bitstream5

Thanks for the responses. I am really excited about the modpack. I will try to keep some notes on similar issues and maybe share them with you when I finish. Maybe this will help in some small way.

A bit confused by some of the language in the guide. I am not terribly experienced with modding but have done step a few times and some of my own setups. anyway, while installing mods in the guide i came across this language: "Special After Installation: Do not install the following file(s) and/or folder(s):" This was under A Matter of Time. The problem is that it says "do not install" but "after installation". My approach has been to install but then delete the files using the file explorer via MO before activating the mod (check box). Am I doing this right? The only other option I could think of was to open the archive then rezip it after deleting the files and then installing.

thanks!

thanks for your response. i ran antivirus and malware bytes but nothing was found. funny that after cleaning it all out again, reinstalling most my mods, reinstalling skse, wrye bash, etc etc pretty much everything last night it appears to have stopped (and my game stabilized to boot). i also did a windows 10 refresh just to be sure. will be keeping an eye on it and report back if i find anything else. no clue what it is/was. the files are usually 27kb and just named "file". the file names appear totally random and usually are strange symbols but some were "shift numeral" symbols if i recall correctly.

i am betraying my ignorance here certainly. I just returned to modding skyrim and along with the windows 10 issues i noticed that stragely named files seem to be propagating in my skyrim folder. i think they are created when i crash (alot of freezes lately, which is what i was working on when i noticed this). the file names are strange symbols (non-standard key symbols maybe). are these log files of some sort? papyrus? (i installed papyrus per step but have never used it) sorry to waster space here if the answer is simple. i did a fresh install of skyrim and deleted them all but they are appearing again. thanks in advance. i am at work (working hard :) ) so i cannot post any pics or files right now. i tried to come up with a topic title that used my search terms so maybe someone else would find this if they needed it too.

funny i came into this topic looking for any posts on JK's Whiterun and REGS. Looking forward to trying it out myself since it sounds like there are no issues.

Thanks!

This may not matter but i am bothered by the fact that the bashedpatch0.esp modification date and time never change in wrye bash or MO even though i may have rebuilt the patch 50 tiems in 2 days. Wrye bash does show a modified date in a right pane (not at my gaming pc right now) but the "modified" date listed to the right of bashedpatch0 in the left "mods" pane never changes. is this because the only date stored is the created date (such as when i create a new bashed patch for a new MO profile) and thereafter the bashed patch overwritten to my "STEP Bashed Patch" mod from my overwrite folder has no effect on modification date? or am i competely screwing something up?

i know this is an old topic but i was searching and trying to learn more and i hope to clear something up. it seems pretty obvious but that usually does me little good... So Mod Organizer automatically "anneals". It never really overwrites a mod. The "overwrite" is virtual and only an effect that occurs for game launch and load starting apps. in other words the entire mod is saved independently and overwriting only occurs in the virtual directory when it is created at launch. The entire mod file remains intact as a save in MO once installed regardless of susequent mod installations to MO. Modifying mod order in the left pane is effectively the same as changing install order and reinstalling everything but without the data loss that occurs in NMM or other installers that overwrite as mod installation occurs. i spent a fair amount of time reading about modding and installing before i started MO and STEP. I liked the fact that WRYE Bash automatically anneals (which I understand to mean that it reinserts files overwrriten by a leter installed mod when the later mod is uninstalled as opposed to leaving empty file space.) Just want to make sure i am clear on this because a strong understanding of how it works really helps alot. if my understanding is correct then this is huge improvement on prior installers. i should add that i think users can use file explorer in MO to make permanent changes to the mods though. (I have done this for some textures and the changes seem to be permanent unless i go back and change to the original textures (always add "orignal textures" subfolder in folder i modify)

interesting. i think that would be a great idea. i would love to see ENB weathers integral to such a STEP recommendation. i liked COT for what it's worth and appreciate all the work that has obviously gone into it but i really got tired of messing with it's patches everytime i wanted to play around with my STEP Ext "plus" setup. NLA with weather has been a huge relief to me and i am looking forward to trying out other ENB with weather or the NLA weather .esp in the background. now if i could just sneak out of the office early and go play with skyrim modding....

