Leaderboard

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.

No problem, That is why STEP is here. It is not only a modding guide for various games, but a repository of knowledge on what is needed to do it. Without the participation of the community it will never expand on that knowledge. All users from beginners to experts are treated a equals and with respect and welcome to ask questions no matter how simple or complex they are.

I've created a MO2 plugin to band-aid this issue. Thanks for information provided here. Plugin just redirects anything that goes to Documents/Skyrim.INI back to Documents/Skyrim Special Edition via MO2 VFS, it's not a real fix but enough to satisfy my OCD for now. https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/144932

I really like Pandora compared to Nemesis. I belive Pandora will be the new standard.

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.

Actually anisotropic filtration not only fixed aspenleaf for me, but also this aqua-blue thing too. I didn't set anisotropic filtration in driver settings on skyrim, because I always thought Skyrim by default have anisotropic filtration, guess i was wrong. In fact, anisotropic filtration fixed all issues of complex grass for me. I suggest that enabling anisotropic filtration (because apparently it is not enabled in skyrim by default) maybe worth putting up in description of Complex Grass in guide.

Maybe you'd like to consider using 'Skyrim Character Sheet', which provides also faction information and more in a custom, SKSE-configurable ingame window.

Using 'Flawed Varla Stones', which were one of the concerns when playing with GIST, are also working fine with YASTM, they are now stackable, separate as they should when one is in use, and re-stack again when all are in the same state.

Hiding that file was not in previously there and it safe to go ahead and do now with the updated EBOQ patches provided. I do not see a issue to use those with a ongoing character.

For the last maby 5-6 years i almost never get further than maby L20 ingame before i rebuild my load order. I play MO2 more than Skyrim. THIS is a good place to put additional guides (addons) for Step Guide. To have different animation/combat directly within the guide will be to messy i think. People already confused by the different Step Patches and the different Post Processing options. But if we do add more animations in the Step Guide, it would be convenient to be very clear what mods adds new animations, and what mods just fixes vanilla.

We need to make one small additional change to the STEP - CR or STEP - Lighting and Weather CR (not sure which this would be for) If you load xEdit and look at SightlessNavFix.esp and conflict check to that file only you will see the lighting mod Ambiance loads before it. The XCLL lighting data you want from Ambiance for FormID 00025195 - Abandoned Cave will lose to SightlessNavFix.esp (Navigator Navmesh Fixes) gaining back the default Skyrim colorspace values.

In case anyone wants to move the oxygen meter widget... As a workaround until this mod gets updated to address the widget X and Y position values not working, I have downloaded and installed an older archived version of the Oxygen Meter 2 mod, 1.0.5. And then downloaded and installed the Oxygen Meter 2 - 1130-1170 Updated DLL mod. This allows me to modify the X and Y values in po3_OxygenMeter2.ini to reposition the widget.

Discussion topic: The Dragonborn's Bestiary by JPSteel2 Wiki Link Collect information about the creatures you encounter, learn their strengths and weaknesses, and keep track of your feats with kill, summon and transformation counters. Adds a new custom menu to the game. SKSE plugin. Requires SPID and KID. Patch for CACO on CACO mod page.

It is safe to ignore. The HD overhaul has an optional 4K Galaxy file that depends on that framework, but none of the main files do.

Discussion topic: Clams and Oysters Clipping Fix by Diego2891 Wiki Link Improves positioning of clams and oysters in Skyrim and Solstheim. Compatibility: it should be compatible with everything because this mod only slightly modifies the position and rotation of clams and oysters. But one thing needs to be clarified: all the changes are based on the size and characteristics of vanilla meshes. Mods that replace original meshes may exhibit even worse clipping effects. My notes: This is based on and requires USSEP. USSEP fixes a few worst cases but this mod comprehensively adjusts the placement of every. single. clam. and. oyster. in the world. Well, not all of them. But many: 700, according to the MA (same MA as Fires and Embers Clipping Fix). That's quite a feat. Comes as a FOMOD with regular ESP or ESL-flagged ESP options. I'm not too bothered by shells sinking into the ground once harvested, which this mod prevents. But I'm annoyed by shells floating in the air or clipping with their surroundings, and this mod fixes that too. Compatibility is to be taken with a grain of salt. If another mod changes the terrain or objects around/under some shells, the results may not be as intended. Ideally that other mod should disable or move the affected shells to fit its own changes and prevent floating/clipping. So it's best to sort this mod high in the load order so that other mods may override it if needed without patching.

