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Quick Guide to Modding Skyrim...

4K views 51 replies 4 participants last post by  -StrikE- 
#1 · (Edited)
So on Silenus's suggestion i thought of making this thread... a quick guide towards Skyrim modding. Though the base of the concept can be applied to the other Bethesda modable games like Fallout 3 and Oblivion (well to be honest even to games like dragon age).

1st. The best thing is if possible to have the full game with all DLC's and additions included, it will ensure the best compatibility with mods that you can have (since some may even accidentally use resources from DLC's).

2nd. After Installing the game for the first time always make a backup of the whole game. Note that: if you already have a modded Skyrim (and have issues with modding) i suggest remaking a clean install (that means deleting even files in the documents folder like ini's and saves). Then proceed to backing it up.

3rd. Install and use a mod manager like Nexus's mod manager, Mod Organizer or Wyre Bash in Skyrim's case.

Mod Managers are programs that replace the basic adding game launcher. The dfault manager the game comes with was only intended for official packs or small addons, it has limited use as far as mods go. That's when Mod Managers come it, they basically have extended functionality and allow a better management for mods, they also preserve load orders and link better to the overall resources used by the mods or official dlc's. That's why they are always recommended over the stock launcher. Out of all of them i recommend to get acquainted with Mod Organizer, as it stores mods separate from the actual game directory thus not having to backup as often.

4th. Always use Unofficial Patches. For skyrim they are as follow:

Main Game:
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19/?

DLC:

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23491/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31083/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/25127/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31255/?

5th. Always take care of your load order (if your not sure you can use software like boss)


I suggest after this installing SKSE and then SkyUI (basically i mean script extenders and UI improvements), after which proceeding with another backup. Since this will be the core on which you will actually start modding according to your needs... And this is as far as i can go... For a bit more help i will give some links to playlists that have some very useful tips and tutorials on Skyrim modding which will be useful especially for newcomers:

The basics:

Code:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxQ1JN_X-_Y&list=PLE7DlYarj-DdhDG41roBVJfNCqvO5MmKP
On how to use Mod organizer:

Code:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4ZQpzf_iAE&list=PLE7DlYarj-DcLS9LyjEqOJwFUQIIQewcK
I also suggest checking out all of his modding related vids (according to the game you want) because at the end of each video he has tutorials on how to install them:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1CSCMwaDubQ4rcYCpX40Eg


6th. About ENB mods:

So enb is basically a 3D graphics modification addition, it uses a modified D3D dll to inject various effects into games such as Skyrim, GTA, Oblivion etc. The mod itself can be tweaked and modified in various ways thus on the nexus you can find a lot (and by that i do mean a lot) of enb mods. This mods however do not have included the main files or better said the core enb files, this is mainly because the author of the original enb mod does not allow hosting of the core files on any other site other then his (probably due to revenue). In other words, to use ENB mods you first need to get the original core files and afterwards override with the desired enb presets and additions from nexus. However do be careful on which ENB core files version the ENB mods from nexus use, because with enb mods most of the time you got to use the version whit which the nexus mod was made with, newer isn't necessarily better and can result with conflicts and bugs. The reason is that between versions many of the core modules of the the main enb files can be changed/revised and linked differently, resulting in broken settings when merging two different versions.


Important: As far as ENB mods go i suggest you always backup your game (including saves and settings/ini's) before trying one out, because one mistake can really mess up your game (i know from experience).

-------------------------------------------END---------------------------------------------------

PS: Last thing you'll need for modding is patience and i mean lots of it.... This is as far as i can think to cover basics wise, the rest is based on user experience, needs and problems.

----------------------------------------Changes----------------------------------------------------

Update 1: fixed a bit the spelling...
Update 2: Added a quick/small ENB guide.
Update 3: Expanded a bit on mod managers.
 
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#2 ·
If I'm using realism enb do I need the d3d9.dll and enbhost.exe from the normal enb? I think that may have been why I was getting glitches so I removed those files but no on screen enb display anymore. It seems as if the realism enb was loaded due to more vibrant colors that vanilla Skyrim.
 
#3 ·
Yes you need to install the original enb files from boris's site, then override with the ones from the mod you are using. Due be careful however to take into consideration which enb version the mod uses/requires, don't download the latest version download the version specified by the mod (unless it states you can use the latest, though in some cases its safe to try the original version the mod is based on since its could a lack of updating the mod's description as well.)

