GrantSP

@SirGarnon Disclaimer before going any further. I haven't used this tool so I haven't seen it's UI 1st hand, Apologies if it is now different. Question: In that Nexus article the screenshots show the first setting you ask for is the 'Skyrim INI File Path' yet in each shot it is directed to SkyrimPrefs.ini. Do you not find that to be misleading? The logical thing would be to either not show the actual ini file, if you only want to find the 'path', and let the tool decide which ini it needs. Or change the label to ask for the SkyrimPrefs path.

Agreed. A far better adaption.

You still haven't said which animation package you are trying to install. The specific *.hkx files you are referring to are not FNIS specific files, as already mentioned FNIS doesn't have those files in it's package, they are created from a set of instructions included in the package. If you are getting files being created in the FNIS mod and not in either a user defined FNIS patch mod or the overwrite folder then you have not installed it correctly. Nothing created by FNIS should be added to the base mod installation. That file, 'mt_behavior.hkx' is a vanilla file provided by Skyrim and is being referenced, not provided, by FNIS. GamerPoets has produced the official STEP guide for FNIS and MO, if you haven't already looked at it I suggest doing so now.

Generally speaking, the installation order will closely match what you are asking. The actual priority numbers don't have to match that of the plugin priority because there are several mods that contain no plugins and several mods that have only plugins. If the mod (left-hand) is below another mod and they share assets, the lower will win. In the right-hand pane there might be a plugin that could use either of those two mods assets, that's all that matters. The actual postion in the order isn't important, only the final outcome when the game is started. e.g. You have a profile with 300 mods in the left-hand pane and the mod in position 15, ModA, has assets that are called by the plugin (right-hand) in position 5. You install another mod, ModB, that contains only assets that override ModA and it is in position 301. It makes no difference where ModB is placed, as long as it is lower than ModA in position 15. As far as the plugin is concerned it is the ONLY mod it sees and it could be anywhere in the order.

@Tannin, MO's author, recently did some very extensive study into this and found the game engine is incorrectly assigning some variables to the wrong ini. Hence MO's new ini editor makes these incorrect additions known to the user. As you have correctly decided, creating fresh ini files and starting from there should fix those messages.

There is currently a bit of discussion about whether all the guides should just state explicitly to disable that PMOP plugin. I'm in the camp that says: Yes. Now what that means is the onus is on the user to maintain the left-hand pane order. However you will generally find that the order in which the guides list the installation is the order the mods will be in at the conclusion of the install. One of MO's greatest strengths is actually at play here, the ability to move these mods around to achieve different setups. Once you understand that nothing gets overwritten, it's a simple thing to examine any mod for potential conflicts and just 'move it'!

Judging off the standard of product that is the Merge Script package, Mator Smash will be an essential addition to all modders. Merge Script looks to be nearing completion now, most of the very minor sticking points appear to getting removed almost at an hourly rate, so we might see Mator Smash accelerate toward a finished product in months.

I don't have the specific mod that requires that animation, so I can't be 100% certain. Generally though, no. it shouldn't be created in the FNIS mod. The way MO's overwrite works is, if the mod is active in the left-hand pane then those files it contains are in the VFS and should be updated and they will be in the mod that contains them. If they are new or the mod is inactive then they will be in the overwrite. In my installation I don't have that specific file anywhere and can't check to see where it is going, correctly or incorrectly.

I good thing to remember about MO compared to NMM is there is both the left and right hand panes to order correctly. Even if your plugins are in exactly the same order as your previous NMM game, if the assets as found in the left-hand pane are not provided correctly those plugins will not function and you will get issues like the one described.

Not sure what exactly is the issue here, I rarely (read never!) use the GECK so my understanding of it is scant but basically if you can load the load order as shown in MO into GECK you should have all the functionality of using it outside of MO. The only proviso here is if any tools called from GECK, perhaps to do with scripting, are 64bit (I can't imagine any are given the age of the tool) these wont work. This is just a thought off the top. In adding the dialogue script if you are directing the tool to use a path that exists outside of the MO VFS, when you run it in game that path will be different. Make sure all the paths are to locations that exist in the game as defined by MO. If you could paste your work here in a link to a storage page or similar, someone might be able to check things on another setup?

Just to clarify something. FNIS does not contain the file: benthiclurkerbehavior.hkx, what it contains is a set of instructions that the FNIS program reads to 'create' that file if needed. So the questions are: Which mod do you have installed that requires that behaviour file to be included? Is it installed and active and loaded before the FNIS plugin? FNIS needs to know all those mods so the correct files can be created. As the snippet from the MO log shows, MO is creating the intermediary file, benthiclurkerbehavior.xml, that is then used to create the behaviour file that will end up in the 'overwrite' folder along with everything else. Do you get the same error if you have your existing FNIS Patch active or inactive in MO?

