SkyrimSE:Step Patch - Lighting and Weather
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Mod Organizer #3 - Updating and Merging Mods (by Gopher)
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"User" is not in the list (BeyondSkyrim, Fallout3, Fallout4, FalloutNV, Morroblivion, Morrowind, NoMansSky, Oblivion, Skyblivion, SkyrimLE, ...) of allowed values for the "Game" property.
WARNING
This guide was designed to support (and therefore requires) Skyrim Special Edition v1.6.1170. Additionally ...
The most noteworthy changes are listed below. See the Step Versioning Documentation for more information on Step's versioning methodology.
See the changelog for more details and to determine if upgrading from a previous version is advisable.
This is the official Step modding guide for Skyrim: Aniversary Edition for Skyrim on the PC without VR. Our guides provide detailed, well-tested build instructions for a stable game with an enhanced vanilla experience.
The Step team collects information from the modding community through extensive mod testing, detailed reviews, feedback, and suggestions exchanged on the Forums. Posting rules apply, so be sure to read and follow them.
Visit the forums to learn more or contribute. Also follow Step Modifications on Facebook. To support hosting and maintenance of this website, consider donating to the project.
We recommend that you review this entire guide before attempting installation, especially if this is your first exposure to a Step Category:Mod-Build Guides (aka, "Game Guide"). We and The Community, have consolidated a lot of information into our guides for use as a free resource for all. New and experienced modders alike will find many answers within these guides and linked resources. This guide is written in such a way that it expects users to know the basics of modding and related tools (e.g. mod managers, LOD optimizers, configuration utilities, etc.). However our support forums are always available for Q&A.
The following nomenclature is used throughout this guide and should be understood before proceeding.
Click the heading below to expand detailed instructions that are collapsed by default for readability:
Expand mod table detailed instructions:
Installing this Guide in the manner intended results in no not safe for work (NSFW) content in-game. However, there may be mod pages linked within the Guide that do include NSFW content; namely images. In the past, mod instructions included direct links to download files; bypassing these pages. However, when Nexus Mods implemented a unique MD5 hash to every download request it prevented Step from providing links directly to specific files. As such, these mod pages are indicated with warning text.
User should be run on a relatively modern Windows 10/11 64-bit desktop or laptop, gaming capable PC. While CPU specs and performance are important factors, they matter only to a point beyond which is diminishing return on investment. Smooth gameplay, LODGen-related tools, and ENBSeries post-processing are most limited by the GPU performance coupled to the resolution at which the game is run.
Be aware it will take anywhere from several hours to a several days to complete this build from start to finish. This time will vary greatly depending on internet download speed and user experience. Following are reasonable time estimates:
Those who have not completed the System Setup Guide (SSG) should STOP and do so now BEFORE beginning Step 2! This is a perquisite for completing this guide, as many of the following instructions reference concepts, tools, and even file paths established in the SSG.
NOTE
It's recommended to create a new MO instance for each Step build. Revisit the SSG - MO First-Launch Setup if a Step User Z929669/Sandbox instance wasn't created previously.
Step User Z929669/Sandbox
All modding tools needed should already be installed according to the System Setup Guide. Some tools will have been auto-detected and added; nevertheless, ensure the settings are correct for all tools. xEdit is used in the following example. 'SSEEdit', TES5Edit, FO4Edit, etc. are all 'xEdit', which applies to all Bethesda games.:
xEdit Output
..Modding/Tools/xEdit/SSEEdit.exe
-IKnowWhatImDoing - -AllowMasterFilesEdit
For tools previously installed, adjust the arguments below for use with User.
--game="Skyrim Special Edition"
- -IKnowWhatImDoing -AllowMasterFilesEdit
-
-lodgen - -o:"DriveLetter:\Modding\Tools\xLODGen\xLODGen_Output"
DriveLetter
MO executables can be arranged in any order using the up and down buttons above the list or drag & drop. This will dictate the order they are listed in the MO "Run" dropdown menu. When complete, close the window by clicking the [OK] button.
MO2
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ModOrganizer\<instanceName>\profiles\<profileName>
Configure BethINI as reflected in the images below under each expandable heading. The optimal settings will be applied --and scaled sensibly according to the quality preset chosen, but circumstantial instructions are provided in case they apply to the modding environment. Many settings are expected for Performance Tuning later in this guide, so please don't deviate from the High preset until that point.
