OCDCoder

My girl was terrified in Helgen. She had no idea how to use swords, the armor didn't fit... Basically whenever Hadvar had to fight she'd start running backwards. (Sometimes pretty far - that new enemy AI is surprising!) It was funny how he kept talking about how she saved his life. She's only Level 2 because she's been working at the alchemist (Jobs of Skyrim) and reading a lot. (I LOVE that reading gives you speech credit, I wish things like doing quests or even having long conversations with people like Gorr about how much he loves Horker stew did, too.) Anyway, I'm adding and removing so many mods, and playing around with patches, I'm surprised my game is so stable. Once I feel a bit closer to done (ha), I'm probably going to start her over. I'll try that jumping trick. (Although dammit, Ralof, how about YOU jump. Or, you know, untie me?) I really need to figure out how to record a playthrough, I keep yelling at the computer. Especially when Hadvar and Ralof start arguing right before the keep and the dragon is coming. "GUYS, THIS IS ****NOT**** THE TIME FOR AN ARGUMENT!!!!!" Yeah, it doesn't seem to have worked... I got the NPC conflict merge to work this time (people properly attired with armor and heads) but having the hair one activated just leaves me hanging at the initial loading screen. I'm going to try it doing it a few at a time, leaving out the esms. This is nine files I'm trying to merge, I need to at least get rid of SOME of them... (Why does Apachii hair have to have so many styles that I love???)

I was picking flowers with Gorr following me around. I'm sure he enjoyed the excitement of that outing, all the bloodshed caused by me picking those thistle flowers. (Going back, he insisted on stopping to hang out with a group of guards. There was about 10m of me running around him trying to remind him how to follow me...) I wonder how much Faendal would twitch watching me pick flowers, being a Bosmer and all. (I spent forever last night trying to figure out how to make Hadvar a follower. None of the settings in AFT worked. I guess I could use the console to add him to the right factions and see how badly it breaks things...) The funniest thing about AFT is that it's giving me the option to have children as followers. "Here, honey, take this dagger and go kill that big kitty over there." How are you playing on Legendary? I've tweaked what I can find, but the jump from Helgen Keep still kills me immediately.

Why not, if you don't mind me asking? I think I just realized something I've been doing wrong (an idea that I probably misunderstood from watching the video). I've been deactivating mods after I merge them. Maybe that's not a big deal since the merge usually contains the textures and meshes, so if the mod only contains the esp, I can either deactivate it or move the esp to optional. In this case, when I was doing the hair, I left all of the mesh and texture files in the individual mods (deleting them from the merge) and left them activated, disabled the esp files, and looked at the conflicts and noticed that, for example, one of the Apachii mods should probably be overwriting the 3DNPC overhaul mod, so I moved it. I still don't quite get the magic of mod load order, but I remember now about checking what textures may be being overwritten. I just redid the NPC Retexture Merge that you provided (because I'm not using all of the overhauls), I'll know if I have the right idea now or not if I end up with naked or decapitated people again...

Thank you SO much for your reply. I'm really trying to wrap my head around this idea of patching. Doing what I want with my game so far has mostly been following your guide then adding mods of my own and then trying to figure out what to do because I'm once again almost up to 255 esp files. So basically it sounds like what you're saying is: Install the mods, extract the BSAs for all. Create the merge, do NOT put those assets in the merge, just the esp files. (Actually the three Apachii hair mods are masters for the other three and are esm files. I wasn't sure if I could put them like that (I didn't get any errors), or if I should convert them to esp files.) Make all of the esp files optional in those merged mods (I don't like deleting them), but DON'T deactivate them unless all that's in them is the esp file, no other assets. Put the merge patch in the load order... Um... somewhere where I don't end up with everyone being bald or decapitated or naked (depending on the patch). I think for that one I'd tried adding a loot rule that it had to come after 3DNPCs, CRF, and LotD. I guess I can also go by where LOOT puts them when they're not merged?Sorry to bug you about this, I'd rather just ask once why my patches may be wonky than ask every time, especially if it's one of your patches I'm doing wrong. Now I understand why certain of your instructions are as they are. Thank you SO much for taking the time to answer!