Any paths that contain spaces in the name must be enclosed in double quotes. corflags /32bit+ C:\Skyrim Steam Install\steamapps\common\Skyrim\Papyrus Compiler\PapyrusCompiler.exeincorrect corflags /32bit+ "C:\Skyrim Steam Install\steamapps\common\Skyrim\Papyrus Compiler\PapyrusCompiler.exe"correct Likewise for the path before the corflags switch.

If you're not sure you have done it correctly, watch the official STEP video by GamerPoets.

Sorry I must have misunderstood what was asked. I took it that the question was whether or not the filenames make a difference if they are capitalised or lowercase. I only used the MO example to answer that aspect of the discussion, not to show how MO works. I used SMIM simply because I don't have Gemling Queen installed.

The ambitious side of my mind says: The logical side of my mind says: Unfortunately, the logical side of my mind has always proven to be correct. I lack the gene or something for creative programming. If we ever got a tutorial on what to set up and a basic skeleton of a plugin I would at least try. I love failing miserably!

Your SKSE installation is clearly incorrect if that is the case. A desktop shortcut, either from MO or one you make in Windows, will point to skse_loader.exe. These files need to be in the Skyrim folder: skse_1_9_32.dllskse_loader.exeskse_steam_loader.dll Of course the SKSE loader will only work for the correct version Skyrim you have installed. Currently that is version 1.9.32 as indicated in the SKSE dll name. Can you make sure of the details before posting again.Verify your Skyrim installation, install SKSE correctly and start a game from a desktop shortcut that points to SKSE. Then once that process works, we can look at installing MO.Eliminate all variables that aren't related to your issue.What you have said here is: my game wont start when I use SKSE.

Using MO to verify the status of overwritten files shows that capitalisation doesn't matter. As an example, SMIM & CCOR both use goldringamethyst_1.nif but one is capitalised (actually CamelCase) and the other lowercase. MO correctly shows them as the same file and appear in the conflicts tab.

It isn't needed though. MO has perfectly functional, and accurate, conflict management tools in the 'Conflicts' tab of the left-hand pane or the 'Data' tab in the right-hand pane. Both of those show which script is winning and which is losing. The problem with the plugin is the circular references it makes that generate a whole list of mods that it suggests needing to be moved when in fact only the last installed mod is the culprit. It is that last aspect that causes all the confusion. I've lost count of the amount of questions about which order the mods need to be in based on the warning message.

If you can't run the game from outside the MO environment then you have much deeper issues at work here. Deleting the MO installation can have absolutely NO impact on how the base game will, or will not, run. You will need to fix those problems before trying to get MO to work for you. If your game is not a legitimate and correctly installed game then we will not be able to assist you. Uninstall it an start afresh. Make sure the vanilla game works properly then add SKSE. Likewise ensure the game works when started from the SKSE loader. IF that works then install MO according to the instructions in the wiki, follow the link at the top of the page, and then start the SKSE+game from MO.

That's due to how the game engine determines the actual game files. Basically Skyrim.esm + Update.esm = the base game. Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn are 'mods', albeit ones created by Bethesda. That is also shown in the left-hand pane of MO. Notice neither Skyrim or Update show up! That's because these two files are essential for ANY game to work and cannot be modded without them. You have nothing to worry about your setup as you have detailed it. At least for the time being, modding is atask that inherently brings some 'tweaking' to the table and no doubt you too will have some minor issues to deal with. However, since you appear to have a keen eye for details it may be an easier time fixing those future issues.

MO has a command under the 'Run' button called: Create shortcut. Select SKSE in the dropdown menu next to the 'Run button, click the 'Create shortcut' option and choose 'Desktop'. This will create a desktop shortcut that runs MO with SKSE as the option and immediately starts the game without running the MO GUI.

@keithinhanoi, @sheshon, @zilav I for one find these discussions invaluable. Thanks to all.

Guys, can you just make a STEP wide suggestion to disable that PMOP plugin until such time as it matures? I know it is a good idea but honestly the amount of confused users posting comments about that thing is amazing.

There is no message line in the SKSE code advising: "failed to create tweaked ini: The system cannot find the file specified." That looks like it is a message from your OS telling you the file that is pointed to by either that shortcut or a parsed commandline switch for the specific program isn't where it is told to be. Since you state you don't know where you installed MO, I'm assuming you haven't set the settings correctly either. MO will, if you used the installer, most likely be found as a sub-directory of the game you are modding, in this case Skyrim. Look in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\skyrim\ You should see the MO folder there. You will need to have extracted the executable from the archive and set it to run from a folder that is permanent, not a temporary one created when viewing the archive. I mention this because users have before posted here stating 'such and such' doesn't work when in fact they hadn't even installed MO!