300
3600
60
200
282
2000
7500
At any time during the mod installation process, LOOT should be used to sort plugins before running the game. This is necessary to ensure proper plugin priority (load order), which can have a dramatic impact on the game:
--single-process --game="Skyrim Special Edition"
Up to this point, only the following plugins should be listed in the MO right pane in the order listed. (If not, run LOOT again):
To resolve potential issues later, the vanilla plugin masters should be cleaned with xEdit. Step is aware of the debate regarding whether or not it's necessary to clean vanilla masters. While it may or may not matter for general references, that is not the case regarding large references. Any large reference that is deleted, "initially disabled", or overwritten triggers large reference bugs. See the relevant posts for details and further reading.
Prior to getting started, create an empty mod in MO:
Cleaned Vanilla Masters
Use the following procedure for cleaning the vanilla plugins (including Creation Club masters), which involves exactly 44 'dirty' vanilla masters (including plugins from the base game, the original DLC, the base Creation Club DLC, and the Anniversary Upgrade DLC, all of which are required). Use LOOT as a reference to determine which specific vanilla plugins should undergo cleaning. Following the provided cleaning and housekeeping instructions ensures that this process only needs to be performed once, unless a master is updated by Bethesda.
\SSEEdit Backups\
\SSEEdit Backups\Update.esm.backup.YYYY_MM_DD_HH_MM_SS
After the vanilla master files are cleaned, they should be moved into the Cleaned Vanilla Masters mod in MO, and the original files should be restored into the "Data" directory in the game folder (e.g., C:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\Data\. This makes Steam happy when "validating" files so that it remains unaware of changes.
C:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\Data\
..\Data
..\Cleaned Vanilla Masters
To restore the original masters, simply copy and rename the official, uncleaned vanilla masters now located as backups in the xEdit Output mod (recommended). The original vanilla masters can also be restored by using Verify integrity of game files in Steam.
qqq
ccasvsse001-almsivi.esm.backup.YYYY_MM_DD_HH_MM_SS
Update.esm.backup.YYYY_MM_DD_HH_MM_SS
Dawnguard.esm.backup.YYYY_MM_DD_HH_MM_SS
.backup.YYYY_MM_DD_HH_MM_SS
Get-ChildItem *.backup.* | Rename-Item -NewName { $_.Name -replace '(.*es.).*','$1' }
The Bethesda masters should be cleaned and essentially hidden from the game inside the disabled Cleaned Vanilla Masters mod. The mod list prioritization in the left pane should reflect as follows (ignore the plugin prioritization in the right pane for now):
At this point, the modding environment should be fully configured and ready for mod installation. IMPORTANT: Please read ALL of the following carefully BEFORE requesting support on the forums!
The Step Patches will be installed much later in the guide, but it's worth mentioning them here to emphasize the importance of sticking to the guide without deviation at least until the build is complete and confirmed to be in good working order.
A “conflict resolution” patch is a plugin that resolves conflicts between various active plugins. They allow using various mods together that would otherwise be suboptimal or even incompatible. The Step Patches are built exclusively for the Step User:Z929669/Sandbox build. They are required and dependent on specific mods as noted by indicators in the mod tables in Step 4. These patches will not resolve conflicts with any conflicting mod plugins that are not in this guide.
Below is the legend and reference for the mod tables used in this guide.
NOTE: For a complete listing of plugin masters required by each of the Sandbox Step Patches, see the Step Patch Masters changelog.
Mod Organizer features the ability to create separators within the mod list to group mods for easier visual reference. Step recommends using these separators for each ModGroup below:
Reference Image:
No mods defined.
At this stage, the preliminary build should be tested to confirm that there are no issues with the modding environment or engine-level mod configurations:
..\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\skse64_loader.exe
If the game launched and loaded as expected, continue forward. Otherwise, all instructions were not followed, and something was missed. Revisit the installation steps above starting with the System Setup Guide in Step 1. If a careful review of the previous instructions does not resolve the issue, post on the guide support forums for help.
Mod Table Legend No mods defined.
Mod Table Legend
Although this ModGroup is optional, and another custom lighting/weather can be used, it is required for installation of the 21-Post-Processing ModGroup later if ENB will be used. Nevertheless, this ModGroup is recommended even if ENB will not be used.
A pregenerated grass cache ensures maximum performance and smooth cell transitions, particularly on the tundra outside of Whiterun. This process should take under 30 minutes to complete on a PC meeting or exceeding the recommended system specs, but it could take upwards of 60 minutes otherwise, depending on hardware and installed mods. The game will typically crash during grass generation, but the operation will gracefully resume the process automatically until complete.