Noted! Thank you! I'm surprised my save game still seems happy with all of the mods I've been adding and removing. (Mostly I'm having to remove some because of the ones I'm adding, like Campfire, Frostfall, Wearable Lanterns...) BTW, I found an ENB that's supposed to be specifically for Vivid Weathers (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/2709). I finally mostly understand the process of using an ENB, but it requires something called ReShade 3 and running setup, I'm not sure which launcher I'm supposed to be selecting or what selection I'm supposed to be making below that. Or... if I even want to use something like that. Anyone using this one or at least understand how that program works?

I have a couple of questions about patches. I hate to ask because it involves adding things to the build, but I also just want to understand overall how they work. Using spoiler tags here because OMG this got long. [spoiler=Faces Merged]One is the Faces Merged. I also installed ApachiiSkyHair, so I have the main one (which has three esm files - ApachiiHair, ApachiiHairFemales, and ApachiiHairMales, yes, a LOT of new hair!), then one for CRF, one for LotD, and one for Interesting NPCs. Six files. Right now, in the left pane, I have them all loaded together below KS Hairdos. Can I add those to Faces Merged? Another question I have about the hair in general, why is the Salt and Wind version loaded way down in the Followers section (I also have one for Apachii) when More Realistic Hair and Superior Lore-Friendly Hair - HD textures are in the hair section? Racemenu doesn't seem to be picking those (Salt and Wind) up. (Unless I need to put Racemenu somewhere else. I have it at the beginning of that section, but somewhere I saw to put it higher in the left pane. But there are no hair mods higher in the load order and it is at least picking up the hair, eyes, etc.) [spoiler=NPC Retexture Merge SSE patch]The other is about the NPC Retexture Merge SSE patch we were given. All I installed is WICO and the 3DNPC mods. (My test is always to go out and look at Fralia Gray-Mane and see if she looks old. When I had all of the rest installed, she didn't.) I tried making a patch just with those two mods, but since it's a custom patch, I'm assuming something was done to it because when I ran it with mine, I ended up with a bunch of naked NPCs and a few with no heads... But since there were other conflict mods that relied on that one, I had to re-enable the two mods I'd merged, then create a dummy mod to make the other two happy. Is there a better way to handle that? Finally, in general, how do you know where in the left pane, and what Loot rules to use for a patch? I created one custom one and just put it below the lowest included mod in my load order. SEEMS to have worked. Since I'm asking so many questions, I thought I'd add my procedure for handling these patches that I've found makes it really easy when I need to modify one. I do this all in the LotD profile, I don't create other ones. [spoiler=Saving My Sanity] I create categories for all of the merges: LotD Merge - Faces For all of the mods that go into the merge, I put mrg_ in front of their names: mrg_Beards For all of those, I set the primary category to the one I created for that merge. When I create the merge, I put mpatch_ in front of the name: mpatch_Faces Merged. I also change the category to the same one.When I need to build/rebuild a merge: Select that category as a filter. Activate all of the mrg_ mods, deactivate the mpatch_ mod. (Unless it causes errors with other mods. For the patch-building procedure, it doesn't really matter if it's enabled or not.) Run LOOT as normal, making sure all files are selected in the right pane of MO2. Sort the right pane in alphabetical order to find the files needed for the merge. You can't reorder them if it's sorted by name, but if you select all of them (shift-click if they're together, ctrl-click for ones that aren't), then sort by priority, they'll stay selected and you can just drag them to the bottom and put them in the right order. Run Merge Plugins, deselect everything, select the files you want to include in the patch, and all of the mods they require will turn red italics. Select those. Select the files you want in the merge. Here's where you can also remove one if you're removing a mod it's patching. Build the patch as normal, making sure to name it the way you did in MO2 (the patch name, not the file name). Done! One other huge advantage of this method is when you're done, you can filter for mrg in the left pane and make sure they're all deselected, then filter for mpatch and make sure they're all selected. I've also been creating empty mods for the categories. Just double-click Overwrite (make sure there's nothing in there) and create a folder named whatever, it doesn't matter, then close, right-click, Create Mod. I name them like this: ---- Bug Fixes ----. It not only helps the sections stand out (thank you again SO much for adding the categories to the changelog!) but you can filter by ---- and make sure they're all deselected. (Though that doesn't matter, there's a red X next to them anyway to also help you find the categories. I just like to be consistent.) Hope that helps someone!

