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v2.0 is now live! I will also have a new video on the mod page soon to demo the new heavy storms. Many FormIDs have changed for the extra non-vanilla weathers, so any 3rd-party patches may need to be rebuilt.

Thanks for all the work in the guide, just wanted to mention that im following the changelog to update to 2.3 and noticed that "Moon and Star - CC Consistency and Immersion" and "Moon and Star - Cleaned Fixed and ESMed" are not in the changelog for Patches

The following time-saving procedure allows for adding new worldspaces to an existing grass cache, or for updating the current grass cache of specific worldspaces, without re-generating the cache of all worldspaces from scratch, which as we all know can be a very time-consuming process. This is not a guide about precaching grass from scratch with NGIO. It is assumed you have already precached grass with NGIO successfully at least once, and know how to repeat the operation. The procedure assumes Mod Organizer 2 is used as the mod manager. IMPORTANT: Grass Cache Helper NG is required for Skyrim SE/AE 1.6.x players. The existing grass cache must have been generated with Grass Cache Helper NG activated, and it must remain activated at all times for incremental precaching, and for playing. Step 1: Note the Editor ID of the worldspace(s) you want to add or update. Figuring out which worldspace(s) and their Editor ID is a task left up to the reader. See some suggestions at the end about finding out this information. Step 2: EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Disable your existing grass cache mod[1] on the left side of MO2. Failure to do so will wipe out the entire grass cache during the later steps, which will then need to be exhaustively re-generated from scratch, which would make this tip completely pointless. Step 3: Edit NGIO configuration and specify the list of worldspaces to add or update. The NGIO configuration file is [..]\NetScriptFramework\Plugins\GrassControl.config.txt. Edit it with a text editor. You may want to make a backup copy of that file before editing it. Search for 'OnlyPregenerateWorldSpaces' or scroll down until you see it. Then comment out the line by prepending it with a # character. Add a new line like this, containing the Editor IDs you gathered in Step 1: OnlyPregenerateWorldSpaces = "Worldspace1EditorID;Worldspace2EditorID;Worldspace3EditorID" The list of worldspace(s) to add or update must be enclosed in double quotes, multiple Editor IDs separated by semicolon. Example showing the result of editing and specifying only one worldspace: Step 4: Launch the NGIO precaching process from MO2 as usual. You may need to make preparations[2] specific to your mod setup before launching the process. The process should only take a few minutes[3], more or less depending on the number and size of specified worldspaces. Wait until it completes successfully. Step 5: Move the grass folder from MO2's Overwrite folder to your existing grass cache mod. If you are updating the grass cache of worldspace(s), you will be prompted to confirm replacing the existing cache files with the new ones. Step 6: Undo the NGIO configuration changes you made in Step 3. If you made a backup copy of GrassControl.config.txt as suggested, simply restore it. If you added new worldspace(s), don't forget to edit GrassControl.config.txt and append their Editor ID to the existing OnlyPregenerateWorldSpaces line. Otherwise they'll be missing the next time you re-generate the entire grass cache from scratch. Step 7: Re-enable your grass cache mod on the left side of MO2. That's it. Enjoy[4] your updated or added grass. Notes [1] Your existing grass cache mod is the mod containing the grass folder, not the mod containing NGIO (inside a NetScriptFramework folder). If you have merged both mods, then you're doing it wrong. Split them into two separate mods. [2] Preparations such as reducing Skyrim's display resolution, disabling mods that may interfere with the precaching process, switching environments/profiles... Anything that had to be done when generating from scratch. [3] If you're updating Tamriel (Skyrim's main worldspace), the largest of all worldspaces, it will take quite a while, but it will still be faster to process it individually than processing all worldspaces in the entire load order. [4] You're not yet completely done if you use the grass cache for grass LODs. You'll need to (re-)generate LODs with DynDOLOD for the specific worldspace(s) you added or updated. Refer to the official DynDOLOD documentation for details: Updating or Updating. How to find out the Editor ID of worldspace(s) with grass Method 1: Recommended when adding new worldspace(s) for its accuracy. Requires xEdit, basic knowledge of its operation, and Worldspaces with Grass SSEEdit Script for No Grass In Objects. Install 'Worldspaces with Grass SSEEdit Script for No Grass In Objects' as instructed on its mod page. Load up in xEdit the plugins of the mods adding new lands, as well as any grass/landscape mod plugins. Omit other plugins. Run the 'List worldspaces with grass' script. When it's done, copy the resulting list and paste it to some place where you can edit it. Remove all vanilla worldspaces from the list. The remaining worldspaces are the new ones with grass. Example with Wyrmstooth: AlftandWorld;Blackreach;BloatedMansGrottoWorld;BluePalaceWingWorld;DarkwaterWorld;DeepwoodRedoubtWorld;Dimfrost;EastEmpireWarehouse;FallowstoneCaveWorldEnd;FallowstoneCaveWorldStart;FrostmereCryptWorld;JaphetsFollyWorld;KarthspireRedoubtWorld;KatariahWorld;LabyrinthianWorld03;LabyrinthianWorld04;MarkarthWorld;RedEagleRedoubtWorld;RiftenWorld;ShadowgreenCavernWorld;SkuldafnWorld;SolitudeWorld;Sovngarde;Tamriel;WhiterunDragonsreachWorld;WhiterunWorld;WindhelmPitWorldspace;WindhelmWorld;WyrmstoothWorld Method 2: Suitable when adding or updating worldspace(s). Physically go to the place in-game where there is already grass to be updated or where there should be grass to be added. Use fast-travel, coc or cow console commands, whatever works to get there. Open the (More Informative) Console and press the Tab key until the Worldspace & Cell information card is displayed. Ctrl+Click the 'World Space' field in the information card, to display more details. Note the Editor ID. See following screenshot for illustration: Method 3: When adding new worldspace(s), less accurate than Method 1. Requires xEdit and basic knowledge of its operation. Load up the plugin of the mod adding new lands in xEdit. Expand the Worldspace node. Select a new worldspace entry (i.e. not vanilla), and check the 'DATA - Flags (sorted)' section on the right panel. If it contains 'No Grass' then skip it, go to step 6. Otherwise note its Editor ID. Repeat from step 3 for each new worldspace entry. Illustrated example showing the first two worldspaces from Beyond Reach:

