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Skyrim Anniversary Edition and You


Arthmoor

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thanks for this, I do have the full upgrade and it seems to work fine. However I would have liked the option to toggle individual packages on or off in the same way you can toggle dlc's in the older games until you are ready to play them.

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5 hours ago, Arthmoor said:

There's a bit of clarification I'm told needs to be made on the issue of SE vs AE and such. So here it is:

1. Skyrim Special Edition is still an active store entry on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/489830/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim_Special_Edition/

2. Skyrim Anniversary Edition Upgrade is an independent store entry for the DLC bundle: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1746860/The_Elder_Scrolls_V_Skyrim_Anniversary_Upgrade/

3. "Skyrim Anniversary Edition" is a store bundle (note the URL difference) that is set up as a convenient method to buy both SE and the AE Upgrade in one go: https://store.steampowered.com/sub/626153/

#3 is the present day equivalent of the old Skyrim Legendary Edition bundle they sold on Steam until 2016.

With that out of the way, here's the deal:

For Survival, Fishing, Saint's & Seducers, and Rare Curios, they ship with the SE 1.6 update as additional content. These cannot be disabled by any normal means through a mod manager or any other normal method. They will load into the game regardless. All players on all platforms will have these DLCs and it is therefore reasonable and expected that mod authors begin shipping mods that account for this content, in much the same way we all began doing for the old LE updates.

For the AE Upgrade, the other 70 DLCs will be installed and activated by the game with no intervention from the user. These also cannot be disabled by any normal means through a mod manager etc.

On PC, you *CAN* delete the files from your Data folder, but if Steam detects they are missing they will be reinstalled without you knowing it. This is NOT a normal or supported thing to do with the game and is not something any mod author should reasonably be expected to support.

There is a #4 though, and that #4 is when someone elects NOT to buy the AE Upgrade but instead goes into the Creation Club store area and individually buys only some of the DLCs. In this case, and this case only, the game will only download the ones you've paid for while leaving the others out. This is not at all the same as buying the whole bundle and then disabling some of them. This is people intentionally not buying some of them to begin with. It is because of this #4 that it is possible someone may not have everything and therefore be a problem to expect everyone to always have all 70 of these additional DLCs.

Obviously going the #4 route is not cost effective. You'd spend way more than the $20 to do that, but it is an option that still exists.

In all of the above cases, Steam will reacquire missing content when it performs its regular integrity checks. These integrity checks are not always user initiated.

Thank you Arthmoor - that is exactly what I was looking for.  And while I thought that was the case, not having the AE add-on myself to test it out and confirm it made me concerned that perhaps I had gotten the information wrong.

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Well, I can't say I am all that surprised at the response by people over at Steam.  When told something they disagree with, then it is only someone's opinion, and they quote unverifiable sources and reviews that have been written as being of equal authority.  Seems that only when they get the response they want is the information considered trustworthy.  And it does not matter if the person giving the information is myself, with my extensive experience, or Arthmoor, with his far greater experience - or even if it were to come from Bethesda developers themselves - if it is not what they want to hear, then it is wrong.

Still, thanks are in order for the reply and information, Arthmoor - if people choose to believe something different, then no one cannot force them.

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I think I should probably get the upgrade, I have a small suspicion that things may have change since release.

Arth, are you sure Steam will re-download CC content? My understanding is that it doesn't track that content because it comes from Bethesda.

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1 hour ago, smr1957 said:

Well, I can't say I am all that surprised at the response by people over at Steam.  When told something they disagree with, then it is only someone's opinion, and they quote unverifiable sources and reviews that have been written as being of equal authority.  Seems that only when they get the response they want is the information considered trustworthy.  And it does not matter if the person giving the information is myself, with my extensive experience, or Arthmoor, with his far greater experience - or even if it were to come from Bethesda developers themselves - if it is not what they want to hear, then it is wrong.

