Greg

Now that is one weird bug. Have you reported this to the devs on discord so they can investigate this issue?

If you go to the My Documents\My Games\Skyrim folder you should see a folder named BackupINI that contains your original INI files. I doubt BethINI is the cause of the problem, but this is the place to look if you want to restore the original INI files to rule it out.

These two videos from Outdated TV shows how he sets up and runs FNIS with Mod Organizer 2.

You can select multiple FormIds by using Shift+Left Click or Ctrl+Left Click and then "Copy as override into..." to copy all selected records as overrides into patch plugin but you'll still have to go back to drag the YNAM entries for each FormId one at a time. I do not know the answer to this question, but I wonder if something like a Bashed Patch or a Smashed Patch could handle this automagically with support for the appropriate bash tags.

Just thinking out loud here but if you have Mod Organizer 2 installed in the Steam or Fallout 4 folder, move it somewhere else to see if this solves the issue. I know there was some issues with Mod Organizer 2 not functioning correctly if it's installed in the Steam or game folder that could potentially cause this.

Oops... you're right. I had forgotten that XCE was removed from the latest guide. I think the statement about Realistic Ragdolls and Force not being compatible with body mods is primarily for Nexus Mod Manager users that have no control over the order of assets used by the game -- meaning they may end up using the wrong skeleton meshes if they don't install the mods in the proper order. If you are using Mod Organizer, install the full Realistic Ragdolls and Force mod with all of the meshes. You don't need the plugin if you are installing the STEP patches, but this does install the skeleton meshes for all creatures and races and this is fine. Install XP32 Maximum Skeleton Extended after Realistic Ragdolls and Force so all of the skeleton meshes in XP32 Maximum Skeleton Extended override the skeletons in Realistic Ragdolls and Force. This means the game is using the skeletons in XP32 Maximum Skeleton Extended for NPC and beast races and the skeletons in Realistic Ragdolls and Force for the creatures. When you install your body mods, you need to look in the filetree to determine whether the body mod provides its own skeleton mesh and determine whether you should use the skeleton in the body mod or the XP32 skeleton. Dimonized UNP Female Body and some other body mods do not include a skeleton so you don't need to worry about it. If the body mod comes with a basic, less capable skeleton you might consider using the skeleton in XP32 Maximum Skeleton Extended instead by hiding the skeleton meshes (e.g. skeleton.nif and skeleton_female.nif) in the body mod and playing the game for a while to verify NPCs look and behave correctly.

If Skyrim or Mod Organizer is in Program Files or any other folder controlled by UAC, you should move it to a folder owned by you to avoid potential permission issues. When you install SKSE, you should copy the *.dll and *.exe files into the Skyrim directory (e.g. C:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim). You should then install the remaining bits (notably the scripts folder) as a mod in Mod Organizer and add the skse.ini file to this mod. This way you are using the skse.ini file in Mod Organizer so you don't need one in the game's data folder. The following link contains the detailed instructions on how to properly install SKSE with Mod Organizer and provides the recommended contents for skse.ini. Skyrim Script Extender Recommendations Edit: I forgot to mention to make sure you are using the latest version of Mod Organizer 2 on discord.

You really should not install Steam or the game into Program Files (or any other UAC controlled folder) to avoid permissions issues. You also should not install any tools (like Mod Organizer, LOOT, Wrye Bash, etc.) into the Steam or game folder with the exception of SKSE, ENBoost and an ENB preset that must be installed in the game folder. Running any game as admin is a really bad idea.

XP32 Maximum Skeleton Extended requires Realistic Ragdolls and Force so you should install these per the guide in the order specified. You do not need to install the plugin for Realistic Ragdolls and Force if you are installing the STEP Patches because this plugin has been merged into the patch. The way the guide is structures, XP32 Maximum Skeleton Extended overrides the skeleton meshes in Realistic Ragdolls and Force and the body mods provide the meshes for the body but not the skeleton. When you get to 2.H Creatures and Characters you should install the body mod of your choice (e.g. Dimonized UNP Female Body) after XCE - Xenius Character Enhancement. You may want to install a UNP compatible character enhancement (face, hair, and optional body textures) to resolve neck seams after the UNP body. Note that whether you install XCE is pretty much your choice but it includes textures for males and females for a lot of races. If you install XCE, you may want to ensure the UNP mods override all of the female textures. Unfortunately the UNP and CBBE bodies are not compatible with the vanilla body so you'll need to install UNP armors and clothing in place of the vanilla armors and clothing in the guide. If you skip this step you'll find the vanilla armors and clothing don't quite fit the UNP body mesh and some of the ladies will have parts falling out of their clothes.

Something isn't right if you had to run the patcher as an admin. Make sure Skyrim and the tools you are using are not installed in Program Files or any other folder that is subject to UAC because this will cause problems.

You should read the No Stretching topic where all this is discussed and post there if you would like this mod to be reconsidered for inclusion in a future guide.

I always click More | Classic Installers to download the games without GOG Galaxy, but this is mostly because I'd never use it anyway. I just don't find the features offered by GOG Galaxy all that appealing.,

I don't think so. Leppidoptera of Skyrim is providing some of the meshes, textures, and effects for the moths although most of the meshes actually come from Wiseman303's Critter Fixes (lower down the left pane). If you don't have this mod, the few moth textures in the game just revert back to vanilla.

