skse MO2 is not Recognizing my Plugins when running SKSE - HELP!

[Julian_McQueen]

I am in the process of modding a new playthrough of Skyrim SE and installed both Skyrim and MO2 to a separate drive (G:). I've installed all my mods via Nexus and have them enabled and sorted.

I decided to start the modded game once before I clean/patch/merge everything, just to make sure the game loads correctly. But when I ran SKSE via MO2, it appears my mods are not recognized and the game starts out like a vanilla playthrough (I have Alternate Start as an enabled mod). The only thing working is a main menu mod I installed.

All other programs (LOOT, SEEDIT, etc) apparently recognize my modlist, but not SKSE itself. I attempted to add my G: folder as an exception in my virus program (I use Kaspersky) and have reinstalled both Skyrim and MO2 twice with no avail. I have attempted to follow the STEP Wiki and SkyUI installation guides to troubleshoot, but still don't understand the source of the issue...

I've attached my modlist, load order (which Will be patched and merged when this issue is resolved), and my most recent USVFS log for reference. I would love some troubleshooting or guidance on this issue, and will provide any additional information if needed.

Thank you for any help in advance!

usvfs-2023-06-14_01-31-35.log loadorder.txt modlist.txt

Edited June 14, 2023 by Julian_McQueen

[Mousetick]

Please provide your SKSE logs (skse64.log, skse64_loader.log, skse64_steam_loader.log).

Describe where the SKSE launcher executable is installed on your disk, and how it is configured in MO2 (Tools Menu > Executables... > SKSE). Or post screenshots showing that information.

[Julian_McQueen]

4 hours ago, Mousetick said:

Please provide your SKSE logs (skse64.log, skse64_loader.log, skse64_steam_loader.log).

Describe where the SKSE launcher executable is installed on your disk, and how it is configured in MO2 (Tools Menu > Executables... > SKSE). Or post screenshots showing that information.

Sure, I have SKSE installed in my game directory (G:\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\skse64_loader.exe)

My MO2 executable, SKSE64 and SKSE64_loader logs are attached. I was unable to find "skse64_steam_loader.log" which may be the reason for these issues, as the latest version of SKSE64 doesn't seem to have "skse64_steam_loader.dll" included.

 

skse64.log skse64_loader.log

Edited June 14, 2023 by Julian_McQueen

[Mousetick]

2 hours ago, Julian_McQueen said:

My MO2 executable, SKSE64 and SKSE64_loader logs are attached. I was unable to find "skse64_steam_loader.log" which may be the reason for these issues, as the latest version of SKSE64 doesn't seem to have "skse64_steam_loader.dll" included.

Thanks. No, that's actually expected, "skse64_steam_loader.dll" is no longer present in SKSE for Skyrim SE 1.6.x.

Everything looks ok. The logs show SKSE starts successfully and loads all your SKSE plugins (Animation Queue Fix, MCM Helper, Papyrus Util, SSE Display Tweaks, etc.). So the mods installed in MO2 are correctly found.

Side Note: SKSE fails to load MiniMap. This mod is not compatible with Skyrim SE 1.6.x. You should remove it, it's useless as it stands.

What makes you think none of the mods are recognized? Is it because when you start a new game you get the prisoner cart scene instead of the character creation menu from ASLAL?

Disable all non-Bethesda plugins in MO2's right pane, except USSEP and ASLAL. Test new game with only USSEP and ASLAL.

Your issue is likely to be a mod conflict or incorrect mod installation impacting ASLAL. Neither SKSE nor MO2 are responsible/involved.

[Julian_McQueen]

57 minutes ago, Mousetick said:

Thanks. No, that's actually expected, "skse64_steam_loader.dll" is no longer present in SKSE for Skyrim SE 1.6.x.

Everything looks ok. The logs show SKSE starts successfully and loads all your SKSE plugins (Animation Queue Fix, MCM Helper, Papyrus Util, SSE Display Tweaks, etc.). So the mods installed in MO2 are correctly found.

Side Note: SKSE fails to load MiniMap. This mod is not compatible with Skyrim SE 1.6.x. You should remove it, it's useless as it stands.

What makes you think none of the mods are recognized? Is it because when you start a new game you get the prisoner cart scene instead of the character creation menu from ASLAL?

Disable all non-Bethesda plugins in MO2's right pane, except USSEP and ASLAL. Test new game with only USSEP and ASLAL.

Your issue is likely to be a mod conflict or incorrect mod installation impacting ASLAL. Neither SKSE nor MO2 are responsible/involved.

Ok, I'll remove MiniMap.

