STEP:ModGroup Flowchart

Mod Groups

Mod Group	Current Description	Proposed Description
01-Tools	Standalone applications that aid in the management of the modding process	Helper applications that aid in the management of the modding process
02-Extenders	Mods that expand on the inherent functionality of a game or another mod without themselves affecting content	Applications or mods that extend the game engine or mechanics
03-Resources	Mods solely providing assets intended specifically for use by other mods without themselves affecting content	Applications or mods that provide additional functions or resources used by other mods
04-Foundation	Baseline mods having many conflicting assets that should be overridden by other mods OR mods having programmatic changes that are widely accepted and adopted/expected by other mods	Mods with high conflict rates that should be overridden by other mods
05-Animations & Effects Physics		Mods that alter animations or physics
06-Models & Textures	Mods that replace existing models or textures	Mods that alter models, textures, or shaders
07-Sounds & Music	Mods that affect sounds or music	Mods that add or alter game audio
08-Character Appearance	Mods that affect the appearance of the player character or NPCs	Mods that add or alter any aspects of player or NPC appearance
09-Fixes	Mods have a programmatic component that fixes various bugs and/or inconsistencies	Mods that fix various bugs and/or inconsistencies
10-Gameplay-General	Mods that affect general or multiple gameplay mechanics	Mods that add or alter gameplay mechanics
11-Gameplay-AI & Combat	Mods that affect AI, stats, or combat mechanics of NPCs	Mods that alter AI, combat mechanics, or NPC stats
12-Gameplay-Economy	Mods that affect currency, rewards, values, rates, or any other economy-related mechanics	Mods that alter currency, rewards, values, rates or any other economy-related mechanics
13-Gameplay-Immersion	Mods that help to improve game immersion and role-playing scenarios	No changes proposed
14-Gameplay-Quests	Mods that alter aspects of quests and/or related lore	No changes proposed
15-Gameplay-Skills & Perks	Mods that affect the player character's or NPC skills and perks or related leveling	Mods that alter player or NPC skills and perks or related leveling
16-Interface	Mods that affect any aspect of the user interface	No changes proposed
17-Locations	Mods that programmatically add new or alter vanilla locations	No changes proposed
18-Lighting & Weather	Mods that affect lighting and/or weather systems **installation is optional**	Optional mod group that alters lighting and/or weather systems
19-Utilities	Mods that generate derived mod output from load-order-specific assets	Tools used to aid in the creation or management of vanilla or load-order-specific assets DynDOLOD (and possibly others) fit this, so we may need to move this one up/down in the flow chart below. ~z929669 Talk 17:45, July 27, 2021 (UTC)
20-Patches	Mods that programmatically resolve load-order conflicts	Mods that resolve incompatibilities between mods
21-ENB		Mods that perform or contribute to post-processing visual enhancement

Additional Mod Groups

The Mod Groups below are ones that Step has classified, but aren't in use yet due to lack of mods for these Groups. Users can reference them, however, if users need use of any of these Groups, the Framework would have to be updated to support them.

The following 'ModGroups' are NOT defined by the current Step wiki framework, and adding them would be significantly disruptive and burdensome. ~z929669 Talk 16:25, July 27, 2021 (UTC)

• Items

  Mods that add New items. These often include new, non-vanilla models & textures.

• New Characters

  Mods that add new animals, creatures, followers, or NPCs.

Potential Additional Group Breakdowns

The following 'ModGroups' are NOT defined by the current Step wiki framework, and adding them would be significantly disruptive and burdensome. I suggest developing a 'best practice' for ordering within existing ModGroups taht Curators can manually configure. ~z929669 Talk 16:25, July 27, 2021 (UTC)

Character Appearance

• Body Mods

  Mods that adjust body shapes or textures

• Face Parts

  Mods that add or alter face parts such as hairs, beards, brows, or eyes.

• NPC Overhauls

  Mods that overhaul vanilla NPC appearance

• Overlays

  Mods that add or alter overlays such as warpaints, tattoos, or freckles

Gameplay

• Gameplay - Classes & Races

  Mods that add or alter classes/races

• Gameplay - Crafting

  Mods that add or alter crafting mechanics (e.g., Complete Crafting Overhaul Remade)

Locations

• New Dungeons

  Mods that add new dungeons

• New Lands

  Mods that add new lands to explore (e.g., Beyond Skyrim)

• Structures & Landmarks

  Mods that add or alter "only a few" structures or landmarks (e.g., buildings, player homes, statues, etc.)

• Overhauls

  Mods that overhaul large, vanilla locations (e.g., Dawn of Skyrim, ETaC, JKs, etc.)

Mod Group Sorting Flowchart

Following this flowchart will result in mods being filtered into the correct ModGroups, irrespective of the guide Curator.

