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

[Mousetick]

1 hour ago, Julian_McQueen said:

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

Where and how did you 'find' this file? Did you look at its contents?

Contents of plugins.txt you posted:

# Automatically generated by Vortex
*Bandit War.esp

1. It says 'Automatically generated by Vortex'. Aren't you using MO2 as your mod manager?
2. It lists only one enabled plugin: Bandit War.esp. Should 'Bandit War.esp' be there? ASLAL and USSEP are nowhere to be seen.

1 hour ago, Julian_McQueen said:

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

Yes of course, given the plugins.txt file above. How can the right plugins be recognized if their list is wrong in the first place.

Perhaps I should clarify: the file plugins.txt is supposed to contain the list of plugins in your load order. Enabled plugins are preceded by an asterisk. Skyrim reads this file on startup and loads the plugins that are enabled. Skyrim looks for this file in the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition folder on your disk. MO2 manages plugins.txt internally, it automatically and virtually places it in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition as needed.

On a system properly set up with MO2, the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition folder doesn't contain plugins.txt or loadorder.txt when browsed from Windows Explorer. They're only visible when browsed from MO2's virtual folder explorer.

Suggestion:

• Using Windows Explorer, browse to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition.
• Remove the plugins.txt and loadorder.txt files.
• Redo the previous validation.

Also:

• Don't put anything in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition, don't mess with it.

[Julian_McQueen]

21 hours ago, Mousetick said:

Where and how did you 'find' this file? Did you look at its contents?

Contents of plugins.txt you posted:

# Automatically generated by Vortex
*Bandit War.esp

1. It says 'Automatically generated by Vortex'. Aren't you using MO2 as your mod manager?
2. It lists only one enabled plugin: Bandit War.esp. Should 'Bandit War.esp' be there? ASLAL and USSEP are nowhere to be seen.

Yes of course, given the plugins.txt file above. How can the right plugins be recognized if their list is wrong in the first place.

Perhaps I should clarify: the file plugins.txt is supposed to contain the list of plugins in your load order. Enabled plugins are preceded by an asterisk. Skyrim reads this file on startup and loads the plugins that are enabled. Skyrim looks for this file in the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition folder on your disk. MO2 manages plugins.txt internally, it automatically and virtually places it in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition as needed.

On a system properly set up with MO2, the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition folder doesn't contain plugins.txt or loadorder.txt when browsed from Windows Explorer. They're only visible when browsed from MO2's virtual folder explorer.

Suggestion:

• Using Windows Explorer, browse to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition.
• Remove the plugins.txt and loadorder.txt files.
• Redo the previous validation.

Also:

• Don't put anything in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition, don't mess with it.

1. Yes I'm using MO2, but I attempted to use Vortex for Tale of Two Wastelands with no avail.

2. I have no idea what that ESP is or what mod it belongs to.

I removed the plugins.txt and loadorder.txt files, and still have the issues when running SKSE. Maybe it has something to do with the txt files showing in the profiles\Skyrim 2023 directory?

[Mousetick]

26 minutes ago, Julian_McQueen said:

Maybe it has something to do with the txt files showing in the profiles\Skyrim 2023 directory?

No. Do not touch anything in there. Leave this folder alone. It's managed by MO2.

30 minutes ago, Julian_McQueen said:

I removed the plugins.txt and loadorder.txt files, and still have the issues when running SKSE.

I need to know exactly the results of the validation in order to make some progress. Please avoid vague statements such as "still have the issues when running SKSE" and simply provide specific, accurate facts.

After removing plugins.txt and loadorder.txt:

• What was there in the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition folder during Verification 1? Were there any files, which ones? Was plugins.txt there, if so what are its contents?
• What was the result of Verification 2?

You previously mentioned that "all other programs (LOOT, SEEDIT, etc) apparently recognize my modlist". Please provide confirmation that is the case in the form of a screenshot showing the load order in LOOT and/or xEdit, when launched from MO2. The entire load order is not necessary, a partial view is enough.

[Julian_McQueen]

On 6/21/2023 at 1:09 PM, Mousetick said:

No. Do not touch anything in there. Leave this folder alone. It's managed by MO2.

I need to know exactly the results of the validation in order to make some progress. Please avoid vague statements such as "still have the issues when running SKSE" and simply provide specific, accurate facts.

After removing plugins.txt and loadorder.txt:

• What was there in the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition folder during Verification 1? Were there any files, which ones? Was plugins.txt there, if so what are its contents?
• What was the result of Verification 2?

You previously mentioned that "all other programs (LOOT, SEEDIT, etc) apparently recognize my modlist". Please provide confirmation that is the case in the form of a screenshot showing the load order in LOOT and/or xEdit, when launched from MO2. The entire load order is not necessary, a partial view is enough.

I'm sorry. I ran SKSE and still had the vanilla opening with the cart when I started a new game, even with plugins.txt and loadorder.txt removed.

 

Verification 2 doesn't work either, I ran SKSE and tried "coc ARTHLALFarmhouse", but did not teleport. I have screenshots of my LOOT and SEEDIT programs below, as requested.

[Greg]

You are aware that if you delete plugins.txt and loadorder.txt that is actually used by Mod Organizer, your plugins and load order go *boom* right?

[Mousetick]

7 hours ago, Julian_McQueen said:

Verification 2 doesn't work either, I ran SKSE and tried "coc ARTHLALFarmhouse", but did not teleport. I have screenshots of my LOOT and SEEDIT programs below, as requested.

Thanks. This is puzzling.

Sorry to be a pain but I have to ask whether you effectively performed the validation steps described in Verification 1. I can't tell whether you did or not based on your report. 

Please go through those steps and post a screenshot of the Explorer++ window showing the contents of %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition, for confirmation. If the plugins.txt is present in the folder, post the contents of that file opened from the Explorer++ window (right-click the file and select Open to view in Notepad or your default text editor).