Still, thanks are in order for the reply and information, Arthmoor - if people choose to believe something different, then no one cannot force them.

 

This is universal, regardless of experience or knowledge.  In fact, it seems to me that the people with the most knowledge and experience are the worst offenders, because they already know everything. 

 

The hardest part about gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche. As long as that niche is occupied, evidence and proof and logical demonstration get nowhere. But once the niche is emptied of the wrong idea that has been filling it — once you can honestly say, "I don't know", then it becomes possible to get at the truth.  - Robert A. Heinlein

To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods. Robert A. Heinlein

 
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5 hours ago, Sigurð Stormhand said:

Arth, are you sure Steam will re-download CC content?

Yes, because i've induced it to do so myself just to see what would happen. It didn't get handled right away, but it did happen. It will for sure happen if you ask Steam to validate your files manually, but Steam executes this function periodically on its own as well. I've seen other games run the validation checks before starting several times as well, so it's not limited to just Skyrim. It's just that a lot of us won't notice it as easily because most of us start from shortcuts on our Desktops because of SKSE.

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1 hour ago, Arthmoor said:

Yes, because i've induced it to do so myself just to see what would happen. It didn't get handled right away, but it did happen. It will for sure happen if you ask Steam to validate your files manually, but Steam executes this function periodically on its own as well. I've seen other games run the validation checks before starting several times as well, so it's not limited to just Skyrim. It's just that a lot of us won't notice it as easily because most of us start from shortcuts on our Desktops because of SKSE.

Thanks for that - but some people are insisting that is not the case in the Steam forum - some, I think, just don't trust to know how to test it properly; some, are just not reliable; and the others, while I consider them usually reliable - I'm not sure that they are testing it properly either.  And some just want to disagree - you know THAT story - LOL!  Anyway, I decided to occupy myself with other things today - having my blood pressure blow the top of my head off is just not worth it - yet - LOL!  I don't mind being wrong about something (which is why I asked for clarification here when people first stated I was wrong about the add-on) but people who are saying I am wrong need to do more than just voice opinions - especially when I've taken steps to get information from a trusted source.

 

Oh, and Sigurd, that part about Steam not checking because the files come from Bethesda is exactly what some of the people arguing against what I posted are claiming.

 

Anyway, thanks to everyone for assisting.

Edited by smr1957
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I'm going to ask this here. When I upgrade, am I going to have to uninstall all the mods before and then reinstall. I know I'll have to update a few definitely, but I'm just wondering how much work I'm going to have to do so I can know how much time to set aside when that time comes. Like, wait until I have more than one day off of work in a row if I DO need to do a complete reinstall of everything. I'm not opposed to it or anything like that, but I'd of course still prefer to not have to go through all that if I don't have to.

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3 hours ago, thrak576 said:

am I going to have to uninstall all the mods before and then reinstall. 

I didn't have to reinstall or upgrade any of my 60+ mods when I upgraded to Anniversary Edition.  Even my SKSE-dependent mods worked flawlessly.  The only extra step I had to take was to download the latest version of SKSE.  That took about ten minutes. 

It has been my experience that 99.999 percent of mods perform well with Anniversary Edition.  The internet hysteria over this issue - especially among prominent YouTube content creators who should know better and who should be ashamed of themselves - was unfounded.

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13 hours ago, thrak576 said:

I'm going to ask this here. When I upgrade, am I going to have to uninstall all the mods before and then reinstall. I know I'll have to update a few definitely, but I'm just wondering how much work I'm going to have to do so I can know how much time to set aside when that time comes. Like, wait until I have more than one day off of work in a row if I DO need to do a complete reinstall of everything. I'm not opposed to it or anything like that, but I'd of course still prefer to not have to go through all that if I don't have to.

It should be fine. At this point the only mods that won't work are ones that have their own DLL. Everything else should just "go".