Having played many many hours with this mod without any issues after dumping FIZZLE, I'd strongly recommend it. It's very lightweight compared to FIZZLE, as its script runs only when casting spells vs. FIZZLE's cloak spell script which runs "constantly". It doesn't have the various compatibility and performance issues carried by cloak spell-based distribution to NPCs. Its user experience for new users is also superior to FIZZLE: a spellcasting failure is indicated by a "puff" of colored smoke (different color depending on spell type) around the player (or the NPC), which is easily noticeable even in first-person view. Whereas with FIZZLE a failure is indicated by a small audio "click" and nothing else happens. I found that FIZZLE feedback quite confusing and it was difficult to notice what was happening when I started playing with FIZZLE. It has its own formula for calculating the chances of success/failure which is not the same as FIZZLE's so the experience may feel different at first for users accustomed to FIZZLE. But the idea is the same: trying to cast higher level spells than skill levels may fail, the chances of failure increasing the higher the level difference. I was using a different mod than EEOS in my playthroughs to distribute spells to NPCs so I can't speak to how well this mod works with EEOS in regards to NPCs trying and failing or succeeding to cast spells in a pure STEP setup. Note: I'm not currently playing or even running Skyrim these days, haven't been for the past 6 months or so, and don't intend to return to it for quite a while, if ever. I just thought I'd chime in in favor of this mod, which is quite underrated IMHO. There are not many mods that do this kind of thing it seems. Last I checked there were 3 mods: FIZZLE, this one and another one that I don't remember. This mod also exists in a "full featured" version by the same MA, with more options and features, and a much more "sophisticated" behavior (not recommended for STEP). My 2 cents, hope they help. Cheers.

Great work on getting that updated!

Good day good STEP-people! So we had a game update and there will be some problem follow the guide as is. - SKSE is updated. According to ianpatt on Nexus SKSE page BGS will update the game again soon so no hurry updating/reinstalling stuff. - The game update has caused some issues with SkyUI (same post on Nexus SKSE page as above) I am in the middle off an actuall playtrough so i will wait with the updates.