I could be completely wrong on this overall, but back when I was playing SLE heavily modded, I only had problems when I removed things, not when I added them. So I THINK your game would have been more like "Crap, I need this and it's not here. Oh well, this will just look weird." (Or crash.) And in the future, it'll go, "Oh, THERE it is! Happy now!" There was a script cleaner I used when I did remove something, I need to look back at my whole SLE setup to see if I can find it. When I did remove a mod, I'd run it and usually be able to continue on with no CTDs. (I know, not a huge help in your situation, but if someone remembers what that was...)

Ah. Wildcat has an MCM menu option for letting it manage damage. Disabling that and seeing if it works. I think a better punishment is having to rebuild all the patches. (BTW, I came up with a really great way to manage those in the LotD profile that makes it really easy to handle patches, if anyone wants me to describe my method. (I more than qualify for the OCD in my username. :-p)) Edit: Oh, yeah, and Helgen Reborn doesn't start until you read a journal or something, so that's probably why vanilla is working now.

I can't tell you how many times I've gone through and run various mods marked with fomod just to see what additional options I may want to select. (Like the ones for Campfire, Frostfall, Wearable Lanterns, etc.) I can't remember one that had anything to do with fall damage, but I don't think I'd have picked one that caused more... For this character, it's an integral part of her story. I read on here that you shouldn't select it because of Helgen Reborn, but except for what I mentioned here that I tracked down to other mods, I've had no problems. I remember there's a Helgen Reborn mission that I haven't looked at, maybe it's been changed to start when you're ready? I still wish there was an option to have dragons but not be Dragonborn (unless I missed that one), that's why I'm considering using Unbound. It also gives much more detailed options to make the EXACT character you want rather than coming up with scenarios. Although I do want to try the relic hunter one, I may end up making two profiles. Is Smilodon something in the guide that I missed? As for Moonlight Tales, I just removed it. I tried the werewolf thing once, it just really isn't something that any of the characters I build would do. I get really into RP. One of my characters in SLE was in the Dark Brotherhood and would leave her husband at home and not change clothes until she got there. She really didn't want him to know. But she never finished it. As her puppetmaster, I just couldn't bring myself to kill a bride on her wedding day.

Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself. LOL I'm having to remember now which mods didn't install the Campfire, Frostfall, and Wearable Lantern patches because I just added them in. So I get the no health regen. But what is making my character so fragile? I used iNeed, I think it was, to drop her carry weight down to 100 because really, being able to carry 3x her body weight is just silly. (I just have to ignore where she's putting all these weapons and sets of armor. I figure it's the same place the characters in Highlander keep their swords. LOL) But carry weight, or rate of health regen, shouldn't kill her when she jumps out of the tower, even on Legendary. (Other things killing her easily, yes, but you can't avoid this particular part of it.) And even on adept, it takes half her health. This isn't Dark Souls, I expect to be able to play the game for at least 5m without dying, especially in a scripted scene! Oh, speaking of that opening scene, I set up all of the menus and saved before running LAL, so those were already ready by default. But around the time she gets into the first tower with the Nords (before the jumping part), a box pops up from Moonlight Tales asking me something about scaling that I can't remember and once I choose an option, my character can't move! I have to go into the console and type enableplayercontrols to be able to move, and tcf twice to be able to use the third-person camera. Sometimes it happens again randomly running through Helgen Keep. Tried being a werewolf ages ago with the Companions, hated it. I'm just going to uninstall it, but I wanted to report it in case anyone else has that problem.

