Left Pane Priority...How to group mods?

[TurtleClerck]

I have searched everything I can find and gotten answers ranging from it doesn't matter to extremely important depending on who you ask. I had to face facts that my puny laptop cannot handle even the core build of STEP so I have to go back to a crappy looking skyrim. While I have learned a great deal from following the guide one thing still alludes me. Where should I be placing my mods in the left pane? Tons of info on right pane load order, but not so much on this. I understand how one mod may overwrite another and how important it is especially with meshes and textures. What no one seems to address is mods that add quests, new land spaces, followers, races, weapons, player homes etc. In the never ending quest to find the most stable playable build I can I have used the guide to try and figure this out but since all the mod types I just listed are not part of STEP I'm lost. Essentially I have installed sections 2 c,d,e as they are pretty much required for any setup. I have a few animations, sound, and clutter and several of the game play section. Now where should I be adding these other mods in. One thread I found said that if following the step build any mod could be added at the bottom of the left pane as long as it was placed above all patches. This seems to be not very good advice to me. If you could point me to a resource that could help clear this up I would be ever so grateful. Thanks

[EssArrBee]

The order in the guide from top to bottom is the left pane order we recommend. You can ignore any of the Potential Mod Order Problems that MO might throw. They are false positives.

[TurtleClerck]

I understand that. I have already disabled that warning function in MO, but I am unable to use the guide in full. So does it truly not matter what order the left pane is organized except as it relates to one mod overwriting another? So say Falskarr, AFT, 3DNPC, any weapons and the like and my custom race can go anywhere?? Sorry if I'm just not getting it.

[Greg]

The short and easy answer is to start at the top of the STEP guide and install the mods you want in the order listed.

 

The long answer is that you need to check the conflicts tab of each mod to determine which (if any) conflicting files you want to use in the game. If there are no conflicting files for a specific mod, it really doesn't matter (other than aesthetics) where you place this mod in the left pane. If there are conflicting files, you need to determine which you want to be used in the game.

 

Say for example that you install Clothing and Clutter Fixes and Gemling Queen Jewelry. Both of these mods install NIFs for the circlets, so you probably want Gemling Queen Jewelry below Clothing and Clutter Fixes so the game uses Gemling Queen Jewelry's circlets.

 

Patches should generally always be below the source mod in the left pane -- Unofficial Dragonborn Patch below Dragonborn, Skyrim Flora Overhaul - Dragonborn below Skyrim Flora Overhaul, etc.

[TurtleClerck]

Thank you. I think I'm getting it now. As long as there is no conflict or you want something to overwrite something else it doesn't matter. The nice green and red colors are helpful as well. Now when I click on a mod it shows what it overwrites or is being overwritten by. Man, wouldn't it be nice if someone made a program so you could plug in all your mods and it would magically make them all get along. Someday maybe.