The EasyNPC discord server has a channel for preview requests and a channel full of fulfilled preview requests. This was pure gold! They also have links to all the tools they use for making consistent mostly-automated previews if you want to give it a shot yourself.
IIRC it's linked from the mod page.
That sounds like something wasn't right with your SKSE installation. Version mismatch? Files in the wrong places? A conflicting file somewhere?
For help diagnosing crashes, post the crash log in a pastebin or gist! SKSE should write logs if it gets far enough along. And for crash logs from SKSE plugins, use this crashlogger.
Do you run the checker on your modlist afterward? It'll help you diagnose things like that. Also, before you build you really should review its notes about potential problems and fix them. It tries its best to help you build a great merge.
Yeah, we sure were. Sigh.
I've now been working on my next modlist for nearly four months. screaming internally
First, I wanted to try new combat mods. Several million confusing animation set choices later, I think I have something working. I then got the wild idea of trying one of those methods of distributing random bodies to all NPCs in the game, so I downloaded about a hundred bodyslides for HIMBO and CBBE and got that working. Which tree mod? Which grass mod? I've changed my mind at least twice.
Then I figured out how to enable physics for things like hair and cloaks. Ooooh, neat! Except no, heavy fur cloaks should not swirl around like they're made of gauze what even is this do I have to turn it off again no wait, I am too busy downloading HDT-SMP patches for every armor set I'm using. Oh, these armor sets don't have OWL patches? I'll make some for myself. Learning how leveled lists work sure was interesting.
I tried to shake up the load order with different city and town overhauls than usual. Today I ripped them all out for JK's Skyrim because my test runs made me unhappy. Well, I kept some of Expanded Towns and Cities, which I liked a lot for its voiced NPCs. This meant I had to rebuild the EasyNPC face merge again. And all my merged patches. And all my lods.
Is there a yak shaving mod? I think I need it.
Send halp.
The mod author changed his user name on the Nexus to look like he deleted his account but he did not. 🍿🍿🍿
Here are some not-Immersive-Armors armors you can use to spice up that load order:
- Armor Variants Expansion
- anything by Pulcharmsolis
- anything by 4thUnknown
- anything by Fuse00
- anything by Gearshout
- Moon Monk's Robes for the well-dressed Khajiit
- Lunar Guard Armor
And here are some weapons:
- JaySus Swords
- Insanity Sorrow weapons pack
- Silverthorn Weaponry - silver weapons by Billyro
- many things by Billyro
- Sarta - my favorite Billyro sword
- Fenrir Blades - another Billyro creation I love
- Billyro Ultimate Swords Anthology - if you want to say the heck with it, give me all of the swords
Well, that Reddit post was one heck of a journey.
I end up being pissed off that the mod author is likely using false claims of transphobic harassment to distract from his own commonplace sleazy behavior coming to light.
There are some great base-install modlists for both the Vortex (via Nexus Collections) and for Wabbajack (a more fully-featured modlist installer). These modlists will cover the major bug fixes plus the frameworks or extensions used by many other mods.
One modlist for each tool covering what essentials if you want to move on and install some other fun mods of your choice on top:
- Truly Essentials for AE 1.6.640- Nexus.
- Skyrim Modding Essentials - Wabbajack.
If you're modding with Mod Organizer 2, use Wabbajack to install a modlist. If you're using Vortex, install a Nexus collection with it.
I keep coming back to Elysium Estate as the best home I've tried if I want to adopt the maxed-out number of orphans. This has all the mod cons and the latest version has been around long enough that it's well-patched. Bath, kitchen, basement with enough display space for me, crafting stations in believable places, comfy bedroom, cozy decor!
In the playthrough that I'm going to start any day now I swear I am going the entire opposite direction. I'm installing some small shelters in out of the way places, and probably sticking with Breezehome for a main base. Right now that list is:
I am still hunting for something in Hjaalmarch and something near Markreath if anybody has a suggestion!
Sforzinda's armor and clothing mashup mods are always my first answer to this question, because they are so good. The Nexus has supporting patches, like bodyslide conversions and compatibility tweaks.
My second answer is always high-poly-head, which is a SFW mod on a very NSFW site. But it's such a good visual upgrade!
My question for y'all today is inspired by this comparison vid by wSkeever showing off Realistic Water 2, Water for ENB (looks like the Nordic Blue variation), and their own Simplicity of Sea aka Water Mod. Then there's Cathedral Water, which only edits water records and doesn't make all the cell edits that make water mods the usual patching mess. This video adds vanilla water with ENB to the comparison, with results that surprised me.
What are you doing to make your water look good?
Whatever you're doing, Natural Waterfalls is probably an amazing addition. And come to think of it, Natural Waterfalls claims to have a water mod built in that I haven't tried out yet.
Oooooh, interesting point. I need to take a closer look at what AI Overhaul does!
Grimacing with pain... I'm going to say that for the purposes of this question, I'm going to skip all the bugfix mods and the staples-of-everything mods like SKSE and SkyUI. I'm also going to skip the enabling mods like OAR and Base Object Swapper, because so much is built on top of them now that they're requirements.
When I mod Skyrim, once I have the base layer in place, what do I always include even though I don't need it?
True Directional Movement. This is so good that for me it's now a base mod. I love that third person mode both feels good and looks good.
High-Poly Head and NPC makeovers using it. Hard to un-see the clonk in the old heads once you see the nicer ones.
QuickLoot. Massive QOL improver.
Any mod that adds cloaks.
ENB Lights. They make the game so pretty.
My only complaint about the SPID version of Wet & Cold is that the author also chose to rip out all the AI features, where NPCs come in out of the rain. I recently tried to recreate the full W&C experience with a collection of smaller mods, and I couldn't find anything to recreate that behavior. It's the kind of thing that will make me figure out how to write AI packages some day.
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Ceej is ceejbot on most of the internet, and ceejs on a handful more. Find me on mastodon at ceejbot@toot.cat.