Need to change Skyrim game path for Texgen and DynDoLod

[TectonicLeader]

As the title says I need to change the path that dyndolod and texgen use to a path outside of the steam folder (getting real tired of steam bricking my game for no reason).  I tried looking on my own and in the forums but cannot seem to find any mention of where to change the path used.

[sheson]

On 2/9/2022 at 9:26 PM, TectonicLeader said:

The issue is that steam grabs it if I use that launcher and then reinstalls the game into the folder that it thinks it should be in.  Using the skse launcher fully bypasses it.  So blame valve for forcing an update few wanted and bricking many games without a way to opt out.

Do not start Steam. Then start the launcher SkyrimSELauncher.exe directly. It will update the registry. Then Exit the launcher without starting the game. No Steam running, no game updating. If the old folder still has the game as mentioned above, delete the registry entry beforehand. Once the registry is updated start the game through SKSE as usual. 

https://dyndolod.info/Messages/Windows-Registry-Key

https://dyndolod.info/Help/Game-Mode

https://dyndolod.info/Mods/Skyrim-Special-Edition-GOG-Skyrim-Anniversary-Edition-GOG

[sheson]

Start the games launcher from the new directory to update the Windows registry with the current location.

The launcher can be started directly without Steam running.

[TectonicLeader]

15 hours ago, sheson said:

Start the games launcher from the new directory to update the Windows registry with the current location.

The launcher can be started directly without Steam running.

(praise be the cow)

The steam launcher keeps forcing the game to run from the old folder so it is not updating the registry.

Edited February 8, 2022 by TectonicLeader
the mems

[DoubleYou]

I think you can redirect using the -D switch like this: 

-D:"C:\Path\To\Skyrim Special Edition\Data"

 

[TectonicLeader]

3 hours ago, DoubleYou said:

I think you can redirect using the -D switch like this: 

-D:"C:\Path\To\Skyrim Special Edition\Data"

 

This seems like a power user thing.  I am not yet one of the power users more of an intermediate.  Could I potentially get some context for this?

[DoubleYou]

6 minutes ago, TectonicLeader said:

This seems like a power user thing.  I am not yet one of the power users more of an intermediate.  Could I potentially get some context for this?

If you use a mod manager, just input it in the Arguments or equivalent box for the tool's shortcut.

Alternatively, set the Installed Path registry key manually to switch between.

[TectonicLeader]

10 minutes ago, DoubleYou said:

If you use a mod manager, just input it in the Arguments or equivalent box for the tool's shortcut.

Alternatively, set the Installed Path registry key manually to switch between.

I pretty much never add tools into my mod manager cause I'm lazy and just shortcut them to my desktop.  Ill try the registry edit.

[Mousetick]

55 minutes ago, TectonicLeader said:

Ill try the registry edit.

Yes it's the easiest and most compatible approach if you moved Skyrim to a non-standard folder location and you're not a "power user". All the tools will just work with the new location without further tweaking necessary.

[sheson]

10 hours ago, TectonicLeader said:

The steam launcher keeps forcing the game to run from the old folder so it is not updating the registry.

The game launcher to start directly (with a file manager like Windows Explorer) from the new directory to update the Windows registry with the current location without Steam running is ..\Skyrim Special Edition\SkyrimSELauncher.exe

There is no need to manually edit the registry. If the launcher can not update the registry, then there is a more serious problem, like the OS, antivir or some 3rd party crapware denying access that needs to be addressed first.

The registry should contain the correct path to the game regardless of adding a command line to tools or not. Everything uses it to automatically discover the game location.

[Mousetick]

4 hours ago, sheson said:

If the launcher can not update the registry, then there is a more serious problem, like the OS, antivir or some 3rd party crapware denying access that needs to be addressed first.

Not necessarily. If there are 2 (or more) folders containing Skyrim SE/AE, and the registry entry is currently pointing to one of them, the Skyrim launcher will not update the registry, even if it's run from a folder not specified in the registry. If you then click "Play", the Skyrim launcher will relaunch itself using the executable in the folder specified by the registry. It's a confusing catch-22. Been there, done that 

This may be what happened to the OP. Perhaps they copied their Skyrim installation folder somewhere else, leaving behind the original within their Steam library folder, instead of moving it.

 

[DoubleYou]

1 hour ago, Mousetick said:

Not necessarily. If there are 2 (or more) folders containing Skyrim SE/AE, and the registry entry is currently pointing to one of them, the Skyrim launcher will not update the registry, even if it's run from a folder not specified in the registry. If you then click "Play", the Skyrim launcher will relaunch itself using the executable in the folder specified by the registry. It's a confusing catch-22. Been there, done that 

This may be what happened to the OP. Perhaps they copied their Skyrim installation folder somewhere else, leaving behind the original within their Steam library folder, instead of moving it.

 

Yes, this is my experience as well, hence the registry tweak. 

[TectonicLeader]

12 hours ago, sheson said:

The game launcher to start directly (with a file manager like Windows Explorer) from the new directory to update the Windows registry with the current location without Steam running is ..\Skyrim Special Edition\SkyrimSELauncher.exe

There is no need to manually edit the registry. If the launcher can not update the registry, then there is a more serious problem, like the OS, antivir or some 3rd party crapware denying access that needs to be addressed first.

The registry should contain the correct path to the game regardless of adding a command line to tools or not. Everything uses it to automatically discover the game location.

The issue is that steam grabs it if I use that launcher and then reinstalls the game into the folder that it thinks it should be in.  Using the skse launcher fully bypasses it.  So blame valve for forcing an update few wanted and bricking many games without a way to opt out.

[TectonicLeader]

6 hours ago, DoubleYou said:

Yes, this is my experience as well, hence the registry tweak. 

Did the trick thank you.

 

Now I just need to figure out why its crashing... with no error codes or log output.  yay...

Edited February 9, 2022 by TectonicLeader

[TectonicLeader]

On 2/9/2022 at 3:56 PM, sheson said:

Do not start Steam. Then start the launcher directly. It will update the registry. Then Exit the launcher without starting the game. No Steam running, no game updating. If the old folder still has the game as mentioned above, delete the registry entry beforehand. Once the registry is updated start the game through SKSE as usual. 

Yea I did that.  I tried both launchers.  Both launchers would start steam.  It did not matter if steam was running or not.  Both launchers started steam.  It does not matter anymore the registry edit fixed it now I need to figure out why its crashing generating tree lods with no log output to help diagnose the issue.

[sheson]

9 hours ago, TectonicLeader said:

Yea I did that.  I tried both launchers.  Both launchers would start steam.  It did not matter if steam was running or not.  Both launchers started steam.  It does not matter anymore the registry edit fixed it now I need to figure out why its crashing generating tree lods with no log output to help diagnose the issue.

The SkyrimSELauncher.exe does not start Steam when started from Windows Explorer.