Special Edition Updated

[smr1957]

Skyrim Special Edition just received an update.  Besides Creation changes/additions it also includes a fair number of bug fixes.  See the following for full information as to what the update/patch consists of:

THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM SPECIAL EDITION - CREATIONS UPDATE PATCH NOTES

Or see:

Arthmoor beat me to it - LOL!

Edited December 5, 2023 by smr1957

[MalMom]

This new update has really sucked for me.  Some of my mods I have been using for several years, Beyond Skyrim: Bruma for example, are now broken and I got this mod from those offered in game by Bethesda.  There are 7 files for this game, 4 for SE and I am not sure what version the other 3 are.  I have been using the SE files for years, but now they will not stay uploaded and the new update forces me to use the other three files which breaks my fixes for other mods that need Beyond Skyrim: Bruma to run.  I noticed the files on Bethesda were outdated, they have not been updated since 2017 for Beyond Skyrim: Bruma even though that team put out an update in April 2023 which is available on Nexus.  I tried to remove the Bethesda files and use the updated Nexus files, but the new update ignores the Nexus files and downloads all 7 of their Bruma files, which show as being active in the load order but if you click on the download pages, the files for the SE version state they have not been downloaded.  On top of this issue, I was trying to download some other files off Bethesda and my game crashed.  I could open Skyrim again, but it would immediately crash once again.  So for the 3rd time in 2 days, I have uninstalled and reinstalled Skyrim because I am no tech and my skills only allow me to do so much before it is just easier to get a fresh start, although I have over 150 mods I like to use and since I manually upload most of them to the game I have to spend hours fixing the load order before I can even play the game.

After the update I started having some other issues I have never had before, although I have read others had before this update.  I mostly use new stuff like Beyond Skyrim, Beyond Reach, Legacy of the Dragonborn, Helgen Reborn, a lot of new house mods, changes to existing game houses, lots and lots of armor and weapon mods.  I do use the alternate start and Amazing Follower Tweaks, along with RDO. There are a lot of fix files for the different mods I have also uploaded.  I also have that farm animals mod, which I have only used for the past couple of months and love it (what can you say, I am turning 70 next year and I love hearing farm animals).  I do use a good many of the CC mods (I don't like the house ones in CC so I usually delete them in the Skyrim data file.  Other then those mods I am not using any mod that changes NPC's and with this new update, when I could play, Lydia and Jordis both are without arms, as well as that Stendarr guy you meet in Fort Dawnguard the first time you visit.  I could not find help on fixing this issue other than mods that change NPC's appearances can cause this issue and I do not have those type of mods.  Oh yes, both Farkas and Vilkas had black faces. 

Another issue I had is that I heard about how you can save your load order on Bethesda.net now so I tried.  When I went back into my load order all the non-Bethesda mods were turned off and put at the bottom of the load order, which meant I had to turn them back on and re-order them once again.  I will not be using that save again.  The game now asks me if I want to use my saved file and I have been choosing Use Current to prevent Bethesda from turning off my other mods.  I went onto Bethesda.net and have used the remove Beyond Skyrim: Bruma (all 7 of the files) from my library and when the install is complete I will once again try uploading the newer version from Nexus.  If all 7 of the Bethesda once again show in my load order, I am going to try and use the revert update back, although from what I read, the next time I open Skyrim it will make me update again, which means I will have to revert it back once again.  I do not use SKSE, just Steam and Steam really does not give me the option to turn off the updates. 

I do like to try and keep things simple when I play Skyrim.  If I can find the mod I want on Bethesda then I will use their download.  Sometimes their mods have issues that I do not like and then I will use the Nexus version (like Sjel Blad Castle on Bethesda does have the black face issue while the one on Nexus (once again a later version than the one on Bethesda) does not have that issue.  Fortunately for me, this is the one mod that Bethesda allowed me to upload and did not force me to use their version, probably because the file names are different.  There are so many mods out there that are available and only a small faction of those are available on Bethesda.  I do not want to feel I have to limit myself to only what is available on Bethesda.net.  Making changes to my load order is something Bethesda should not do automatically.  It took me years to learn how to order and I hate having to undo changes Bethesda makes from time to time, it is worse since the latest update, I have to check my load order before I even start the game.  I use the Bethesda Alternate Start Live Another Life and Bethesda keeps wanting to place it high in my load order even though the creator states it needs to be as low as possible in the order.  The only ones I place below Alternate Start are the RDO files and fixes along with Amazing Follower Tweaks and the Amazing Follower Boost and that is because RDO specifically states that how those files should be ordered.