is hiding the file in MO filetree sufficient?

wow, totally missed that. THANKS!

will be trying serenity and vividian tonite. spent last night doing a fresh install via MO because i felt like something wasnt right but could not pin it down. found some COT patches that i failed to remove and just decided it was quicker to do it all over again than to search for old patches (especially since i think i merged some of them). this was mentioned in another topic but it is worth saying again that ENB Manager may be a worthwhile subtopic/guide in STEP. I know there is a link to it in the ENB guide but i think it is worth more emphasis due to its high value IMHO. why does work always have to interfere with my skyrim time....

as a modding newbie i found COT a real drag to deal with. patches, patches, incompatibility, more patches....when i discovered that ENB could be used to enhance visuals and weather i knew there was no looking back for me. that is how i found NLA. NLA is almost exactly the look i wanted. i do not miss anything from COT in my limited experience. i would much rather spend my time trying to figure out the million other things i have to deal with to create the perfect build for my first pc playthrough. of course, step has helped significantly with that. i hope more ENB plus weather mods start appearing. i will definitely try the ELE suite (was actually reading about it on ENB forums last night) and Serenity combo with NLA .esp Merging it all together is far beyond my skill set at this point though.

i am really interested in this but do not know enough to gauge whether or not i should use it..pros vs. cons. any further insights or discussion anywhere else i should look at? (found this topic using forum search)

it has been a huge asset to me b/c i tire of file swapping. very easy to use once you work through the steps once. i am not real experienced though so there may be problems i do not yet recognize but it seems like a great mod. now just need the same functionality in MO.

i really like this ENB. Looks and runs great plus i do not have to use/keep up with all the COT patches. previously used REalVision and COT plus RLO. still trying to decide on interior lighting mod but will probably stick with RLO since i am used to it.

update. i love mod organizer. rather than continue troubleshooting i reverted back to my MO 2.2.9 Ext Baseline then installed REGS from there. Everything was great after completing the "Cities" section when a test run showed no issues after multiple map jumps and reloads in former problem areas. Then i got overconfident and pretty much installed everything else (minus a few quest mods) without testing...then i CTD when exiting Riverwood Inn (alternate start as Inn guest). i should have started a new game in some other area to see if the problem was localized but since it was CTD i figured it would happen anytime i tried to exit a building. So back to piece by piece tonite...i will update here when i discover the problem. my bet is that i am missing a patch from a STEP mod or one of the few non-STEP mods i have installed. I seem to recall an optional file for REalistic Waters 2 that might be needed with one of the REGS mods. enough rambling... Question? I am using LOOT and would like to implement all of the BOSS Rules you kindly provided. I got most of them but I need some additinoal explanation. When the BOSS rules say i.e. "REGS - Better City Entrances.esp BOTTOM Towns and Villages" does that mean in LOOT i should make a load after rule so that REGS City Entrances.esp loads after all mods that modify towns and villages. i ask because i do not have a towns and villages .esp or .esm. another example is Prometheus_No_snow_Under_the_roof.esp BOTTOM Landscaping i apologize for being such a newbie. thanks in advance for any guidance.

i'll begin with i know i am an idiot. i just built my first pc in over 20 years (boy has pc building changed in that time) and my motivation was almost entirely skyrim. that being said i have successfully installed STEP extended with ENB and played a stable game. after adding this pack i have had crashes around major cities and i suspect texture overload. my question today though is how to set the rule ETAC after 3DNPC b/c for some reason LOOT is not showing the two as conflicting mods and thus not letting me create the rule. i just switched to LOOT with 2.2.9 (which came out a week after i finished building 2.2.8 with MO, just my luck) so i am not entirely used to it yet. any other LOOT sugeestions much appreciated. i am not at home right now but plan on starting REGS over tonite and sorting with LOOT and starting after each mod in order to see if a more methodical approach teases out my game freezing (suspected texture overload) thanks to all the hard work from STEP and PACK creators and admins. i have spent countless hours here and hope to contribute myself someday when i am a bit more educated and experienced with all this.