Help with random tools on *gasp* Linux [A resolution found, still need advice most likely]

[James_Richards]

It sure has been a while since I have been here. A lot has changed and well, so have I.
About around the time Cyberpunk 2077 came out, I stopped playing Skyrim. I kept up on the newses, mods and scene as much as possible, but I just didn't want to stop playing Cyberpunk just yet. About a year and half ago, I decided to ditch Windows and get on Linux. I had heard rumblings about Proton and the improvements made to WINE and other programs that made Linux a viable gaming platform, so making the switch was very appealing. I am also on a quest to learn as much as I can in order to take some Linux cert courses and improve my hire-ability and what jobs I can take. I did and do not dual-boot. I haven't touched Windows only in the last couple months when I wanted to make sure LibreOffice was really exporting my .odt documents to .docx and it all looked correct. Even then, that is in a virtual machine that I can get rid of by poking the delete button in KDE.
I have been able to get almost every game in Steam, GoG and personal library that has grown since mid 90's to run and well, and I am quite content. So far, I have managed to get Mod Organizer 2 with SKSE64 and a few simple mods working with as far as I can tell, no issues.

The problem is now S.T.E.P. I am following the latest 2.2.0 I think, and my only issue stopping me completely without tweaking the mod order is getting Nemesis Behavior Engine to work. I am assuming it is a replacement to FNIS. I haven't tried FNIS as I am wanting to follow this guide from beginning to end. NXM linking from Firefox into Mod Organizer2 works as intended.  BethINI works correctly. xEdit works correctly. Wrye Bash, too. Until I can get Nemesis to work, I don't know about LODGen and such.

Does anyone have any advice? Has someone gotten things to work on Linux just fine? The long workaround would be to import everything into a VM with Windows, run the tools that way and bring them back. Or create a bunch of symlinks and loose all sense of organization.

My current specs:
CPU: i5-6600K (stock)
RAM: 16G, DDR4-2400, CL12
GFX: MSI Radeon RX 580X GAMING 8GB

OS: Arch Linux (6.2.13-arch1-1)
Desktop: Plasma 5.27.4
Window Manager: KWin

If more info is needed, just let me know. I'll be tinkering until then and if I find the fix, I will update.
I can also share what I have done so far to get things working so far, if others are interested.

UPDATE: If you have a TL;Dr problem, the resolution (big thanks to Mousetick) is to create a symlink to the Data folder. For me, on Arch Linux, I entered in console:

ln -s "/home/james/Games/steamapps/compatdata/489830/pfx/drive_c/Modding/MO2/mods/Nemesis Unlimited Behavior Engine/Nemesis_Engine/" "/home/james/Games/steamapps/common/Skyrim Special Edition/Data/Nemesis_Engine"

Basically;

ln -s "/path/to/Nemesis_Engine/" "path/to/Skyrim's/folder/Data/Nemesis_Engine"

Your Linux build may differ slightly, but understanding what is happening can be found HERE and for Arch 'ln' man page HERE

I am also tweaking the title of this post a bit AND may update this post with additional things as I run into them. If interest in a more detailed guide is requested, I may be inclined to do so.

EDIT 2
And not quite so fast. Subsequent use brings back the same behaviors. More investigation required.

Final Edit
For my resolution, the symlink was fine. A Gremlin in the system was causing symlink issues. Something about an unused, but detrimental buidl requirement for another program, older version of "python-pathlib2" was causing issues. I removed the original symlink (and for some reason another link was made in the engine original directory) rebuilt it and now Nemesis Engine runs without issue as far as I can tell. The real test will be if the ice skating animations are not working as intended or everyone is in T-pose when I start the game next.

Edited May 10, 2023 by James_Richards
Title edit as the thread has morphed

[Mousetick]

Have you tried googling "skyrim nemesis linux" or "skyrim nemesis proton" or "skyrim nemesis steam deck"? There are some answers.