Illustrated practical demonstration of the engine's handling of temporary references in ESM vs. ESP plugins For mod authors and advanced mod users. TLDR: Skip to the Summary section further down. Part 1: The initial (vanilla) state We're in Markarth, in front of the stables. Let's look at a few objects: the door, a handcart, and a hay bale: Notice the console shows a Textures field for all the references. This indicates the textures are loaded and the object is rendered. The door is a persistent reference because it's used with navmeshes for NPCs, among other things. The other objects are temporary references. The door is only interesting as a point of temporary/persistent comparison later on. Part 2: The demonstration plugin Now let's make a simple plugin for an hypothetical mod. We're going to permanently disable the handcart, make the hay bale bigger, and place a new small hay bale: So the plugin overrides two vanilla references and adds a new reference. We've also given each reference an Editor ID to more easily look them up. Let's go take a look at the changes in-game with our new plugin enabled. The handcart is disabled and no longer visible, the existing hay bale has grown in size, and there is a new small hay bale not far from it: For the next tests, we'll be moving to Winterhold, far, far away at the opposite end of the map. In Winterhold, the cells we were in in Markarth (i.e. the active grid) won't be active any more. Part 3: Engine handling with an ESM plugin The demonstration plugin is ESM-flagged. This is how Bethesda intended things to be based on how the engine is designed and behaves in Skyrim SE. Let's look at our references from Winterhold. First the door. The door is still there, despite it being in Markarth and us in Wintherhold, as expected since it's a persistent reference. But note the Textures field is no longer present, meaning the door while still being loaded in the game, is no longer rendered. It all makes sense. As for all the other references, they can't be found. They're no longer loaded in the game at all. It all makes sense again, since they're temporary in a cell outside Markarth and we're in Winterhold: Part 4: Engine handling with an ESP plugin We remove the ESM flag from the demonstration plugin. This is how 99% of all mods made and released by mod authors are. Let's again look at our references from Winterhold: Surprise! They're all found. They're all loaded (but not rendered, as they have no Textures field). They're essentially treated like persistent references by the engine. Note that even though the handcart is permanently disabled, it's still loaded. An object that will never ever seen in-game is wasting engine resources. Also note that the hay bale originally defined in Skyrim.esm, but has been overridden by our plugin, is now always loaded. The hay bale is now wasting engine resources. We can even go into the Jar's Longhouse, an interior cell, and they're still there: Summary The Skyrim SE engine is designed to handle (object or actor) references in ESM plugins, not in ESP plugins. References in ESP plugins still "work" but not as intended by Bethesda. Temporary references in ESP plugins essentially behave like persistent references: always loaded in the game, available and reachable globally from anywhere. All temporary references in ESP plugins, whether they are overriding existing temporary references, or newly added references, are affected. Temporary references in ESP plugins contribute to the total amount of loaded references, which has a hard limit. Even though temporary references in ESP plugins don't waste rendering resources, they still consume engine resources, mainly memory. Miscellaneous Notes ESP plugins are bad not only because they're wasteful, but they also hide all the bugs in mods. Since all the references, temporary or persistent, are always loaded, there is no longer a meaningful distinction between persistent and temporary. A temporary reference may be used in the wrong context, it's all fine, it doesn't matter as it's always loaded, it always can be found. The same plugin would be a CTD crashfest if it were ESM, or some things wouldn't work correctly. All Creation Club modules, from the simplest gimmick to the largest content, are released by Bethesda as ESM plugins (.esl is the "light" version of .esm), for a simple reason: it's how plugins are expected to be in Skyrim SE. People can be confused by the term ESM which is commonly associated with game masters, i.e. the core game files (Skyrim.esm, Update.esm, etc.). And so they think it doesn't make sense for a mod or a patch to be ESM, to be a master. The two concepts must be disassociated. Game masters are the core game files, yes. But ESM is something else, it's just a small flag that has no relation with the nature or purpose of the plugin, but has big implications for the engine. Again, Creation Club modules are not core game files, they're Bethesda-approved mods, and yet they are all ESM. There is no downside to plugins being ESM, while ESP plugins exhibit proven disadvantages and deficiencies. Technically, ESM vs. ESP only matters for plugins that add new references or modify existing references. Those that don't can be ESP. Large references are not related to temporary or persistent references. They're a separate feature that is only available, and that is no coincidence, in ESM plugins. ESP plugins that override large references cause visual bugs, which is another reason ESP plugins are a bad idea. In our demonstration above, we only used static object references. The increased resource usage and waste caused by ESP plugins is worse with temporary NPC references (ACHR), because the engine must periodically evaluate and process their AI packages in case they might need to travel somewhere, or do something on a schedule. The engine is optimized to prioritize and refresh the most often the NPCs closest to the player, but it still must check all loaded NPCs from time to time. It's too late now to do anything about it. There's too much legacy with 99% of all existing mods using ESP plugins. Making existing ESP plugins into ESM can be trivial or extremely difficult. Even if some ESP plugins can be made ESM, there is the issue of sort orders and dependencies, particularly with automated sorting tools such as LOOT. This may require that other plugins be made ESM in order to satisfy the dependencies or sorting metarules. Nevertheless, certain kinds of mods which only deal with static (STAT/TREE/FLORA) or moveable static objects (MSTT) - such as tree mods; or landscape clutter mods - can and should be made ESM as they typically add or touch thousands of temporary references. Persistent Location There exists a sparely documented reference attribute named 'Persistent Location' which is extensively used by Bethesda in the vanilla plugins, but is apparently ignored or unknown by mod authors. It seems to be used exclusively with NPC references, so may only be intended to be used with them. It allows a temporary ACHR to become "temporarily" persistent as long as the player is in the specified location. As a reminder, a location (LCTN record) is a "tag" that is applied to specific cells, which together belong to, and form, a geographic location. The Persistent Location is an optimization feature: it avoids making an NPC reference persistent, which creates some overhead for the engine as discussed above, and instead keeps it as a temporary reference while allowing for some advanced NPC behavior across multiple cells, even across interior/exterior cells, while the player is in the geographic location. For example, Adisla, a farmer working at the Hlaalu farm near Windhelm: This minor NPC has advanced AI packages to make her sleep and eat inside, work and wander outside, on a specific schedule. She also has dialogue scenes with other NPCs on the farm. These features require her to be persistent. However her reference is temporary. But the Persistent Location attribute makes her persistent only when the player is in the Hlaalu Farm. Once the player exits the location the reference becomes temporary again, and completely unloads when the player moves further away. Obviously this is only meaningful in ESM plugins. It's completely useless in ESP plugins, since all temporary references are always and everywhere pseudo-persistent.

