rothbardian

Nevermind, I figured it out. Sorry!

On step 2.B of the guide it says: Wait for the Background Loader: finished in the right panel, and then right-click [update.esm] and select [Apply Filter For Cleaning]. Rather than getting a warning popup to OK as the guide says, TES5Edit is giving me this popup: To use this function you need to apply a filter with *only* the option "Conflict status inherited by parent" active. I don't know how to apply a filter -- can't find anything in the guide. Help please! :)

For those with higher end machines, I'm curious to know your take: How does fully 'tricked out' Skyrim compare, graphically speaking, with Witcher 3? I'm playing through Witcher 3 now on a high end machine and am frequently astounded by the graphics. I'm wondering once I put in the 30+ hours to get a STEP+Vividian ENB install working whether the graphical quality of the game will be comparable to Witcher 3 or a substantial step down (no pun intended). Thanks!

Thanks for clarifying n0mad -- was a little unclear from the guide as it talked about "The higher the priority number, the higher priority is given to the mod."

I think I'll use the uncompressed method. So if I have 'Awesome texture pack' and 'Super texture pack' if there are any textures with the same file names, do MO prioritize (i.e. overwrite) the duplicates using whichever mod is listed on top or on bottom? In other words, if I want Awesome's duplicates to overwrite Super's, do I list Awesome above or below Super in the mod list? Thanks again!

Thank you, Greg -- that was incredibly helpful!

Thanks for the clarifications. Since I haven't delved in MO yet, I just wanted to clarify: regardless of whether I zip the textures into an archive or not, does the archive or loose (non-zipped) texture directory (and accompanying subdirectories) both go in the same location, i.e. ModOrganizer\mods\?

Grant, if I had a collection of custom textures, is the benefit of the zip approach that I could activate or deactivate the entire collection with one click? (The zip goes in MO's 'mods' folder too, right?)

Yes, I'm newbrific. :) If MO uses the zip file but not Skyrim, at what stage do the files get unzipped so that they can be accessed by the game?

Didn't know Skyrim can use 7z -- thanks! I assume when you load Skyrim it decompresses this stuff all into memory? If that's the case whatever decompresses fastest would seem to be the best choice (assuming conserving hard drive space is not a concern).

Ah, ok, thank you for explaining. So as long as I mirror Skyrim's texture directory/subdirectory structure, I can sub in as many textures as I'd like, and then just zip my custom texture directory and I'm good to go? Btw, what zip settings in 7zip should I use, i.e. compression level, compression method, etc.? Default settings ok?) Thanks again!

Thanks DoubleYou, I think I'm almost there. To clarify, I use an alternate filepath in order to use an alternate texture instead of physically overwriting the default texture? For example if the game has textures/whiterun/stone.dds and I have a new stone.dds I want to substitute, rather than overwriting the default texture, I somehow in MO link an alternate filepath to my new stone.dds, like mySkyrimtextures/whiterun/stone.dds?

Sorry, I don't -- you mean file paths for where the default textures are located which will be overwritten? Is setting up the file paths covered in the STEP guide? I've just been doing background reading but plan to use MO when I attempt to implement the STEP install.

This has probably been answered 1,000 times but I don't how to search for it, so apologies in advance. If I have a bunch of individual textures, and I want to activate them in Skyrim so they replace the defaults ones, how do I turn them into a single mod (if that's the right word), so that I can activate or deactivate them in one shot rather than manually replacing a bunch of default textures and then having to replace them again with the original defaults if/when I want to revert? Thanks.

Wow, ok, thanks for the clarification.

When you say "masters" what does that mean? (sorry, still learning the buzzwords) If I install, say, the Core Patch, is it the case that I no longer need to install No Spinning Death Animation, for example? In other words, the STEP Patch is in lieu of installing all the individual patches mentioned in the various STEP Patch descriptions?

Newb question: What does it mean to restructure a package? "Also install the SMIM patch, using 'high poly mesh' version from it. This version is buried within the package, and the package will need to be restructured."

If I were to install almost everything but minus a couple, would using Extended break the game? i.e. does it need to be literally everything? Thanks.

Reading through this trying to understand which one to pick: https://wiki.step-project.com/STEP_Patches#Recommendations A little confused between Step Extended and Texture. If I install everything on the current STEP page (https://wiki.step-project.com/STEP:2.2.9.1) which one should I choose? If I skip DDSOPT though, for example, what would I go with? And the Nexus page has options the #Recommendations page doesn't, like STEP Texture Compilation.

Sorry about the redundant post, TechAngel. I did try searching for Player Headtracking, but it wasn't in the first page of search results for some reason.

Is this mod compatible with STEP? Seems like it's vanilla Skyrim, just more immersive: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23600/?

I need to be really pragmatic with the cuts. I just don't have 25+ hours to set up a game. Just the Vividian tutorial vid was a half hour! Really hoping you guys get a consolidated STEP mod collection (though if it's all-or-nothing, what will happen when you guys do upgrades/swap-out as seems to happen fairly regularly?) Just from my newb perspective, anything you guys can do to lower the massive startup time hurdle -- even if it's merely a good/partial rather than perfect/complete solution -- would be deeply appreciated!

Based on the warning that DynDOLOD is a bit complex for newbies, I'm going to skip it, so it's great to know I can cross Papyrus off the list too.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm still a little fuzzy... - Does Inspector do anything extra that setting prefs in Manage 3D Settings -> Program Settings doesn't do? Unless it adds extra needed functionality I'll skip it to simplify the already large number of programs to manage. - Can I skip Papyrus Utils since I'm not creating mods? - How do I test the various Vividian install settings for depth of field, sharpening, etc. without having to keep reinstalling from scratch?

An Nvidia question regarding Inspector in the STEP guide: I noticed under Manage 3D Settings -> Program Settings in my graphics card properties that I can set all these variables on an application basis as well. So is Inspector still necessary, and if so, do I need to go into Program Settings anyway and mirror the settings that go in Inspector? Also, do I need PapyrusUtils for doing a gameplay-only install? I ask because it's labeled as Core but says it's for modding.