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.

Higher values for optimize unseen typically means more vertices/triangles are used for the coastlines, which means less triangles for above ground. What really changes the number of triangles is combing submerged triangles, which happens with when optimize unseen is not off. With graphics cards from the past decade or so, triangle count does not matter as much anymore. Draw calls are unaffected. Moving vertices under water of triangles that cross the water plane causes the triangles to be steeper. This makes the coastlines look geometric. The higher the value, the actual shore line is moved inland to the edge of triangles that are completely above ground. That makes for ugly coastlines close up, that do not align well with the full terrain at the edge and the shift when full terrain replaces it when the cells attach can be visible. With higher optimize unseen values for LOD Level 4, submerged triangles under water are of deleted, leaving holes in the under water terrain. Just combining under water terrain triangles without dropping them or only by a small mount, can make shallow terrain under water worse, since the combined triangles are the height of the under water vertices close to the coast, meaning the surface of the remaining large triangles are not as deep as the original terrain. The entire area in a LOD mesh has a finite number of max 65536 triangles which in this case typically require about half of that number of vertices, the artificial limit of 32768 set by LODGen. For LOD Level 4 it means it is possible to fit the entire full terrain resolution, e.g. quality -1. For the higher LOD levels it means that vertices have to be optimized away. If more vertices are used for coastlines, it means less vertices for the above water terrain, hence the combining of underwater triangles. Quality 2: off, on, 550 The noticeable shift between off/on and 550 is similar to the shift between full terrain and LOD when cells attach/detach. If performance is of concern then "on" already removes the majority of triangles. If that causes more z-fighting, then dropping the under water vertices helps at the expense of geometric non matching coastlines. Since it seems nobody reported issues with the missing terrain, I guess the murky underwater covers that up in most load orders.

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.