The best one seems to be there: directory_iterator Issue when trying to open Nemesis (Skyrim SE) with MO2 (scroll down a bit until the posts start talking about Linux, then keep reading).

No idea what exactly doesn't work in your case, as you didn't provide any detail, or whether the above-linked solution works.

[James_Richards]

You are right, my fault for not supplying more info on what was happening, or the error. My apologies.
I think I had burnt out already resolving various issues along the way. I tried getting Skyrim and MO2 to work shortly after I moved to Linux and there was just so little info out there at the time. Now there is a lot. I may have seen that particular post, but like I said, I can only take so much googling and trying different things that my head just shuts off. Just trying to get NXM handler to work broke something else, which was un-borkable and I ended up just clean slating it and reinstalling Arch.
Anyway. I will take a look and update if that is what makes the problems go away. I have to put in some work to get some money first. Since I am unemployed, doing surveys to get things i need.

EDIT! Yes! Moustick, your googling seems better than mine, or at least I should have slept and tried this again. The resolution for now, seems to create a symbolic link to the actual Data folder of Skyrim. A test shows the engine updated and also rebuilt the animations. One step closer to a fully modded Skyrim on Linux! Unfortunately, more symlinks that aren't easily portable unless notes are kept or actions remembered. Something I was hoping to avoid. BUT this may be helpful info for both MO2 and Nemesis teams.

Think anyone would be interested in a guide I write up on doing it? Replete with commands? It looks like a number of people having issues with these tools (not just for doing STEP) are the type to not use a console and just use the GUI provided by common distros.

EDIT 2
And not quite so fast. Subsequent use brings back the same behaviors. More investigation required.

Edited May 9, 2023 by James_Richards
Not quite fix found

[z929669]

To run 2.2.0, the simplest approach is to disregard Nemesis entirely and simply don't install "Ice skating fixed for real - No more attack sliding movement", which is the only mod we use that Nemesis configures.

This has no bearing on LODGen or other aspects of the build.

[James_Richards]

So, XP32 doesn't require rebuilding animations? I thought it was required to make sure the skeleton animations worked.

[z929669]

37 minutes ago, James_Richards said:

So, XP32 doesn't require rebuilding animations? I thought it was required to make sure the skeleton animations worked.

If you are following the guide, the XP32 plugin isn't used. In fact, the Ice Skating mod only applies to 3rd-person gameplay anyway. We only include these mods and Nemesis for those that want to build out animations atop the guide build.

[James_Richards]

Oh yeah. Forgot about that.

I imagine I'll be putting my own twist on STEP once it is finalized and working. I did that before, I'll be doing it again. So, I will need the animations to work.

Between our posts, I managed to get it working. The issue with Linux support is the vast array of installs and setups. However, with Arch Linux being as "no fluff" as possible when it comes to various distros, I am hoping the weird quirks I run into might be of use, agnostic of which distro anybody might be using. And since I'll be relying on Valve's Proton, it will simplify things even more. I did get the GoG version of Anniversary Edition, on sale, so my next chore will be to try and mod that setup, without Proton and see how it goes. I am keeping notes.

While I am here, If you don't mind, when I was first playing with mods, I setup the Anniversary Content Picker. I found I really only liked 6 of the plugins I think. How difficult do you think it would be to divorce a chunk of those plugins from the STEP Conflict resolution and other patches?

[z929669]

39 minutes ago, James_Richards said:

While I am here, If you don't mind, when I was first playing with mods, I setup the Anniversary Content Picker. I found I really only liked 6 of the plugins I think. How difficult do you think it would be to divorce a chunk of those plugins from the STEP Conflict resolution and other patches?

It's pretty simple if you know how to use xEdit with this helper script.

[James_Richards]

That...definitely simplifies the process. I assume from your answer that any resolutions or tweaks are not dependent on each other at such a level the patches break completely. This is going to be great.
Thank you for your time! I'll be on my way now.