I have my system structured like this: F:\GOG Games\Fallout 3 | Fallout New Vegas | Morrowind | Oblivion F:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim | Skyrim Special Edition F:\Games\Fallout 3\ModOrganizer | LOOT | FO3Edit | WryeFlash | etc. F:\Games\Fallout New Vegas\ModOrganizer | LOOT | FNVEdit | Wrye Flash | etc. ... Strictly speaking you only need once instance of LOOT, but I elected to go with one instance of LOOT per game because I'm still using an older version of LOOT with Skyrim. I'll probably update LOOT to the latest version the next time I reinstall the STEP guide. I also hear WrinklyNinja is dropping priority order in favor of mod groups in the next version of LOOT so my current structure gives me a bit more flexibility by allowing me to update LOOT on a game-by-game basis. I always use Mod Organizer in portable mode because this keeps all of Mod Organizer's data in the same folder so it's easier to copy and move to another PC (and because I'm old, stubborn, and set in my ways). You can use instances if you want and I think the devs generally recommend using instances, but this really is just a personal choice. Even though you can install Mod Organizer 1.3.11 in the game folder, I never really liked this idea just because I like to keep the Steam and GOG folders as clean as possible just in case I need to reinstall or move them somewhere else. Putting Mod Organizer 2 in the game folder is not recommended because (as I understand it) it has an open issue that may cause it to recurse the Data folder indefinitely.

The way I read this is that this applies only if you are using the external fomod installer. (You have to go into Mod Organizer's settings to enable the external fomod installer.) If you're using the internal fomod installer (this is the default if you haven't changed the plugin settings), CALIBR.esm is not installed because it already exists in FWE - FO3 Wanderers Edition. I think you need to install the "Weapons patch for 20th Century Weapons" either way.

If you scroll through the right pane in Mod Organizer, it shows a red triangle with an exclamation mark icon on plugins with missing masters and shows the name of the missing master(s) if you hover the mouse over this icon.

When I ran into this issue I installed Marts Mutant Mod and Paradox Ignition Presents Marts Mutant Mod Merged and kept both at the bottom of the left pane until I finally got to that section. If you've already installed the mods included in the Mod changes to Support MMM section (DC Interiors Project, Fallout 3 Redesigned - Formerly Project Beauty HD, FWE - FO3 Wanderers Edition, Breezes FO3 Males, and Glowing Ghouls - FO3), go back to each mod to ensure you followed the instructions if Marts Mutant Mod is installed. This means you'll need to install one of the Blackened patches early. I installed the Blackened patch for only the mods that I had installed at this point and I named the mod 'Blackened -- need to reinstall correct version" or something like that to remind myself to reinstall the right version after getting through the guide.

Moved to Fear and Loathing in New Vegas topic. When you install Project Nevada, you need to ensure all options (Core, Equipment, Cyberware, and Rebalance) are checked. If you don't do this, Project Nevada - EVE ALL DLC.esp and Project Nevad - WMX.esp will have missing masters and cause the game to crash.

N9Comm in my system is Cell\Block 1\Sub-Block 8\1C000ADD in D.E.I.M.O.S.esm and ILO Merged.esp so did you perhaps merge these mods into Cut Merged.esp by mistake? To me it looks as if the 22000ADD CELL record is coming from a mod that shouldn't be merged into the Cut Content Merged mod and this is why you have a conflict with the FormIDs, so I think you should delete Cut Merged.esp and redo the merge.

Unfortunately, pretty much all ENB presets must be installed directly in the game folder and there's no way around this that I know of. I've never used Phinix ENB so I can't say anything about it. I have used Vividian ENB in the past and it's a pretty good choice, but I finally decided about a year or two ago to not use an ENB preset. Well, to be perfectly honest, it's really more that I just didn't bother installing an ENB preset in of the Bethesda games (Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Skyrim Legendary Edition, or Skyrim Special Edition).

I don't remember seeing any Armature records in Armor Addon. I think all Armature models are in Armor.

I've always created the merged patch first and place Merged Patch.esp toward the bottom of the load order. Once the merged patch is created, I create a bashed patch (and you can include the merged patch in the bashed patch) and place Bashed Patch, 0.esp below Merged Patch.esp. GamerPoets TES5Edit: Merged Patch GamerPoets WryeBash: Bashed Patch - Mod Organizer Edit: Changed the link to use the latest version GamerPoet's Merged Patch video.

Yes, I see the source of the confusion now. The answers I provided above are for the generalized cases in which you are installing a set of mods and then create a merged patch and a bashed patch over the bulk of the plugins in the load order. In your specific case, Arwen Realism Tweaks is significantly more complex and the mod author states it is incompatible with a lot of mods. I would start with the basic load order provided in Arwen_Compatibility_Patches.txt (in the main mod folder after you install the mod) as it appears you've already done. If you are creating a merged patch and/or a bashed patch, you'll need to asses the overrides in xEdit to determine where to place these plugins in relation to the merged patch and bashed patch and it may be best to put these plugins after the merged patch and bashed patch, but you'll need to balance this to ensure the core plugins (listed in Arwen_Compatibility_Patches.txt) are in the correct order. Unfortunately, Arwen is a really complex mod and is beyond my skill level. Hopefully one of the masters is familiar with this mod and can pop by offer sound advice.

Yeah, you should extract DynDOLOD to its own folder the same way you would do for LOOT or Wrye Bash.

I don't think you need to worry about if you are using the latest version of LOOT with Fallout 3. The latest LOOT masterlist I'm looking at for Fallout 3 sets Merged Patch.esp and Bashed Patch, 0.esp at priority 80 so both will fall to the bottom of the load order. It also has a rule to load Bashed Patch, 0.esp after Merged Patch.esp. Note that the LOOT's masterlist for Fallout New Vegas sets the priority of Bashed Patch, 0.esp to 80 but it does not have any rules for Merged Patch.esp. In this case, you'll want to add a rule to set the priority of Merged Patch.esp to 80. You'll also need to add another rule to load Bashed Patch, 0.esp after Merged Patch.esp once you create the bashed patch.