Difficult to Understand

[ray0071]

If I could make a suggestion it would be to make the guide easier to understand.  

Example:  2.B Clean the Update ESM - I got stuck on it because what the instruction were stating was not what I was encountering with Mod Organizer.  

 

When someone knowledgeable creates a guide, they can tend to skip over details which they assume others know.  For those who rely heavily on the guide, this is a huge problem.  

 

To be clear - I appreciate the work everyone has put into this project.  Huge respect to all of you.  My comments are just my own personal views/feedback.

 

RayT

 

[DoubleYou]

Got some insight after reading through some of the guys chit chat and as Akatosh mentioned I can see the editing being laborious. BUT the files are still old as is the guide so when on multiple instances your asked "Merge, Replace or" there's no info within the detailed instruction so ya gotta wing it. This is my 3rd time installing the program and I see things I missed before and things I'm getting better at understanding. I'm  more of a stickler than most for wanting things to be exact and precise. Understandable otherwise the Military would not function for squat and my shipmates would drown. Details are imperative for success and not having to waste another day of modding instead of gaming.... We get enough half a$$ garbage from EA/Bethesda/2K or whomever. I'm an unemployed Vet so send me a list of edits and I'll do it as long as they're accurately detailed... And thanks again to all the mod Authors & Gamers poets video series for their work.

https://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:Mod_Organizer#Installing.2C_Updating.2C_.26_Uninstalling_Mods

[krossbonzz]

Well if the information was precise and not conflicting per Author or Wiki or Video site then we'd all have more time to game right? @Dragonborn- As for merge or replace I've watched the video's and it does not state entirely the difference and holy **** another 5 seconds of adding that info on the Wiki is just insane. Authors would love to make a few bucks for their work that they enjoy. So when you design a program that is going to use all these Authors' work wouldn't you as The STEP Guide Storefront want to have things as easy as can be without being too in depth so that maybe a noob modder like myself would be less irritated and more apt to go "Damn this is freeking cool" and drop a buck or two to the Authors.............or even buy a staff member or Mike Mike (for the good video's) a Red bull since we all have paypal accounts. You wouldn't sell your Ferrari at a Yugo Dealership! If you can't make something accurate for all Geek levels of intelligence than why stick the stuff out there? Is it that hard to produce quality in everything in life these days? Don't be an Obama'nation.

 

So Mr Dragonborn enlighten me as to finding the information I should've seen on Mod Organizer. Thank you again

[krossbonzz]

Thank you for the link to MO and I will add that the Authors could have the correct one(s) labeled just for the STEP, STEP Extended etc. 

Edited August 20, 2015 by krossbonzz

[GrantSP]

Just a brief comment on how easy it is for users to NOT pay attention to details. Though it is evident in this thread it isn't exclusive to this specific user, nor is it an attack on them, just an observation.

@akatosh & @dragonborn are not the names of the users offering comments here anymore than @prisoner is the name of the one(s) that ask questions.

 

Not a big deal in the scheme of things but it does highlight how easy it is to skim through information and have your mind tell you: 'yeah no worries, I got that all covered' only to completely leave you high and dry when you really need that info.

[TechAngel85]

Just a brief comment on how easy it is for users to NOT pay attention to details. Though it is evident in this thread it isn't exclusive to this specific user, nor is it an attack on them, just an observation.

@akatosh & @dragonborn are not the names of the users offering comments here anymore than @prisoner is the name of the one(s) that ask questions.

 

Not a big deal in the scheme of things but it does highlight how easy it is to skim through information and have your mind tell you: 'yeah no worries, I got that all covered' only to completely leave you high and dry when you really need that info.

Good, case-in-point.

 

I'm not sure the user was implying this or not, but I read it this way so to make it clear...STEP has nothing to do with the authoring of Mod Organizer. We promote it as the official mod manager for STEP (if you think it's hard, try Wrye Bash...Haha!), we host the official forums for Tannin (the author) because he needed a place for proper support, and we host the official wiki because it's convenient. That's it. We're just providing services, not authoring MO.

 

I've still yet to hear any good detailed feedback that would allow us to improve anything. The feedback that was provided and was good feedback was fixed. So there's your proof that we're willing to fine tune things that new users find confusing. However, videos will not be provided. We've already explain this would be far to much maintenance for us, so that subject can be dropped. Sorry, just not happening.

 

We've told everyone what we need. Detailed feedback and specifics. I'll be checking out of this topic from this point on until such useful feedback is given.

[ray0071]

I can't reconcile the contradiction of playing Skyrim and having limited time. How do you find time to play a game if you can't find time to mod it?

Simple.  For some like me, Skyrim is about stress relief.  Laugh at me, but I enjoy the scenery and like checking out how things look.  Take all the violence out, and I would be happy just exploring.  My playtime is limited, but it is enough to help me relax.  The time I have spent so far on this guide (without success yet) - would be equal to many months of game time for me.  