What did I do?! I just made a generic Nord (still using LAL) then set up all of the millions of menu settings and saved the game. (Is there ANY way to back those settings up?) Then I created my character from that. I also set the game to Legendary difficulty because that's what I always use. I did the vanilla start, and died jumping out of the tower at Helgen! Even setting it back at adept, I lost approximately half my health. In vanilla, it only takes a tiny bit of health. What mod is affecting my health that dramatically? Also, I noticed in a previous game that it doesn't seem to regenerate. I could probably live with that, although I'd rather it at least regen slowly. Which mod is that?

It's been going up and down for me for about an hour now. It didn't interrupt my download last time, though, maybe those come from a different server? Edit: Sorry, not that that helps if you can't get to the download page. When I get the error, I just wait a minute or two and refresh.

Has anyone tried using Skyrim Unbound (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/6532) with this build instead of Alternate Start? I tried both of them extensively on SLE and found that I liked Unbound a lot more and ended up always playing using it. You get control of all kinds of settings, and can change them any time within game. (There's a comparison on the mod page.) I'm fine with disabling patches and rebuilding a couple of merges if it otherwise works.

I'm just too into immersion, I didn't install that. If I need a light, I find a torch or lantern or use a spell. Otherwise, sucks for me, I'm in the dark. Just... not that dark. I do need to be able to see enough to sneak, and things were so dark before I finally figured out how to get the settings right that light sources on the wall weren't even lighting the opposite wall. It was this oppressive darkness that just sucked in all of the light. (Probably caused by some Daedric prince. Maybe I upset Nocturnal somehow...)

I followed S.T.E.P. when I was playing SLE but skipped that part. Maybe you can tell me where I'm going wrong. I'm going to change my settings back to exactly what it says in the guide. OMG, I fixed it!!! I was documenting the steps as I went along, and when I got to shift-enter and changing the settings, it fixed everything! I'm going to leave this in, though, for other people who may be having this problem. [spoiler=My original steps] Download SkyrimSE Re-Engaged ENB. Copied the contents of 1. Default Version (Install 1st always) into my SSE directory. So in the main directory, I got a new enbseries.ini and enblocal.ini. An enbseries folder was also in there and it overwrote some files in that directory, which already existed. (I assume from a previous step somewhere? I have SO many tabs open...) Copied the contents of 2. Vivid Weathers Users (Install 2nd)/Quality Version (Good Image) into my SkyrimSE directory. Same thing with it overwriting files. In enblocal.ini (in my SSE directory), I set both ForceVSync and EnableFPSLimit to false. In enbseries.ini (also in my SSE directory), I set both IntensityInteriorDay and IntensityInteriorNight to 0.75. I installed the Skyrim Particle Patch for ENB. I created the merge patch and deactivated the merged .esp files. I checked that the global priority of the patch was 76 and then ran Loot. Finally, I run Skyrim through SKSE. So this is what I get. First the starting scene with the statue, then the Bannered Mare: https://www.ocdcoder.org/skyrim/omg-dark.jpg Under ENBEFFECT.FX, I checked "Apply Game Color Correction" and it fixed it. https://www.ocdcoder.org/skyrim/pretty.jpg (but a little dark) Became a bit lighter after the above, but I see I can tweak that. https://www.ocdcoder.org/skyrim/omg-ORANGE.jpg Still Under ENBEFFECT.FX, down under "Interior Settings," I changed Saturation - Interior to 1.00 and no more OMG-ORANGE! If there were better options to fix these, please let me know. I was just guessing. Edit: Um, wait. I clicked "Apply Changes" and exited, and now loading again, it's not showing that, it's showing the contents of the enbseries.ini file and I can't find the settings I just changed. What the...??? Edit #2: I started a new game and the settings are there again. What weird thing is making them go away? So now I have these files in my SSE directory and my SSE/enbseries directory that I'll only remember what they are because they came with this guide. I know that's where the Skyrim ENB Manager comes in. Can you explain in very simple language how to use it? I put the .exe in its own directory and created a /configs directory inside that. So what do I do now? Entering the name is obvious, but what do I select for Config? Is each set special in some way or is it just to organize 50 slots to make them more manageable? Will Skyrim pick up the settings when I run it through MO2 or do I need to add the ENB Manager as an .exe and run it through MO2? If you could write a "for dummies" guide for that, I wouldn't mind trying some others now that I FINALLY have one of these working! Thanks SO MUCH for the help in getting this far!