[z929669]

37 minutes ago, James_Richards said:

That...definitely simplifies the process. I assume from your answer that any resolutions or tweaks are not dependent on each other at such a level the patches break completely. This is going to be great.
Thank you for your time! I'll be on my way now.

I would load up what you have with the patches enabled in MO and sort through each of the missing masters warnings using that helper script. I don't think any of the CC dependencies are too complex. Also note that you will want to avoid specific mod instructions to install CC-related patches, as there may be a few such mods.

[James_Richards]

I will surely keep that in mind. I just jumped back in to see if there are other things I can use as I hit another snag.

I got to the point where I run for the first time to benchmark and tweak with BethINI. I get on average 120-130 fps, make sure all the mods in previous steps that deal with ENB and post-processing are setup, run benchmark again with the milk drinker ENB ini and my performance tanks straight to 30.
I am going to finish and just tweak what is installed and see if things improve. I already skimmed over a couple posts on improving ENB performance in Linux/Proton, so I am hopeful. If not, I'll just play without ENB and hopefully be on path to a new computer like I am planning. This thing is almost 8 years old!

[z929669]

15 minutes ago, James_Richards said:

I will surely keep that in mind. I just jumped back in to see if there are other things I can use as I hit another snag.

I got to the point where I run for the first time to benchmark and tweak with BethINI. I get on average 120-130 fps, make sure all the mods in previous steps that deal with ENB and post-processing are setup, run benchmark again with the milk drinker ENB ini and my performance tanks straight to 30.
I am going to finish and just tweak what is installed and see if things improve. I already skimmed over a couple posts on improving ENB performance in Linux/Proton, so I am hopeful. If not, I'll just play without ENB and hopefully be on path to a new computer like I am planning. This thing is almost 8 years old!

Yeah, that's abnormal performance loss obviously. It should be more on the order of a 25% performance drop rather than 80% performance drop.

Linux open-source display drivers of the past were notoriously inadequate, so I'm not sure how much better they are for your GPU. I'm assuming ENB is also developed and optimized on/for Windows use.

[James_Richards]

Yeah. Linux is only beginning as a viable option I remember trying to get into Linux before Skyrim released. Things are much different now, and much better, getting better. I can play my Windows 95 and 98 era games in PCEM, DOSBox, XP and 7 era games, without issues. BUT things are starting to get a little tough in the emulation area, mainly it is my hardware. I just didn't keep up with the update cycle as I should have. Now I'll be buying a whole new rig once I get the money. Newer titles are starting to chug along. And it doesn't help that it all goes through a compatibility layer like WINE and Proton.
So.
As for display drivers, I have an alternate initramfs I can boot that can activate AMD's closed source drivers. I will be trying all my options.
I am just bewildered that I used to have an A10-6800 APU from AMD that I did my first STEP install on a few years ago.
It is fun. And a learning experience.

[Mousetick]

Glad you found the solution to your Nemesis problem and it worked. Unless you're planning to play in 3rd-person or add animations later on that specifically require FNIS or Nemesis, you could simply skip Nemesis and the ice skating fix altogether, as z929669 suggested previously. I play in 1st-person without any of that stuff, and I barely notice the ice skating of NPCs which happens rarely.

What is your display resolution? I'm not sure you can hope to significantly improve the FPS with ENB and your GPU. I have the same GPU (on Windows). I just don't bother with ENB at all, as it's simply too taxing and the eye-candy is not worth the performance degradation. GPU headroom is better spent on nice-looking LODs with DynDOLOD, IMHO.

[James_Richards]

1920x1080. I had ENB on a previous STEP install. That was a while ago and it was while I was still on Windows. I am not expecting to achieve graphical greatness I had before, Not only has Skyrim and mods changed, Proton, WINE, DXVK and such have all added a layer of working code that probably doesn't allow for the headroom. I did notice a folder labeled "LinuxVersion" in the v0.493 ENBDev download... Maybe I need the the d3d11.dll from there to replace the version in the Wrapper folder? Lots of things to test and try.