I will add some info about Enb moding a tad later to the main post.
 
#6 ·
Well I'm fairly certain now the flashing on models and flickering is caused by the enbseries. Not sure if it's just the realism enb or vanilla enb has the same issue. I remove the realism enb mod and the issue disappears. It seems Skyrim Script extender may be what is causing the launcher to hang on launch and crash when auto-detecting video settings.

I removed all mods & files, deleted the skyrim exe's and ini files then reverified to get as fresh of an install as I could without risking my data cap. I followed instructions to a tee making sure not to mess anything up and same issue.

My fps seems to be lower than it should and I can not fix this stuttering. The game still stutters/skips or drops fps no matter what fix I try. I tried the anti-lag fix and no dice with that. Vanilla Skyrim does this although worse than with the fixes.
 
#9 ·
SKSE is nothing more then a framework for extending scripts (basically introducing a few extra script functionalities), if there is nothing requiring it it just basically sits their unused without affecting things in neither a good or bad way. The fact that by removing it you got rid of your problems can only mean two things,

1. you had a wrong version

or

2. some broken mod or script file was trying to access it every time you launched skyrim.
 
#15 ·
I think you should explain why people should use NMM as opposed to just plonking things in with Steam Workshop.

Thankfully, this just about adding mods. As for creating mods, that's another can of worms... Having nightmares of nifskope fails.
 
#16 ·
I will get into that once i get home from work, btw Xtreme, i really recommend you get into learning about mod organizer since you can't backup mods it would be perfect for you because unlike all other launchers it stores mods in separate folders not in the main skyrim folder. You can find a link to a playlist that in the first post.

PS: if you think its a can of worms with nifscope i guess you didn't go all the way editing and went beyond to blender as well... now that's a can of worms...
 
#17 ·
PS: if you think its a can of worms with nifscope i guess you didn't go all the way editing and went beyond to blender as well... now that's a can of worms...
I did go to Blender to do minor alterations of some models. They're not can of worms, but can of snakes!
 
#18 ·
Any idea how to solve the stuttering? Granted it isn't as bad as with vanilla Skyrim I'm wondering if there's a way to completely fix random stuttering and fps drops. I can deal with everything else atm while I figure out how to fix but I want a smooth game.

I would've thought two GTX 460's in sli would be enough for constant 60fps at least.
 
#21 ·
If your using ENB you need to do the following:

You can make this file work in conjunction with ENBSeries.ini:
1. Rename the FPS Limiter's D3D9.dll to D3D9FL.dll, now drop it into your Skyrim folder.

2. Now open up ENBSeries.ini and edit "ProxyLibrary=PathToDLL" edit it so it leads straight to "D3D9FL.dll", also remember to have "EnableProxyLibrary=xx" & "InitProxyFunctions=xx" set to "true", or it won't load the additional DLL.

Example:
[PROXY]
EnableProxyLibrary=true
InitProxyFunctions=true
ProxyLibrary="C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim\D3D9FL.dll"
 
#24 ·
But for the antilag fix does the ProxyLibrary entry for the dll go in the enbseries.ini or enblocal.ini for the realism enb? I tried "asking" Google but came up empty handed.

This is the contents of enbseries.ini:

http://pastebin.com/YSLVKd8p

This is the contents of enblocal.ini:

http://pastebin.com/7chhtE5a

I have the ProxyLibrary entry for the antilag fix below the other ProxyLibrary entry in enblocal.ini.

Had to use pastebin because of 2000 character limit for posts.
 
#27 ·
Besides the flickering and flashing on models I also get artifacting or these weird rainbow color flashing artifacts. Seems to solely be an issue with enb or perhaps a mod but not my video cards as I don't get this in any other games. I can play other games for hours without issues but the "artifacting" occurs immediately with Skyrim.

Modding Skyrim seems tricky because some mods require being installed preceding or following other mods.
 
#28 ·
@Strike105X, I think I fixed the psychedelic epilepsy inducing spiky rainbow colored artifact thingies by limiting the framerate using the antilag fix. Still Skyrim has really low fps and stutters quite a bit, my system should be more than capable of running Skyrim with high or ultra settings. I still get a bit of texture flicker or shimmer I see on the the loading screen or on water. The first and last issues I just mentioned arose only after installing the realvision enb mod afaik, yes it's the correct enb version for the realvision mod.
 
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