Um... wow. Or eep. Or something. I'd saved a couple of old posts on the subject and am currently trying out PhoenixVivid that was mentioned in one of them. The natural one you mentioned looked a bit too washed out, but to be fair, I didn't try it with my currently way overly-saturated look. I still haven't quite figured out how to use the program. I realized I needed to rebuild my misc merged patch first. I got the right path in there, do I need to launch it from there or from SKSE in MO2? Or launch this ENB manager from MO2? I need to find one of those "ENB for dummies" videos on Youtube.

Thanks, I'll try that! My system could probably handle heavy ones, but I don't want to overtax it too much. I'm on a 6GB card with 8GB of memory, a HUGE upgrade I just got (along with a new motherboard, CPU, m.2 drive, etc), but not a monster. (Although I had SLE working quite well on a 2GB card on my ancient system with some careful tweaks.) I've never used an ENB before so I'm really not sure where to start. I'm just looking for natural and realistic (everything looks really over-saturated right now, from faces to food to the bright orange inns, although many areas are lovely!). And dark nights (which I actually feel was part of one of the weather mods in SLE) but dungeons that aren't COMPLETELY black if you don't have a torch (which I also feel like came with one of the weather mods).

Thanks. I don't know which one I was looking at or if I was just missing something, but all of the patches seem to be working correctly. I just want to say thank you to DarkladyLexy and everyone else (sorry I haven't been here long enough to learn names) for putting together this so easy-to-follow guide, for doing things like adding idiot-checks and (at my humble request) categories to the changelog, for the little surprises like having all of the LOOT settings already described in the guide listed at the end in one place for double-checking, and a million other things. I haven't quite finished the guide, I stopped last night before creating the Pre-Smash Patch because I'd been modding this game so much I finally wanted to play it! And I did, I started around midnight, first doing my usual test run around Whiterun, then the vanilla start, and from there, played until I finally realized it was almost 4am! (Where is that "Time on Loading Screen" or whatever mod that was when you need it...?) The guide was even clear enough that when I decided to take out the character enhancements after it gave Hadvar a porn-stache, it was very clear exactly what I needed to disable. I did that before starting to play, and I had no CTDs, no drops in framerate that I noticed, the fans on my video card didn't even run much of the time. It was incredible! I am going to have to learn a bit more about how to pick patches for merges, as adding in a few of my favorites (seriously, Peaceful Mudcrabs is a must) is bringing me dangerously close to that 255 mark again. One suggestion and one question so far. The suggestion, I switched to Tempered Skins for Males. To me, it doesn't look any different than Vitruvia (granted, I play a female who hasn't seen a naked male yet - give her time ), unless it's something weird with my setup and you can confirm that with Vitruvia, in the cart ride to Helgen, Lokir has toes. The question, can anyone suggest a different ENB or should I just disable that whole section for now? The outside looks great, but inns are still WAY too orange when there's a fire pit, and while I usually use dark dungeon mods, the Alternate Start cell is so dark that I kept losing my way to the bed (despite how many times I've played it) and I kept running into walls and getting completely lost in Helgen Keep until I finally found a torch half-way through. Nights I like completely dark, but dungeons, you can't really sneak well with a torch...

I just want to make sure before I make a really stupid mistake. When we do these merges, it says the mods that are merged can be deactivated. But what about the textures and meshes in those mods? I have "copy general assets" checked, but it's not copying those directories into the merge. Is this intended or am I doing something wrong? Also, a minor thing, I entered my username the first time I used Merge Plugins and registered it, then did something that screwed up the profile and had to reset all of the settings. Now, obviously, it's saying the username is taken. Is there a way to unregister it? Oh, and it's also not showing the patches I created before that happened, but I'm just assuming those can be imported somehow if I need to rebuild them.