Yes, I have ASLAL enabled, but I still get the prisoner cart scene. Is the mod not compatible with Skyrim SE 1.6.x as well?

[Julian_McQueen]

1 hour ago, Mousetick said:

Disable all non-Bethesda plugins in MO2's right pane, except USSEP and ASLAL. Test new game with only USSEP and ASLAL.

Your issue is likely to be a mod conflict or incorrect mod installation impacting ASLAL. Neither SKSE nor MO2 are responsible/involved.

So I just isolated ASLAL and did another test by installing Alternate Perspective instead, and I'm still having the same issue. 

I let the cart scene play out some more, and now I see that the imperial legion armor mods I added aren't showing either, so now I'm CERTAIN that either MO2 or SKSE is not recognizing my mods.

Also, when loading the game, I am immediately brought to the main menu after the Bethesda Softworks logo plays out, there isn't a short loading time between the logo and the menu like with previous playthroughs.

I have have a mind to reinstall everything and start over again. You're a great help, honestly, but I'm getting really frustrated with the work needs to make modlists viable.

Do you recommend using Vortex and its collections? I've been considering using those just to make things easier for me...

Edited June 14, 2023 by Julian_McQueen

[z929669]

24 minutes ago, Julian_McQueen said:

So I just isolated ASLAL and did another test by installing Alternate Perspective instead, and I'm still having the same issue. 

I let the cart scene play out some more, and now I see that the imperial legion armor mods I added aren't showing either, so now I'm CERTAIN that either MO2 or SKSE is not recognizing my mods.

Also, when loading the game, I am immediately brought to the main menu after the Bethesda Softworks logo plays out, there isn't a short loading time between the logo and the menu like with previous playthroughs.

I have have a mind to reinstall everything and start over again. You're a great help, honestly, but I'm getting really frustrated with the work needs to make modlists viable.

Do you recommend using Vortex and its collections? I've been considering using those just to make things easier for me...

As @Mousetick suggested, disable all mods in MO left pane other than USSEP and ASLAL (or all but those plugins in right pane). Then sort with LOOT and test with a new game.

If no success, you may also want to consider running BethINI (link) to get your game INIs sorted out. Certain INI settings can cause inconsistent behavior.

[Mousetick]

21 minutes ago, Julian_McQueen said:

So I just isolated ASLAL and did another test by installing Alternate Perspective instead, and I'm still having the same issue. 

I don't understand what you mean by "isolating" ASLAL. I suggested you disable all mod plugins, except ASLAL and USSEP (required by ASAL). In other words, only keep USSEP and ASLAL in your load order. It sounds like you did the opposite?

ASLAL works fine with Skyrim 1.6.x.

You should manage to make ASLAL work, by itself, as the only mod (+ USSEP) in your load order. If it doesn't work, you need to troubleshoot that. There is no point in going any further.

26 minutes ago, Julian_McQueen said:

I let the cart scene play out some more, and now I see that the imperial legion armor mods I added aren't showing either, so now I'm CERTAIN that either MO2 or SKSE is not recognizing my mods.

It looks like that and you may believe it, but I think you're mistaken. MO2 is working fine, otherwise LOOT or xEdit wouldn't be able to see your mods either. SKSE is not involved in loading mod plugins (.esm, .esp, .esl...) so it has no bearing on your issue.

29 minutes ago, Julian_McQueen said:

I have have a mind to reinstall everything and start over again. You're a great help, honestly, but I'm getting really frustrated with the work needs to make modlists viable.

You don't need to start over. It looks like your basic setup is sane.

Start small and proceed step by step, checking things out along the way. Instead of jumping into a giga mod list and hoping for the best. Read all warnings and errors reported by LOOT. Resolve all the errors. Resolve the warnings as needed and if possible. Install relevant mod requirements and patches (as advised by LOOT or on the mod pages themselves).

A mod manager like MO2 makes things easy for you: no need to reinstall anything from scratch. You can simply enable/disable already installed mods, or reorder them (on the left pane).

36 minutes ago, Julian_McQueen said:

Do you recommend using Vortex and its collections? I've been considering using those just to make things easier for me...

I have no experience with either so can't really comment. I believe collections can make things a lot easier and save a lot of time, in theory. It's an all-or-nothing proposition however. If you want to add/change/remove something, you're basically back to modding 101, tinkering with a mod manager and related tools etc.

[Julian_McQueen]

2 hours ago, Mousetick said:

I don't understand what you mean by "isolating" ASLAL. I suggested you disable all mod plugins, except ASLAL and USSEP (required by ASAL). In other words, only keep USSEP and ASLAL in your load order. It sounds like you did the opposite?