I've been using this mod (Warm Text variant) ever since it was released. It set it up a while ago, so my memory is a bit rough. Installation Options FOMOD > Sleep-Wait Menu > Install Sleep-Wait Menu replacer? Yes. The configuration panel is shown twice in a row on the wiki page: FOMOD > HUD Menu > Install HUD? Yes. Should be 'No'. This option doesn't apply to STEP Guide, as it requires SkyHUD, which is currently not included in STEP Guide and is not even in Testing. I personally use it and would recommend it, though at this point I'd be hard pressed to tell you exactly what SkyHUD does and how it differs from/improves upon vanilla. FOMOD > Compass Navigation Overhaul > Yes, beige markers. Should be 'No'. This option doesn't apply to STEP Guide, as it requires Compass Navigation Overhaul, which is currently not included in STEP Guide. I see CNO is currently in 'Testing' though, so it could be considered. Beware however that DDDM is not compatible with CNO 2.x (the compass will be completely broken when both are used together, even with DDDM compatibility option). This can be fixed by borrowing the compass SWF from other DDDM-based mods, albeit with a vanilla-white style. I personally use CNO with DDDM, with the manual borrowed SWF overwrite hack, and would recommend it. FOMOD > Quick Loot Menu > Install QuickLootRE replacer? > Yes, Quick Loot EE. I don't use Quick Loot EE or RE so can't comment on that. FOMOD > Wheel Menu > Install Wheel Menu replacer? > Yes. Should be 'No'. This option doesn't apply to STEP Guide, as it requires UIExtensions, which is currently not included in STEP Guide and is not even in Testing. I don't use it so can't comment on that. Seems to be geared towards console controller users. FOMOD > Cursors > Replace the cursor? > Yes, static. The cursor replacers, even the static one, are too fancy/distracting for me and not in the same flat style as the overall design. I prefer the vanilla flat cursor style of Small Vanilla Cursors currently included in STEP Guide, even though they have different color (white vs. DDDM gold). FOMOD > Font > Replace the main font? > ENG (Latin). This will conflict with Font Overhaul. I don't care much for the main 'Friz Quadrata' font so I don't use it but I like the 'Consolas' font for the console so I kept it. Requires manual editing of fontconfig.txt to pick and choose fonts from DDDM vs. Font Overhaul. FOMOD > New UI Sounds > Install new UI sounds? > No. You may want to give the new UI sounds a try. I think they're nice. They're softer than the vanilla sounds. For example, vanilla has a loud 'whoosh-bang' sound for crafting potions at an alchemy table, while DDDM uses a more natural and subdued 'gurgle' sound. Conflicts As noted on the mod page, this should be installed dead last in the UI mod group and overwrite everything. Font Overhaul See previous point above. Icons For Skyrim Character Sheet Redundant, can be removed as DDDM provides its own complete set when the Skyrim Character Sheet option is selected in FOMOD. Wider MCM Menu for SkyUI Better Dialogue Controls Better MessageBox Controls Redundant, can be removed as DDDM fully incorporates them. Convenient Reading UI While DDDM incorporates the main reading UI from that mod (same MA), I'd recommend keeping and overwriting Convenient Reading UI for its other features that are not included, such as faster page turning animations and other stuff I can't think of at the moment. Other Oxygen Meter should be replaced by Oxygen Meter 2. The original Oxygen Meter uses the enchantment charge bar for its widget. Oxygen Meter 2 uses a custom widget. DDDM replaces the custom widget with its own DDDM-style widget, similar to Magik/Health/Stamina bars, integrating seamlessly with the UI theme. Final Words The 'Warm text' variant and its golden-colored theme may not be to everyone taste and may cause issues with vision-impaired users. While I prefer it over White, you may want to evaluate and consider the more neutral White option as the default. This mod is a beast with all its components and dependencies. Customizing it requires navigating a maze of configurations, and identifying the source of issues can be a hassle. This might create technical support headaches. Nevertheless I like this mod a lot and can't imagine playing without it. I made a few tweaks to the configuration, matter of personal preferences. Can be discussed later if needed, if I can find/remember what changes I made and why.

That character's backside is so large that her forearms clip into it. Doesn't look like STEP Guide to me...

Starting a list for all the mods in the current STEP guide, which are in need to be updated (or already are) to work with the current game version 1.6.640. I'm listing only relevant mods in each category (please correct me if i missed anything). For a more comprehensive view on SKSE dependencies please see https://modding.wiki/en/skyrim/users/skse-plugins

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

Just a heads up that the massive v2.0 update should hopefully be up within a week or so. 400+ hours went into it, it upgrades quite a lot. I will also update the low saturation patch Z provided. Thanks to Z for feedback/suggestions, and thanks to TechAngel for the comparison screenshots which were useful for checking how it looked on other setups than my own.

I tried running DynDOLOD again and it completed successfully.

It doesn't really make sense to merge Position and Rotation X/Y/Z fields, they both should be treated together as a cohesive whole in the context of their respective mod. Pick the version from the mod you want to win and copy both the whole Position and Rotation fields to your patch, without mixing Position or Rotation or X, Y or Z. It's easier and better. In general there are 3 possible reasons for mods to change the position/rotation of an object: a) to fix an issue, b) to cosmetically "improve" the scenery, or c) to make space for placing their own objects or as functional requirement for their own purpose. As a rule of thumb, you'd want to keep the version from the mod that's the most impactful and important for your gameplay, that is in order of priority: (c), then (b) then (a). If several mods conflict on the Position or Rotation and have the same level of impact, the rule of thumb is not good enough and it'll likely be necessary to visually inspect their respective changes in-game or in Creation Kit, in order to make a decision on which one should win. In your particular case, you'd probably want to keep the Position & Rotation changes from BDA. And since BDA is probably sorted after SMIM by LOOT in your load order, there may be no need to patch the conflict in the first place.

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.

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

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.