Modding Good Practices and Tips

1. Get mods that match your game version

With the Anniversary update, Bethesda caused a lot of confusion in the modding community, as it broke a lot of mods. While most have been ported/are now supported, there is still a lot of confusion between the game versions.

Skyrim SE = 1.5.97

Skyrim AE = 1.6.x, even if you don't have the Anniversary DLC content.

You need to get mods that match your game version. On AE, check the mod page to find out if the mod is compatible with AE. If not, check the Requirements section on the nexus page in the "Mods that require this file". Look for NG or AE versions of the mods.

IF NONE EXIST: DON'T PERSTER THE AUTHOR FOR AN UPDATE, IT IS POINTLESS AND COUNTER PRODUCTIVE!

2. Go slow, test often

One of the worst thing you can do is to just rush install a bunch of mods without thought or care. Even if you are organised, you may end up losing more time than if you had taken a more slow and careful approach. Don't go installing 20-30 mods at a time. Install 5 mods max, and test ingame. You don't want to have to go back through 30 mods to find the one causing instablity or crashes...

A litte trick to text quicker: From the main menu, before clicking on Load or New save, open the console and type coc riverwood. It will place you directly on the map with a default Dragonborn. That way you skip every tedious step of the vanilla start or character creation, and you can just go about testing whatever it is you have to test.

Do note that all 'coc' codes work, not just riverwood.

3. Do not merge, ESLify

Avoid merging plugins. This is an old practice, and should only be used in extreme cases (massive amount of mods, in the several thousands) and only with mods you know won't ever update and don't have any dependency.

The game allows 254 full plugins (= not flagged ESL), and 4096 light plugins (= ESL flagged files). This number is very high, so the need for merging should only really become an option when you reach around 5000-6000 mods installed.

Instead, use the process known as ESLifying (flagging ESP files as ESL), so that they do not count towards the max of 254 ESP+ESM (you can have up to 4096 ESL plugins if I am not mistaken).

Do note that not all plugins should be flagged ESL. Only mods that contain less than 4096 entirely new records (overwrites of existing records do not count) can be flagged. Some mods must be compacted so that they fit in the allocated range allowed by ESL-flagged plugins.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If a mod has new cells, you need the latest version of SSE Engine Fixes to flag it ESL. Otherwise there will be a bug

3.1 ESLifier

ESLifier is the single best tool available at the present. The tool allows finding ESL flaggable mods, compact FormIDs and patch ALL dependent plugins/files automatically. Here is the nexus link: ESLifier

3.1 Ruddy88's ESLify

This is a utility that will automatically detect plugins that are suitable to be flagged as ESL. It is less powerful than ESLifier above, by far.

Here is a great tutorial about Ruddy88's ESLify tool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jJ_sxCMw9E

Ruddy88's ESLify: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/42211

3.2 ESLify Everything

WARNING, DO NOT USE!!! The software is now flagged by pretty much all the antivirus software.

4. ABOUS FNIS, NEMESIS AND PANDORA

This is the main tool you'll use for animation and behaviour patching. Let's make it simple: don't use FNIS, use Pandora or Nemesis instead. While some older mods may still list FNIS as a requirement, both Pandora and Nemesis have backwards compatibility with FNIS mods.

Remove all traces of FNIS and of its output, and move on to Pandora or Nemesis

Pandora is more powerful than Nemesis and can handle creature behaviour natively. It is still also in active development so any bug or issue can be addressed. As an added bonus, it is also much faster and more efficient than Nemesis Pandora's mod page

Nemesis mod page Here are instructions on how to install it: Tutorial: How to setup Nemesis properly in MO2

5. ABOUT HDT-SMP

Use FSMP - Faster HDT-SMP, not the original "HDT-SMP" mod. It is outdated, and fully replaced by FSMP. Older mods may list the old one as a requirement but don't worry, FSMP fully replaces it.

However, a word of warning: using HDT-SMP will have an impact on your FPS, especially the more mods you install with SMP clothing or hair, and how many NPCs wear them around you. There are settings you can tweak to improve performance, or use premade config files for better performance (FSMP's install file comes with one)

6. ABOUT DAR AND OAR

Just upgrade to Open Animation Replacer (OAR).

It is better than Dynamic Animation Replacer (DAR) in every way:

• it is retro-compatible with all DAR mods
• it has a user interface that allows you to view and edit animation conditions ingame, and view which animations play at any given time with an animation log.
• it is open source, and built on Commonlib NG, meaning it will live on longer thanks to the support of the community

7. ABOUT GRASS PRECACHE AND GRASS LOD

There is a lot of confusion between the two. They are not one and the same.

Grass Precache

A grass precache (or grass cache) is something that must be generated using the tool on No Grass In Objects mod page. A Grass cache allows the game to read the grass on a file stored on the disk, rather than generating it on the fly as in vanilla Skyrim. As such, on its own, it allows gaining in stability (less stutter) when you change cells ingame, as reading the grass precache is faster than generating it on the fly.

Grass Precache Tips for faster generation:

• Run at a smaller resolution
• Make a duplicate of your MO2 profile and enable only your grass-related mods, your mods with worldspace edits and the bare minimum required to run the game. This will further improve the speed and stability of the grass generation.
• Disable Complex Grass while generating. It is not necessary.

Grass LOD

A grass cache can then be used by DynDOLOD to create grass LOD. This will allow you to have grass far away (infinite grass). Grass LOD have an impact on FPS, sometimes quite significant depending on the chosen grass density or the grass itself.