To generation the grass cache:
The grass cache files will have been generated in the SKSE64 Output mod and will consume about 2GBs. It will used by the game henceforth, without any further maintenance required, thanks to Grass Cache Helper NG. Regeneration of the files is only necessary when mods affecting worldspace landscapes are added, removed, or altered.
NOTE: A grass cache is also required for generating grass LOD later. Keep in mind that grass LOD will cost at least a few FPS relative to having NO grass outside of the loaded cells; nevertheless, grass LOD is more performance friendly than extending grass distance with NGIO.
It's necessary to determine the available performance headroom prior to generating LOD or setting up ENB. This is due to the LODGen setup costing approximately 20 FPS in exteriors, and Step ENB costing between of 40-60% of available FPS. The goal at this point is to have at least 120 FPS (≥ 140 recommended) on average in the tundra with clear weather (and ideally the Rift, as well). Keep in mind that decreasing display resolution can drastically improve performance.
EnableVSync=false
EnableTearing=true
FramerateLimit=300
cow tamriel 40 -24
Once testing is complete, revert the changes and reapply frame caps:
EnableVSync=true
EnableTearing=false
FramerateLimit=<previousValue>
This process will optimize the performance-quality trade off prior to configuration of ENB and LOD. This process only needs to be completed if Post-processing is desired.
Following are performance results using the approach described previously. This serves as a preview to help in making decisions about ENB/DynDOLOD configurations. Note that with Step's recommended configurations, ENB is more costly than DynDOLOD in terms of performance.
Testing Conditions
Step Milk Drinker ENB, DynDOLOD 'Performance', BethINI 'High'
Step Milk Drinker ENB, DynDOLOD 'Performance', BethINI 'Ultra'
Step Light ENB, DynDOLOD 'Optimal', BethINI 'High'
Step Light ENB, DynDOLOD 'Optimal', BethINI 'Ultra'
Step Heavy ENB, DynDOLOD 'Optimal', BethINI 'Ultra'
Step Heavy ENB, DynDOLOD 'Ultra', BethINI 'Ultra'
Decide whether or not to install the Post-Processing ModGroup to support ENBSeries. This decision should be based upon the results of the Performance Tuning benchmark performed in the previous section, above. Keep in mind that LOD generation is more fundamentally important to visual enhancement and has lower performance cost than ENB.
If Post-Processing will be installed, complete the following steps:
If plugins have not been sorted this session, run LOOT again. Examine the plugins in LOOT for errors or warnings (ignoring the game's default masters at the top of the list). Ignore any reported missing compatibility patches or other warnings. These are either handled by the Step Patches or not of any concern. Perform the standard cleaning procedure on any mods requiring cleaning (except for the game's default masters).
Be aware that the Step Patches are designed to work with a default, LOOT-sorted plugin order. This eliminates the need to set rules on the load order. From this point on:
Now that all mods and patches have been installed/sorted and performance margins are acceptable, the next step is to generate custom LOD data for the mod list. Recommended settings correspond to rendered game resolutions that will benefit from those settings.
Before moving on, create three empty mods for the LOD output:
Step User - xLODGen Output
Step User - TexGen Output
Step User - DynDOLOD Output
The last few mods in the mod list should now reflect the following, which reflects the number of mods used in this guide and is a lower limit, since many mods have multiple files:
xLODGen is run first to generate updated LOD terrain textures and meshes so that landscape LOD is updated with mod changes:
../Modding/GameName/Tools/xLODGen/bugreport.txt
..Modding/GameName/Tools/xLODGen/xLODGen_Output
../xLODGen_Output
Object LOD will be created using Dynamic Distant Objects LOD (DynDOLOD). Before continuing, please review the DynDOLOD 21-Post-Processing recommendations to ensure the DynDOLOD configuration is set up properly for matching LOD.
TexGen settings used here apply to the Step User Z929669/Sandbox build and probably builds using Cathedral Landscapes, Cathedral Weathers, Majestic_Mountains, Enhanced Vanilla Trees, and the Step ENB (or no post processing).
TexGen 3, shipped with DynDOLOD 3, will generate custom object LOD textures based on enabled mods.
../Modding/Tools/DynDOLOD/TexGen_Output
DynDOLOD will generate the object LOD using textures prepared by TexGen.