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9 hours ago, Pseron Wyrd said:

I didn't have to reinstall or upgrade any of my 60+ mods when I upgraded to Anniversary Edition.  Even my SKSE-dependent mods worked flawlessly.  The only extra step I had to take was to download the latest version of SKSE.  That took about ten minutes. 

It has been my experience that 99.999 percent of mods perform well with Anniversary Edition.  The internet hysteria over this issue - especially among prominent YouTube content creators who should know better and who should be ashamed of themselves - was unfounded.

Thanks for the info, I never thought it was going to be a "modpacalypse" it had just been so long since an update for SE, I couldn't remember if I had to do anything last time. It was never so much as I'm never upgrading it was a wait and see what the real outcome would be. As well as wait for a few tweek updates because they always have those. YouTube and Twitter are the best places for knee-jerk reactions.

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The only stuff I had to update were the 3rd party SKSE extensions I'm using, plus the USSEP update to keep it in sync with changes to the base game files. Everything else was fine.

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On 1/23/2022 at 11:27 PM, Arthmoor said:

The only stuff I had to update were the 3rd party SKSE extensions I'm using, plus the USSEP update to keep it in sync with changes to the base game files. Everything else was fine.

Yeah, the updates only affect select SKSE64 mods.  Luckily all the SKSE64 mods I use except for one have been updated.

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  • 1 month later...

Ah, well, this answers a lot of questions and, well, I guess - forces me to verify each mods compatibility with AE/SE?

I haven't played Skyrim since SE first released, I never bothered to upgrade because my computer wasn't good enough, now it auto-detects to Ultra settings... woot! Anyhow, I spent 3 days downloading, uninstalling, re-downloading, testing in LE (it seemed to to have the most support and everything is "tried and true") only to find out most of what I wanted to use has been depreciated or, just old... namely the new animation stuff!

(OH GOD am I going to get sucked back into Skyrim just because of this new ability to have custom animations! I may even start modding again, I haven't modded since Morrowind!)

Now I spent the last day or so switching to SE and re-downloaded 90% of the mods I had on LE - most of the major ones I downloaded for SE are depreciated and don't use the proper SKSE versions, since I have been away I have no idea what the average development or update schedule is for the modding community. (Not including Arthmoor - obviously you put more into modding than most)

A user had mentioned here that they liked their game to be "clean" for all intents and purposes, I am also of that mind and find I am unable to get a decent set of mods that aren't bloated with NSFW crap. Is there a set of mods that help address this issue? For example, there are a huge amount of mods that use HDT physics for clothing, armor, hair and weapons, I really, REALLY want these mods but they all need bloated NSFW bodies that involve swinging schlongs and bouncing boobs and buts... Maybe this question doesn't belong here, but because Arthmoor and others in these forums probably have more relevant and recent information on the subject, it would save me days of sifting through compatible mods with the current AE update.

I have a lot of questions because of the new modability we have available thanks to the great modding community, so I will most likely search through AFK Mods for the solutions... (I am sure 2/3rds of the people here signed up just for "Open Cities" like I did...)

Couple noob questions though for those who want to help a returning mod-user:

What is the most viable - updated mod organizer? Before NMM came out, manual install was time consuming, now, there is Vortex & MO2 (probably a couple others I am unaware of) while NMM is depreciated; As mentioned, I may get into modding, so from my understanding is MO2 the better way to go or is Vortex the current go-to?

I've noticed there are quite a few "modding frameworks" such as STEP - Is this something that is generally skipped or a soft requirement for most development builds?

 

Finally - thanks Arthmoor for your work in the community, while I will not even pretend to know why you pulled your stuff from Nexus I respect your choice and decision, other people, especially Youtubers, should also respect your decisions.

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NMM is still supported and has a "community edition".  You can download it here, if you want to use it (I do).  It will support the installation of mods downloaded from Bethesda.net and other sites.  NMM also has a Discord Server here.