Yes, I ran SKSE with only USEEP and ASLAL active, and still had the issue. I tried the same with Alternate Perspective and I'm still having the same problem.

[z929669]

1 hour ago, Julian_McQueen said:

Yes, I ran SKSE with only USEEP and ASLAL active, and still had the issue. I tried the same with Alternate Perspective and I'm still having the same problem.

Please post a screenshot of your MO SKSE launcher config EXE

The paths should look exactly like this from .\Steam\* forward (you don't need to reproduce everything here ... I do some things 'my' way)

If it does, something strange is going on with your OS or config. In that case, you have three options:

1. Keep working on this topic to resolve the mysterious issue with your current config
2. If you don't really want to learn anything else and get a working setup, follow advice to use Wabbajack or Vortex/Collection (the latter should work fine, and I have no XP with the former)
3. If you are interested in learning how to do everything in a standard and 'correct' way, follow our SSE 2.2.0 guide from start to finish (skipping over nothing). Then you can add mods carefully over this if you want to further customize after verifying a working build.

I recommend #1 or #3.

 

[GSDFan]

I have been lurking and taking notes. Can you post a screen shot of the SKSE64 mod from inside of MO?

[Mousetick]

11 hours ago, Julian_McQueen said:

Yes, I ran SKSE with only USEEP and ASLAL active, and still had the issue. I tried the same with Alternate Perspective and I'm still having the same problem.

OK. I don't know if you're considering giving up and redoing your modlist from scratch (one way or another), or are willing to troubleshoot your current issue to its resolution.  Please let us know so we don't expand unnecessary effort towards helping you troubleshoot for naught.

In the latter case, here are some instructions for validating some facts about your setup. Let's stick with ASLAL since we're all very familiar with it. Keep only USSEP + ASLAL plugins enabled as before.

Verification 1

1. From MO2's executable launcher drop-down menu, select 'Explore Virtual Folder' and click the Run button next to it.
2. 
3. This will launch the Explorer++ tool which looks and works like Windows Explorer.
4. In the Explorer++ Address bar, enter %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition, as shown next, and press Enter. 
5. 
6. There should be at least two files in the folder: plugins.txt and loadorder.txt. Right-click plugins.txt and select Open.
7. 
8. This will open the file in Notepad. Post the entire contents of this file here. It should look like this:

# This file was automatically generated by Mod Organizer.
*Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch.esp
*Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp

If plugins.txt is not present, or USSEP or ASLAL are not listed, stop. Otherwise proceed further below. Quit Explorer++ to return to MO2.

Verification 2

1. Change nothing from previous.
2. Launch SKSE from MO2.
3. At the main Skyrim menu, don't start a new game. Open the console (~ key) and enter (lower/uppercase doesn't matter)

4. coc ARTHLALFarmhouse

5. This should display a loading screen and teleport you inside ASLAL Shoal's Rest Farm house, which is defined by 'Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp'. It doesn't exist in vanilla.

If you are teleported, that means the ASLAL plugin is loaded by the game. If you are not teleported and instead get the console prompt cursor back, it means the data can't be found by the game, the ASLAL plugin is not loaded.

Report back the results. Further diagnostics and course of action will be suggested based on what you found.

[Julian_McQueen]

On 6/15/2023 at 2:06 AM, Mousetick said:

OK. I don't know if you're considering giving up and redoing your modlist from scratch (one way or another), or are willing to troubleshoot your current issue to its resolution.  Please let us know so we don't expand unnecessary effort towards helping you troubleshoot for naught.

In the latter case, here are some instructions for validating some facts about your setup. Let's stick with ASLAL since we're all very familiar with it. Keep only USSEP + ASLAL plugins enabled as before.

Verification 1

1. From MO2's executable launcher drop-down menu, select 'Explore Virtual Folder' and click the Run button next to it.
2. 
3. This will launch the Explorer++ tool which looks and works like Windows Explorer.
4. In the Explorer++ Address bar, enter %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition, as shown next, and press Enter. 
5. 
6. There should be at least two files in the folder: plugins.txt and loadorder.txt. Right-click plugins.txt and select Open.
7. 
8. This will open the file in Notepad. Post the entire contents of this file here. It should look like this:

# This file was automatically generated by Mod Organizer.
*Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch.esp
*Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp

If plugins.txt is not present, or USSEP or ASLAL are not listed, stop. Otherwise proceed further below. Quit Explorer++ to return to MO2.