One more thing before I sign off.  I do like their new Creations look, it took some time for me to learn the new controller buttons, like how to search, but that was not an issue.  I did find out that if you try and fast scroll down the load order it will occasionally crash the game and whatever you did before will be undone.  So I have to take is slow in order to get to the bottom of the list so I can reorder any mod I installed.

Edited December 10, 2023 by MalMom

[MalMom]

OK, Arthmoor, you are going to love this one (LOL).  One of the mods I have always used is one of yours (I do use more of your mods but this one is giving me an issue for the first time).  It is your Ivarstead mod.  I am trying to download it from Bethesda, which it will do, but the system is also putting the Ivarstead by Ozymandy in the load order even though it is not downloaded.  If I delete Ozymany's mod, the system deletes yours as well.  Go figure!  BTW I still had the issue with Beyond Skyrim where I can not use the Nexus updated files but at this point I am going to keep uploading the mods I have had in the past and saw no issues and then try to play the game to see what issues come up later.  In order for me to check to see if Beyond Skyrim and you Ivarstead mods are going to work with the additional file (mod) uploads that Bethesda is adding, I am going to have to leave the mods I did not choose in the load order even though they are not downloaded, otherwise I lose the mod I do want.

My reinstalling mods to my game may become a mod to mod update on this thread.  Sorry, but I do need expert help in figuring out how to overcome the obstacles Bethesda has placed on my game and unfortunately for you, this forum and you are tagged!

Edited December 10, 2023 by MalMom

[Scythe Bearer]

If you are getting incorrect/unpredictable results from Bethesda's website, let them know.  Here is how: https://help.bethesda.net/#en/answer/55893  It is a sad truth that nobody here will be able to fix download issues with Bethesda's site.

 

[MalMom]

Yes it is sad that no one on this site can fix the new issues with the new update.  I still cannot play the game.  Yesterday after uninstalling and reinstalling Skyrim, after putting all my mods back into the game and before I could finally try and start a new game, the whole game once again crashed on me and refused to let me back in.  This happened just after I downloaded the Relationship Dialogue mod (RDO) from Bethesda.  So once again I uninstalled and reinstalled Skyrim today only to be met with the Unable to Connect to Bethesda Server message. 

I am not a gaming tech, my specialty when I went back to college at the age of 50 was more geared at web development.  Now I think I should have studied gaming as my degree caused me to help write a program that would do my job at HP and then I had to train everyone worldwide how to use the program.  When it was done, so was I with HP and I ended up taking an early retirement because no one else wanted an aging old lady.  I had purchased Skyrim 5 years before I lost my job but until I no longer was working I really did not play it.  Skyrim has become my favorite game of all time.  I did play Morrowind and Oblivion many years before and totally enjoyed both games, but Skyrim, with the addition of all the wonderful  mods, has become my favorite. 

I have put in a complaint to Bethesda on my issues, along with screen shots of the duplicates I have been getting in game.  I tried using Loot in the past, but I kept crashing so much and decided to learn how to do the load order on my own.  My load order may not be perfect but it has worked for several years now without any major issues.  I can upload all my mods from Nexus and other places without any issue.  The issues start happening when I try to upload mods from Bethesda, which tells me there is a major issue on Bethesda's site...  As I stated I am far from being a gaming tech, I am just calling the shots as I see on my end.

I do have one question that all of you on this site should be able to answer.  If I rename the mods I am using, such as in the case of Ivarstead by Arthmoor, from Ivarstead.bsa, Ivarstead.esp to IvarsteadArthmoor.bsa and IvarsteadArthmoor.esp, will I be able to upload these files to the new creations page and not end up with the Ivarstead by Ozymany file which currently has the same file name as the one by Arthmoor.  Will this work and prevent the new Bethesda update from thinking that they are the same mods?  The same issue is happening with Beyond Skyrim: Bruma, it is adding all the mods that have the same filename whether I ask for them or not.  If I am able to just rename the filenames will this be enough to solve the issues I am having with the game? 