It is difficult to determine exactly what you are looking for in mods.  Are you looking for combat, landscape, player homes, creatures, faces, weapons, armor etc.?  A little data would help with recommendations.  If you are unsure, there are a selection of mods on this site for SSE, as well Nexus et al.  Browse away and have fun. 

Oh, I  will never recommend a "modding framework".  Most of those are what someone else thinks is a good mixture of mods.  I tried a couple, and after the third, I gave up.  I never much cared about the physics of animated people, or the shape and shade of a leaf, or the color blue in the sky or having a dozen different homes.  

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9 hours ago, S7ORM said:

Ah, well, this answers a lot of questions and, well, I guess - forces me to verify each mods compatibility with AE/SE?

I haven't played Skyrim since SE first released, I never bothered to upgrade because my computer wasn't good enough, now it auto-detects to Ultra settings... woot! Anyhow, I spent 3 days downloading, uninstalling, re-downloading, testing in LE (it seemed to to have the most support and everything is "tried and true") only to find out most of what I wanted to use has been depreciated or, just old... namely the new animation stuff!

(OH GOD am I going to get sucked back into Skyrim just because of this new ability to have custom animations! I may even start modding again, I haven't modded since Morrowind!)

Now I spent the last day or so switching to SE and re-downloaded 90% of the mods I had on LE - most of the major ones I downloaded for SE are depreciated and don't use the proper SKSE versions, since I have been away I have no idea what the average development or update schedule is for the modding community. (Not including Arthmoor - obviously you put more into modding than most)

A user had mentioned here that they liked their game to be "clean" for all intents and purposes, I am also of that mind and find I am unable to get a decent set of mods that aren't bloated with NSFW crap. Is there a set of mods that help address this issue? For example, there are a huge amount of mods that use HDT physics for clothing, armor, hair and weapons, I really, REALLY want these mods but they all need bloated NSFW bodies that involve swinging schlongs and bouncing boobs and buts... Maybe this question doesn't belong here, but because Arthmoor and others in these forums probably have more relevant and recent information on the subject, it would save me days of sifting through compatible mods with the current AE update.

I have a lot of questions because of the new modability we have available thanks to the great modding community, so I will most likely search through AFK Mods for the solutions... (I am sure 2/3rds of the people here signed up just for "Open Cities" like I did...)

Couple noob questions though for those who want to help a returning mod-user:

What is the most viable - updated mod organizer? Before NMM came out, manual install was time consuming, now, there is Vortex & MO2 (probably a couple others I am unaware of) while NMM is depreciated; As mentioned, I may get into modding, so from my understanding is MO2 the better way to go or is Vortex the current go-to?

I've noticed there are quite a few "modding frameworks" such as STEP - Is this something that is generally skipped or a soft requirement for most development builds?

 

Finally - thanks Arthmoor for your work in the community, while I will not even pretend to know why you pulled your stuff from Nexus I respect your choice and decision, other people, especially Youtubers, should also respect your decisions.

Just want to say this here in case it got lost in all the posts, but since it sounds like you're just coming back to the game, be aware that the latest version of Skyrim SE adds some new stuff into the game that wasn't in LE, namely some new weapons and armors, some alchemical ingredients, fishing and needs management minigames, and two new questlines. The Anniversary Edition upgrade includes even more new stuff, a lot of which was originally released via a microtransaction store. And yes, it will save you money to just grab the upgrade as opposed to sifting through the store and buying points to buy just the ones that peak your interest.

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11 hours ago, Scythe Bearer said:

NMM is still supported and has a "community edition".  You can download it here, if you want to use it (I do).  It will support the installation of mods downloaded from Bethesda.net and other sites.  NMM also has a Discord Server here.

It is difficult to determine exactly what you are looking for in mods.  Are you looking for combat, landscape, player homes, creatures, faces, weapons, armor etc.?  A little data would help with recommendations.  If you are unsure, there are a selection of mods on this site for SSE, as well Nexus et al.  Browse away and have fun. 

