'New' again

[Gothkatiel]

Hello all!

It's been more years than I care to count, but I'm ready for another STEP experience and would ask for some advice as someone effectively new to the landscape.

Last go-around for me was a STEPLE build (it went swell) right at the dawn of SE, and SKSE64 was a hope and a dream.

Anyway, could someone point me toward the best bang-for-your buck SE guide that'll balance quantity of content against content that is up-to-date? Should I jump straight into SE2.2.0? What's the word on the street for BGS AE hotfix? Is it recommended to hold off for it, or will it be "fine" to start anyway? Or just forget about it, wait for the dust to settle, and skip to 2.3.0?

[ButchDiavolo]

Hmm yeah, you picked a bad time to start Skyrim again. Bethesda suddenly woke up and started patching Skyrim again. Apparently the only good thing to come out of that is the ability to use more ESL files. The rest is fluff or fixes that have already been fixed YEARS ago by various mods. And the latest patch is just to benefit their latest money-grab Creation Club. Lord knows what else they have up their sleeve.

My personal opinion is to start with STEP 2.2.0 and Skyrim version 1.6.640. Most mods for 1.6.640 are still available. And play Skyrim with Steam in OFFLINE mode, so it can't sneakily update to the latest version. For mods that are no longer available for 1.6.640 you can do a simple google search and find them online. Most usually on Reddit. But double check to see if the site(s) you download them from are reputable and not scammers.

You can download Skyrim version 1.6.640 in the steamdb. I posted a "how-to" in the forums. You may have to install the latest version first though and then downgrade to version 1.6.640. In that case you have to also install Backported Extended ESL Support, so the downgraded Skyrim can work with the updated ESLs. And always triple check you have the correct version of mods.

Or... you could wait until this all blows over again and mods are back were they were before Bethesda did a thing again.

[Hardwehr]

I can Confirm, it works!

I wiped my Windows installation with all skyrim files in it yesterday and set it up all over again. I just finished the 2.2.0 Guide and the Games running smooth! Havent played that much ofc, but it seems that downgrading and installing the backporting mod  is best Method atm.

[Gothkatiel]

I had hoped "several weeks into the new year" wouldn't be as many as this so far, but here we are (cmondosomething.jpg @BGS). In typical fashion I'm getting impatient, and more work or not, I'm gonna forge ahead with what's currently available to work with. Hope to be finished with it by my birthday in April. Wish me luck.