User:Neovalen/Skyrim Revisited

From Step Mods | Change The Game
Skyrim Revisisted

A STEP-based mod guide created and maintained by Neovalen.
Last Update: 6:44:42 12 December 2012 (UTC)

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Introduction

Skyrim Revisited is a STEP-based guide designed to keep up with the ever changing Skyrim DLC/Mod landscape. It will be updated with more frequency than STEP proper and decisions are based completely upon my personal choice. With that in mind, you may need to tailor it to your specific CPU/GPU setup. Generally I use the most graphically intensive versions of all mods.
My setup is as follows: 

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K @ 4.5Ghz
MOBO: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 3
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600Mhz
GPU: EVGA 670GTX Superclocked 4GB (SLI)

Should you have questions, please feel free to message me on the Nexus or STEP forums.

Prerequisites

Software

Script Extenders

Tools

For my mod install, I will be using Mod Organizer as the mod manager of choice. The reasons for doing so are hereby given: 

1. Profiles allows us to have multiple configurations set up per character/function and does so cleanly by NOT touching the Skyrim data folder or ini files.
2. Mod Downloading via NXM allows us to download mods directly into the tool using the "Download With Manager" button on the nexus web site.
3. Mod Version Tracking allows us to leverage the power of the nexus to track MAJOR mod updates. *This is not a replacement for the track file option on the actual site for optionals!*
4. NMM Installer Compatibility allows us to use Nexus Mod Manager installers.
5. BAIN Installer Compatibility allows us to use BAIN packages.
6. Manual Installation Option allows us to select the data folder in an archive manually, allowing us to fix path problems at install time.
7. Sort By Category allows us to easily sort through a mass number of mods easily.
8. Run Executables allows us to use tools such as BOSS, BUM, Wrye Bash, and TES5Edit without physically touching the data folder.

The primary function of this tool for the purposes of this guide is to create Bashed Patches which will merge the leveled lists of the various installed mods.

The primary function of this tool is to provide a default ordering between various mods and to help identify mods that require cleaning with TES5Edit.

The primary function of this tool is to assist BOSS with ordering mods not currently in the BOSS master list and to override any improper ordering.

The primary function of this tool is to clean dirty edits and UDRs from the .ESMs and .ESPs that Skyrim will be loading, including the game ESMs.

The primary function of this tool is to optimize and re-mip the vanilla and high res DLC textures. Selected mods may also fall into this category.

First Steps

Run The Launcher

Simply start "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" through steam to open the launcher.
If this is your first run, it will auto-detect your video card and generate a default state ini file based on your hardware configuration.
Once this is done, click "Options" to open the dialog and do the following in order: 

Click the [Ultra] button.
Set your Aspect Ratio and Resolution. For most users this will be 16:9 Widescreen and 1920x1080.
Set your Antialiasing level to Off.
Set your Anisotropic Filtering to Off.
Click the [OK] button to close the dialog and save.

Run The Game

Simply click "Play" on the launcher splash screen. Once the game has loaded to the main menu, select "New Game" and allow the game to run until you are able to access the menu by pressing "ESC". This is generally after the SKYRIM logo has faded away. Once there, I recommend to set the following options: 

Enable dialogue subtitles.
Enable general subtitles.
Disable all autosave options.

These settings will be saved to your ini file. Exit the game.

Backup Your Fresh INI Files

Go to C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\My Games\Skyrim and save Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini to a backup folder in case something bad should happen.

Configure Your Graphics Driver / Modify INI Accordingly

Start Mod Organizer. If this is your first run, a Profiles dialog box should appear. Make sure "Automatic Archive Invalidation" is unchecked and the Savegame Filter is blank. Click [Create] and type a name for this profile, for now call it "Vanilla Skyrim". Do NOT check the box that says "Default Game Settings". This creates a local Mod Organizer copy of your ini files among other things. Now close the dialog box by clicking [Close]. Verify that "Vanilla Skyrim" is the currently selected Profile at the top of the Mod Organizer window, if it is not, then click the bar and select "Vanilla Skyrim". Once this is done, click the [Edit Ini] button on the top bar to bring up the ini editor and follow the steps below based on your graphics card manufacturer. *Note: This only edits the local mod organizer copy, NOT the one in your user directory!*

Nvidia Users

Download and install Nvidia Inspector. Run the program and click the tool icon next to the Driver Version information box. Once the dialog box is up, go to the profiles text box and type "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" (the autocomplete will likely do this for you). Set the following options: 

Anisotropic filtering mode = User-defined/Off
Anisotropic filtering setting = 16x
Texture filtering - Negative LOD bias = Clamp

If using SLI, also set the following: 

SLI compatibility bits (DX1x) = 0x080116F5 (Battlefield 3, Medal of Honor: Warfighter)

Finally, click [Apply Changes] and exit the program. You have enabled driver level Anistropic Filtering which is superior to the in game filtering. No INI file changes are required for Nvidia.

ATI Users

Bring up Catalyst Control Center that came with your video drivers and configure as specified here. I no longer own an ATI card but I trust the STEP guide. Additionally, click the [SkyrimPrefs.ini] tab in Mod Organizer and change the following lines (they should already exist with different values after the =):

iMaxAnisotropy=16

This is because we will not be using Anisotropic Filtering through the driver like we do on Nvidia.

Configuring Mod Organizer

Close the modify ini dialog from the previous step.
On the Mod Organizer main window, click [Settings]. Click the [Nexus] tab and check "Automatically Log-In to Nexus" and input your nexus username and password. Also check "Handle NXM Links" and "Prefer external browser" then hit [OK] to save.
Next, click [Executables]. Some tools may be configured by default such as Skyrim, Creation Kit, and SKSE. To set up your own, fill in the text fields appropriately then click the [+ Add] button.
For example, BOSS is configured as follows: 

Title = BOSS
Binary = <Your BOSS Install Path>\BOSS.exe
None of the optional check boxes should be checked.

Do this also for all installed tools such as Wrye Bash, TES5Edit, and BUM.

As a note, when using Mod Organizer to manage your mods these programs MUST be run through Mod Organizer to see your configured data directory. You can create shortcuts for this on your desktop by pressing the [+ Desktop Shortcut] button on the main mod organizer window with your desired tool selected.

You may have noticed that by default the load order in Mod Organizer is a little off. Let us fix that now by running BOSS to do a quick sort. Select "BOSS" from the drop down box under the Start heading. Now click the [Run] push button. BOSS should load through the Mod Organizer interface and sort your current ESMs/ESPs which as of now consist of only the base game and DLCs. Assuming success your browser will open and give you the modified load order among other items from BOSS. Note that in the Mod Organizer window that the load order has been corrected and only "Skyrim.esm" and "Update.esm" are greyed and checked. Go ahead and mark the check boxes next to all of the DLCs now so they are loaded with your "Vanilla Skyrim" profile.

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