I cannot test this for myself right now since Bethesda Servers are once again down.  Just throwing this out to see if it may be possible to get by this issue by changing the filename.

 

[MalMom]

Changing the filenames on Arthmoor's Ivarstead worked.  It did not work on Beyond Skyrim, probably because there are 3 files for this mod and I have no idea of how to make sure the other 2 are linking back to the first.  I no longer have the other Ivarstead by Ozzie in my load order.  Arthmoor, you may want to go into both Nexus and Bethesda and change the file name for the Ivarstead mod.  I used IvarsteadArthmoor on both files and it worked. 

[Arthmoor]

Can't change the filename at this stage of things. The game would treat it as though the original were being removed and the replacement was a brand new mod. Existing saves would be borked as a result.

[MalMom]

Existing saves are already borked (hopefully you mean broke because I do not know what borked means)...so changing the filename may be the only way to correct what Bethesda is doing to those files with their latest update.  My test worked.  I changed the filename on Ivarstead and now I only have one Ivarstead in my load order, Ozzie's is nowhere to be found and the result is when I visited Ivarstead it is the way Arthmoor intended it to be.  Yes the game did see this as a new mod without a doubt and since I do not have any existing saves because the update has ruined them all...what does it matter!  The new update is looking at filenames more closely than before and maybe it is time that all should be looking to those filenames as well and making sure all filenames are unique.  After 4 days of having to uninstall and reinstall Skyrim, after everything I could think of doing, I do think this is a good start...even though I am no gaming tech, filenames from what I learned a few years back should be unique and in Skyrim I am starting to see that filenames are not always unique.  No wonder this new update is having issues, it has been made to look at those filenames, if they are the same for two mods then both mods will be loaded...duh...am I wrong?

 

[Arthmoor]

As I said, I cannot change the filename now because it'll screw up anyone's save who is relying on the mod. It's unfortunate that someone else appears to have chosen to use the same filename but that would always have been an issue even before this update. It's the kind of thing that will also be problematic with patches made for one because with both mods having the same filename the patches won't stop you from trying to use them and the results would be a mess at best.

The game will not load both mods. It will only load one because both have the same Ivarstead.esp filename in them. If Bethesda's site is trying to install them both on your system that's a bug on their end.

[MalMom]

Of course it is a bug on Bethesda's end and I have addressed the issue in detail on their support site.  Of course this was before I tested your Ivarstead mod with the filename change on my end.  I do not understand how before this update they were able to distinguish the difference between filenames.  What has happened with this new update that somehow all of a sudden it cannot see the difference between your file and Ozy's Ivarstead file?  BTW, Ozy's file has been on Bethesda since  Jul 6, 2018 and this was never an issue before.  I do understand why you can not just change filenames at this point, but if this was my mod (I only wish I could be as talented as you are) I would not be happy that the update has affected my work.

[Pseron Wyrd]

13 hours ago, MalMom said:

I do not know what borked means

The term originated with the U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork in 1987.

According to columnist William Safire, the first published use of "bork" as a verb was in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of August 20, 1987, two months prior to the final vote: "Let's just hope something enduring results for the justice-to-be, like a new verb: Borked."

 Perhaps the best-known use of the verb "to bork" occurred in July 1991 at a conference of the National Organization for Women in New York City. Feminist Florynce Kennedy addressed the conference on the importance of defeating the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying: "We're going to bork him. We're going to kill him politically. This little creep, where did he come from?" Thomas was subsequently confirmed after the most divisive confirmation hearing in Supreme Court history to that point.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bork

[Arthmoor]

Over time after the term entered the general vocabulary it's evolved into just a slang term for broken and/or non-functional.

[ghastley]

Sometimes written as “borken” which is “broken”, itself borked.