The main theme in Fallout: New Vegas is letting go. And I have to let go. We are expecting our second child any day now and once the baby gets born I won't have the time to play and curate for quite some time. I can't say how long it will take, I can't even say if I'll make a comeback as a curator, but I know I would like to get back to it one day. On the practical side of things, the guide is currently still in working condition and would probably manage to stay in working order for 3 months or so. If someone wants to take it from here, they are free to do so. After all, that is the way Step modding works. I will keep reading the Feedback thread and providing advice when I can, but I can't make any promises on regularity. I don't want to saound too melodramatic. This is not goodbye, just a call for would-be curators willing to step in. Step is a great community and the FNV Guide has helped me get through taxing times, giving me something to do through the occasional bouts of insomnia. I want to thank the admins for giving me this opportunity (and encouraging my hobby), the guide users for the effort of installing ~300 mods (I hoipe it was worth it) and I hope that someday I will be able to contribute again. P.S. Should have given a longer notice, but I'm hooked up on gaming and was delaying the inevitable in self-denial.

I originally included these notes in my previous post under a spoiler tag, but I'll put them here without as I think they were missed (they included that bit about Bthardamz). In the Tool Setup table, xEdit.exe and xEditQuickAutoClean.exe should be named SSEEdit.exe and SSEEditQuickAutoClean. The collapsible here does refer to them by their original names, as does the System Setup Guide. If they should be renamed, the filename should be changed in both places. SPID no longer has a separate AE file, but instead, a FOMOD. May want to do a FOMOD table like you do for other mods with FOMODs (though it's an easy install, tbh--just the one choice of your game version). Same goes for Simple Offence Suppression. I recall the original version of the guide having instructions for adding mods from .zip, instead of Nexus. I know how to do this, but someone who doesn't might be confused when running into Skyrim Realistic Overhaul, Skyrim Redesigned WIP, and Arthmoor's mods. If these are elsewhere or I've overlooked them, ignore! Enhanced Vanilla Trees' FOMOD collapsible is missing the "Greener Pines" section of the custom FOMOD. Glacier LOD Meshes should have a note on it, like the other Skyrim LE mods, that it is compatible and the warning can be ignored. Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion does not ask me about Skyrim VR--unsure if FOMOD was updated or what. For Tempered Skins for Males, we're free to choose whatever we like. After choosing underwear option A2 however, the files I'm supposed to hide for underwear are not present. Will report back if this breaks something. Butterflies Unchained still lists the CACO patch as necessary--may want to note that it's unnecessary if you haven't installed CACO now that it's optional. Same thing goes for the Kryptopyrs Patch Hub--many of these are for CACO or CCOR or TCIY specifically and aren't necessary if those aren't installed. Could use some organization to reflect this. Same for Vokrii patch--unnecessary if you don't have CACO. It's clear to me, reading the ENBSeries collapsible, that the Step ENB preset files from Nexus should go straight into the root folder, but you may want to say this specifically. (Note from later: the guide does get to this, but it's at the end of the section, in the collapsible for the Post-Processing patch. Maybe have the files placed when the ENB preset is downloaded originally, in the ENBSeries collapsible itself?) All mods added! List of things that are currently listed as "redundant" in case that's helpful: the three DLCs, Majestic Mountains Double-Sided Patch, Battle Ready Candlelight Fixes, Rudy HQ - Bthardamz. Can provide overwrite reports if needed. Items that needed xEdit quick cleaning: SmoothShores.esp, imp_helm_legend.esp

Some notes: CACO has been updated for 1.6.640. Alandtse has developed an alternative to Crash Logger here, also supporting 1.6.640. I was thinking about downgrading to 1.6.353, but I worry that with the majority of these DLL-based mods updated, some will only have 1.6.640 versions available, so I will continue waiting. Thanks for maintaining this list!

