement Mod (SMIM)
This mod aims to improve a megaton of Skyrims blocky meshes, by increasing their polygon count, thus adding much more detail. See the full description and images for a better idea.

  • Download SMIM
    (This is a BIG download. It will take awhile. Go get some coffee and check back in 10 min)
  • Double-click to install. The fomod installer should pop up. Choose the Custom option.
  • You will now be lead through a series of options asking you to choose which aspects of SMIM you want to install. Some have multiple choices so look at the images and decide what you like and what will perform well for you!
  • You've just installed a mod with a FOMOD for the first time! Yay!

No Game Data On Top Level:

For this example we will cover how to install a mod that is not packaged in a way that MO recognizes.

  • Download Sun Rune
  • Double-click to install and you will be met with a window showing the contents of the mod.
  • Notice the note at the bottom in red that says "No game data on top level". Let's put some game data on that top level!
  • Click the arrow next to the Sun Rune folder to expand it.
  • Right-click the Data folder and select "Set Data Directory"
  • You'll notice the message at the bottom changed to "Looks Good!". Click OK to finish installation.

Up until the release of Mod Organizer mods always went into the actual Data folder (steamapps/common/Skyrim/Data). Mod Organizer needs its mods to mimic this file path.
So for instance a mod that retextured mountain textures would have placed its new textures in "steamapps/common/Skyrim/Data/textures/landscape/mountains".
If you navigate to the Mod Organizer mods folder and open the same landscape retexture you would see the file path "Mod Organizer/mods/[Name Of Mod]/textures/landscape/mountains/[all the texture files]"

MO essentially needs to "trick" the game into thinking these mods are in the actual data folder. This means that the file paths within the mod must mimic the Data folder file paths. When there is "no game data on the top level" this means that MO doesn't recognize the file structure as one that will work. By setting the data directory you are saying "This is the top level and all the folders/files inside are in the correct place with the correct names"

Moving on!

The Files Tab:

As I said in the beginning of this section, it's always better to download from the Files tab as opposed to the "Download (NMM)" button at the top of the description page. For this example we will look at the Files tab for SkyFalls and SkyMills

  • First you will notice there are two main files. The first is just the files themselves and the second is a FOMOD installer. The author gives a brief description of each with his recommendation.

  • In the next section you will find Optional files. These are various add-ons for the DLC and other major landscape mods, as well as a few add-ons that adjust to the look of the waterfalls and windmills for personal preference.

  • Finally, in the next section, you will find Miscellaneous files. Read the notes next to each file to see what it's about!

By clicking the "Download (NMM)" button at the top of the description page you would have missed the all these optional add-ons and patches!
Always check the Files tab!
(You can still use the "Download with Manager" button, just use the ones associated with each individual file on the Files Tab instead of the one at the top of the page)

DONE!!!

From here you have all the necessary tools, and should you know how to you use them for a fluid modding experience.
I will take this last opportunity, while I have your attention, to say:
READ EVERYTHING SERIOUSLY I'M NOT JOKING. :).
Then...read it again.
Sometimes we miss a small detail that can solve a problem.
Look for compatibility patches. (Sometimes they are completely seperate mods and not included in the Files tab for the main mod)
Search the Files tab on a mod's Nexus page for optional files (patches or other optionals).
Read the Posts tab to find out what others are saying about the mod.
RUN LOOT EVERY TIME YOU ADD AN .ESM/.ESP.
Don't forget to come back the USLEEP Swap Masters Script Page if you are using USLEEP!!!
Rebuild your Bashed Patch every time you add a mod that adds items. If you're not sure...Rebuild. Better safe than sorry! :).
Rebuild your Merged Patch as necessary as well!
DO YOUR RESEARCH! You don’t want to be that guy that asks a question that is easily answered through a Google search or reading a mod’s description. Don’t make others do the easy work for you! It’s a respect thing! :)

When you do post, whether it be to ask for help, make a request, or something else entirely:

READ THE POSTING RULES OR ALDUIN HIMSELF SHALL FEAST UPON YOUR PATHETIC MORTAL SOUL FOR THE REST OF TIME

...and finally THANK YOU for taking the time to read this and work through it. We look forward to seeing new modders get involved with the community and hopefully this guide can help make that an easier process!

Looking for recommendations on where to start? Try our community curated list of essential mods!

revision by Nazenn— ソースを見る