Foundation Group

04-Foundation is reserved for mods that should be installed early so that they can be overridden by downstream mods. Hence, these mods are considered the "foundation" of the mod list and are not included in the flowchart. These mods are typically large model or texture overhauls. This ModGroup may include mods having conflicts discovered during guide development that cannot be easily resolved by correct ModGroup placement without patching. In other words, this ModGroup can be treated as a 'catch-all' in certain edge cases.

Lighting and Weather Group

18-Lighting & Weather is designed to be an optional mod group, meaning users should be able to choose whether or not to install the mods within the Group. Mods included within this group primary purpose is to alter aspects of the game's lighting and/or weather systems. Thus, if a mod edits these systems, they should automatically be placed within the Lighting & Weather group, regardless of other groups they may fit into. Since lighting and weather is such a subjective topic, the goal is to allow users the option of using the Guide's mods or installing their own personal choices.

ENB Group

21-ENB is also designed to be an optional mod group, meaning users should be able to choose whether or not to install the mods within the Group. Mods included within this group primary purpose is to aid or enhance ENBSeries. The only mods that should be sorted within this group are those that require ENB to work; thus, they are entirely "ENB mods". Mods that work without ENB, but have ENB options should be sorted using the flowchart below.

NOTE

Starting from the top, with 04-Foundation being the only exception, a mod belongs in the first ModGroup having applicable criteria. A given mod may alternatively be placed into the next applicable ModGroup ONLY to resolve edge-case conflicts.

Tools
Is the mod a helper application used in the modding process?
Yes add to 01-Tools
No

Extenders
Does the mod extend a game mechanic without adding content to the game?
Yes add to 02-Extenders
No

Resources
Does the mod extend other mods or provide resources solely for use by other mods without adding content to the game directly?
Yes add to 03-Resources
No

Animations & Physics
Does the mod add or alter animations (character movement) or physics (graphic effects, NOT models/textures)?
Yes add to 05-Animations & Physics
No

Locations
Moved up, due to some mods that could otherwise be first included into one of the 'earlier' groups ~z929669 Talk 17:45, July 27, 2021 (UTC)
Does the mod add new locations and/or alter vanilla locations without solely using models and/or textures?
Yes add to 17-Locations
No

Utilities
Moved up, due to some mods that could otherwise be first included into one of the 'earlier' groups ~z929669 Talk 17:45, July 27, 2021 (UTC)
Is the mod a tool that aids in the creation or management of in-game content?
Yes add to 19-Utilities
No

Sounds & Music
Does the mod add or alter only game audio (music, sounds, voices, etc.)?
Yes add to 07-Sounds & Music
No

Character Appearance
Does the mod add or alter any aspects of the player character and/or NPCs (NOT armor/clothing and/or models/textures)?
Animals, creatures, etc. are not considered NPCs.
Yes add to 08-Character Appearance
No

Fixes
Does the mod fix or correct anything without solely using models and/or textures?
Yes add to 09-Fixes
No

Interface
Does the mod change the UI (HUD, minigames, map, etc.) without solely using models and/or textures?
Yes add to 16-Interface
No

Patches
Does the mod only resolve incompatibilities between other mods?
Yes add to 20-Patches
No

Models & Textures
Is the mod adding new or altering vanilla models, shaders, or textures?
Yes add to 06-Models & Textures
No

Gameplay Groups

By this point users should have completely filtered out any mods that aren't strictly game-play-altering mods. Mods filtered into the Gameplay ModGroups should only effect aspects of various game-play mechanics. These mods often include scripts or rely on mods installed/loaded upstream.

Order matters below, and I wonder if some of these might need to be reordered in cases where mods fit into two groups.~z929669 Talk 17:45, July 27, 2021 (UTC)

If it fits in two or more it goes in General. TechAngel85

Gameplay-Skills & Perks
Should this be above AI/Combat? ~z929669 Talk 17:45, July 27, 2021 (UTC)

Not sure why...they are completely different, but it would be fine there if it's confusing for some reason.
I think I know where the confusion could be here so I've moved it up. TechAngel85

Does the mod alter player or NPC skills and perks or related leveling?
Yes add to 15-Gameplay-Skills & Perks
No

Gameplay-AI & Combat
Does the mod alter AI, combat, or NPC behavior?
Yes add to 11-Gameplay-AI & Combat
No

Gameplay-Economy
Does the mod alter game currency, rewards, values, rates, or other economy-related mechanics?
Yes add to 12-Gameplay-Economy
No

Gameplay-Quests
Does the mod alter aspects of quests and/or quest-related dialog or lore?
Yes add to 14-Gameplay-Quests
No

Gameplay-Immersion
Is the mod meant specifically and exclusively to improve immersion or role-playing scenarios?
Yes add to 13-Gameplay-Immersion
No

Gameplay-General
Reserved for game-play mods that don't fit well into any (or too many) of the preceding Gameplay ModGroups. Verify that is the case for the mod(s) in question before adding to this ModGroup!

Resources

• Step's Mod Groups
• Previous Mod Group discussion
• Mod Picker Descriptions
• Nexus to Mod Picker Category Conversion