Na, I really didn't mean you :) Reading my post again, I see that it can easily be understood that way. What I meant to say is that you are pouring your free time into the STEP project. For others to make passive aggressive statements about how you should best use that time seems inappropriate. Besides, it is also really counter productive. No one obligates you to contribute in a way you do not want to, that's how the Skyrim community works (*hopefully, *mostly, ect. ). You probably contributing to STEP because you are having fun sharing your expertise in the current modding process and building with others. That alone seems like a really good reason to keep things the way they are.

I've updated the mod with some additional customizable settings for the plume.

Keep it simple: just move the XPMSE.esp plugin to 'Optional' on MO2's 'Optional ESPs' tab. No need to hide anything but the plugin, which MO2's Optional conveniently does. The plugin starts hidden quests to set up the MCM and the whole cloak spell thingamajig, which run scripts. Without the plugin, the scripts and MCM interface resources are completely harmless and can stay where they are. If users want to use these features, they can just move the plugin back from 'Optional', without unhiding anything. That's it.

Starting with DynDOLOD Alpha-59 I updated the waterfall rule for Skyrim Special Edition so there is a static LOD model in object LOD Level 4 already. They are slightly moved down and back so it shouldn't z-fight with the full / dynamic LOD models.

For finding a botched mod, do a boolean search. Start by disabling the bottom half of your mods and running again. If it works, enable half of the mods you disabled. If it doesn't, disable half of your remaining mods. It should take nine searches to narrow yourself down to a single culprit mod. Do note that the boolean search is less useful if there is more than one mod causing a problem. But it did allow me to find my botched TK children install in less than ten minutes.

Many thanks to the STEP team and the entire STEP community for all the time and effort you continue to devote to Skyrim and this guide! Just finished following the current 2.3 version and it went rather smoothly. Only in a few places was I initially unsure of the instructions, but after re-reading I was able to proceed confidently and everything seems to be running beautifully so far (though admittedly I haven't done much in this new build yet). I did notice one small omission... the instructions/recommendations for Glacier LOD Meshes do not mention that this is a SkyrimLE mod and to ignore the MO warning indicator, as the guide does for other such mods.

This should be marked as accepted

This mod has a Hotfix uploaded 23 Aug 2024. The guide does not direct the user to download this hotfix.

With the addition of 'Immersive Equipment Displays' to the guide you now seem to have two opposing concepts of display, at least when it comes to quivers/bolts. While 'IED' wants to show everything equipped and favorited, 'Unequip Quiver SE' wants to hide quivers/bolts or only show them in certain conditions. In testing both mods together they worked fine, but depending on conditions akwardly contradicted each other, so I eventually ended up deactivating 'Unequip Quiver SE'. It seems that if a user wants to set all the main conditions of hiding quivers/bolts 'Unequip Quiver SE' does, they can also do so now via setting manually conditions in 'IED' alone, as explained in 'Immersive Equipment Displays - Tutorials and presets', making 'Unequip Quiver SE' redundant in the long run? (There is also a preset available to disable the quiver when a bow or crossbow is not equipped/displayed).

Before: After: By default, Skyrim Character Sheet automatically shows when entering the inventory screen. This obscures the character and the item viewer making it a nuisance. Pressing 0 turns it on or off, however, it should default to off. My ini tweak makes it so that when you enter the inventory screen it doesn't show automatically.

