Usage

1. Add the PGPatcher.exe executable to whatever mod manager you use, then launch it via your mod manager.
2. For vortex, verify that Run in Shell and Run Detached are both enabled
3. In the launcher UI verify that:
4. Data path is set correctly (sometimes custom modlists will use their own folder for this)
5. Game type is set correctly
6. Under conflict resolution, make sure you select the mod manager you are using, or None if you do not use either. 1. NOTE: For MO2, the instance folder is the location can be found by pressing the folder icon in the toolbar then "Open Instance Folder". It should have a modorganizer.ini file in it
7. Click on Start Patching and wait, it shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes, even for a big list.
8. After patching is done, the console log will tell you where the output mod is (by default in the same location as PGPatcher.exe). Install this as a mod using your mod manager.

The installed mod should overwrite everything in your load order except DynDoLOD/TexGen outputs.

PG plugins MUST BE LOADED LAST, except for DynDoLOD/TexGen Outputs. I will not investigate a bug report if you do not have the ordering set this way. If a mod author is telling you to put their meshes after PG, don't listen. It is always better to let PG manage everything. If you experience issues with doing it this way, tell me so I can see if it's a configuration issue on your end or a bug I need to fix in PG. There are very limited times where I might tell you to load something after PG as a band-aid fix. This is always because of a PG bug that I will fix and you should only do this for the version I tell you

DO NOT download prepatched meshes where possible. If a mod offers parallax meshes for example, stick with the vanilla meshes. This is because PG can apply shaders to meshes, but it cannot remove shaders from meshes (unless it is to apply another shader type). Therefore you will run into less issues by using vanilla only meshes and letting PG patch them for you.

Conflict resolution is an important aspect of PG. Read more about how that works here.

Patcher Order of Operations

The various patchers should be run in this order. If it's not in the list order probably doesn't matter.

1. Bodyslide
2. Synthesis
3. PG (Keep PG output enabled for the rest of this list!)
4. xLODGen (for terrain)
5. TexGen
6. DynDoLOD

Requirements

Runtime

PG is a tool for patching meshes - so on its own you won't need any mod requirements. You just need runtime requirements. These are:

1. .NET Runtime 8
2. VCRedist x64

In order to see the shaders that PG patches in-game, you need to install either Community Shaders or ENBSeries. If you want to use True PBR textures, only Community shaders is supported.

Engine

ENBSeries Setup

After installing ENBSeries and a preset, you will need to open enbseries.ini and set the following items in the file:

1. EnableComplexMaterial=true
2. EnableDynamicCubemap=true

Snow

It is generally recommended to use a snow mod with PG for the best visuals and compatibility.

Parallax shaders

If you plan on using just parallax shaders you need to use either of these mods for the parallax effect on snowy shapes:

1. Simplicity of Snow
2. Better Dynamic Snow v2

Complex material

Using complex material shaders is recommended over parallax shaders and can be accomplished by installing complex material mods and checking the Upgrade Parallax to Complex Material option in PG. With complex material it is recommended to use Better Dynamic Snow v3

Why not Simplicity of Snow or BDS v2? Both of these use multipass techniquies for snow cover. The snow floats on top of the parallax effect and thus can look bad particularly on parallax mountains. Using one of these mods was necessary in the past because singlepass snow is not compatible with parallax, but with PG you can convert to complex material, which is compatible.

PBR

According to PBR mod authors Better Dynamic Snow v3 should be used since Smplicity of Snow and BDS2 can cause visual issues when combined with PBR and they are not compatible with some PBR features like glint.

How to Update

Unless specified on the mod page, you can keep your cfg folder and update everything else when PG has an update. This will preserve your mod priority and any settings.