STEP 0.3.0b xEdit issue

[ElricOfGrans]

I have just reinstalled Skyrim SE and begun following STEP (for SE) for the first time.  I am in Step 3 and have hit a point where what I am seeing is not matching what the instructions are telling me.  As far as I know I followed them correctly.

 

I ran SSEEdit on each of the four esms, and did the manual edit on Dawnguard when prompted.  I am now told to move the files from the Skyrim/Data directory into the new mod and rename them to their original filenames.  There are no modified esm files in the Data directory, only the originals (eg Update.esm).  I tried going back to the start of that step, again loaded Update.esm in SSEEdit and let it run.  When it got to the end, instead of closing I hit save manually, but it said there were no changes to save.

 

I presume I keep these four files in the Data directory, but something is not matching up.  What should I do?

[Greg]

When I cleaned the master files, the cleaned version were in the Skyrim Special Edition/Data folder and the unmodified versions were in Mod Organizer's Overwrite folder. I handled this by moving the cleaned masters from Skyrim Special Edition/Data into a mod in Mod Organizer, then moving the files in Overwrite back to Skyrim Special Edition/Data and correcting the names by removing the timestamps.

 

You might verify this by looking in Overwrite. if you have a backup folder in there containing files like Dawnguard_20200602112519.esm, these are the original versions of the files and the cleaned files should be in Skyrim Special Edition/Data.

[ElricOfGrans]

I just checked the Overwrite folder and it is empty.  I thought to go to the xEdit Output directory and found some backups in there.  Would these be the ones I should move back into the Data directory?  There are three versions of Dawnguard.  Should I use the oldest backup?

[Greg]

Yes, use the oldest backup as the original, unmodified master.

[ElricOfGrans]

Thank you!

 

I just thought I should clarify, for anyone having the same issue, the backups were in the xEdit Output mod that is created earlier in the instructions.

[Crimson13]

Getting back into playing and this is my first problem I have run into doing STEP. The only backup I see in xEdit Output is Dawnguard, do I put that back in and have Steam redownload the other DLC's? The cleaned files in the Data folder of Skyrim SE didn't have any changed dates so I don't know it they registered getting cleaned or not.

Edited November 25, 2021 by Crimson13
Spelling error

[Mousetick]

8 hours ago, Crimson13 said:

Getting back into playing and this is my first problem I have run into doing STEP. The only backup I see in xEdit Output is Dawnguard, do I put that back in and have Steam redownload the other DLC's? The cleaned files in the Data folder of Skyrim SE didn't have any changed dates so I don't know it they registered getting cleaned or not.

1. Which version of the STEP guide are you following? This topic is about version 0.3.0b which is obsolete. The current guide is version 1.0.0: https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/SkyrimSE:1.0.0.

2. Which version of Skyrim SE are you using in Steam? Skyrim SE was recently updated from version 1.5.97 to 1.6.x by Bethesda for the release of "Skyrim Anniversary Edition". The STEP guide can't be used with this new version due to mod incompatibilities. See the big WARNING at the top of the guide.

3. To check whether you have the new version in Steam, go to 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition' > Properties... > Updates in the Steam client, and check the Build ID, as shown in this screenshot:

If the Build ID is either 7692914, 7694678 or 7736861, you have the new version. In that case you can't follow the STEP guide. You'll need to downgrade Skyrim SE to the older version (1.5.97) for which the guide was designed.

4. When cleaning master files, follow the procedure exactly as described in the guide, checking the results at every step rather than at the very end. You should have had a backup of Update.esm after cleaning it first. If you don't see it something went wrong.

5. Do yourself a favor, make your life easier and skip the whole master cleaning procedure. It's very complicated, error-prone and most of all, not necessary. Your STEP-modded game will be quite stable and run just fine without it.

Edited November 25, 2021 by Mousetick