Can we please keep this conversation about the mod and not make it personal. There is no need for that. People have opinions and they don't always match your own. As (supposed) adults we can agree to disagree. On the topic: to me, whether or not SLaWF and USSEP overlap is a non-issue. Skyrim in all it's forms is flawed and both mods aim to fix the flaws. This is what modding the game is about in essence: getting the base game updated/ fixed/ working better. To me most mods that change the LOOK of the game are merely the cherry on top and a matter of personal preference. SLaWF may have started out as "just" a landscape fix, but over time wizkid probably saw other issues that weren't/ still aren't being addressed by USSEP. So he stepped in to fix them. Nothing at all wrong with that. More kudos to him I say. As for the overlap, using STEP as a mod guide and adding mods on top of it, invariably means USSEP/ SLaWF edits are being overwritten by other mods. In my modlist over half of USSEP edits are changed for various reasons, like I don't agree with what USSEP changed or another mod does it better. Again, a matter of personal preference. So in my opinion both these mods complement each other, despite the overlapping scope. Problems are fixed and the game benefits. As to how the overlap is handled is pretty much up to the player. Some will want to keep the USSEP edits and others the SWaLF ones. Everything is easily solved with xEdit, a merged patch and or a wrye bash. In my opinion people should really learn how to use Wrye Bash to fix issues. But that is a whole other discussion.

This should be fixed next Alpha version.

In both cases, the user still needs to install files manually in SSE root folder, and edit the executables in MO2. So no difference in convenience or difficulty of installation and setup. Configuring "Force Load Library" is actually more complex (involves more steps and is more error-prone) than creating a new executable entry for SKSE. Making SKSE a separate executable makes it clear it's SSE + SKSE. Plain SSE remains available as its own executable in the menu, if needed. I reckon plain SSE is of limited value, but it may still be useful for certain vanilla-like testing profiles or for troubleshooting. Edit: Although it's not relevant to the STEP Guide: the NGIO Grass Precacher plugin for MO2 specifically looks for and launches skse64_loader.exe. So removing or omitting it is a bad idea for the grass precaching use case and possibly other use cases.

I wanted to share some Combined Worldspaces for LOD configurations I made for my Skyrim SE game, as a kind of showcase for this wonderful new feature in xLODGen and DynDOLOD. I hope it's useful and instructive. Changelog: Preliminary Remarks There are no restrictions on the use, modification or sharing of the provided configurations. All credit goes to sheson & co. for developing and providing such amazing tools for free. I merely leveraged their capabilities. All screenshots were taken at noon o'clock with Skyrim Clear weather for best visibility. Actual results in-game will vary depending on weather, time of day, lighting & weather mods. I don't know how the combined worldspaces look on the game's 3D map, as I use flat paper maps. They should look ok but may not be visible depending on how much the 3D map can be zoomed or panned. Purpose and Usage Example 1: Wyrmstooth in Skyrim As seen from: Solitude Lighthouse | Coast near Broken Oar Grotto | Fort Hraggstad Tower Analysis: Implementation: Configuration: Example 2: Solstheim in Skyrim As seen from: College of Winterhold Upper Walkway | Snow Veil Sanctum | Near the border with Morrowind The Vvardenfell island and the Red Mountain volcano seen above are not part of the combined worldspaces. They're something else. Implementation: Configuration: Example 3: Skyrim in Solstheim As seen from: Near Fahlbtharz | Atop an unnamed Broken Tower | On the Isle of Basalt Analysis: Implementation: Configuration: Installation Limitations Useful Resources

I was not talking about that, so there's no arguing there. What I meant is that mods like Lucien Lachance AE cater to ES lore-obsessed freaks, which must be extremely few among the STEP user base. Most users likely don't care one bit. Including this mod is odd in that it creates an isolated special case. In order to be ES lore-obsessed freak-friendly, the guide would need to cover similar lore consistency details equally and more comprehensively throughout the game - which is not one of its goals, AFAIK - such as applying the same treatment to Jiub. So instead of making the Spectral Assassin a special case, while other lore consistency details are ignored, this mod and its changes might as well be omitted entirely. The guide then becomes consistent and balanced in how it treats lore details.

Using xLODGen beta 99. Tamriel -20,20 quad was selected for its good mix of hilly terrain, river coast, small islands and marsh. All meshes were generated at Quality 1 (default). Variations: Optimize Unseen OFF, ON, 50, 550, 700. Protect Borders option enabled. I tried to use a view perspective in NifSkope that shows the marsh, riverbed and river shore as much as possible, but rather than a top-down view, something closer to an in-game perspective. Solitude Stables are on the North side, Solitude Docks are in the North-East corner. All sequences are OFF > ON > 50 > 550 > 700. The title in the top left corner of each picture shows which variant is shown. View with water without wireframe View with water with wireframe View without water without wireframe View without water with wireframe

There's a whole 'Lines Expansion' series from the same MA: Bandit Lines Expansion (this mod) Civil War Lines Expansion Forsworn and Thalmor Lines Expansion Vampire Lines Expansion If you like this mod you may want to give the others a try.