Yeah, I think I screwed up something copying the .dlls. I found the video really confusing. The way I usually handle these things is to just install the mod and then do [whatever] in the mod's folder. This particular character actually WAS caught illegally entering Skyrim. I saved as soon as I got off the cart so I didn't have to sit through that entire animation again. I just added Jobs of Skyrim so she'll have a way to earn a living for a while that doesn't involve chopping wood. Once I get all of the survival mods in, my favorite thing to do is to start with a Bosmer stranded on the coast of the sea of ghosts and have her survive using all of the wilderness crafting skills that come with those mods. SO much fun!! OMG I'd forgotten about that mod! I can't wait to introduce it to Nazeem!

Ah, ok. By the way, regarding Racemenu, I'm not sure I did it exactly right when I installed it, but it worked! Kind of... I was able to create my character exactly as I wanted and save the profile. I started a game in the Bannered Mare and ran all around town and it worked fine. BUT I started a new game, loaded the same profile, and kept getting a CTD if I started the game with the vanilla Helgen sequence. (OMG that thing is long.) The whole sequence went fine, the CTD happened when I'd start to get up off the block after the dragon attack. (Can't they at least remove the previous dude's head and body before killing me? Ick. As an aside, if Ulfric was the one they wanted, why didn't they execute him first? (Yeah, I know, as my husband would say, "Because it's in the script.")) Anyway, what I ended up doing was starting the game, loading the profile in Racemenu, saving it (before chatting with Mara), then quitting. I then disabled Racemenu, loaded that same game I saved, picked the vanilla start, and no CTD! And she looked exactly like the profile I saved! I'm still not sure if I made some mistake when installing it, but I got the end result I wanted. So basically, at least for me, the method that seems to work is to run Skyrim with Racemenu, start a new game, make your character exactly like you want, save the profile if you want, save the game before talking to the statue, quit Skyrim, disable Racemenu, run LOOT, run Skyrim, load that save game, enjoy your custom character!

Hey, speaking of Provincial Courier, is there a reason we're not installing the patch for it and Books of Skyrim in Blowing in the Wind? Also, I've just started going through it, but for those of you (like me!) who really want Racemenu back, I found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIk3DWmiRXY It's a few months old but so's that Reddit thread where I got the link, so if it's not exact, hopefully it's at least close enough. Finally, I recommend the No Twitching Dragon Death Animation mod. Unless something has changed in SSE, I was playing SLE recently and I kept having dragons twitching all over the place. (And one skeleton that fell out of the sky, but I doubt this fixes that.)

LOL I am so glad you said that. My last character in SLE was a, ahem, working girl when she started out. I'll check it out, but IDK. I've been using Frostfall pretty much since day one of modding years ago. I'd feel like I was cheating on Chesko! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Racemenu is available? Where? Am I totally missing it in the guide? Or do you mean the standard boring race menu that comes with SSE? I miss the ability to change colors (I ended up downloading something called Realistic Hair Colors that helped a little) and to export the settings especially. Not only did it make it easy to start a new game with the same character, that's how I used to make NPCs. Since I was getting more CTDs on fresh starts, I kept deleting my saves and I accidentally deleted a character I'd actually worked on for a while. I think I'm happier with the redo, though. I wish I could find a mod to put dirt on the bodies as well. https://www.ocdcoder.org/skyrim/Saelina.jpg Poor thing isn't doing well at the moment... That's the rough version of ApachiiSkyHair, btw, if anyone cares. I love a lot of the KS Hairdos, but they all looked so shiny. I found a mod to make them look rougher, but it wasn't nearly as huge of a difference. Oh, and the eyes are Natural Eyes SSE. I'd used that before and the other one WAY overwhelmed me with choices. And I may be wrong, but I don't remember it having the red-from-crying-or-allergies eyes. (I think she's allergic to being fried by dragons.)

I'm looking forward to a time when I can actually start playing the game. LOL