Oh, I  will never recommend a "modding framework".  Most of those are what someone else thinks is a good mixture of mods.  I tried a couple, and after the third, I gave up.  I never much cared about the physics of animated people, or the shape and shade of a leaf, or the color blue in the sky or having a dozen different homes.  

Thanks Scythe Bearer for answering my questions - I will avoid the modding frameworks then, I figured that is all they were, so I didn't bother with it, because everyone's tastes are different I didn't bother following any of them. (STEP was mentioned in several newer mod descriptions, which is why I asked.)

As for what kind of mods did I use and want to use newer versions of?

Well the top things I wanted was better faces/bodies and hair, that way the game doesn't look like Oblivion. Basically I just want to overhaul huge portions of the game, from character creation and customization, to everything that has to do with HDT physics extensions. I want moving equipment, my weapons, my armor, my hair, I want it all to move. I have always used the crafting overhauls, both smithing and alchemy - mostly because they are batched mods with dozens of mods built into them. I have also noticed that there is a newer version of "dual sheaths redux", which was a necessity for wearing weapons, as well as "armed to the teeth" or the other mods that allow you to display multiple favorited weapons. (Still trying to find a mod setup that incorporated HDT physics and "all geared up" variations.)

Essentially, based on the mods available, I should be able to build what I wanted as a character, a druidic bardic monk.

There are quite a few unarmed combat mods as well as animation mods to allow this to happen. https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/33767 this mod allows the majority of what I want to happen. (Spell-Staff combat) Animated Armory is another big one as well. (Bo-Staff combat)

As mentioned, a lot of what I see for HDT physics to work properly, I need to use NSFW body mods, that are quite frankly, bloated with useless animation bones. I also don't want my character to look like they came out of an anime or a polisher. (So many shiny, smooth face mods that destroys realism/immersion.) https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/62782 - this is an example of a main HDT mod that is only supported for 1.5 or non-AE; here is an example mod that forces to download a NSFW body mod, just for hair - https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/31300

On that note, 60% of my current mods are QOL or Immersion mods, such as CoT or I guess I am going to try Vividian weathers and textures? I don't know yet, I tried CoT on LE and want to try Vividian on SE. The rest are spell/magic/perks and weapons and armors. (I did not go with too many individual weapons and armors just the biggest packs - some of which were patched into larger mods like CCOR or Unique Uniques (I don't know which unique mod to go with now.)

I do also want to expand the enemies, so I have been looking at using mods like Immersive Creatures and the Expanded Bandits Overhaul (?) forget the exact name of the mod. 

My main goal is to revamp the majority of the game and add in new quests, new lands, etc. (I literally 100% x2 completed Skyrim back in 2015/16)

3 hours ago, SkyLover said:

Just want to say this here in case it got lost in all the posts, but since it sounds like you're just coming back to the game, be aware that the latest version of Skyrim SE adds some new stuff into the game that wasn't in LE, namely some new weapons and armors, some alchemical ingredients, fishing and needs management minigames, and two new questlines. The Anniversary Edition upgrade includes even more new stuff, a lot of which was originally released via a microtransaction store. And yes, it will save you money to just grab the upgrade as opposed to sifting through the store and buying points to buy just the ones that peak your interest.

I am coming back to the game after quite awhile like I did back in 2015/16 - I played the game religiously when it came out without mods, then modded the crap out of it in 2015/16 and re-beat the game. Now in 2022 I want to use what is made available by this amazing community (probably the best gaming community in gaming existence.)

As for using things from the Beth-Store; I never bothered with anything from there, because 99% of the mods available there were stolen verbatim from other modders - I am not going to support things in the Beth-Store that have ripped off other Modders work - Survival mode and horse armor are perfect examples of mods that were "Forever Free" that got stolen and re-released on the Beth-Store.