Bethesda did this for performance, memory usage reasons. Past the wall is basically just a bit of terrain that does not reach very far with very few references if any. You might notice just a single rock reference placed per cell because of engine reasons. The mod will make much better distance views from inside Markarth. We discussed this long before Special Edition came out. Enabling this used to have noticeable performance impact in Skyrim. Probably less so now. Creating a patch file for for DynDOLOD to set the flag instead of a plugin could probably make this compatible with everything.

Thanks for everyone's work on this guide Just doing an upgrade from 2.1.0 -> 2.2.0 1. Retexture for The Scroll has an FOMOD with a bunch options and they aren't detailed in the guide. 2. Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion has FOMOD instructions with a Skyrim VR Users page. This doesn't exist in the current FOMOD installer. 3. Informed Mail Delivery has multiple main versions each with a FOMOD with multiple options. No instructions are given in the guide. 4. Oxygen Meter has an FOMOD which isn't detailed in the guide. It's just to select game version but you're trying to make this guide idiot-proof, right? 5. Show Player In Menu is in the Changelog but not in the guide.

The mod author responded to vachnic's (ButchDiavolo) post on the mod page. It appears they fixed all the issues we have recently discussed. Downloading now. Yup, confirmed all issues are fixed.

I can download both files added on patreon without an account ...

I'm walkin' here NG 'Conversion of I'm walkin' here by Fudgyduff to CLib-NG to create one .dll file that works in all Skyrim SE versions, including AE 1.6.629+.'

Do not use texconv to generate mipmap for the LOD atlasses. It is the inferior method and will cause mipmap artifacts. A tree LOD texture atlas for which the TreeLODGenerateMipMaps is used and only created when generating standard tree LOD. Ultra tree LOD is LOD for trees done in object LOD, so the ObjectLODGenerateMipMaps applies. The alpha threshold of LOD is fixed to 128 and can not be changed. As explained in the documentation, the alpha threshold from LOD models is used to adjust the texture of the first mipmap / largest resolution of the texture. The mipmaps with lower resolution are derived from this adjusted texture and their alpha adjusted with the AlphaFactor. 0.25 (1/4) is the actual reduction of the resolution for each mipmap. It is the correct value. 3D tree LOD models (and any other other LOD model with alpha) included in DynDOLOD Resources SE expects this value. It also works correctly with the billboards added to the standard tree LOD atlas. Adjusting the alpha threshold in the NIF is the documented method to control "thickness" of alpha textures for ultra tree LOD since many years.

Finished the guide and it looks great and works even though I skipped a few mods. Thanks for the help.

I'll elaborate: I saw sheson's reasonable remark about third party mods and decided to test it in full-vanilla environment (so not even MO2 or SKSE). It turned out that xLODGen works flawlessly in that environment (I just manually launched it outside of MO2 to be sure and used default output to data folder). So I simply compared ACMOS on/off and Vanilla/xLODGen (4 variations total). Turned out it was ACMOS doing something to the textures so not to clutter this thread I went back to that mod's page and asked about it - turned out there's "A Clear Map Of Skyrim - Textures.bsa" which contains worldmapoverray_n.dds and worldmapoverraysnow_n.dds that seem to add this gritty look to textures. DoubleYou recommended I simply delete those files. To quickly test it I hid the archive in MO2 and it worked so I replied here to make it clear that it was my bad. Seems like that was actually the intended look I just didn't like it and thought it was bugged. And again I did read and follow every manual/instruction/guide and my xLODGen files DO override ACMOS as is required in said manuals/instructions/guides. I even posted the order in which my left pane ends just so this question does not arise. It's just that in ACMOS .bsa file those .dds textures are located directly inside the Textures folder while in xLODGen output folder that Texture folder only has subfolders. So xLODGen has nothing to override those files with. TLDR it had nothing to do with xLODGen

I've been using this in my current playthrough (based on a modified STEP 2.0 build), so far so good after ~200 hours. Overlaps/conflicts with: Guard Dialogue Overhaul: I let GDO override it, as sorted by LOOT. TCIY: LOOT sorts correctly so TCIY wins as it should. USSEP: Like the original RDO, this mod uses the vanilla capitalization of words in the spoken lines rather than USSEP's. I don't bother to patch those. Hunters not Bandits: Keep using the version compatible with RDO. ASLAL, AI Overhaul: One or two conflicts here and there in the dialogue conditions with very minor differences. I patched some of them but it's entirely subjective. I've also been using and I'd recommend these dialogue tweak mods which complement or refine RDO and TCIY: Falion is Rude (by Parapets) Misc Dialogue Edits (by GOsteW) More Dialogue Options (by GOsteW) Quiet Arcadia (by Whitefang37) Relaxed Bards (by tarlazo) Relaxed Vendors (by tarlazo) Respect for the Legate (by tarlazo) Scene Tweak - Roggvir's Execution - Restored Dialogue (by AndrealphusVIII) Shut Up Brynjolf (by Whitefang37) Windhelm Segregation - Stay at New Gnisis Cornerclub (by Parapets) Last, I've been using Barely Used Vanilla Actors Recycle Project Special Edition Revamped (by AndrealphusVIII) which can be considered as an alternative to RDO's added NPCs and followers. This takes a different approach, by reusing existing vanilla NPCs and in doing so is simpler, more compatible and better integrated into the vanilla stories and world.