..\Modding\Tools\DynDOLOD\DynDOLOD_Output
DynDOLODGrassMode
The game is now ready to be loaded to configure mods in the Mod Configuration Menu (MCM). The MCM is a feature of SkyUI that allows mod authors to provide custom, game-accessible settings for their mods. Recommendations are provided below for select mods. The remainder are user preference.
To run the game, select the SKSE executable from the drop-down list and click [Run]. Keep the following in mind when first launching from a fresh Guide installation:
../SKSE/Plugins/SkyrimUncapper.ini
Upon starting a new game, Alternate Start - Live Another Life (ASLAL) is the first mod in play. Let's face it, Skyrim is old and the vanilla start quest is the last thing many people want to play through. Alternate Start provides a variety of ways to start the game and begins in a locked cell, so this is a good time to configure the Mod Configuration menu (MCM).
Mod configurations not mentioned in the following table are recommended to be left at their defaults. Some mods not mentioned below were previously configured by altering their configuration files during the installation process.
Created by TheCompiler (Daniele Ferraro), Step is a collaborative project with input from the modding community, technical volunteers, and project administrators. The goal is to provide tested and validated methods for establishing and maintaining an enhanced, modded game. Thus, the Step Guides provide detailed, well-tested instructions and recommendations for a solid, modded game with an enhanced vanilla experience.
The Step team collects information from the modding community through extensive mod testing, detailed reviews, feedback, and suggestions exchanged on the Step Community Forums. Posting rules apply, so be sure to read and follow them. Engage and enjoy a warm welcome and plenty of high-quality support from a large community of experienced members.
Step Modifications can only get better with contributions and help from The Community. It is very time consuming for the Step team to ensure that Step's Game Guides are consistently maintained at the highest quality possible. As such, we rely on feedback and input from community members that use Step to any degree. Frequent users or knowledgeable modders are encoraged to contribute in maintaining Step as a reliable, high-quality resource
All members of The Community can help build the Guides they love and utilize for their own games. Step relies on The Community (e.g., you) to help identify mods that improve the vanilla game while adhering to our Mandate through mod suggestions. We also need ongoing bug reports, feedback, reviews, and updates on included mods that may cause problems or that stray from the Mandate. This help can be as simple as reporting an encountered bug or as extensive as providing a one-off review of a mod based from personal experience with it.
In order to suggest a mod for inclusion in this Guide, visit the Mods section of the forums and use the Create Mod Topic button on the editor toolbar.
There are official staff roles that are almost always open for new candidates. Community members interested in becoming a member of the Step staff, please contact any Administrator or Step Staff member on the forums. Please include some idea of the role desired and include strengths and weaknesses within that role! For example, if applying for a Curator include the game desired to curate, strengths (xEdit, conflict resolution, texture editing), and weaknesses (mesh work, CK, scripting). This gives Step some initial idea of the candidate's skill sets.
Most of the moderation work for our Moderators is simply to keep topics on track and do general forum maintenance; such as moving topics to the correct forum and handling spammers. Very rarely does moderation on the Step forums end up in warnings and bannings (and we all like it that way). To be effective Moderators, community members who desire this role are expected to be familiar with the Step community and actively involved. As such, Moderator criteria is be based upon level and quality of activity within our community. Moderators will be expected to be more familiar with the Community Guidelines than the average member and be able to remain unbiased in their moderating.
Guide Curators are the super-stars of the staff at Step Modifications. They orchestrate and curate each game build and its corresponding Game Guide through research, testing, and assembling information from The Community. Guide creation, growth, and maintenance takes a lot of time, effort, and skill. As such, Curators are generally required to be at a higher skill-level than the average modder. In an ideal world there would be 2-4 Curators per Guide, but Curators often wind up work alone on a given guide release, so they require the knowledge and skills to develop the build and the Guide within the scope of the Mandate in a way that is technical while remaining intuitive and easy to follow. This is no small feat! For more information about Guide Curation, see Game Guide Curation.
Generally, Testers are expected to maintain a MO instance of the current Step build in accordance with the cuttent version fo the Step Guide as a basis for testing potential new mods or making changes to existing mods that are tagged for testing on the forums. Testers can also help out by running through the guide in search of bugs, issues, possible improvements, etc. Testers will be given access to Staff forums that house useful information on the Guides.
The STEP administrators would sincerely like to thank (from the bottoms of our fuzzy little hearts):
NOTE:Your text here.