Please, correct me if I am wrong... (Horse armor was originally released in Oblivion - Same with Survival mode)

Edited by S7ORM
Link to an example mods of HDT physics that is only 1.5/non-AE
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

This is technically false or at least partially false information. The AE update broke SKSE and the library for SKSE plugins which means that SKSE plugins that worked fine on 1.5.97 will NOT work on 1.6.x going forward. Add to that the fact that many authors of such SKSE mods are refusing to update their mods for 1.6.x and those mods, largely are not being replicated by other mod authors and you have many players who are reverting, one way or another back to 1.5.97. I even have an entire backup of the base Skyrim SE 1.5.97 files on my PC which saved my bacon when Steam decided to update to 1.6.x recently without my authorization. Needless to say, finding certain 1.5.97 associated mods can be a real PITA when they don't have to be.

 

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If you read a little closer you'll find that nobody said that certain SKSE plugins will just keep working like nothing happened. It's been made very clear that those are the exception. Pretty much everything else WILL work.

The thing that bothers me the most is how people will insist that SE 1.6 broke everything. That's patently false. It made some OLD things incompatible with the current version of the game - something which every other modding community I've been involved with sees as a normal part of progress with the games they mod. Their communities don't foster disinformation and FUD campaigns to keep people from updating. Instead, they simply update their work and move on, benefiting everyone.

This whole hatred of updating and rabid opposition to change is largely unique to the Skyrim community. Refusing to update because you think you're sticking it to Microsoft, Bethesda, or Todd in some way. The reality is that all you do in this case is stick it to the people who are using your work when you refuse to update it. Especially newcomers to the series who will be buying the game for the first time and will only have access to the 1.6 branch.

IMO, at this stage of things, my recommendation is going to be that if you've got an SKSE plugin that the author has confirmed will never be updated again, then it's time to dump it and move on. Trying to forcefully hold back the majority of the community is not the answer here.

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I agree, especially on the misinformation front. One of the most ludicrous claims I see is that the Creation Club stole from modders. I've looked over the creations in the CC multiple times, and THEY HAVEN'T STOLEN ANYTHING! Everything up there that people claim is stolen is either a) already Bethesda's intellectual property, b) so generic that multiple mods have done it in multiple different ways, or c) was created by the exact same person that created the allegedly stolen mod. 

Survival mode is a good microcosm of all of these. People claim that Bethesda stole Frostfall and Realistic Needs and Diseases, which falls apart when you realize:
-Survival Mode was created by Chesko, who happens to be the same person that created Frostfall and Last Seed
-Survival Mode already appeared in Fallout 4, so Bethesda's intellectual properties already included a needs system by that name
-Claiming that Bethesda stole Frostfall and RnD through Survival Mode is just as asinine as claiming that isoku or Chesko stole RnD by releasing iNeed and Last Seed respectively

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It's even sillier when you expand beyond BGS games and realize that "Survival Mode" has existed in plenty of other titles in the form of a hardcore option. Whatever those other titles may call it, that's what it is. The concept is nothing new, it's not original. Only the implementation details change with each game that includes it.

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On 3/26/2022 at 3:56 PM, SkyLover said:

Survival mode is a good microcosm of all of these. People claim that Bethesda stole Frostfall and Realistic Needs and Diseases, which falls apart when you realize:
-Survival Mode was created by Chesko, who happens to be the same person that created Frostfall and Last Seed

Has that ever been confirmed? I see it everywhere stated as fact but I've never seen any evidence that it is so.

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2 hours ago, soupdragon said:

Has that ever been confirmed? I see it everywhere stated as fact but I've never seen any evidence that it is so.

I know when Survival was first offered as a Creation Club mod, there was talk of Chesko being the actual author of it - and I even assumed that, at the time.  But, in actuality, there was never any concrete evidence offered to back up the fact of his being the author - just a lot of assumptions.  So, while it is entirely possible that Chesko did have a hand in creating the Survival content, there is, in fact, no actual solid evidence of it - at least as far as I have ever seen.

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It's not exactly a secret that he did in fact write the Survival DLC.

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