I've recently finished the guide and things are working pretty good for me. I've tested the game a bit before moving on adding other mods and haven't come across any issue.

Uploaded a new DynDOLOD DLL version for Skyrim Special Edition 1.6.353 (Anniversary Edition). It requires SKSE64 2.1.5 or higher.

Just thought I'd share something I make heavy use of in MO2. You can use symbols and emojis (such as many found here for example) in the comments field (that's the small one line box) of a mod's Notes tab as custom flags, and also filter the mod list by these symbols. For example, I use 🧹 to indicate a plugin has been cleaned in xEdit, ⚠️ to indicate I put some important information in the full notes field, 👻 to indicate I hid some files (hey, that was the best thing I could find ), etc.

Hi. For starters i dont use Vortex, i prefer MO2 for Bethesda games... but it should be no different. This is how i do it, very simple (i use Wrye only for the Leveled list and maby Tweaks). 1. Run Wrye Bash 2. See that all plugins are checked. (You could untic such plugins as Dyndolod, FNIS and such but i have never had any issue selecting all plugins.) 3. Right click on Bashed Patch eand select rebuild. 4. Only select Leveled Lists 5. See that Automatic is checked (remove empty sublists should be unchecked) 6.Build Patch 7. Check your new patch in xEdit if needed

No surprise I suppose but this turned out to be very true. There was one thing I forgot to mention: I installed the True 3D Sound for heaphones mod after following your instructions above, and before starting a new game. Silly, I know. It just didn't occur to me because I regarded that mod to be ultra safe and not conflict with anything. Big mistake as it turns out, because I found this in a support post "The DLL file included in this mod caused me to CTD upon starting a new game. Was tearing my hair out trying to figure out what mod it was in MO2, and even on an unmodded game, only to realise it was this. Everything works fine without it installed." followed by: "Actually I'm willing to bet you have Alternate Start - Live Another Life installed. This 3D Sound mod is not compatible with the starting prison cell in that mod, because those cells have some custom sound settings in its ESP that seem to not play well with 3D sound (in my experience normally when having Immersive Sounds Integration installed as well... possibly due to a conflict with that sound mod and the ASLAL cell). Simply rename the DLL, start the game, create your character, leave the starting cell, then name the DLL back to its normal name. Voila! Working 3D Sound. Just be sure to remember to rename the DLL temporarily again if you start another new game. This DLL doesn't affect your save in any way, so it won't harm anything to disable mid-playthrough." That mod is old now by the way. The newer version is Binaural 3D Surround Sound for Headphones - HRTF. But there are two issues with the new version as well: 1. The sound conflict is still there - I got a CTD before arriving in the cell of ASLAL. 2. "Audio Overhaul is not compatible for some users." (from the description page). Issue 1 can easily be avoided by doing the highlighted text above (from the support posts), or by doing like I did; simply wait to install it after leaving the ASLAL prison cell. Issue 2 I have no clue about. I have Audio Overhaul installed (as per the Skyrim SE guide) and I don't have any issues. Yet. The mod can't be installed using MO2 or Vortex. Just like ENB the files have to be manually copied to the Skyrim SE game folder. The files look like this: So the dll file and the hrtf folder containing the mhr files go into the Skyrim SE folder. But they have to be removed every time you want to start a new game (using ASLAL) and then copied back after leaving the cell. At least that's my experience. Just thought I'd mention this here for completeness sake.

My LOD, and map, are gorgeous now. Wow... Thank you. I wish I had looked into xLODGen earlier. The coastlines are accurate. I can see islands I couldn't see before. There's no water z-fighting (Probably thanks to the optimize unseen setting being at the newbie-recommended 550 instead of on?). And of course the LOD is better everywhere else too, but the coastlines make the biggest difference to me. Just... thank you. I'm in awe. The thread is probably mostly filled with support questions... I'm leaving an appreciation comment for a change.