Verification 2

1. Change nothing from previous.
2. Launch SKSE from MO2.
3. At the main Skyrim menu, don't start a new game. Open the console (~ key) and enter (lower/uppercase doesn't matter)

4. coc ARTHLALFarmhouse

5. This should display a loading screen and teleport you inside ASLAL Shoal's Rest Farm house, which is defined by 'Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp'. It doesn't exist in vanilla.

If you are teleported, that means the ASLAL plugin is loaded by the game. If you are not teleported and instead get the console prompt cursor back, it means the data can't be found by the game, the ASLAL plugin is not loaded.

Report back the results. Further diagnostics and course of action will be suggested based on what you found.

Hey, sorry for the AFK. I'm still troubleshooting. Let me try these instructions and follow back with you.

On 6/14/2023 at 4:13 PM, z929669 said:

Please post a screenshot of your MO SKSE launcher config EXE

The paths should look exactly like this from .\Steam\* forward (you don't need to reproduce everything here ... I do some things 'my' way)

If it does, something strange is going on with your OS or config. In that case, you have three options:

1. Keep working on this topic to resolve the mysterious issue with your current config
2. If you don't really want to learn anything else and get a working setup, follow advice to use Wabbajack or Vortex/Collection (the latter should work fine, and I have no XP with the former)
3. If you are interested in learning how to do everything in a standard and 'correct' way, follow our SSE 2.2.0 guide from start to finish (skipping over nothing). Then you can add mods carefully over this if you want to further customize after verifying a working build.

I recommend #1 or #3.

 

 

On 6/14/2023 at 7:39 PM, GSDFan said:

I have been lurking and taking notes. Can you post a screen shot of the SKSE64 mod from inside of MO?

You may find my MO SKSE pathway here: 

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by Julian_McQueen

[z929669]

2 hours ago, Julian_McQueen said:

Hey, sorry for the AFK. I'm still troubleshooting. Let me try these instructions and follow back with you.

 

You may find my MO SKSE pathway here: 

 

One thing I'm seeing here is that you have executables for "Skyrim Special Edition" and "Skyrim Special Edition Launcher" in addition to SKSE. Which of these are you using to launch the game? Are they really the same definitions with different labels or are they different?

Also note GSDFan's question:

On 6/14/2023 at 7:39 PM, GSDFan said:

I have been lurking and taking notes. Can you post a screen shot of the SKSE64 mod from inside of MO?

Here's mine:

[Julian_McQueen]

On 6/15/2023 at 2:06 AM, Mousetick said:

OK. I don't know if you're considering giving up and redoing your modlist from scratch (one way or another), or are willing to troubleshoot your current issue to its resolution.  Please let us know so we don't expand unnecessary effort towards helping you troubleshoot for naught.

In the latter case, here are some instructions for validating some facts about your setup. Let's stick with ASLAL since we're all very familiar with it. Keep only USSEP + ASLAL plugins enabled as before.

Verification 1

1. From MO2's executable launcher drop-down menu, select 'Explore Virtual Folder' and click the Run button next to it.
2. 
3. This will launch the Explorer++ tool which looks and works like Windows Explorer.
4. In the Explorer++ Address bar, enter %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition, as shown next, and press Enter. 
5. 
6. There should be at least two files in the folder: plugins.txt and loadorder.txt. Right-click plugins.txt and select Open.
7. 
8. This will open the file in Notepad. Post the entire contents of this file here. It should look like this:

# This file was automatically generated by Mod Organizer.
*Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch.esp
*Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp

If plugins.txt is not present, or USSEP or ASLAL are not listed, stop. Otherwise proceed further below. Quit Explorer++ to return to MO2.

Verification 2

1. Change nothing from previous.
2. Launch SKSE from MO2.
3. At the main Skyrim menu, don't start a new game. Open the console (~ key) and enter (lower/uppercase doesn't matter)

4. coc ARTHLALFarmhouse

5. This should display a loading screen and teleport you inside ASLAL Shoal's Rest Farm house, which is defined by 'Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp'. It doesn't exist in vanilla.

If you are teleported, that means the ASLAL plugin is loaded by the game. If you are not teleported and instead get the console prompt cursor back, it means the data can't be found by the game, the ASLAL plugin is not loaded.

Report back the results. Further diagnostics and course of action will be suggested based on what you found.

Ok, sorry for the delay, I was preparing for family all weekend. 

I checked the plugins file, and this was all I could find (see attached).

I ran SKSE and tried "coc ARTHLALFarmhouse", but did not teleport. It appears the plugins are not recognized...

plugins.txt