The reason I'm asking to go through this peculiar procedure is that the contents of %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition are virtualized when MO2 is used to launch programs. Browsing the folder through Windows Explorer shows its on-disk contents, not the virtualized contents. We need to verify the virtualized contents to understand what Skyrim "sees" when launched from MO2 and SKSE Launcher, hence the need to view the folder through MO2's built-in virtualized browser.

Ancillary questions/remarks:

• Based on the xEdit screenshot you provided, it appears all your mod plugins are enabled? I previously requested that you disable all plugins except USSEP and Alternate Start (emphasis added):

Quote

Let's stick with ASLAL since we're all very familiar with it. Keep only USSEP + ASLAL plugins enabled as before.

Have you done so or not?

• I understand your free time may be quite limited but if you can only spend 5 minutes per week to work on your modded Skyrim, at this rate you might be ready to play in a year or two. In the meantime you or I may lose interest or grow tired. So it's doubly important that you carefully read and follow the instructions I'm providing, so that we don't waste time guessing and backtracking.
• If there's something that's not clear or you need help with, don't hesitate to ask.

[z929669]

Consider Mousetick's advice carefully and see if you want to strictly provide the requested detail verbatim.

If not, I'd advise really considering following the Step SSE guide strictly through 02-Extenders.

That includes setting up your modding environment and reinstalling all tools, including MO, using our recommendations. I pretty much guarantee your issues will resolve, and then you will have all of the tools and base runtime mods installed properly for building upon without the mysterious issues you are having.

I think its your base configuration, and troubleshooting that can be a PITA if it's not 'standard'.

[Julian_McQueen]

On 6/24/2023 at 6:47 PM, Mousetick said:

Thanks. This is puzzling.

Sorry to be a pain but I have to ask whether you effectively performed the validation steps described in Verification 1. I can't tell whether you did or not based on your report. 

Please go through those steps and post a screenshot of the Explorer++ window showing the contents of %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition, for confirmation. If the plugins.txt is present in the folder, post the contents of that file opened from the Explorer++ window (right-click the file and select Open to view in Notepad or your default text editor).

The reason I'm asking to go through this peculiar procedure is that the contents of %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition are virtualized when MO2 is used to launch programs. Browsing the folder through Windows Explorer shows its on-disk contents, not the virtualized contents. We need to verify the virtualized contents to understand what Skyrim "sees" when launched from MO2 and SKSE Launcher, hence the need to view the folder through MO2's built-in virtualized browser.

Ancillary questions/remarks:

• Based on the xEdit screenshot you provided, it appears all your mod plugins are enabled? I previously requested that you disable all plugins except USSEP and Alternate Start (emphasis added):

Have you done so or not?

• I understand your free time may be quite limited but if you can only spend 5 minutes per week to work on your modded Skyrim, at this rate you might be ready to play in a year or two. In the meantime you or I may lose interest or grow tired. So it's doubly important that you carefully read and follow the instructions I'm providing, so that we don't waste time guessing and backtracking.
• If there's something that's not clear or you need help with, don't hesitate to ask.

OK I SEE NOW! I'm so sorry, I thought when you said plugins you meant the items on the left side of MO2. I ran the game with the USSEP + ASLAL plugins enabled and ASLAL started up just fine. God, I'm sorry for the headache, I must seem like a huge idiot lol

I think a mod I have in my list might be overriding my other plugins or something, I'll have to troubleshoot to find the culprit.

 

Edited June 26, 2023 by Julian_McQueen

[constantine123]

I don't know whether it's appropriate or not to resurrect this thread, but I am having a similar problem, only I have been following STEP rigorously and did my best to set everything up properly. (BethINI, cleaning masters, etc.)

When I enable plugins in MO2, the plugin list at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition is accurate. I am only enabling USSEP and ASLAL. It shows both of those mods listed exactly as is referenced in this thread.

But when I start the game, the console command "coc ARTHLALFarmhouse" does not teleport me. New game leads to cart sequence. When I open Wyre Bash to review my plugin list, the plugins are visible but not enabled. I can manually enable the plugins through Wyre Bash, and then they work.

I've had exactly one time when enabling a plugin through MO2 was enough to get it working in the game. And I have no idea what changed between that time and the next time. I'm pretty certain I didn't change anything.

I had previously assumed this was a bug that had something to do with me switching from Vortex to MO2, but I'm not sure anymore. I'm using the GOG edition, if that matters.

Edited August 28, 2023 by constantine123

[Mousetick]

5 hours ago, constantine123 said:

I'm using the GOG edition, if that matters.

If you already haven't done so, download and install 'Skyrim Special Edition GOG and Epic Games Support - Mod Organizer 2.4.x' from the update files section of Mod Organizer 2 on Nexus.

The GOG version of Skyrim SE uses %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition GOG instead of %LOCALAPPDATA%\Skyrim Special Edition. MO2 doesn't handle this GOG-specific location unless the aforementioned update is installed.

The STEP SSE Guide is designed to work "out of the box" with the Steam edition of Skyrim SE/AE. Any other "platform" is not officially supported.

You'll need to configure various tools used by the guide, starting with MO2, specifically to account for the non-standard folder locations used by the GOG edition of the game, otherwise these tools won't work as expected or at all. Consult each tool documentation and/or search online for guidance. They all work fine with the GOG edition but they require the proper settings, to be manually configured.

[constantine123]

I thought I had already replaced that plugin... It seems that I downloaded it but didn't put it in the right location. That fixed it. Thank you!

Yeah, I've been having to add arguments redirecting various programs to get them working. I didn't realize I'd missed such a critical step with MO2 itself though. I'll poke through the documentation more and check to see if I missed anything else.