 

To the creators of the guide - don't interpret my comments negatively.  I am very appreciative of what you have done.  Get your PayPal donation working and I will gladly donate - kind of like me buying all of you a beer. :)

 

Anyway, where did this week go?  China slowing down.  Talk of currency wars.  Gold surges on speculation the Fed will not raise rates in September. Markets look weak, and ready to correct.  Commodities are getting pummelled.  The problems of 2008 haven't gone away, but have only gotten worse.  Central banks think they have everything under control, and for the moment they do, but one never knows.  Each and every day this is my work reality - economics, politics, stock analysis etc...  When my day is done, nothing more I like to do than to go for a walk in Skyrim.  When the retail version of Oculus Rift is released in Q1 of 2016, imagine how amazing those walks will be then?  Hopefully I will have installed this guide by then. 

 

Of the many posts, the one which resonated most with me was by krossbonzz. When he talks about needing everything precisely explained, I know exactly what he is talking about.  In my line of work lives are not at risk (can't imagine the stress that creates), but money is.  Probably people like us cross our t's and dot our i's on a level not many do - so I think for us perhaps the guide poses more problems than most.

 

Now need to figure out my weekend schedule.  See if I can squeeze out some time to finish this guide.  At this rate maybe I will be done by Christmas - just before the Oculus Rift gets released! :)

Edited August 21, 2015 by ray0071

[TechAngel85]

Donations are working. Link at the top of the forum, unless you found a link that isn't?

[krossbonzz]

Sorry guys if i sound like an a$$ in my posts. But I think what ray0071 (I believe) said is why I seem like a jerk (divorced 3 wives so I have lots of bad names lol). And I did read some more so now I can go fix a few errors I made. Most of my questionable installs were merges as I read so that's cool. Heck for tunes or tv when i turn the volume to any level it has to be a prime number... isn't that dumb? Been doing it for years but we all got our "quirks and perks". Thanks again for the info and constructive criticism 

[Greg]

No, that's just a minor obsessive-compulsive thing and I think most of us have it to one degree or another. For the record, my volume has two be a multiple of two... no idea why, but it just seems odd to have the volume on 19 when 20 is such a lovely number.

[Nozzer66]

When it comes to Merge versus replace, what I tend to do is think: "I've downloaded the 3 gig main file and these compatibility and DLC files that are all say 200K. Would it make sense to replace a 3 Gig file with 5 200K files?"

 

Answer is, no, probably not. :) So you'd merge them.

 

Alternatively, and I know some people do this, is install them all separate. You could use 'Rename' there. So you'd have Super Mod X as the name for the main file, then Super Mod X DLC patch for the second one, maybe Super Mod X Compatibility Patch for Mega Mod Y etc etc.

 

You're not wrong either way. The Con of the second way is that the Left pane would get a bit bloated. The Pro is you can replace things easily. 

 

Merging all the things from one mod into one file for the mod is valid as well as the way it's done above. :)

[krossbonzz]

Good info and food for thought. I'm just an old dog learning new tricks. After bf4's last updates I'm more into Skyrim because it (bf4) is just fubar'd Much thanks for the assistance guys.

 

 

Never mind - Screw the ENB's & modding, done wasting time on BS software

Edited December 13, 2015 by krossbonzz

[ray0071]

In an earlier post I mentioned the Oculus Rift - using it on Skyrim (after successfully getting through STEP).

I purchased the DK2 and gave it a try yesterday.  Amazing cause it really takes you IN the game (Alien Isolation).  

Problem - can make some (like myself) sick.  Any movement in VR made me sick within minutes.  

Problem - many animations, movies, games are made for the screen.  So scenes go by quick, objects are flying around super fast, this is bothersome when seeing it on a screen but in VR - it is insane!  The movements are too jarring, too quick etc.

 

There is much excitement about the retail version of Oculus Rift due out Q1 of next year, but I see issues arising too due to simulation sickness caused by using it. 

 

I tested it on some family and friends, all of them became sick.  Sweating, headaches, stomach upside down etc.

So sadly it is unlikely I will be enjoying the Skyrim scenery in VR. 

Edited August 23, 2015 by ray0071

[Neovalen]

I heard there have been improvements since DK2, we shall see if any of the VR players take off in the future.

[ray0071]

The Dynamic Distant Objects LOD is difficult to understand, and the video in some places does not correlate with the STEP instructions.

I am unable to complete this final step due to this error: Can not find tree LOD billboards required to create tree LOD.

 

[TechAngel85]

Those are in the STEP Textures Compilation file on our Nexus page or created when you run the first screen that outputs to the TextGenOutput folder or whatever the name of it is. I can't remember which and I'm not at my computer.

 

If you set up TES5Edit correctly with the argument as we instruct, then that output from the first script is in your root C drive. ( C:\output folder name). Those files have to be installed into MO and placed directly after DynDOLOD in your left pane.