[Stray]

On 12/10/2023 at 5:20 PM, MalMom said:

OK, Arthmoor, you are going to love this one (LOL).  One of the mods I have always used is one of yours (I do use more of your mods but this one is giving me an issue for the first time).  It is your Ivarstead mod.  I am trying to download it from Bethesda, which it will do, but the system is also putting the Ivarstead by Ozymandy in the load order even though it is not downloaded.  If I delete Ozymany's mod, the system deletes yours as well.  Go figure!  BTW I still had the issue with Beyond Skyrim where I can not use the Nexus updated files but at this point I am going to keep uploading the mods I have had in the past and saw no issues and then try to play the game to see what issues come up later.  In order for me to check to see if Beyond Skyrim and you Ivarstead mods are going to work with the additional file (mod) uploads that Bethesda is adding, I am going to have to leave the mods I did not choose in the load order even though they are not downloaded, otherwise I lose the mod I do want.

My reinstalling mods to my game may become a mod to mod update on this thread.  Sorry, but I do need expert help in figuring out how to overcome the obstacles Bethesda has placed on my game and unfortunately for you, this forum and you are tagged!

I came here to see if anyone was having the problem I’m having and this is similar. While I didn’t get 2 versions of Ivarstead, when I download some of my mods like cutting room floor and run for lives, and a few others I get both the PC version and Xbox version. If I delete the PC version then it also deletes the Xbox version. This sounds similar to what is happening here. After reading through this thread it looks like a recent update is to blame. (I haven’t played in about a year so I’m downloading mods fresh) So I just wanted to add this in to the conversation in case this specific thing hasn’t been reported. Is it still the case that this isn’t fixable on this end and has to be done on Bethesda’s side of things?

[Stray]

On 12/11/2023 at 5:55 PM, MalMom said:

Yes it is sad that no one on this site can fix the new issues with the new update.  I still cannot play the game.  Yesterday after uninstalling and reinstalling Skyrim, after putting all my mods back into the game and before I could finally try and start a new game, the whole game once again crashed on me and refused to let me back in.  This happened just after I downloaded the Relationship Dialogue mod (RDO) from Bethesda.  So once again I uninstalled and reinstalled Skyrim today only to be met with the Unable to Connect to Bethesda Server message. 

I am not a gaming tech, my specialty when I went back to college at the age of 50 was more geared at web development.  Now I think I should have studied gaming as my degree caused me to help write a program that would do my job at HP and then I had to train everyone worldwide how to use the program.  When it was done, so was I with HP and I ended up taking an early retirement because no one else wanted an aging old lady.  I had purchased Skyrim 5 years before I lost my job but until I no longer was working I really did not play it.  Skyrim has become my favorite game of all time.  I did play Morrowind and Oblivion many years before and totally enjoyed both games, but Skyrim, with the addition of all the wonderful  mods, has become my favorite. 

I have put in a complaint to Bethesda on my issues, along with screen shots of the duplicates I have been getting in game.  I tried using Loot in the past, but I kept crashing so much and decided to learn how to do the load order on my own.  My load order may not be perfect but it has worked for several years now without any major issues.  I can upload all my mods from Nexus and other places without any issue.  The issues start happening when I try to upload mods from Bethesda, which tells me there is a major issue on Bethesda's site...  As I stated I am far from being a gaming tech, I am just calling the shots as I see on my end.

I do have one question that all of you on this site should be able to answer.  If I rename the mods I am using, such as in the case of Ivarstead by Arthmoor, from Ivarstead.bsa, Ivarstead.esp to IvarsteadArthmoor.bsa and IvarsteadArthmoor.esp, will I be able to upload these files to the new creations page and not end up with the Ivarstead by Ozymany file which currently has the same file name as the one by Arthmoor.  Will this work and prevent the new Bethesda update from thinking that they are the same mods?  The same issue is happening with Beyond Skyrim: Bruma, it is adding all the mods that have the same filename whether I ask for them or not.  If I am able to just rename the filenames will this be enough to solve the issues I am having with the game? 

I cannot test this for myself right now since Bethesda Servers are once again down.  Just throwing this out to see if it may be possible to get by this issue by changing the filename.

 

Old Lady Gamers Unite!!